Magic: The Gathering Trading Cards
Magic: The Gathering holds the title of the most-played trading card game in the world. With strategic gameplay, gorgeous artwork, and the chance to duel it out in a land filled with magical creatures, it's easy to see why!
The First Trading Card Game
Magic: The Gathering was the first modern trading card game. It inspired a generation of other trading card games, from Yu-Gi-Oh! to Pokémon. The collectible card game was invented by mathematician and game designer Richard Garfield and produced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast.
Since then, Magic: The Gathering has become a global phenomenon with international tournaments, video games like Magic Online, and the digital MTG Arena!
How to Play Magic: The Gathering
If you're intrigued by the lore and artwork but unsure how to get started, check out this quick and easy Magic: The Gathering guide.
The rules of playing vary, however, the standard format is as follows. Two players compete, with the goal of depleting the other's life points. Each player starts with 20 life points, which are tracked using 20 sided dice.
The typical deck has 60 cards and is usually based around one basic land which produced a single mana color, out of the following: red, black, white, green, and blue. To start, both players draw seven cards. If one player does not like their hand, they can redraw a new set of random cards, however, they can only draw six cards.
At each turn, the players continue to draw one card from the deck. Per turn, a player can also lay down one mana producing land, and play spells offensive or defensive spells depending on the amount of mana they have available. The battle continues until all the life points of one player have been depleted, finishing the match!
To get started playing at home with your friends, you'll need a starter card set. However, many players venture beyond the starter set, keeping a curated set of cards in their card pool. From this card pool, players can then create their own deck tailored to best defeat their opponents.
The cost of Magic: The Gathering playing cards varies from a few cents for basic creature cards to tens of thousands of dollars for rare and powerful cards like the Black Lotus.
However, if you want to improve your deck, you don't have to spend top dollar to get these super rare cards. You can also look into packs, for example the 15 card booster packs, which are guaranteed to come with three uncommons.
Solaris Japan offers far more expansion sets and booster packs than your local game store. Check out our collection of Magic: the Gathering cards to find the new sets you need to make your deck complete!
