Magic: The Gathering Online FAQs For play on PC Written by Michael Maillaro AKA Blackmore Version: 1.0 Last Updated: 9/17/2002 Contact me: The best way to contact me is to e-mail me at blackmoreinc@yahoo.com. Send me all comments, questions, corrections, or strategies, and I will make sure to credit you. This FAQ is going to be a work in progress, and as I pick up on new information, it will be frequently updated. UPDATE HISTORY 9/9/02 Version 0.1 - The start of my first GameFAQ. Only some basic information here. 9/10/02 Version 0.1a - Expanded first draft, added some information about chat commands and chat symbols. Cleaned up the format. Still working towards getting a completed first draft. Added some general emperor deck info, but it will be a few more days until I can start putting more specifics up there (busy week at work). 9/11/02 Version 0.1b - Added some general information about Magic The Gathering and the difference between the different colors of cards. Every section at this point has some information, and I will continue to expand it as the week passes. Fixed the year in the copyright (2001?) 9/14/02 Version 0.9 - Finally on the brink of the complete first draft! Added section on spell types, and began adding a copy of my current Emperor deck. Added two questions about how much M:TGO costs. This might take a bit longer than I planned, but I should have it all up in a few days. Also worked on the format some, as some things seemed to be screwed up on me when I started viewing it on my new laptop (paid for through work). So far, I have worked mostly on the non-Emperor information, but that will change over the next few days. 9/19/02 Version 1.0 - This was my biggest update since day 1, and I have decided to call this the first draft. There will still be changes and additions (a lot of both), but this is definitely the gist of this guide. Ended up splitting my FAQ into two separate FAQs, one for Emperor's Game and one for M:TGO. I added some stuff to each section, so it would take way too long to explain it all the changes. Table Of Contents Section 1: Introduction Section 2: FAQ 2.1: What is M:TG? 2.2: What is a Trading Card Game? 2.3: What is Magic Online? 2.4: How much does it cost to play M:TGO? 2.5: Is it worth it? 2.6: How can I win every time? 2.7: Game rules or what the card says? Section 3: General Information about M:TG and M:TGO 3.1: What's With all the Colors? 3.1.1: Black 3.1.2: Blue 3.1.3: Green 3.1.4: Red 3.1.5: White 3.1.6: Colorless 3.1.7: Gold (Multi-color) 3.2: Spell Types 3.3: Zones Of Play Section 4: Chat And Etiquette 4.1: Typing Chat Symbols 4.2: Chat Commands 4.3: Ejecting A Player Section 5: Miscellaneous Section 6: Law Of The Land Section 7: Closing Statements And Special Thanks SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION: Welcome to my first FAQ. I've been using this site for two years, so I figured it was about time I started contributing. I noticed there are no FAQs for Magic: The Gathering Online, so I decided to construct one focusing on my favorite version of play: the Emperor's game. While this FAQ will provide some general information about Magic: The Gathering (from here on it, M:TG) and Magic:The Gathering Online (M:TGO), this guide focuses primarily on the multi-player mode called Emperor. This guide assumes you know the basics of playing M:TGO and have already read the instruction booklets that come with the game (or used the game's terrific Help feature). Before I start, I guess I should add one thing: I am in no means an expert Magic player. I have loved the game for a long time in card form, and over the last few months online. I win most of my games, but not all of them. To this day, I rely heavily on creatures and always get pummeled by anti-creature decks. I am also in no means an expert at Emperor games, but I do have a good idea of what works well from experience and watching others plays. So why am I doing this FAQ? Two reasons: 1: There was a need for it. There were almost no reviews for M:TGO, so I wrote one. And for such a complex game as Magic, there were no FAQs. So here is mine, and I hope new players find it useful and old players help me expand it. 2: I have always wanted to write one of these! And since I have a ton of experience with M:TG and M:TGO, this just felt right. So without further adieu, I give you: Mike Maillaro's First Game FAQ! SECTION 2: FAQ 2.1: What is M:TG? (From M:TGO): Magic: The Gathering was the world's first trading card game. Invented by mathematician and award-winning game designer Dr. Richard Garfield, Magic debuted at the GenCon gaming convention in 1993 to instant success and has been growing and evolving ever since. Like other TCGs, you build a Magic deck from either cards you own (Constructed format) or cards you get at the beginning of an event (Limited format) and try to defeat other players. Your deck might contain cards carefully chosen to fit your play style, while your opponent's deck could be completely different than