Getting started in Magic

[Appleguru56]

The deckbuilder's toolkit I believe is to be a waste of money, it contains pretty lame things that don't really do too much in the competitive environment. If you dream big and want to become better faster, I would suggest simply getting the event decks (haven't thought of them until now :0). They are designed by WoTC to be slightly competitive and contains really good cards that can be traded out if need be. Personally If you have like 30-50 to spend, I would just get an event deck and some booster packs (the contents to use as trade fodder) and get the cards you want to make your deck better.
Or if you have some more money, you can get another event deck to add more copies of good cards to your original deck (and the rest leftovers are still more trade fodder)

[cltrn81]

If you play casual the toolkit is awesome for only $20.  You get 4 boosters so that is $16 value.  So for $4 you get a lot of lands and a bunch of very playable common/uncommons like {lightning bolt}, {Serra angel}, and {leatherback baloth}.  Now if you are an overly critical standard player *cough* Appleguru *cough* than the toolkit is not for you

[BlackJester]

...Quite conveniently the next expansion comes out right as school ends so I will probably get a bunch of cards from that to get me going into the summer...

It's almost like they planned it that way... 

[BlackJester]

Let's play nice here. 

Now, buying an event deck gives you something you could probably start kickin' a$$ and taakin' names with (not really), but you are locked in playing the same deck over and over.  If tweeking a single deck to perfection is your idea of fun (and if it is, that's great! Go Spikes!) then go that route.  If however you'd like to try a wider variety of the game and have the land and essentials to do so, my money is on toolbox.

One of the beautiful things about the game of magic is that there are many ways to enjoy it and you need to figure out what it is about the game that interests you most:
Winning
Coming up with cool ideas/combos
Getting together with friends and having fun

If the first is most important to you, go with Apple's suggestion.  For the second, maybe a theme deck?  And toolbox for the third?  It's not quite that simple, but at least the toolbox gives you building blocks to try a number of different ideas and future decks.
IMHO

[Karrthus]

The deckbuilder's toolkit I believe is to be a waste of money, it contains pretty lame things that don't really do too much in the competitive environment. If you dream big and want to become better faster, I would suggest simply getting the event decks (haven't thought of them until now :0). They are designed by WoTC to be slightly competitive and contains really good cards that can be traded out if need be. Personally If you have like 30-50 to spend, I would just get an event deck and some booster packs (the contents to use as trade fodder) and get the cards you want to make your deck better.
Or if you have some more money, you can get another event deck to add more copies of good cards to your original deck (and the rest leftovers are still more trade fodder)

I agree with guru on this one. Toolkit is lame. The event deck or intro packs are the best way to go. Event decks would require less work than an intro pack.

[cltrn81]

I was not being mean......just SOURcastic

[Greg54js]

When do the new toolkits release or have have they released

[BlackJester]

When do the new toolkits release or have have they released

The first one came out in May 2010.  The "refreshed" one (including boosters from Zen - Besieged) came out March 2011.  I would guess that another would come out this March.

[Langku]

Get a Magic buddy. I came back to the game not long ago and one of my friends just threw free cards my direction. Friends in the game mean you will have some quick cards and someone to play. Welcome and watch your wallet Our hobby is a money pit.

[Wally]

As you have already seen there are plenty of ways to get started. I only got into it just on 2 years ago, and really only played casual 1v1 and multiplayer for the first year and a bit, not really understanding all the different formats and such.
I did my research at the time and went with the deck builders toolkit as it gave me the most cards (with a good range of different stuff) that money could buy. I found it an awesome way to start and before I knew it I had 3 decks on the build and one that really kicked some arse.
To supplement and tweak what I had I found a local place that sold singles online and I did heaps of research into what cards I wanted, then went and purchased only the ones I needed to minimize the bulk of cards.
Doing it this way (I believe) is much better on the wallet -as already mentioned this hobby is a money pit if you let it- and you can end up spending many bucks on buying lots of rubbish and a few awesome cards by buying lots of boosters.
Now just recently my mates and I have started getting into playing more standard based stuff. Getting along to sealed tournaments is always good and a level playing field. Often they will give you a great deal on what you will need to play and also give you a promo card. For dark a. set we had a fat pack tournament, a sealed 6 boosters one (3 from inn 3 from da) and a draft. I found that was a great way to add more cards to my play set and give me more cards to create new decks.
Finally somewhere along the line I got into playing the computer versions of the game, this not only ironed out a few of the simple play mistakes I was making, but forced me to know the rules far better. (having an awesome resource like the iMTG app with everything right at your finger tips is invaluable)
Good luck and with whatever way you decide to go, have fun and remember its a game. Enjoy it, and if you get beaten, go away and come back stronger.