To play along with the video, you must stack your deck.
The top card for player A should be Lava Axe.
Then Skade Zombies, Goblin Hero, Moonsprite, Swamp, Mountain, Forest, Willow Elf, Mountain,
Coercion, Ogre Warrior, and Monstrous Growth.
Don't worry about the order after your first 12 cards.
The top card for player B should be Breath of Life.
Then Windrake, Wild Griffin, Knight Errant, Island, Island, Planes, Planes, Eager Cadet,
Angelic Blessing, Planes, and Giant Octopus.
Again, don't worry about the rest of the deck.
Got it? Good.
Hello, and welcome to the R&D Center for Magic the Gathering.
Magic is the ultimate battle of wits.
There's no board, there's no monitor, no TV screen, no joystick, no special effects.
No, it's just you and your friend locked in an intense battle of strategy and wisdom.
Object of the game, total annihilation of your opponent.
Oh, it sounds simple enough, but Magic requires planning, tactics, and savagery.
And don't pay any attention to these people.
They're just working on an awesome new creature for our game.
Today we're going to take you through the basics of Magic.
Now in your starter set, you'll find two decks, play mats, the rule book, and most importantly, the play guide.
Now you're going to want to read along with the play guide so you can learn the game.
You're not that big on reading, huh?
Well, you'll learn the game a lot faster if you read the play guide.
Still not interested, huh?
Okay, well, you see those two guys over there?
Well, they're both new to the game, too.
See if you can spot the one that did not think it was necessary to use the play guide.
Spotted him, didn't you?
So, using the play guide, let's go through the basics.
These two are finished.
Bring in the next players.
What'd you get us into, man? I don't even know how to play this game.
Hey, relax, man. They said it'd be fun.
Here we go. Can everybody hear me? Can you hear me, players?
Good. This is your play mat.
The wizard illustration represents you in the game.
This is your life total.
Both of you start with 20.
First one to zero is toast.
This is where you put your deck.
And this is your discard pile or graveyard.
Also, notice some basic rules listed here.
Each of you has a deck or library of 40 cards.
These are divided into three types.
Creature cards are your soldiers.
Use them to attack your opponent.
And when attacked, use them to block.
In order to put a creature into play, you must pay for it with land cards.
The cost of the creature can be found in the upper right corner.
Once a creature is put into play, it stays there until it's destroyed.
Land cards like mountain, forest, swamp, plains, or island give you energy.
Use them to bring creatures and sorcery into play.
The more land you have, the bigger the creature you can play,
and the more powerful the spells you can cast.
Last are sorcery cards, used to cast spells that help you or hurt your opponent.
My personal favorite, by the way, is Hand of Death.
Love Hand of Death.
But you know, monstrous growth is pretty good, too.
So far, so good?
Uh, yeah, no problem.
Three types of cards, land is your energy, creatures are your soldiers,
and sorceries are the unexpected attacks.
Very good.
Now, normally you shuffle the cards before a match,
but for this one game, we've, how would you say, sort of stacked the deck.
So please, do not shuffle your cards.
There are five colors of magic.
Which one of you has the deck with black, red, and green cards?
All right, you'll be player A,
and that means that the other player must have the white and blue cards,
making him player...
Player...
The Bean Bean!
Excellent.
Now, player A, don't shuffle the deck, but draw the first seven cards.
Whoever of you has the black, red, and green cards should do the same.
And remember, don't shuffle the deck.
Check the order.
The first card should be Lava Axe.
Then, Skaith Zombies, Goblin Hero, Moon Sprite, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest.
That's the hand you'll start with.
Um, can you give me that order again, please?
Lava Axe, Skaith Zombies, Goblin Hero, Moon Sprite, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest.
Now, player B, you too draw your first seven cards.
And remember, don't shuffle the deck.
The top card should be Breath of Life,
then Windrake, Wild Griffin, Night Errant, Island, another Island, and a Plains.
Do I need to repeat myself?
No, I think I got it.
Uh, Breath of Life, Windrake, Wild Griffin, Night Errant, Island, Island, and Plains.
There we go, player B.
Okay, everybody ready?
Let's get started now.
Usually we flip a coin to see who goes first,
but since this is a guided game, we're going to assume player A has won the toss.
What?
Each of you has seven cards.
Each of you has seven cards.
Did you and your opponent draw your seven cards?
We can't proceed until that's done.
Now, player A, since you've won the toss,
draw a card from your deck and place it in your hand.
You now have eight.
You draw a card at the beginning of each turn.
