The Mayday Games Blog

Since its appearance on the tabletop scene in 1993, Magic: The Gathering has garnered millions of fans worldwide, with thrilling tournaments and an incredible variety of gameplay formats. New players join the MTG community all the time, and the game's creators, the Wizards of the Coast, want to make entry to the game accessible and enjoyable. Our list of some of the best Magic The Gathering cards for beginners will get you into the game quickly, so you can join the growing global community of Magic players.

The Best Magic The Gathering Cards for Beginners

As with any new gaming experience, learning strategies come only after you've gained an understanding of the objectives and the rules. It's impossible to play MTG without a complete set of cards, and building the perfect deck seems like the first step. Not so! In fact, since the game is different each time you play, it's more important to have a versatile deck that will work in various situations than to purchase rare or powerful cards that you don't know how to use effectively.

1. Start at the Beginning With a Magic: The Gathering 2022 Starter Kit

When in doubt, keep it simple with one of the newest starter kits from Wizards of the Coast. Two players can learn simultaneously with two decks that each include five rare cards or use the included codes to play online with a friend in MTG Arena.

A straightforward Play Guide booklet, paired with the online interactive tutorial, gets the adventure started right away. The full starter kit includes:

• Two 60-card decks: One red-green and one white-blue
• Five rare cards in each deck, one of which is a rare foil card
• Two deck boxes
• Play Guide booklet
• Codes for each person to unlock the two decks for online play in MTG Arena

2. Connect With the MTG Community With Welcome Booster Sets 

Show your local gaming store some love and stop in for a free MTG Welcome Booster Set. These small packs of 10 cards won't be enough to start a game, but visiting your game store means you can meet other MTG players and ask your questions in person.

You can only obtain your Welcome booster at a game store; Wizards of the Coast doesn't ship them to gamers. The Welcome boosters all contain the same ten cards:

• Archetype of Imagination: Enchantment creature
• ChaChandra'sgmutt: Creature
• ComCommander'shere: Artifact
• Demon of Loathing: Creature
• Faerie Guidemother: Creature
• GarGarruk'srehorn: Creature
• Garruk, Primal Hunter: Legendary planeswalker
• Niv-Mizzet, Parun: Legendary creature
• Plains: Basic land
• Underworld Dreams: Enchantment

3. Get Into the Game With Jumpstart or Deck-Builder's Toolkits

Maybe you're familiar with RPG gameplay, but new to tabletop or card styles. Maybe you're feeling adventurous about assembling your own decks, but you want some guardrails to get you started on the right track. With Jumpstart, players can use any two booster sets and turn them into a 40-card deck. Any two boosters at all. The potential for weird and entertaining combinations is vast, and some of the cards in the set are pretty powerful.

The Deck-Builder's Toolkits, like the Jumpstart sets, take away some of the guesswork in card selection by providing a solid foundation for building a complex deck. More affordable than Jumpstarts, these toolkits provide over 100 different cards plus a pack of lands. You'll also receive a set of rule books that guide your deck-building from the foundation of the toolkit set.

4. Choose Your Own Adventure With Online Support

If you're acquainted with the format of tabletop RPG games or RPGs in general, you may feel more confident building your own deck from scratch. Wizards of the Coast provides numerous resources for learning how to play and organize your cards, and the MTG community is supportive of new players.

In perusing the gameplay forums, you may hear about the "Power Nine," a set of MTG's nine most powerful and valuable cards. These cards are extremely rare and expensive and aren't really for amateur or casual players. Some players tout the reliability of a few less-rare cards, so you might consider adding these to your deck:

• Alpha: Lightning Bolt, Sol Ring, Demonic Tutor, Balance 
• Core Set 2020: Veil of Summer
• Fifth Edition: Brainstorm
• Khans of Tarkir: Dig Through Time 
• Return to Ravnica: Deathrite Shaman
• Throne of Eldraine: Oko, Thief of Crowns
• Worldwake: Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Never Play the Same Game Twice With Magic: The Gathering

Starting tabletop games like Magic: The Gathering can initially feel daunting, especially since veteran players seem to have veritable mountains of cards and eidetic memories for using them in the game. But they say a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step (and the road goes ever on and on), so start your adventure by deciding how much support you need to get playing. From there, choose a pack, set, or collection that fits your style, and the rest will fall into place.