f13.net

So all your yammering over here on the MtG board has convinced me to start playing again.  I've got the client, as yet unactivated, and I wanted some input from you guys before I took the plunge.

1.  Does the online activation come with any cards or decks?  Does the boxed version?
2.  Can I get one of those new-fangled pre-made decks for MtG online?
3.  What rulesets/blocks do you guys play?  Which do you reccomend for someone just picking the game back up?
4.  Any important new card types/abilities come out in the last, oh.... six years?
5.  I used to play weenie green decks or nuker/land destruction red decks back around Ice Age/Mirage before I quit (Pillage and Lightning for teh Win!) - what would be a half-decent cheap way to recreate one of those in the current generation?

Yea! Another addict for the crackhouse!

1.  Does the online activation come with any cards or decks?  Does the boxed version?

Yes, well you get basically a $10 online store credit to spend on cards.  How you spend it is up to you (i.e. event tickets, booster packs, tournament pack, theme deck).

2.  Can I get one of those new-fangled pre-made decks for MtG online?

Yep.  Same theme decks as paper magic.

3.  What rulesets/blocks do you guys play?  Which do you reccomend for someone just picking the game back up?

For any new player it's best to start with one of the limited formats, like sealed decks, drafts, or IMHO the best way, a league.  Limited formats do have some luck in what card pool you get, but it removes the whole "i dont have 4 of the needed rares so dont bother playing constructed".  It also allows you to build your card pool a little at a time rather than having to sink $200 in day 1.

That being said, with the clan concept it's usually not hard to accumulate a ton of commons and other cards you might want, so playing type 2 decks or block constructed decks for fun is certainly doable.  I tend to steer clear of signing up for true constructed tournaments bc of both the cost and time to play factors.  Mutiplayer is always fun too.

4.  Any important new card types/abilities come out in the last, oh.... six years?

Oh lord...  Did you know about the stack changing? (i.e. no interrupts anymore, last in first out effects for everything now?).  And yes, tons of new card abilities.  Still if you've played magic it's not hard to pick it back up.  One important note is a the concept of keywords on the cards now.  So in the past while a wall might say "walls cannot attack", that has been replaced with the keyword "Defender".  Again, doesnt take long to learn but the first time you see a card with a new keyword you;ll need to ask what it does b/c the card itself wont. 

5.  I used to play weenie green decks or nuker/land destruction red decks back around Ice Age/Mirage before I quit (Pillage and Lightning for teh Win!) - what would be a half-decent cheap way to recreate one of those in the current generation?

Hop in an try the environment before you start kicking around deck ideas.  A lots changed even though some deck concepts never go out of style.  You probably didn't know such a card as this bad boy (http://gatherer.wizards.com/default.asp?first=1&last=100&term=crucible+of+worlds&Field_Name=on&Field_Rules=on&Field_Type=on&setfilter=Standard&colorfilter=All&output=summary&sort=name) existed (click on the card name on that window to see it)...

Xilren

Goddamn it, you are making me want to play again. Stop it!

Actually, in game when you see a keyword on a card, you can just highlight it and it'll tell you what it does in a tool-tip.

That said, I'm jonesing Ravnica. Bad.

C'mon Way.  No monthly fee; how can you say no?  :-D

It's friday night....

Xilren

Sounds good to me.  When is the next league start or draft and how do I join?

Drafts start about every 10 minutes.

Leagues are always 'starting'.

Basically you can join any league that isn't full, and a new one is created whenever the newest of a particular format becomes a week old, or when the newest becomes full. Just click on the leagues page, select the newest league in your format of choice, click 'Go To' click 'Join'. the system will then tell you the product you need, go buy it, click join again, and you are away.

The three formats are 8th ed, Mirrodin block, or Kami block. Kami block is by far the most popular.


The colour wheel has become a lot more rigid over time, so you might find your old favourite archetypes aren't as functional as they were.

But for green weenie you could do worse than snakes in Kami block, not least becuase they are cheap.

Has the redemption policy changed at all or it still "full sets" only?

Kami block, however, sucks if you get no spirits, Jitte, or that Equipment/ Dragon spirit artifact.   It seems everyone I played in my Kami block had one of the last two, because that's how I lost 80% of the matches I didn't get land screwed by the shuffler.

So I'm registered.  Anyone in a league I can join or want to join one with me?
Also, when I get my tourny pack etc., how do I ensure it uses my $10 credit?

EDIT: I also need an invite into Bat Country when someone gets on.

You got a voucher code by email when you joined, there is a screen at card shop checkout where you get to type it in.

There are usualy 2-3 Kami block leagues, 1 8th edition and 1 Mirrodian block league that start each week.  Would you rather jump straight into a Kami block or get re-aquainted in general with an 8th ed league?  I;m up for either.   Remember, you dont have to have the 3 extra weeks boosters when you sign up, just the inital packs requried.

Schild can invite you to the clan.

Xilren

In fact, you'll probably find you don't really need more than one or two of the additional boosters you can add each week at all.

The last one espeicially will often not have any noticable effect on your deck.

I'd rather dive into the new material in Kami, because A) its more interesting and B) I've already played a half dozen of those practice table games to get a handle of things. I'm joining the newest Kami game as of Sunday the 5th, #546712, if anyone wants to join.

Just joined in 546712 as well. :)

Xilren

How much land should I have in my deck for such a league?  I have 16 (all 7 W,all 6 B, and 3 U), which I remember being standard, but I had mana shortage at the start of the game and then a run of nothing but lands once I was well on my way to losing.

16 SHOULD be fine, In theory.

However, as per my "I'm Cursed" thread, the shuffler in leagues is a dirty, rotten, nasty, cheating SOB that hates new players.  I was running 18-20 lands at one point and still got land screwed.  I don't pretend to understand, I just accept it and avoid leagues now. 

16 to 18. 17 is considered typical. Also remember you can add as many basic lands of each type as you like - you don't need to stick to the 6 of each in the tourney pack. There is an 'add land' button at the bottom of the deck build screen. This goes for all limited play in MtGO.

If you want to post your card list in the other thread we'll contribute the gestalt mind to it.

Only thing I can say right off is I really really try to avoid going 3 colors in limited unless you have several methods of color fixing your mana.  That being said, I just lost a match to a BRW deck that got two different color shrines out on me each game ...but im not bitter about it despite having zero enchantment removal or anything...

Xilren

Hallelujah!