We're giving away 30 free copies of Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012! If you're new to Magic, be sure to check out our starter guide.

Card Types and Building Your First Deck

Speaking of the official Magic: The Gathering site, it contains all sorts of helpful resources for new players. The Basics of the Game page outlines all of the different card types, such as sorcery, instant, enchantment and artifact. Again, MMO players should already be familiar with these various types of spells. For example, sorcery and instant cards are spells that produce a variety of effects, such as dealing damage and countering spells. Enchantments create a permanent effect like boosting a creature's strength. An artifact represents a permanent item, such as equipment for your creatures.

Whether you play Magic: The Gathering on a table or online, there are different zones associated with the game. For example, your deck is called your Library and used cards get placed in your Graveyard. As MMO players know, putting something in a graveyard certainly doesn't mean it's gone forever.

As for how to decipher the cards themselves, Wizards of the Coast explains all of that on their Getting Started page. Let's look at the creature above. The most important things to note are its mana cost, abilities, and power and toughness. The mana cost in the top right shows you how many land cards you need to use in order to cast the creature. The large text box in the middle shows you the special abilities of the creature, while the power and toughness shows how much damage it can deal and take before it is destroyed.

The Getting Started page also outlines how turns are divided into phases in Magic: The Gathering. While it might look complicated, you'll quickly learn the flow of your turn with some practice. Basically, a turn is comprised of drawing cards, casting spells and attacking your opponent.

Wizard of the Coast even provides some pointers for building your first deck. “A good rule of thumb is to keep a solid mixture of creatures, spells, and lands to make sure you have plenty of cool creatures to attack with, powerful spells to disrupt your opponent's plans, and enough lands to be able to play everything you draw. A commonly used rule of thumb is a mixture of 24 creatures, 12 spells, and 24 lands.”

Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012

Honestly, the best way to learn how to play Magic: The Gathering is to pick up Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 for PC, Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. We covered the game in detail when it launched, and it makes Magic easily accessible while still containing features for even the most experienced players.

New to Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 is the addition of the Archenemy gametype, where you and two allies (players or AI) must work together to take down a powerful Archenemy and survive the extra powers from the Archenemy's special deck. The classic puzzle challenges make their return and are as challenging as ever. Co-op gameplay has been enhanced and you can now play with up to four players in a variety of formats, including the Archenemy gametype or even classic two-headed giant.

All decks featured in Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 can now be completely modified, with the ability to add and remove cards from each of the decks. Each deck is composed of cards from the upcoming Magic 2012 Core Set and features a variety of unlockable cards.

Be sure to enter our giveaway for a chance to win one of 30 free copies of Duels of the Planewalkers 2012 for the PC! Also, visit a nearby hobby store and check out the Magic 2012 Core Set intro packs and complete your destiny as a Magic player.

Darryl Gangloff, editor-in-chief