First Land to First Draft

The Foundations Beginner Box is built to teach: two ordered tutorial decks walk two players through a first game turn by turn, then all ten 20-card theme decks mix and match in pairs. A free Magic Academy event at a local store is the other great start.

A constructed deck has at least 60 cards, with no more than four of any card except basic lands. Draft and sealed decks have at least 40. A Commander deck is exactly 100 cards, its commander included, with only one copy of each card except basic lands.

Not in a two-player game. The starting player skips the draw step of their first turn. In multiplayer games like Commander, nobody skips it.

Magic Academy is a set of new-player events at local game stores. Learn to Play events teach the basic rules with simple decks, and Deck Building events show you how to build your first deck. They run about one to two hours, and the store provides the cards.

Each player starts at 40 life with a 100-card deck led by a legendary commander, which waits in the command zone. Casting it costs 2 more for each time you have already cast it from there, and a player dealt 21 or more combat damage by one commander loses.

Yes. Wizards says Friday Night Magic welcomes players of all levels. The format changes from store to store, often Commander, Booster Draft, or Standard, so ask your store which one it runs.