yours. Winning usually means reducing your opponent's score (life total) from 20 to 0. Attacking with creatures or damaging your opponent with spells is the best way to achieve this goal. Imagine doing battle with fire- breathing dragons, noble angels, powerful and mysterious djinns, and cunning elves - they're all part of the Magic: The Gathering game. Cards are the resources at your disposal. Some represent plots of land that you draw mana from, while others depict fantastic creatures, powerful spells, or arcane items. Each different card has unique statistics and abilities, which can interact in complex and surprising ways with other cards. Sets of cards come in two flavors: basic sets and expert-level expansions. A new basic set appears about every two years, while one large and two smaller expert-level expansions come out each year. With over 1,500 cards currently available in Magic Online, and lots more to come, the combinations are limited only by your imagination. 2.2: What is a Trading Card Game? (From M:TGO) The main difference between a trading card game (TCG) like Magic: The Gathering and a regular card game is that each player uses his or her own deck of cards when playing instead of having a common deck from which all players draw. These decks can be customized using any cards a player owns. Another difference between a TCG and other games is that you trade cards with other players (much like sports cards). Some cards are considered more rare and valuable, and therefore more collectible, than others. You can tell how rare a Magic card is by the color of the expansion symbol. Common cards have a black expansion symbol, uncommon are silver, and rare are gold. Some players might try to complete a collection, trading Magic cards until they own every one in a set. Others might be on a constant lookout for just the right card for their latest deck. 2.3: What is Magic Online? Magic Online is a complete version of the original Magic game in an electronic format. Whether you're a newbie, a casual player, or a serious player, now you can play Magic against people all over the world without ever leaving the comfort of your home. You buy Magic Online cards, collect them, play with them, and trade them with other players. The game keeps track of the cards you own, the decks you build, and the victories you rack up. You can play with cards found in any expansion from the Invasion set forward. As new Magic sets are released, they'll also become available in Magic Online. You can also take a look at older Magic cards and keep track of the ones you own. 2.4: How much does it cost to play M:TGO? As opposed to most online games, there is no monthly fee to play M:TGO. You can download the software for free, and pay a one-time fee of 10 dollars to register (which I believe you get back as in-game money, I am not sure as I bought the store version). This takes a long time, even with a cable modem. The store version is 15 bucks, which you get back 10 dollars of as in- game money, which you can use to buy you a starter deck. This will be enough to get you started, and through trading you can build up a nice collection of cards. But, very quickly, I wanted to try as many cards as I could, so I started buying cards at the in-game store. Theme Decks are 10 bucks (though you can get smaller 40 color decks for 8 bucks), same for Tournament Packs (some of each basic land type, then randomly packed cards). You can also get booster packs for 3-4 dollars each, for the various expansions available in the game. Also, tickets for the various tournaments are available for sale at a dollar a ticket (tournaments run between 2-5 tickets each, but you win booster packs for coming in first or second). 2.5: Sounds like this could end up costing a lot. Is it worth it? Obviously I think so, or I wouldn't have bothered writing this guide ;) But, I'd say yes. You really can get started with a minimal investment, and you don't have to buy new cards to have a great time playing. I have always liked playing M:TG, and now I can always find someone to play right online. There are all different types of games and opponents, so you won't get bored easily. And the online card sets are expanding like the real cards, so it ensures the game will always have some next twists to it. 2.6: What color/card/combination will guarantee me a win every time? To be honest, there is none. Every game is different (even if you use the same deck every single game). You could have the best cards and the best strategies and get a terribly unlucky draw. I've seen it happen many times. Plus, not everyone plays the same way. I used to prefer a red/black deck which would deal a lot of direct damage and kill opponent's creatures, but over time, I started enjoying the more subtle spells (such as counters, creature boosters, things of that nature). You'll develop your own preferences and strategies over time and with some practice. This guide is to provide you with ideas, not hard fast rules. 