Getting Started
New Player · Zero To First Game
You don’t need to learn all of Magic to play Magic. Grab a ready made deck, learn the shape of a turn, and play your first game tonight. Everything else can wait until it comes up.
20
Starting life
7
Card opening hand
1
Land per turn
2+
Players
0
Rules memorized
$10–15
Enough to start
What To Buy
- Jumpstart packs are the fastest start. Each one is a themed 20 card half deck, lands included. Shuffle any two together and you’re holding a playable 40 card deck. Two players, four packs, done.
- A Starter or Beginner Box gives you two ready decks and a learn to play guide, built to teach two brand new players.
- A Commander precon is the right first buy if your friends already play Commander: a complete, legal 100 card deck out of the box.
- Magic Arena is the free option. Its tutorial teaches you the rules before you spend a cent on cardboard.
The Goal
- Everyone starts at 20 life. Get your opponent to 0 and you win. (CR 103.4)
- You draw a 7 card opening hand. Don’t like it? Mulligan: shuffle it back, draw a fresh seven, then tuck one card away for each mulligan you’ve taken. (CR 103.5)
- Two other ways to lose: having to draw from an empty library (CR 104.3c), or collecting ten poison counters if poison is in the game. (CR 104.3d)
How A Turn Works
Untap
Ready all your tapped cards.
Upkeep
Some cards trigger here. Usually nothing happens.
Draw
Draw one card.
Main
Play a land, cast creatures and sorceries.
Combat
Attack with creatures. The defender chooses blockers.
Second Main
Cast anything you held back. Play your land if you haven’t yet.
End
Pass the turn. Opponents can still cast instants.
Core Ideas
- Lands make mana, mana casts spells. Tap a land for mana, spend it on a spell’s cost. You get one land per turn.
- New creatures are groggy. A creature can’t attack the turn it arrives. Players call this summoning sickness. (CR 302.6)
- Sorceries wait, instants don’t. Sorceries only happen on your own main phase. Instants can happen almost anytime, even on someone else’s turn.
- Tapped means used. A sideways card has done its job for the turn. It readies again on your untap step.
- A turn always runs in the same order, the one shown above. (CR 500.1)
Tips
Play your first game open handed
Lay both hands face up on the table and talk through every play. You’ll learn more in one open game than in five normal ones.
Start with decks, not booster packs
Boosters are random cards, not a deck. Get something playable out of the box first, and crack packs later once you know what you like.
Your local game store will teach you
Most stores run beginner nights and Friday Night Magic. Say you’re new. Teaching new players is half the culture.
Governing Rules
Comprehensive Rules Cited
CR 103.4 — 20 starting life
CR 103.5 — Mulligans
CR 104.3c — Empty library loss
CR 104.3d — Ten poison loss
CR 302.6 — Summoning sickness
CR 500.1 — Turn order
Rules citations verified against the Magic Comprehensive Rules effective June 19, 2026.