PUZZLE UPDATE: I made a complementary series of simple puzzles to help teach combat basics to beginners, featuring the cards from the green and red beginner teaching decks. View the PDF I shared on Google drive here: link
Magic 101
This series of casual decks is designed to teach Magic to new players in the best way possible. Each color deck is a "real" constructed deck: the card choices are very deliberate and work together to highlight a play style typical for that color. The new player is meant to start with the and decks. As they learn the game mechanics, they then progress to play the other colors, which increase a little in complexity. A LOT of work has gone into balancing the decks, so that any one of them is an interesting match-up against the others.
Because this is meant to try to "capture" new players and sell them on the game, there is a focus on good art and low prices. Each deck is meant to work as a cohesive unit, so the new player is indirectly exposed to deck brewing concepts. The card text is kept as simple as possible, so the new player can focus on learning the game.
Credit goes to massivecreature. His approach and his red and green decks on reddit link served to guide the rest of this project.
The Curriculum
Budget Beginner Teach Decks (#1 Green) w Puzzles! : Ramp deck.
Introduces trample, reach, hexproof, enchantments, card draw/cantrips, upkeep step.
Budget Beginner Teaching Decks (#2 Red) : Aggressive/burn deck.
Introduces haste, flying, first strike/double strike, sacrifice costs, direct damage, costs, gain control, end step, exile.
Budget Beginner Teaching Decks (#3 White) : Tribal go wide deck.
Introduces tokens, auras, anthem/lord effects, protection, defender.
Budget Beginner Teaching Decks (#4 Black) : Recursion/control deck.
Introduces destruction, graveyard interaction, hand discard, wraths, deathtouch.
Budget Beginner Teaching Decks (#5 Blue) : Control/combo deck.
Introduces alternate win conditions, artifacts, counterspells, scry, bounce, non-basic lands, cycling, delve.
Budget Beginner Teaching Decks (#6 Multi) : Voltron/infect deck.
Introduces equipment, legendaries, counters, regenerate, lifelink.
Budget Beginner Teaching Decks (#7 Multi) : Aristocrats (alternate multicolor deck).
Introduces alternate form cards (double faced), counters, non-basic lands, drain, lifelink.
Card Choice Guidelines Show
- avoid complicated cards/rules text
- focus on mechanics characteristic of a color
- cohesion and synergy
- cheap cards. The deck should cost less than $15.
- distinctive interesting artwork
- some variety but not overwhelming. About 12 unique cards per deck
- balance, such that all the decks have a reasonable chance to win against the other colors
How To Play the Decks Show
The idea is to play against the other decks in the set. I have playtested them extensively against each other (several iterations of every deck against every other deck, I played both sides), and they match up pretty well.
How I envisioned this course:
In the first game, the new player should have the green deck, while the teacher has the red deck. That way the new player can focus on simple stuff like turn steps, mana costs, and damage. For the first game(s), both players should probably play showing their hands. Also, the teacher can sandbag a little by using spells on creatures (a slower game where the green deck eventually takes over the game and becomes unstoppable can inspire further play; getting crushed by a perfectly executed turn 3 combo burst could discourage them from playing altogether). It's not a bad idea for the teacher to make a few poor decisions, to let the new players have some success as they learn; this depends a lot on the people involved.
Once the beginner is comfortable with the green deck, and has faced the red deck, then the teacher and new player can switch decks. Now the new player has to think about timing his red spells to get in the kill.
Then, add in the white deck. The new player will pay white while the teacher has the red or green deck. Now the new player has a few more things to keep track of (e.g. what do the anthem effects add up to). This deck is still pretty linear, and highlights thematic variety as much as it introduces a few more mechanics of the game.
Next is the black deck and this is were it really gets fun for the new player. The teacher will have red, green, or white. Now the new player gets to interact with the opponents hand, with his own graveyard, and has destruction spells and a wrath.
Blue is a challenge. This is the first really complicated deck. Playing it successfully requires a good understanding of the rules. I strongly suggest the teacher show the new player the entire deck and walk them through it, maybe even playing a game showing their hands. The teacher should probably have red, green, or white. Playing against a control deck (blue or black in this set) can be exhausting.
Finally, the new player sees the multicolor decks. These add a lot of new mechanics, and by the time the new player can steer these decks, they have become a passable MTG player. They have been exposed to most of the basic mechanics of the game and have seen a variety of playstyles. Hopefully they had fun and got a good feel for what the game is about.
After that, teacher and player can play against each other with any of the decks they choose. Obviously, they can fall back on prior decks as they progress. For example, if you want to try extra games with red, green, white or black before introducing the blue deck, then by all means do so.
This deck: style and choices
This deck is relatively straightforward, and serves as the first deck for the new player. The new player will be trying to stay alive while ramping up to his big creatures. Because gameplay is more linear, focus can be made on simple tasks such as choosing chump blockers versus taking damage. Choosing when to use Giant Growth or Prey Upon adds to the gameplay.
I considered adding Overwhelming Stampede as a game finisher, but the deck becomes a little too strong with this.
massivecreature included Norwood Warrior because of the beautiful art, but the text is a bit much for this first deck, and the fact that it is inferior to Kalonian Tusker at a greater casting cost is confusing as well. It is replaced by Drove of Elves which introduces hexproof. Greenweaver Druid is another good choice but it does allow casting Force of Nature already on turn three which is a bit much. Likewise Arbor Elf allows Force of Nature on turn three.
I also considered using Blossoming Defense and Ranger's Guile as teaching tools because of hexproof. The effect of having two instants on the stack is a little more transparent with hexproof than it is with Giant Growth, but the simplicity of giant growth is better otherwise.
MTGO can actually be a good way to introduce a remote friend to the game, and the digital decks are dirt cheap. The client helps teach the turn steps and understanding the stack better. However, a few cards that are cheap on paper are expensive in MTGO (make sure you look at all editions; some are cheaper). The replacements below are suggested for MTGO play:
Art is subjective to personal taste. Here are my suggestions for artwork:
Links To Alternative Deck Suggestions Submitted by Others
For a fun video introduction to the rules of MTG, check out this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZixWqaGJVQs
It is a bit fast paced, but it covers just about everything.