2.7: Which takes precedent: game rules or what the cards tell me to do? One of the coolest (and most frustrating, if it happens to you) things about Magic is the cards can change the rules of the games. There are cards that can let you win by just having over 200 cards in your library (Battle of Wits) and card which can give you extra turns or combat phases (Relentless Assault). Whenever a card contradicts a game rule, the card gets precedent. SECTION 3: GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT M:TG AND M:TGO 3.1: WHAT'S WITH ALL THE COLORS? You may have noticed Magic: The Gathering cards come in several different colors. Each color in Magic represents a type of magic (black magic, life magic, mental magic, etc.) and usually each has specialized spells (example: most counter spells are Blue), but this is not a hard as fast rule. Which color is the best? It really depends on your style of play and what type of game you are playing. My normal deck (which is also my flanker deck) is a black, red deck, while my emperor deck is green, blue, and white. Here's a quick breakdown of what each color means, where it gets its power from, and the strengths of each: 3.1.1: BLACK: Mana Source: Swamps Symbol: Black skull Black spells are primarily used for damage, negative creature boosting (-1/-1, etc.) and destroying creatures. Black spells tend to be the nastiest of the game and usually have high casting costs, which makes it the slowest of the five colors. Great against decks with lots of creatures. 3.1.2: BLUE: Mana Source: Islands Symbol: Blue Waterdrop Blue specializes in spells "for the mind". In the game, your mind is represented by your library (your draw deck) and the cards in your hand. Blue cards will let you warp your opponent's mind (forced discards, counter spells) and improve your own (drawing cards). Many of the useful blue spells have low casting costs, which makes it vital for a fast casting deck. 3.1.3: GREEN Mana Source: Forests Symbol: Green Tree Green is nature spells. Lots of creature enhancers, as well as low cast creature spells. Green is also home to several prevent combat damage spells, which is vital if you are playing a deck with smaller creatures. Green is probably the fastest of the colors. 3.1.4: RED Mana Source: Mountains Symbol: Red Fireball Red is full of direct damage spells. If you want to sit back and pelt your opponent or their creatures with fireballs, red is the color for you. Red is probably the most satisfying color to play, because you will always get immediate results with direct damage spells, while some of the other colors take a bit longer to develop. 3.1.5: WHITE Mana Source: Plains Symbol: White Starburst White is all about preventing damage and healing your creatures and yourself (or your teammates as the case may be). But that doesn't mean white is weak or passive. Some of the strongest creatures (and creature enhancers) in the game are white spells. 3.1.6: COLORLESS CARDS: Two classes of cards in Magic have no color. These are lands and artifacts (which also includes artifact creatures). LANDS: Lands are required to cast your other spells, but have no color of their own. There are basic lands, and also all types of non-basic lands, which can give you multiple colored mana, turn into creatures, or a variety of other effects. You are allowed to play one land per turn, and will almost always be the first card you cast (there are some artifacts with no casting cost, but this is a rarity). You can play a land only on your turn, before or after combat. BTW, you will note that most of the time, the card will have the text box that is the same color as the color of mana the land produces (split lands will have more than one color). This does not matter, land is still considered a colorless card. For example: a spell that destroys all Black permanents would not effect Swamps. ARTIFACTS: Artifacts aren't used very heavily by most Magic players anymore, but they are still very useful. Artifacts can really change the game play, and the best part is you can cast them with mana of any color. Artifacts can do anything, from dealing damage, to providing mana, to allowing you to draw extra cards, among many other effects. There is literally no limit to what artifacts can do. They are also pretty hard to come by. Artifacts can be played on your turn, before or after combat. 3.1.7: GOLD (MULTI-COLORED) There are also several cards in the game, which require more than one time of mana to be useful. I've actually seen a card that requires all five types of mana to cast, in fact. Like artifacts, Gold cards have a variety of effects, which usually combine two or more classes of magic. The biggest disadvantage with Gold cards is you need more than one type of mana on hand to cast them, and you are limited to using Gold Cards which match the color of your deck, but they can still be pretty useful! 