Magic the Gathering and other CCG's and boardgames discussion

[Ledgo2]

A game I use to play (and be creamed at by my siblings) when I was younger, I only recently picked it back up. I am very happy I did, as I'm having a good time building decks and playing people around my area.

As of now, I play with a green ancient ooze/mana rush deck, and my main deck being a black Rats deck.

Now, I've been told by a lot of people rats are a bad deck to play-Yet I haven't had any problems playing this deck. It seems most people I play who try to roll giants like Akroma Memorials with beef creatures seem to get downed fast. My typical strategy with my rats is to rush early on, and when I get Marrow-Gnawer, I begin to multiply my rats.

To help multiplication of rats, I have Ratcathers, who allows me to pick a rat card of my choice from my deck into my hand. This means if I haven't gotten Marrow-Gnawer or Ink-Eyes yet, I can. The fear mechanic in this deck works well, playing other decks that cannot block any rats open the way for Ninjitsu summons on my ninjas. I carry a coat of arms, even though I know I should have something like a Door of Destinies instead, in my deck. When it comes time to multiply, I simply sacrifice a rat using Marrow-Gnawers ability, and I put X 1/1 tokens into play, X being the number of rats. As far are tournament laws are concerned, the next rat sacrificed may be a token. Let's say I had 5 rats, Marrow included. I sacrifice rat #2, and now I have 9 rats. Next turn, I decided to take out a token, and move myself to 16. Repeat, win by mass zerg. Add a coat of arms (Every creatures gets 1/1 for each creature in play it shares a creature type with), and I can swarm 106 105/105 rats. Add a Pestilence Rat (Is */3, * being the number of rats in play), and even if I face another weenie deck, I can send a single rat with a higher number and fear to deal the killing blow.

The only faults are genocide cards (Destroy all target creature types), and playing other rat decks get fun. The only other rat deck I played was a Relentless Rats, a coworker of mine had gotten pretty mad he was rushed and beaten by my rats. He constructed this deck (24 Relentless Rats. For those that don't know, there is no limit on how many relentless rats you may have in your deck, and they recieve 1/1 for each relentless rat in play). Using the logic that I would feed him, we had a stand off (With our rats being around 201/201) until I played a Pestilence rat. Being around 405/202 (I hardly remember), I laid waste to his defense and steamrolled him.

Now that I'm done being a geek. I suppose this opens discussions.

[kiggidykev]

I played in high school when my lunch table friends introduced me to the game. After high school though, it seemed like no one played it so I quit. It was also an expensive hobby to keep up with new sets.

[Der_Lex]

I'm in the same boat as Kev: used to play a lot in high school, but only very rarely after that (mostly because there were other CCG's I enjoyed playing more, most notably the unfortunately short-lived Wheel of Time CCG). Being able to play Duel of the Planeswalkers (limited as it may be) for free with my free month of PSN+ has rekindled my interest in the game a bit, though. I might pick up a couple of the new 12th edition set theme decks and teach my wife to play (she's played CCG's before, just not Magic, believe it or not).

[Nickalos N]

I like playing the game every once in a while, it's fun to play with my family and friends. But after a while I get a little bored of it. I usually use my Blue/White deck, being as I don't have money to invest into another deck or make my own, but I still do good with it

[Ledgo2]

I'm in the same boat as Kev: used to play a lot in high school, but only very rarely after that (mostly because there were other CCG's I enjoyed playing more, most notably the unfortunately short-lived Wheel of Time CCG). Being able to play Duel of the Planeswalkers (limited as it may be) for free with my free month of PSN+ has rekindled my interest in the game a bit, though. I might pick up a couple of the new 12th edition set theme decks and teach my wife to play (she's played CCG's before, just not Magic, believe it or not).

I suggest picking up some starters. Knights vs Dragons is the best starting kit in my own opinion. The decks are balanced and have some very nice cards, as well as rewarding mechanics. The issue with a lot of those new decks they make themselves is that they are at best beginner to intermediate(if that) level decks. They're great fun to actually use as a base deck and to expand upon. My knights deck already had a few knights and spells taken out and replaced with specter knights. The way the decks are designed, you feel fufilled after working a certain mechanic and it promotes you to think.

The best way to get someone back, or fresh, into the game is to give them a simple basic deck. You need to be able to teach them the basics of the game as well as any evasion roles(Flying, Shadow, ect.) that might come up. I also suggest you tweak the rules a little bit-I play by old tournament rules (Pretty much same gameplay, except it follows traditional free style turns), as well as add some house rules to spice it up. At my table games, we have rules that actually reward you for playing a good combo. One such would be drawing four cards on an empty hand-It promotes people to think about how to play their cards and have a queue of work set up. I find Planeswalker a good game, but it really limits the game. There's also some really cool games to play with magic, such as Hydra (Two players, four decks), and Nightmare, which is a version of magic that is meant to be a quickplay.

But I suggest you try a starter deck to see if she is interested. After that, look for hobby shops around you that specialize in MTG cards. These will be a better place to go, typically the people behind the counter can help your game, give you the cards you need and even order some. Most stores are really good, as only good card stores really stay in business. There's also some good trading card sites to order from, such as TCGplayer, where you can buy cards at wholesale, you just have to wait and pay shipping.

[Der_Lex]

I suggest picking up some starters. Knights vs Dragons is the best starting kit in my own opinion. The decks are balanced and have some very nice cards, as well as rewarding mechanics. The issue with a lot of those new decks they make themselves is that they are at best beginner to intermediate(if that) level decks. They're great fun to actually use as a base deck and to expand upon. My knights deck already had a few knights and spells taken out and replaced with specter knights. The way the decks are designed, you feel fufilled after working a certain mechanic and it promotes you to think.