Take the card that says Forest from your hand
and place it below the playmat in the area marked Lands.
Good.
Take the Willow Elf and place it on the table above your playmat
in the area marked Creatures.
Excellent.
Look at your Willow Elf card.
In the upper right corner, there's a symbol of a little tree.
This represents how many Lands you must tap to play the card.
In Magic, you must tap into your Lands to play Creatures or use Sorceries.
In this case, Willow Elf required only one Green or Forest card.
See how the symbols matter?
Other Creatures or Sorceries will require more than one Land,
but right now, we'll keep it simple.
To tap a card, you don't really tap it.
You turn it sideways.
So, player A, turn your Forest card sideways.
And whosoever player A at home should do the same.
Now, you can't attack with a Creature on the same turn you play it,
so you're done, player A.
Say done.
Uh, done.
Some players knock to show they're done.
Me? I like to do a little laugh.
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
Player B, draw a card from the top of your deck.
Now, place a Planes card below your play mat, just like player A did with his Forest card.
You can only play one land card per turn, so just hold on to your other Islands and Planes.
Also, if you look at your other cards, you'll notice your single Planes isn't enough to pay for any of your Creatures.
So you're done this turn.
What? I just got started.
Patience, player B. Just say you're done.
Done.
Thank you.
On this turn, player A, you'll play a second Creature, and your Willow Elf will attack player B.
All right. Well, that's what I came here to do.
Now, first, untap your Forest card.
Now, draw a card.
Put the Mountain beside your Forest.
You now have two lands to draw energy from.
Play the Moon sprite next to your Willow Elf.
Notice it has a cost of one plus green. That means you must tap...
...or turn...
...two land cards, a Forest for the green, see the matching symbols, and a second land of any type.
In this case, your Mountain.
You'll also notice the text box on Moon sprite says, flying. I'll explain that in a minute.
And now my favorite part. Tap your Willow Elf to show it's attacking.
All right.
The Moon sprite can't attack this turn because you just played it.
I knew that.
Look at the two numbers in the lower right corner of your Elf card.
The first number, one, is power.
That's how much damage your Willow Elf deals out to others.
The second number, also a one, is toughness.
That's how much damage it takes to be destroyed.
Now, player B has no Creature available to block your attack.
So your Willow Elf has inflicted one damage.
Just like that.
And poor player B must move his life marker from 20 to 19.
Say done.
I'm done.
On this turn, player B, you'll play your first creature, a Knight Errant.
So, draw a card.
Play an Island next to your Plains.
Good.
Now, place the Knight above your playmat like player A did with his creatures.
And tap both your lands.
Remember, you're paying for the Knight Errant by tapping your two land cards.
The Plains for the White and a second land card of any type for the one.
Mr. Knight can't attack this round, so you're done.
I said you're done.
Player B?
Done!
Yeah, well done if you don't pay attention.
All right, player A, on this turn you'll play a third card.
Then your Moon Sprite will attack.
Let's see what that looks like.
First, untap your Forest, Mountain, and Willow Elf.
Next, draw a card.
Play the Swamp.
Now you have three lands to draw energy from.
We're going to tap those lands to pay for Coercion.
And why must we tap those lands, player A?
Because a Swamp pays the Black, the Mountain and the Forest pays the Two.
Very good.
Coercion is a sorcery, not a creature.
So you place it in the middle of the table, and then tap the three necessary lands to pay for the spell.
Read what it says.
It says, look at Target Player's hand and choose a card from it.
That player discards that card.
A little nervous, are we, player B?
Let's see what you got.
I would choose his Wild Griffin if I were you, player A.
And Wild Griffin goes face up in the graveyard.
With your sorcery completed, Coercion also goes face up in your graveyard.
But you're still not done.
Player A, you now have the option of attacking or not.
And if you do attack, you have the option of what creatures to send into battle.
In this case, I would recommend not attacking with both your creatures.
Remember, the numbers in the lower right corner of every creature represent Power and Toughness.
The first number is Power.
The amount of damage your card can inflict on your opponent.
The second number is Toughness.
Or what it takes to be destroyed.
Well, look at player A. Very good.
If the knight and elf were to battle, the knight would deal two damage to the elf.
But the elf would deal only one damage to the knight.
Since the knight has a toughness of two, that wouldn't be enough to destroy him.
But the elf's toughness is one and the knight's power is two.
So the knight would deal more than enough damage to destroy the elf.
Now, since you've brilliantly decided not to have your elf join the battle,
look at your Moonsprite card.
Remember that thing I mentioned about flying?
An attacking creature with flying can't be blocked except by another flying creature.