3.2: SPELL TYPES All the cards except land are considered spells. Even creature cards are Summon spells until they are cast and on the table. On each card, the type of spell being cast can be seen right under the picture on the left hand side of the card. Artifacts/Artifact creatures: See Section 3.1.6 Creatures: Creatures can only be cast on your turn, before or after combat. Creature spells will say "Creature-" under the picture. The types of creatures vary: giants, goblins, birds, etc. There are several spells that only effect creatures of certain types, so make sure you know the types of creatures you are using. Creature cards can be identified by the numbers on the bottom right of the card. The numbers will be in the format A/B, with A being the creatures power (how much damage it can deal), and B being its toughness (how much damage it can take). Interesting side note: Creatures used to be listed as "Summon ", but it was changed a few sets ago. Sorcery: Very powerful spells that can only be cast on your turn, before or after combat. Sorceries tend to have high casting costs and their effects last only until the end of the turn. Instants: The most versatile type of spell, as it can be cast at any time, including during your opponent's turn. Instants can even be cast while an opponent is casting another spell (this is why all counter spells are instants). Instants used to be divided into Instants and Interrupts, but since they had almost exactly the same function, they were all changed to Instants. Enchantments: Permanent spells that can only be cast on your turn, before or after combat. Enchantments stay in the game until they are destroyed, which means their effects are long lasting. Enchant Creature/Land/Artifact/Enchantment These are special Enchantments that attach themselves to another permanent in play. If the permanent is destroyed, the enchantment is destroyed as well. 3.3: ZONES OF PLAY There are six separate zones of play in Magic, and there are spells that and different rules which effect each zone. Library: Your draw pile. No one can look at the cards in your library, including yourself, but M:TGO will show you how many cards are in each player's library. This is important to know, as a player loses if they must draw a card from the library and they have no cards to draw from. Hand: This is where cards go after you draw them from the library. Only you can look at the cards in your hand, and in most cases, this is from where you will cast all your spells. During the end of your turn, if you have more than seven cards, you must discard down to 7. In Play: This is the area in front of all players where all the permanents go. Creatures, lands, artifacts, and enchantments remain in play until they are destroyed in some way. Graveyard: This is where dead cards go. This includes destroyed permanents, discarded cards, and instants and sorceries after they are resolved. Cards in graveyards are always face up and anyone can look at them at any time. Stack: This is the active spell part of the field. When a spell is cast, they hang out here until they are resolved (either do their effect or are countered). Spells in the stack always resolve LIFO (last in, first out, the most recent cast spell is resolved first). Removed From Game: Area off to the side where cards go when a spell or ability removes them from play. This isn't the same as your graveyard because spells can pull cards out of your graveyard. Removed From Game cards usually cannot be effected or recovered in any way. 3.4: TURNS Each turn consists of 5 phases. At the end of each phase, you take 1 damage of mana burn for each mana point left unused. Unless indicated, you can cast instants and abilities at any step of any phase. Phase 1 - Beginning Phase: A: Untap step: All your taped cards are untapped, no one can play spells or abilities during this step. B: Upkeep step: Abilities that trigger at the beginning of your upkeep go on the stack. C: Draw step: Draw a card. This step is skipped for the first player to go in the first turn. Phase 2 - Main Phase (pre combat): You can play any type of spell or ability on this phase, but your opponent can only play abilities and instants. You can chose to play a land during this phase, but remember you can play only one land a turn. SECTION 4: CHAT AND ETTIQUETTE 4.1: TYPING SYMBOLS IN CHAT MESSAGES You can include certain symbols in your chat messages by using special key combinations. Symbols may be used in any chat message you send. All symbols are done by pressing CTRL and Q at the same time, followed by a trigger letter or number. Key Combination Description CTRL+Q, W While Mana Symbol CTRL+Q, U Blue Mana Symbol CTRL+Q, B Black Mana Symbol CTRL+Q, R Red Mana Symbol CTRL+Q, G Green Mana Symbol CTRL+Q, T Tap Symbol CTRL+Q, number or X Colorless Mana Symbol CRTL+Q, A Ten Colorless Mana CTRL+Q, C Twelve Colorless Mana CTRL+Q, L Sixteen Colorless Mana CTRL+Q, S Smiling Face CTRL+Q, F Frowning Face CTRL+Q, Y Sick Face CTRL+Q, E Trophy CTRL+Q, I Wizards Of The Coast Logo CTRL+Q, Z Snoring CTRL+Q, V Arrow 4.2: CHAT COMMANDS You can type these in any chat window: /join You can start or join a group chat by typing "/join room name" in any chat area. For example, if Bob typed "/join Bob" then a private message window with the name "Bob" would appear on Bob's screen. Other players could join that chat by typing "/join Bob". This is an important command as it will allow you to create a team channel so you can communicate privately with your teammates during an Emperor game, allowing you to talk strategies and prevent wasting spells. /away You can mark yourself as being away from your computer by typing "/away message" in any chat window, where the message is what you want to tell other users. Your status and message will be displayed in the chat area of the room you're in. Any players who try to send you private messages will get an automatic reply telling them that you're away, but you'll still receive their messages. When you return to your computer, just type "/away" to show that you're back. For example, if a player with the user name Bob types "/away using the bathroom", the message "Bob is away - using the bathroom" appears in the room the player is in. When the player returns and types "/away", the message "Bob is back" is sent to that room. /me You can send a chat message that starts with your user name by typing "/me message" in a chat window. This will make your message appear in blue. For example, if a player with the user name Bob types "/me shakes head with frustration" in any chat area, the message "Bob shakes head with frustration" appears in the window. /addbuddy You can also add a player to your buddy list at any time by typing /addbuddy name. If the player's name has a space in it, put quotation marks around it, /addbuddy "player name". /goto You can go to the room that a player is in by typing "/goto name." If the player's name has a space in it, put quotation marks around it, "/goto "player name"." This is useful when you go to the multiplayer room, as you will often see people calling "Emp game looking for 1 emp, 2 Flankers". This will allow you to quickly find and join an Emperor game. /eject In a multiplayer game, players can opt to eject another player from the game by typing /eject name. See next section for more information 4.3: EJECTING A PLAYER If someone is being disruptive or is taking too long between turns, players can vote to eject any other player from an Emperor Game by typing "/eject name" in the game's chat area. If all the other players type "/eject player" the person will be removed from the game. This is a very extreme way of dealing with problems (especially since it will leave a team one player short). And if a team ejects their emperor, they will lose the game. SECTION 5: MISCELLANEOUS This section is for anything else that comes to mind. Right now, I have nothing here and no real plans for this section, but we'll see what happens as time passes. SECTION 6: LAW OF THE LAND: This FAQ is copyright 2002 to Mike Maillaro, AKA Blackmore. Any use of this FAQ for commercial purposes in any way, shape, or form without the consent of the author is strictly prohibited. This can be used for personal use and freely distributed, as long as there is no profit being made off the FAQ without my approval. If you see this FAQ on any site other than Game FAQ, let me know, as it is being used without my permission! Any failure to comply with said premises can result in legal actions. In other words, STOP TRYING TO STEAL MY STUFF! SECTION 7: CLOSING STATEMENTS AND SPECIAL THANKS Well that just about wraps up my first FAQ. As I said earlier, send all your questions, comments, etc. to Blackmoreinc@yahoo.com. And if you see me on the GameFAQ boards (Blackmore), just drop me a line. I usually hang around Super Mario Sunshine, Super Smash Bros, Melee, Eternal Darkness, and Animal Crossing, though I am all around. Blackmore is also my name in M:TGO! I'm always up for a game! This guide would never have gotten done without: My parents: For supporting my video game habits for all those years before I got a real job, and for always at least pretending to have an interest in my games. My sister: For always being there, and for being the first person I played M:TG with. My god, did you kick my ass... Gina Altbuch: For the seven most wonderful years in my life. I love you, Imzadi, and can't wait to get our kids addicted to video game and COOOMMMIIICCSS!! Jeff "CJayC" Veasey: For GameFAQs! My favorite video game site on the web! Wizards of the Coast: For M:TG and M:TGO! I have enjoyed Magic for a long time, and they keep making this game better and better! The dozens of people I've played M:TGO with over the last few weeks to helping me prep this guide. Contributors: Tommatt, thanks for your thoughts on creatures for an Emperor deck! Those who asked me questions on the GameFAQ board: Lans Oxus the Smoove This just about wraps up my first Game FAQ. I will be expanding this FAQ and continue writing reviews for Game FAQs. Who knows, maybe I'll find time to start another FAQ. (c) Mike Maillaro 2002