Hello! My partner is interested in learning magic so that we can play together. I’m wondering what is the best product out there currently to teach someone the rules and basics of the game. She tried the Arena tutorial but it didn’t really stick. I’ve heard Jumpstart is a good way to go. Should I look into getting a box of Jumpstart?
Is your collection big enough to put together your own "starter set"?
I would build 5 decks, one for each color. Make each one iconic for what the color does. White weenie, green stompy, red burn, etc. Don't make them run too fast, or you run the risk of the new player getting frustrated and giving up. You want the games to go on for long enough for her to ask questions and get a feel for each color.
Exactly what you put in each deck depends on the existing gaming knowledge of the new player. When I was teaching small kids to play, I started them out with french vanilla creatures and sorceries, adding the more complicated stuff (instants, auras, multicolor decks) later. But if she already has experience with, say, board games, you may be able to add a little more from the start.
My collection is fairly small at this point, I've gotten rid of most things and just really collect black foils. I do have a few commander decks but I don't think those would be the best tools to use to teach her as they're a bit complex to play.
If what I described sounds interesting, take a look at Rookie Decks from Card Kingdom. They are simple, 60 card decks, each built around 1 color and an associated keyword (blue flying, red haste, etc). They are all commons and uncommons, so don't expect a huge amount of value, but they are affordable at $7 each or $30 for a set of 5.
I believe WotC provides stores with almost 'beginner' decks that are mono colour that you should be able to get for free. I'm not usre if they do those anymore but I remember seeing them within the past year.
I've also seen some larger stores provide almost an "instant collection" with a lot of cards at each rarity
I’ve been impressed with Jumpstart.
Bought a box and been using it to teach my ten year old through pack wars.
One drawback is only 1 of 24 packs was green so bad for teaching and value for me.
Too many blue packs which not easy color to learn on.
Put together a small cube from which to draft.
My cousin and I used to draft 8 piles of 11 cards (randomly chosen from a much larger pool of around 1000 for greater variance).
We would draft four piles (two each), then the others.
This (or a similar draft variation) will help teach card evaluation skills, relative card strength, and deck building, which are all important if she ever wants to join you for limited (prerelease or draft) events when stores eventually reopen.
Get Brawl decks
New players usually like having extra life and an extra card which they have access to any time.
The decks will be evenly matched, inherently synergistic, themed, and a good way to introduce her to Commander which has become increasingly more popular especially among players who prefer fun group social games and creative deck building as opposed to 4-of formats which are more streamlined, competitive, fast-paced, and occasionally tedious due to the restricted nature of repetitive gameplay sequences.
Duel decks (ie: Venser vs Koth, Garruk vs Liliana, Jace vs Vraska, Bolas vs Ajani, etc) are also good options for a new player, which is what I used to use when introducing people to the game.
Unfortunately they're not made anymore, too pricey to pick up now if you can find old ones unopened, and the solo Planeswalker decks which briefly replaced them never delivered enough value due to the powered-down variants of the walkers included.
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I would build 5 decks, one for each color. Make each one iconic for what the color does. White weenie, green stompy, red burn, etc. Don't make them run too fast, or you run the risk of the new player getting frustrated and giving up. You want the games to go on for long enough for her to ask questions and get a feel for each color.
Exactly what you put in each deck depends on the existing gaming knowledge of the new player. When I was teaching small kids to play, I started them out with french vanilla creatures and sorceries, adding the more complicated stuff (instants, auras, multicolor decks) later. But if she already has experience with, say, board games, you may be able to add a little more from the start.
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I've also seen some larger stores provide almost an "instant collection" with a lot of cards at each rarity
Bought a box and been using it to teach my ten year old through pack wars.
One drawback is only 1 of 24 packs was green so bad for teaching and value for me.
Too many blue packs which not easy color to learn on.
Put together a small cube from which to draft.
My cousin and I used to draft 8 piles of 11 cards (randomly chosen from a much larger pool of around 1000 for greater variance).
We would draft four piles (two each), then the others.
This (or a similar draft variation) will help teach card evaluation skills, relative card strength, and deck building, which are all important if she ever wants to join you for limited (prerelease or draft) events when stores eventually reopen.
Get Brawl decks
New players usually like having extra life and an extra card which they have access to any time.
The decks will be evenly matched, inherently synergistic, themed, and a good way to introduce her to Commander which has become increasingly more popular especially among players who prefer fun group social games and creative deck building as opposed to 4-of formats which are more streamlined, competitive, fast-paced, and occasionally tedious due to the restricted nature of repetitive gameplay sequences.
Duel decks (ie: Venser vs Koth, Garruk vs Liliana, Jace vs Vraska, Bolas vs Ajani, etc) are also good options for a new player, which is what I used to use when introducing people to the game.
Unfortunately they're not made anymore, too pricey to pick up now if you can find old ones unopened, and the solo Planeswalker decks which briefly replaced them never delivered enough value due to the powered-down variants of the walkers included.
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