How to get started with Magic: The Gathering

Magic: The Gathering is played with a deck of cards split across five colors (white, blue, black, red, green), each tied to a different playstyle. The simplest way to get started is with a pre-built deck (such as a Commander deck) rather than building a list from scratch.

The five colors of Magic

Each color in Magic represents a different philosophy of play: white leans on order and numbers, blue on control and manipulation, black on sacrifice and power at a cost, red on aggression and speed, green on growth and big creatures. Most decks combine two or more colors to draw on their combined strengths.

Card types

A Magic deck is made up of several card types: lands (which produce the mana needed to cast your spells), creatures, and spells (instants, sorceries, enchantments, artifacts, planeswalkers, depending on the deck). Balancing lands against spells is the foundation of deck building.

Where should you start?

To get started without diving straight into building a deck from scratch, a pre-built Commander deck is an excellent entry point: it's ready to play right out of the box, designed to be balanced, and built around a "commander" card that gives the deck a clear identity. You can find our Commander decks and Magic bundles available at Nexus Cards TCG.

Rounding out your deck with single cards

Once you're familiar with the basics, you can customize your deck by picking cards from our catalog of single Magic cards, across all editions.

Tracking your collection

To keep track of the cards you already own, our My Magic Collection page lets you track your collection edition by edition.