I started Playing Magic back in ‘94, in the days of Antiquities. I didn’t stick with it, though, and I became part of the Homelands exodus, (no, not that Exodus) leaving the game after less than two years. I started playing because my best friend, who had family in Seattle, had picked it up. It was a fun game that we could play with friends and whatnot. I moved on to D&D, and figured I had outgrown the game.
Then, along came the Wizards of the Coast Delegate program, and lo and behold, I found myself back in the thick of Magic. That was January ’06. I’ve been playing pretty solid ever since. 10+ years between playing, and the game I thought I had moved past turned out to have grown just as I did. It was a complex, intriguing tactical game. It took me over a year to really get a handle on the rules, reading magazines and Magicthegathering.com, as well as the comprehensive rules… repeatedly. But I finally managed to get a pretty good understanding of the game. I could teach the basics, and arbitrate most rules questions at the tournaments.
I’ve spent the last 3+ years teaching people how to play games, typically Magic, and I’m going to tell you how to do it too. Magic is a constantly evolving game, and the players continuously cycle through the game. Think back to the players you knew when you first started. Do you still play with those guys? Are they still playing? Probably not. They fall away, sometimes they come back. But either way, you need new players to keep your game vibrant and alive. We’ve all heard stories of closing game shops and diminishing player bases. FNM’s that used to get 20+ are now barely firing, and players are wondering “Where’s John?” and “How long has it been since Andy came down and played?” Eventually, you find yourself struggling to keep your local community afloat. Let us then start with the basics:
The Hook: Before you can even teach them to play, you have to get them over to you. At conventions, we have signs, flashing lights, and my beautiful face to attract people (especially the ladies). But you won’t necessarily have those tools at your disposal. What then can you do? You still have plenty of options for attracting new players.
Advertise: There are many ways to strike up a conversation with people about the game you love. You may not be able to tell from my picture, but I have a beanie I picked up at Worlds NYC ’07 that is plain black with the Magic: the Gathering logo on it. I’ve had more than one conversation just this week about it with random passersby on campus. There are all sorts of other Magic paraphernalia you can use, including backpacks, bumper stickers, and facial tattoos. (Okay, that last one may be a bit much.) On top of that, talk about it, too. When someone asks what your plans are this weekend, mention that you’re going to go play in an FNM, or talk about the PTQ you’re road-tripping to. They’ll ask what that means, and you just opened them up to conversation about it. When I travel to a show of some sort, I talk about all the cool things the game does, and all the places I’ve been able to go because of it.
Play: Okay, this seems obvious, but actually playing the game visibly in the store means people will come up to watch. I love to play in a store with friends, and have people come and watch. Then, start talking out the game. I’ll play against a friend, and we’ll start dissecting the game state, and talking about tactics. People become interested, and they’ll start asking questions about cards. We turn it into a group discussion instead of a one on one game. This worked great when I was teaching miniature combat games, and has worked well with Magic in the past as well. Furthermore, play in other public places as well. Play at student union buildings, fast food restaurants (double sleeved, perhaps), even play at work. You will get people curious, at the very least. On top of that, you may find some players who don’t know there are tournaments, and just play at their buddy’s house. I’ve found plenty of players that way, who didn’t even know that our little town had Friday Night Magic.
Okay, you’ve got the hook, you’ve got them interested. What now? Well, teach them to play, duh. I’ve started carrying a deck box around with two 30-card basic decks. They are the exact decks we used to teach players at PAX this past summer, and they’re pretty great. I tweak them on occasion, but anything will do. Make your own out of basic Lands, some Creatures, and some Sorceries and Instants. I don’t recommend Planeswalkers, Enchantments, or Artifacts just yet. Let them learn in baby steps. However, some players may be able to handle more complexity, especially if they have some gaming background (other CCG’s, Miniature games, played Magic 12 years ago, etc.) Make sure these are cards you won’t mind parting with (If you want, you may still be able to get some from here.) I used to make my own decks out of excess commons and uncommons, and then give them away.
Keep in mind, your decks should be built to play a decently lengthy game. The games should last about 10 turns or so. This is long enough to let them actually play, but short enough that you won’t lose their attention. Put plenty of big mean creatures in there, just in case they’re a Timmy. Use generic cards where you can. Don’t play a Kavu where and Elf will do. Try to use easily recognizable creature types and spells. Elves, Goblins, Faeries, etc. are all fine choices (Well, maybe not Faeries…) The point is, make it as recognizable as possible, because that makes it less eccentric, and more comfortable. Everyone knows Elves and Goblins. Only Magic players know Kavu and Vedalken. See the difference? Let them taste a familiar flavor.
You’ve got the tools, so now let’s talk about method. I always lead off showing them the cards, and use this line, verbatim, every time.
“There are two types of cards: Land and everything else.”
I show them a land, how it has no cost at the top, and that it’s what pays for your “other stuff.” This is one of the hardest concepts to grasp for a lot of new players. Most games don’t have anything like that. Any game with a poker deck doesn’t, Miniature games have point costs, but that’s part of building the deck. Most Role-Playing Games have Vancian Spell-casting, so those don’t work either. Make sure they understand this concept before moving ahead. On occasion, I’ve used the term “Bank” to explain it if they’re struggling. Each of these lands is like a bank account you can use to pay for the spells. Don’t use this term except as a last resort. It removes the flavor of the game.
