How Does Magic: The Gathering Work? The Complete Beginner's Guide

Everyone who plays Magic once had that one moment: you hold a card for the first time and only see symbols, numbers, and small print. Don't panic — we did too. The great thing is: once you understand one card, you understand them all. Every Magic card is built on the same template.

In this guide, we'll explain the game from scratch: what's on a card, what types of cards there are, what your battlefield looks like, how a turn progresses, and how you attack. No strategy, no complicated formats — just the classic 1-on-1 way of playing. This is the essential foundation before diving into a format like Draft.

What exactly is Magic: The Gathering?

Magic: The Gathering (MTG for short) has existed since 1993 and is the very first collectible card game ever — and still the largest. In the game, you are a planeswalker: a powerful mage who casts spells, summons creatures, and battles their opponent. Your deck is your arsenal.

In this guide, we'll focus on one way of playing: two players, each with a deck of at least 60 cards and 20 life each. The first to reduce the other's life to 0 wins. If you understand this, you understand the basics of every game of Magic — whether you're at the kitchen table or in a store.

The anatomy of a Magic card

This is the most important paragraph of this entire guide. Below you see Shivan Dragon — a classic card that contains everything you need to know. The numbered circles point to each component; on the right, you'll read what they mean. Feel free to grab one of your own cards: everything is in exactly the same place.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1

Card name — every card has a unique name. In your deck, you can have a maximum of 4 copies of the same card, except for basic lands — you can have as many of those as you want.

2

Mana cost — what you pay to cast the card. The gray number is generic mana (any color allowed), the colored symbols are mandatory in that color. Shivan Dragon costs — so 4 generic + 2 red mana, for a total mana value of 6.

3

Illustration — no rules, but half the magic.

4

Type line — the card type, and after the dash, the subtype. This is a Creature — Dragon: a creature of the Dragon subtype.

5

Expansion symbol — shows which set the card comes from. The color reveals its rarity: black = common, silver = uncommon, gold = rare, orange-red = mythic rare.

6

Text box — what the card does: keywords (like Flying) and abilities. Italicized text is reminder text (explanation) or flavor text (atmosphere) — the latter has NO impact on the game.

7

Power / Toughness — only on creatures. Power (left) = the damage it deals, toughness (right) = how much damage it can take before it dies. Shivan Dragon is 5/5.

8

Collector number & artist — card number within the set, rarity, language, and illustrator. Primarily interesting for collectors.

By the way, do you see the reddish-brown border? The color of the frame immediately reveals the card's color — this dragon is red.

The five colors of Magic

Mana — the energy you use to pay for spells — comes in five colors, and each color has its own philosophy and playstyle. This "color pie" is the foundation of the entire game:

White (W)

Order & Protection. Armies of small creatures, life gain, and keeping your army safe.

Blue (U)

Deceit & Intellect. Drawing cards, countering spells, and always thinking one step ahead.

Black (B)

Death & Decay. No mercy: sacrifice life and creatures to gain power.

Red (R)

Fury & Chaos. Fast attacks and direct damage. Scorch your foes from turn one.

Green (G)

Life & Nature. Accelerate your mana and summon colossal creatures. Become the biggest thing on the table.

Two facts: blue is "U" (from blUe), because 'B' was already taken by Black. And most decks combine two or three colors — some decks even use all five.

The seven card types

In the type line (number 4 above) it states what kind of card you are holding. First a quick overview, then we'll explain each type using an actual card:

Cards that stay on the battlefield (lands, creatures, enchantments, artifacts, and planeswalkers) are collectively called permanents. There are two other rare types — battle (since 2023) and kindred — but you'll rarely encounter them as a beginner. Below are the seven that matter:

1. Land — Minamo, School at Water's Edge

Lands are your mana source — the engine of your deck. They don't cost mana themselves, but you can only play one per turn, during your own main phase. Once on the battlefield, they remain and you can tap (turn sideways) them for mana each turn. The five basic lands — Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest — tap for white, blue, black, red, and green, respectively. Minamo is a somewhat special, legendary land: it taps for blue mana and also has an additional ability. Rule of thumb for your first deck: about 24 lands out of 60 cards.

