First steps into Magic: The Gathering

You just bought your first Intro Pack, shuffled it up, and promptly lost to a smug player with more expensive cards with a deck that always seemed to have the right answers. The first few games of Magic outside a casual setting can be frustrating for a newer player. More experienced players know rules tricks and card interactions that you've never thought about, their decks are filled with $20 rares and by the time you've started casting spells, they have a veritable army on the battlefield and your life is precariously low. They seem to know something you don't about playing and building decks, some secret that always lets them draw the right cards at the right time to absolutely crush you.

I don't pretend to be some kind of expert in Magic. I'm not a professional player and I've never won any large tournaments, but I have spent a lot of time thinking about the fundamental aspects of Magic strategy and teaching them to new players in my area. Some of these concepts are pretty awkward to wrap your head around, while others are easier to understand. The most important advice I can give a new player is to not get discouraged or give up. Everyone (even that know-it-all jerk who beat you) started where you are right now. If you are really passionate about the game and willing to put in some time and money, you will get much better.