Next, I show them the spells, and how each spell has a cost. I show how the cost symbols directly match the mana symbols on the land. I explain the colorless symbol. Make sure that at least one spell in each deck has double colored mana cost (like this) so that you can show them the difference between 2W and 2WW. This is pretty easy to teach, and they’ll pick up on it rather well. Once they get what lands are for, it’s pretty obvious that you need to spend the mana on something.
Once they have that in their head, explain the different spell types. Creatures are pretty easy, and they shouldn’t have a problem with that. Explain that instants and sorceries have a one time effect, then go away. Instants can be played on either player’s turn, and sorceries can only be played on that player’s turn.
From there, you start the game. Use the “Steps of the Turn” tip card from Tenth Edition, so they can see the steps of the turn. You may want to use the term ‘Reset’ to describe the untap step. Play the first game with both of your hands face up, so they can see what happens in a game. Talk through both your plays and theirs. Look at their options together, and ask them questions to get them involved, such as “Okay, you now have two lands in play. What can you play?” Have them show each spell that costs two or less. Then, talk about what they might want to play. This gets them involved, thinking, and playing the game. Don’t get too technical. If they have a Grizzly Bears and an Elvish Warrior, and they want to play the bear, let them. They can learn later why the elf is better. For the first game, just playing the spell is good enough. They’re recognizing the rules of the game. Tactics come later.
Some people would tell you to let them win, and if you can do it convincingly, go for it. However, most people cannot purposefully lose convincingly, even those who think they can. I can’t, so I play straight up. They’ll appreciate it more, because if they think you’re throwing the game, then it looks like you’re being condescending. I will also typically give them the more powerful of the two decks, to give them a good chance to win.
Play a second game, normal style. Keep your hands private, letting them make all of their own decisions. Put some fun into the game, though. I love to use sound effects and accented comments to add some fun to the game. “Rawr, my Grizzly Bears attack!” Anything you can do to make the game more fun and relaxed. Remember, it is still a game, and new players play to have fun. Heck, we should all play to have fun. So, have fun.
You need to do one more thing before you let them go, though. You need to find their fire. You need to try to figure out what about the game can get them back. Is it the competition? The flavor? Are they a Timmy, Johnny, or Spike? What is going to get them playing again, again, and again? Find that, and then expand it. I’ll give you my personal example.
In the summer of 2006, I went to GenCon as part of the booth staff, and taught people how to play Dreamblade, Magic, Star Wars Minis, and D&D Minis. I had a lot of fun, but for all the Magic I played, I was still kind of meh about the game. The next year, I ended up at Worlds ’07 in NYC, working the learn-to-play booth. I was teaching visitors how to play Magic. Mostly, it was girlfriends, wives, mothers, sisters, and a few random passersby (including 2 security guards.) I was told I taught Billy Moreno fiancée, which if true would be pretty cool. But more importantly, this is where I caught the fire.
One night that week, I was hanging out with a friend of mine from Connecticut, Jamie Boyle. Jamie and I knew each other from D&D Minis, as we had both been to the world championships a few times for that, as well as through various forums. So, we’re in the hotel bar, relaxing, and one of his friends from Connecticut says hi, and mentions that they’re getting a casual draft together, would we like to come and play? Sure, we’re game, why not, right? It turned out be Adam Shaw, Level 3 judge, and now a crime-fighter of some renown. It was a 6-man team draft, with me, Jamie, Adam, Pro Tour Photographer Craig Gibson, and another L3, Hector Fuentes. (who brought Spanish Lorwyn packs. You have no idea how hard it was for Jamie and me to draft those packs. “Hey Hector, what’s “Metamorfo’ in English?” “Changeling.” “Cool, thanks.” Now imagine that for 6-10 cards, each time the Spanish pack came through.) Playing and watching that draft, I found out how small a pond I was really in. I was one of the better players in my local group at that time, usually making Top 4, and these guys were playing way above me. Imagine what Chapin and Nassif would have done! I was lucky to go 1-2 (losing to Jamie and Hector, and barely eked out a game 3, entire team-draft-deciding win against Craig)
At that moment, I discovered my personal fire: Complexity. When I left the game, it had seemed too simple for me, and I was still under the impression that the man (or woman) with the most expensive cards won. Luck and money were the ways to win, and skill was a distant third. But here, no, here was skill winning games! I watched as much of tournament over the remaining days as I could, and I learned a lot. The following March, I would Top 16 a PTQ, start writing semi-professionally about the game, and, most importantly, buy a premium Membership on this very site. I had caught the fire. I was addicted.
Okay, at that point, you let them go. They’ll need to do a little discovery on their own, see if they really like the game. Keep in touch, if you can, though. Text, call, e-mail, whatever, just make sure they have a way to get a hold of you, and more importantly, you have a way to get a hold of them. Give them a call next time there’s a tournament, or even just a casual game going on. Give them the option to see how deep the rabbit-hole goes.
From here, we slowly teach them the game in increasing steps. This method can also be used to teach other players. I’m currently teaching one like this. He was the one who introduced me to Magic way back in the day. Lately, he’s been looking for some free time activities, and came down to a prerelease we had locally. He got hooked in again, and I’ve started re-teaching him the game on Tuesday nights. This is the step that he’s on, and one you can also use for players who want to get better, are re-learning the game, or are brand new.
Next week, I’ll cover the steps on how to get them up to speed with at least an average FNM player, and why you should only give them small pieces of the puzzle at a time.
Until next time, this is Jeff Phillips, reminding you: Don’t make the Loser Choice.