The best way to get someone back, or fresh, into the game is to give them a simple basic deck. You need to be able to teach them the basics of the game as well as any evasion roles(Flying, Shadow, ect.) that might come up. I also suggest you tweak the rules a little bit-I play by old tournament rules (Pretty much same gameplay, except it follows traditional free style turns), as well as add some house rules to spice it up. At my table games, we have rules that actually reward you for playing a good combo. One such would be drawing four cards on an empty hand-It promotes people to think about how to play their cards and have a queue of work set up. I find Planeswalker a good game, but it really limits the game. There's also some really cool games to play with magic, such as Hydra (Two players, four decks), and Nightmare, which is a version of magic that is meant to be a quickplay.

But I suggest you try a starter deck to see if she is interested. After that, look for hobby shops around you that specialize in MTG cards. These will be a better place to go, typically the people behind the counter can help your game, give you the cards you need and even order some. Most stores are really good, as only good card stores really stay in business. There's also some good trading card sites to order from, such as TCGplayer, where you can buy cards at wholesale, you just have to wait and pay shipping.

Although I appreciate friendly advice as always, I think you're slightly underestimating the level at which my wife and I are involved in playing board and card games.
Long story short: we're game nuts that are on a first-name basis with the owners of any local game stores, and we have such an expansive collection of board games that it's become hard to find quality games to add pick up whenever we feel like trying something new (although the recent addition of Arkham Horror was definitely a good one).
And although my interest in Magic has never been as high as it was in high school (started playing during Beta block, lost interest when sets like Fallen Empires, Homelands and especially 4th edition felt rather nerfed and unimpressive compared to previous sets, interest didn't get piqued again until Ravnica block), both my wife and I were very much into a handful of other CCG's, including horribly complicated ones like Jihad/Vampire. That's why I was looking at the theme decks for 12th ed as a nice middle road for a new player who nonetheless has a lot of games experience: not as basic (and, to be honest, a bit bland, but that might be because of my own dislike for mono red) as Knights vs Dragons, yet not as mechanic-specific as block theme decks can sometimes be.

Either way, I'm not interested in actually collecting Magic again, though. It's too expensive a hobby for that, and I don't think the game is good enough to dedicate that kind of money to. But it definitely is fun enough for the occasional game, so I might buy the occasional theme deck (maybe even some commander decks if I'm ever feeling crazy, that seems like a fun format) or participate in the odd sealed deck tournament, but that's really about it. I'm also considering giving either Warhammer: Invasion or the A Game of Thrones LCG a whirl instead, because I really like the Living Card Game format: less cost-intensive than CCG's, and you can expand your game in a much more controlled and cost-efficient way. That and I've yet to play a Fantasy Flights game that I don't like, those guys might be my favorite games publishers.

[Ledgo2]

Although I appreciate friendly advice as always, I think you're slightly underestimating the level at which my wife and I are involved in playing board and card games.
Long story short: we're game nuts that are on a first-name basis with the owners of any local game stores, and we have such an expansive collection of board games that it's become hard to find quality games to add pick up whenever we feel like trying something new (although the recent addition of Arkham Horror was definitely a good one).
And although my interest in Magic has never been as high as it was in high school (started playing during Beta block, lost interest when sets like Fallen Empires, Homelands and especially 4th edition felt rather nerfed and unimpressive compared to previous sets, interest didn't get piqued again until Ravnica block), both my wife and I were very much into a handful of other CCG's, including horribly complicated ones like Jihad/Vampire. That's why I was looking at the theme decks for 12th ed as a nice middle road for a new player who nonetheless has a lot of games experience: not as basic (and, to be honest, a bit bland, but that might be because of my own dislike for mono red) as Knights vs Dragons, yet not as mechanic-specific as block theme decks can sometimes be.

Either way, I'm not interested in actually collecting Magic again, though. It's too expensive a hobby for that, and I don't think the game is good enough to dedicate that kind of money to. But it definitely is fun enough for the occasional game, so I might buy the occasional theme deck (maybe even some commander decks if I'm ever feeling crazy, that seems like a fun format) or participate in the odd sealed deck tournament, but that's really about it. I'm also considering giving either Warhammer: Invasion or the A Game of Thrones LCG a whirl instead, because I really like the Living Card Game format: less cost-intensive than CCG's, and you can expand your game in a much more controlled and cost-efficient way. That and I've yet to play a Fantasy Flights game that I don't like, those guys might be my favorite games publishers.

I actually quit around or sometime after Ice Age(1998ish. I touched very few other CCG's, though I have only ever seem Jyhad once when my dad tested it. I played Pokemon for two weeks before I traded them all in for a Magic deck. I tried Yugi-oh, didn't like it. Someone at my school tried to get me to play Magi-Nation and I didn't even touch them. As for Commander decks, those are pretty fun. I've only ever seen them played, however. I haven't bothered to look it up enough to try to play it.

[afterstasis]

Jihad/Vampire was so bad, and I even preferred World Of Darkness RP'ing over AD&D.

And like most folks, I played Magic (and several other tabletop games) when I was younger and that was that. I personally miss Warhammer more than any of the others.

[Dante1847]

this thread brings some serious nostalgia and memories. it was Magic and Star Wars: CCG (was anyone into that as well?). have a cousin who was an artist for Magic. Jeff Menges. He does some fantastic work

[Ledgo2]

I have been thinking of getting into Warhammer, but Magic is actually cheaper for me currently. I also am very bad at painting minis, evidence being my D&D sorcerer.