Can your knight fly, player B?
Well, can it?
No.
Oh, that's too bad.
The Moonsprite gets through to deal one damage.
And player B's life total drops to 18.
I am terribly sorry about this.
Player A, you're done.
Okay, player B, untap your lamps.
Draw a card.
This turn you'll attack with your knight and use a little sorcery of your own.
Play your plane's card.
However, try and get your lands into play since they bring you energy.
Now you're going to play the sorcery called Angelic Blessing.
Tap one plane's and two other lands to pay the two plus white for Angelic Blessing.
And now read the text box there, player B.
Target creature gets plus three plus three and gains fly until end of turn.
So does that mean my knight goes from two two to five five?
And can fly.
Time to attack, player B.
I got you, sucker.
Remember, the sorcery is only good this turn and then wears off.
So tap your knight to show it's attacking.
And put the sorcery card face up on your discard pile.
Oh, this is going to be good.
His Willow Elf can't walk because it doesn't fly.
And his Moonsprite can't because it's tapped from the last turn.
Player A is totally defenseless against your attack and suffers an incredible five damage.
Say done, player B.
Done.
Unbelievable.
Quit whining, player A.
Untap your lands and draw a card.
Let me guess, Ogre Warrior?
How much does he cost?
Three plus red.
So play your Mountain, then play your Ogre Warrior, and tap a Mountain and three other lands to pay Mr. Ogre Warrior's cost.
Now what?
Well, I can't attack with my Ogre Warrior because I just played him.
But can my Willow Elf and Moonsprite?
Yes, but you have to tap them to show they're attacking.
And get this, his knight won't be able to block because it's tapped from his turn.
That's pretty good.
So you do the math there, player A.
My Willow Elf deals one damage, dropping him to 17.
And my Moonsprite drops him one more to 16.
I'm done.
Yes!
Okay, player B.
Untap your lands and knight.
Draw a card.
Now play your second island.
Next, play your Eager Cadet.
Quick, where does it go?
Next to the knight.
Right.
And tap a plains to pay the white cost.
And you should also play your Wind Drake.
Tap an island and your other two lands to pay the two plus blue cost.
Now you're thinking, why don't I send my knight over there and take care of that little puny elf.
But here's why I'm not recommending that strategy.
When your creatures attack, they attack your opponent, not his creatures.
He calls the shots.
He decides whom he'll send into battle.
If you attacked, the ogre would fight your knight, not the elf.
And Mr. Knight would be destroyed.
So why sacrifice your knight?
Pull back and use him later.
Hey, that's a good idea.
I would like to thank all the litanicals who made it possible for me to be...
Say done, player B.
Done.
And now, player A, it's your turn.
But this time, you'll use some sorcery to make your moon sprite bigger and then launch an all-out attack.
Untap your lands and creatures.
Draw a card.
You don't have any land cards to play.
So what next, player A?
Um...
Come on, player A.
I, uh...
If you don't know, just say so.
Where'd you get these?
I placed some monstrous growth and tapped some land to make my moon sprite bigger.
Well, that's right.
That's brilliant.
How'd you do that?
Tap a forest and one other land to pay the one plus green cost.
And tell me, what does the card say?
Uh, it says, the night stalker's little game of tease the squirrel...
Not that.
The darker words.
The target creature gets plus four plus four until end of turn.
If you make your ogre or willow elf bigger and attack, he'd just block with his cadet.
Cadet would be destroyed, but your creature wouldn't get through to deal maximum damage.
So you brilliantly realized that by making the moon sprite bigger, only the wind drake could block it.
And you'd rather destroy his drake over the lowly cadet.
So moon sprite's power and toughness is now five-five until the end of the turn.
Time to attack. Tap all three creatures.
Now, player B, you have a few choices.
Your drake could block the sprite, your knight could block the elf, and the cadet could block the ogre.
Since the drake is two-two and the sprite is five-five, the drake would be destroyed.
And since the ogre is three-three and the cadet is one-one, the cadet would be destroyed.
But since the knight is two-two and his elf is one-one, you would destroy the elf and you would take no damage.
But his ogre would survive to hit you later.
Well, why wouldn't he take any damage? My sprite has a power of five, but his drake has a toughness of two.
So wouldn't he take three damage?
The extra damage is simply wasted. It doesn't keep going.
But that's not how we're going to block anyway.
Try this route, player B.
The cadet blocks the elf and it says on your playmat, blocking creatures can gang up on a single attacking creature.
So the drake and the knight both block the ogre and nothing blocks the sprite.