2. Creature — Colossal Dreadmaw

Creatures are your army: they attack and block. Their power/toughness is listed at the bottom right — Colossal Dreadmaw is 6/6. You play a creature during your own main phase. Note one important rule: a creature has summoning sickness the turn it enters the battlefield — it cannot attack or use its tap abilities yet (unless it has Haste). From your next turn, it's ready to go. The Dreadmaw also has the keyword Trample, which we'll discuss later during combat.

3. Instant — Lightning Bolt

An instant is a one-time spell that goes to your graveyard after use. The special thing about it: you can cast it at almost any time — during your own turn, during your opponent's turn, even in the middle of combat. Lightning Bolt deals 3 damage to any target: a creature, a planeswalker, or directly to a player. This type of direct damage is called burn. You'll definitely save it sometimes to take out an attacker just in time.

4. Sorcery — Divination

A sorcery is similar to an instant — one-time use, then to the graveyard — but with one important difference: you can only play it during your own main phase, when nothing else is happening. Divination lets you draw 2 cards. More cards = more choices, and this is called card advantage: one of the most important principles in Magic. The player who sees more useful cards often wins automatically.

5. Enchantment — Pacifism

An enchantment is a permanent spell that stays on the battlefield and continuously affects the game. You play it in your own main phase. Pacifism is a special kind of enchantment: an Aura, which you attach to another permanent — in this case, an opposing creature. As long as Pacifism is attached, that creature cannot attack or block. A nightmare for that one big threat on the other side.

6. Artifact — Sol Ring

An artifact represents an object, machine, or relic and is usually colorless — meaning it fits into any deck, regardless of your colors. You play it in your own main phase and it remains on the battlefield. Sol Ring is the prime example: it only costs 1 mana and immediately yields 2 mana when tapped. This kind of mana acceleration is called ramp and allows you to play expensive cards much faster.

7. Planeswalker — Ajani, Caller of the Pride

Planeswalkers are mighty allies you summon for help. In the bottom right is their loyalty (4 for Ajani). Once per turn, during your main phase, you choose one of their loyalty abilities: an ability with a plus builds loyalty, an ability with a minus provides a stronger effect but costs loyalty. For Ajani, +1 puts a +1/+1 counter on a creature, while −3 gives a creature flying and double strike. If his loyalty drops to 0, he disappears — and your opponent can attack him with creatures to speed that up.

Setting up your play area

Before you begin, everyone divides their cards into fixed zones. Get used to this and the game will flow more smoothly. This is what your side of the table looks like:

• Battlefield — the shared play area where your lands, creatures, and other permanents lie. This is where combat happens.
• Hand — your hand of cards, secret from your opponent. At the end of your turn, you can have a maximum of 7.
• Library — your deck, face down. You draw from here each turn. If you need to draw when your Library is empty? You lose.
• Graveyard — your discard pile: destroyed creatures, discarded cards, and used instants/sorceries. Open and visible.
• Exile — a kind of "out of game" zone. Some cards send something to exile instead of the graveyard — it's often much harder to retrieve it from there.
• Life total — your life, starting at 20. Keep track of this with a pad, dice, or the free Magic Companion app.

A turn step-by-step

Every turn follows the exact same sequence of phases. After a few games, you'll do this on autopilot:

The full turn structure — including the individual steps within combat — is shown here at a glance:

The Combat Phase goes through these steps: Beginning of Combat (last break before attack) → Declare Attackers (you designate your attackers) → Declare Blockers (your opponent assigns blockers) → Combat Damage (all damage is dealt simultaneously) → End of Combat. How attacking and blocking exactly plays out, you'll see below.

