Advice for a new player

[LhûgThalion]

I am wanting to teach my boyfriend how to play, however short of basics Im not sure the best way to teach him, as far as a learning deck, he has a pre-con RTR intro and 2 RTR/ 2 Gatecrash boosters for when he is understanding enough to adjust the deck (as well as full access to my library). If anyone has any advice or tips on the best way to teach him I would greatly appreciate it

[Spikepit]

If he has an iPad, PSN/XBLA or Steam, he should download Duels of the Planeswalkers. It's quite explicit and doesn't let you deviate from the rules.

... and heaps fun too!

[Coffee Vampire]

Don't try to teach him everything at once, it's just too much. Start with basic spellcasting, such as tapping lands for mana so you can do stuff. Explain how attacking and blocking works, and how you attack players; not creatures. But when it comes to complicated stuff, let him learn as he goes, when the situations come.

[Birdbrain]

Don't try to teach him everything at once, it's just too much. Start with basic spellcasting, such as tapping lands for mana so you can do stuff. Explain how attacking and blocking works, and how you attack players; not creatures. But when it comes to complicated stuff, let him learn as he goes, when the situations come.

Although mention that there are finer points. But say you'll do those later. As I've experienced a couple of times, sometimes new players will argue with you about a rule, or a card. And some even think you might be changing things on them when you get to a more complicated issue. Like whether or not you can populate when there's no tokens on the field...ugh that was embracing having a heated argument in Barnes & Nobel...

[LhûgThalion]

Didn't know duels was on PSN thanks for that info, I'll look into that could be good for the both of us ( I'm kind of rusty On some things myself lol)

[Spikepit]

Didn't know duels was on PSN thanks for that info, I'll look into that could be good for the both of us ( I'm kind of rusty On some things myself lol)

The only bad thing I find with DotP is it doesn't have a keyword glossary accessible in a duel, so to touch up on wording of, say, Battle Cry means searching else where.

So, as the two lovely gents mentioned above, stick with him, basics, finer points later and all that. 😉

[LhûgThalion]

Keep him away from {U} until he has the basics down...

Lmao already thought of that one

[Imdowd80]

i saw someone on here who was playing a few practice games, with the hands exposed so they could walk step by step thru the thought process and what not.  for beginners i think thats a good way to learn.  Also always explain whats going on, and when you play the first few games, let him take back things, or even make a late blocking decision if you pump a guy. Then when he gets more comfortable, let him know that he wont be able to back up as much as you were letting him

[toastani]

Above all, bottom line: have fun!

[izik99]

Make sure you specify all basic rules, and here's one that I've seen that a lot of people don't understand: Combat. They don't get that both creatures deal damage, not only attacking ones. Lay it out and trace an X with your fingers to demonstrate. For example, a 3/3 attacking, and a 3/4 blocking:

3 / 3
\  /
/  \
3 / 4

[LhûgThalion]

Hey all thanks for the advice, I wish I had a community like this when I was learning lol,

[Dudecore]

Keep him away from {U} until he has the basics down...

I basically didn't like the game until I played blue. Never looked back.

[Hays413]

Didn't know duels was on PSN thanks for that info, I'll look into that could be good for the both of us ( I'm kind of rusty On some things myself lol)

The only bad thing I find with DotP is it doesn't have a keyword glossary accessible in a duel, so to touch up on wording of, say, Battle Cry means searching else where.

So, as the two lovely gents mentioned above, stick with him, basics, finer points later and all that. 😉

Actually when in a duel, if you select the card with the keyword you don't know, or need the finer points on, you can look it up right there. Can't remember which buttons though... Select on PS3 maybe...

[Kaleo42]

Drawing correlations to other games or facts of life are very helpful. Magic is an extremely logical game and that makes teaching it's ifinite complexities possible.

[toastani]

One major rule when I was learning that helped a lot was that my father (my teacher) always reminded me that the cards tell you how to play. And that's pretty true.