A Beginner’s Guide to Magic: The Gathering and CCGs
by Robert McKay
Collectible Card Games (CCGs) are games based on collectible cards similar to traditional trading cards like baseball cards. CCGs are also similar to traditional card games in that each player usually has a select number of cards in their hand and a stockpile or deck that they draw from. Unlike traditional card games each player has their own unique deck. Players collect cards and build decks of cards strategically based on the cards interactions. These interactions are defined by the maker of the specific game and usually include strict limits on minimum and possibly maximum deck size.
The first modern CCG and arguably still the most popular is Magic: The Gathering. It is a fantasy based game in which each player is a powerful wizard and the deck of cards is his library of spells that he can cast from. Each player is essentially trying to kill the other by either reducing their life total (starting at 20) down to zero or by depleting the other player’s library thus leaving them unable to cast spells. Most other CCGs have similar methods of winning and similar structure to turns although they may be more or less detailed or structured.
In MTG turns go as follows:
Untap Phase: Most cards are only usable one time per turn and must be restored to playing order at the beginning of each turn. In Magic when a card is spent for the turn it is turned sideways, this is called tapping, thus the untap phase.
Upkeep Phase: This phase is where various kinds of resource fees (upkeep) are paid on cards that require a fee to remain in play each turn.
Draw Phase: This is where the player draws a set number of cards to give them spells to play each turn. Most games draw one card per turn.
Main/Attack phase: In magic there are two main phases separated by an attack phase. During the main phase a player may play any spells they are able to pay the costs for. Attack phase is obviously for attacking the other player, usually with creature spells on the board. Some games combine these phases together.
Discard Phase. In Magic at the end of the turn a player may have no more cards in hand than seven and must discard cards of their choice to get down to that number. Most cards have a maximum hand size designated in the rules and the players will usually start with that number of cards at the beginning of the game.
After the discard phase play passes to the next player and they begin their turn with the untap phase. Each card has text on it to describe how and when the card may be played as well as its cost. In addition cards may alter the rules of the game such as the number of cards that may be drawn or even the maximum number of cards a player can have in their hand. Play continues from one player to the next until all players but one are eliminated from the game and the remaining player is the winner. These are the basic elements of most CCGs. I did leave some elements out in order to keep things simple. One other thing that bears mentioning is the method of paying for spells/cards in games. In MTG resource cards called mana are interspersed in the deck that is used to pay for each spell cast. Some CCGs have a set pool to draw on for the cost of spells and yet others have a separate deck for resource cards. This varies greatly so that’s why I didn’t mention it in my explanation of turn structure.
One of the big reasons for the success of CCGs is that they have several different areas that a player may focus on for improving their gaming ability so they appeal to a broad spectrum of people for different reasons. The three main areas that I think of are deck construction, strategy, and people reading. Ideally an excellent player will concentrate on them all, but some only like it for one or two of the reasons and play daily. If you like any of those elements in a game I suggest you pick up a starter set of the game that interests you most. Starter sets usually contain two complete decks so that two people can learn together and contain more basic cards so that you aren’t overwhelmed.
Other CCGs that you may want to explore are: The Lord of the Rings, Legend of the Five Rings, Pokemon, Yu-gi-oh, Harry Potter, and Wyvern.
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