What are you talking about? That's not fair. They can't gang up.
Hey, who's the master here? Read your playmat, little man.
It says, and I quote, blocking creatures can gang up on attacking creatures.
But the drake has flying. He can't fight my ogre.
Of course the drake can dive down and pounce your ogre.
You're right, player A. It's not fair. It's war!
Let's look at the damage.
The elf and cadet destroy each other because they're the same size.
The drake and the knight, by ganging up, each deal two damage for a total of four.
The ogre has a three toughness, so he's destroyed.
But his three damage is more than enough to destroy the drake with two.
It's not enough to destroy the knight who survives.
Finally, his moon sprite, with the help of sorcery, gets through to deal you five damage.
Your life drops to a level.
That's the bad news, player B.
The good news is, you destroyed his ogre.
So it's better to take the damage and destroy the ogre rather than get attacked later.
Correct. You know something, player B?
I think the intelligizer is beginning to have a positive effect on your strategic thinking.
You're done, player A, and the moon sprite turns back into a 1-1 creature.
Okay, player B, time to hit back.
You're mine now.
Untap your lands.
Draw a card.
Now play a plains.
Then play the giant octopus.
Now tap an island and three other lands to pay for the giant octopus.
Here's a tip. Starting next turn, attack with octopus.
Keep attacking every turn until he gets a creature big enough to block, okay?
So what do you do for the rest of this turn, player B?
Player B?
I tapped the knight. Hey, can you do that again?
I tapped the knight to show it's attacking.
His sprite can't block because it's tapped so the knight deals two damage and his life drops to 13.
Perfect, player B.
So you're done.
Done.
I think you two have it figured out.
We'll just leave you alone now to continue playing out the game.
And thank you very much for helping us today.
Hey, give me some of that too.
Well, I hope you enjoyed our little demonstration.
In time, you'll have mastered the game and be ready to add or subtract cards to create a deck that suits your particular strategy.
And since we're always inventing new cards, the game is always changing.
With themed decks and booster packs, you never know what new awesome power you'll discover.
And some of these cards are becoming quite collectible.
So open up your mind and your imagination with Magic the Gathering from Wizards of the...
Yeah, use this thing on.
Step up your game with Magic Starter themed decks.
Themed decks and booster packs allow you to construct your own personal deck so you can crush opponents like tin cans in an alley.
Maybe get good enough to do your own video, like me.
Or maybe even get good enough to play in the big leagues.
It's been an exceptional year for American players.
Unlike previous years, they've taken home the top prize in every major pro tournament.
The Windy City, Chicago, welcomed the first pro tour featuring the extended constructive format.
Newcomer Randy Buehler made a splash debut defeating veteran competitor David Mills.
A transatlantic hop to Mainz, Germany was the tour's next stop,
where pro tour regular Matt Place defeated Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz in a tempest-only Rochester draft.
Los Angeles was a chance for another veteran player to take home a victory as King of the Qualifiers David Price defeated Ben Rubin in a tempest-only constructive format.
Then the road led to New York City, where yet another pro tour staple John Finkel proved his mastery of tempest stronghold booster draft by defeating Dominic Krapischitz.
Players participate in the World Championships both as individuals and as national teams representing their home countries.
In this year's team competition, the Americans came out on top,
defeating last year's champions the Canadians and ultimately overthrowing the French, four games to none.
After 23 rounds of harrowing competition, it comes down to a single match between two California natives.
Will the winner be Northern Californian Ben Rubin or his Southern counterpart Brian Selden?
It looks like out of nowhere a relative unknown from California is going to be world champion.
So the rest of this game is just going to be entertainment for the kids.
Definitely watching the biggest creatures in the universe.
This has turned into the big game folks.
Spirit of the Night.
I still think everyone should put a Feral Shadow and an Urborg Panther and whatever that other thing is into their deck.
So they can bust out Spirit of the Night in more than one way.
This looks like the last turn of the game right here.
Yeah, I don't think that...this isn't the glory days for Mog Flunky.
No, definitely not. Looks like Selden's just having fun trying to get as much stuff into play before striking the final blow.
And I don't think anyone's ever actually had this biggest stuff in play in a major tournament, so he's doing a good job.
Definitely is going to recur one more time here.
And he'll probably get...who knows, anything does the job.
Down goes the Orc and here they come. Crunch!
And Selden wins the game.
That was an incredible comeback in game four for Brian Selden.
And in doing so he becomes the first American World Champion since 1994.
The new Pro Tour season is quickly approaching.
For these tournaments to produce more Champions of Magic.