Attacking and blocking (combat)

Combat is where games are decided — and it's simpler than it seems. Three steps:

Step 1 — Declare attackers. You determine which of your creatures attack and tap them. Important: you attack the player (or a planeswalker), never their creatures directly.

Step 2 — Declare blockers. The defender decides for each attacker whether one of their creatures will block it. Blockers do not need to tap. Not blocking is also allowed — in that case, the damage goes to the player.

Step 3 — Combat damage. Attacker and blocker deal damage simultaneously, equal to their power. If a creature takes damage equal to (or more than) its toughness, it dies and goes to the graveyard.

ATTACKER · 6/6 · TRAMPLE

⚔️

BLOCKER · 2/2

The result: Colossal Dreadmaw (6/6) is blocked by Knight of Dawn (2/2). The Dreadmaw deals 6 damage — much more than the Knight's 2 toughness, so it dies and goes to the graveyard. The Knight deals 2 damage back; that's less than the Dreadmaw's 6 toughness, so it survives (and that damage disappears at the end of the turn).

And then there's the keyword Trample on the Dreadmaw: excess combat damage "spills over" to the player. If you block a 6/6 trampler with a 2/2, 2 damage goes to the blocker and the remaining 4 damage still goes to the player. Without trample, all damage would be absorbed by the blocker.

Knight of Dawn also has two handy keywords that show how abilities change combat:

• First strike — a creature with first strike deals its combat damage before creatures without first strike. If it fights something it kills in one hit, it strikes first and takes no damage in return. In our example, the Dreadmaw is just so big that it survives the first hit and still strikes back.
• Protection from [color] — for , Knight of Dawn can gain protection from a chosen color. A creature with protection from green cannot be blocked, targeted, or damaged by anything green — handy against our green Dreadmaw. In short: anything of that color bounces off it.

Each keyword has its own twist — also consider Flying (only blockable by creatures with flying or reach, like our Shivan Dragon). You'll learn them naturally, game by game.

How to win (or lose)?

You lose the game if one of these things happens:

• Your life total is 0 (or less) — by far the most common way. You start with 20.
• Your Library is empty — if you have to draw a card while your deck is empty, you lose immediately. This is called decked out.
• You have 10 poison counters — some creatures deal poison instead of regular damage.

And yes, there are even rare cards that literally say "You win the game" — but don't count on that for now. Reducing your opponent's life to 0 remains by far the most common route to victory.

How to play your first game

The theory is in — now play. This is the route we recommend to everyone:

1. Learn the basics by doing. Nothing works as fast as simply playing. Wizards of the Coast has an excellent free official "How to Play" page with videos, and on LearnMTG.com you'll find an interactive tutorial. Half an hour and the phases will be in your fingers. Prefer to practice digitally? MTG Arena (the free video game version) teaches you the game click by click.

2. Pick up a ready-made set. You don't have to build a deck yourself right away. A bundle, fatpack or starter set is the easiest start: you get a large stack of cards (and often lands + accessories) all at once to get started. Check out our bundles, fatpacks & scene boxes for a great first purchase.

3. Find fellow players. You don't play Magic alone — fortunately, the community is incredibly friendly. Are you from the area? Then check out our guide on playing MTG in Maastricht & Limburg.

And one more thing: if your starting hand of 7 cards isn't good (for example, no lands)? Then you can take a mulligan — shuffle back, draw 7 new cards, and then put one on the bottom of your Library. Also, put your cards in sleeves from day one; in our guide on protecting cards you can read how.

Read also:

• All MTG booster types explained
• Draft explained: how the most fun limited format works
• Protecting and storing cards
• Playing MTG in Maastricht & Limburg

Written by Omèr Cremers
Owner of SpellArmory, social worker and full-time father. Avid MTG player and collector from Maastricht — Commander is my favorite format. Questions about which product suits you best? Feel free to send me a message.