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Techattack I never got a welcome deck :( and some people might prefer to learn at home with friends rather than go to a store which CAN be a stressful and unwelcoming experience if you are a newbie
Actually you can just walk up to the LGS store counter and say you're new and ask for welcome decks. They should give them to you for no charge and then you can bring it home to play. Another free way to start playing magic is by play magic duels for free. So there really isn't any reason why you would want to buy these rookie decks. But its a neat product.
4:55 - No, actually I don't know how to play MTG, never played it before in my life! I was turned onto your channel by someone who watches mine and suggested I take a look. I've now watched a dozen of your videos, you're good at this and I can see why you're doing well. Subscribed! Note: You might have done it, but do you ever post videos of you playing with friends? I'd like to just watch a game...
Even if this is 11 months old I'm going to add to this. Command Zone does a really great job of editing their videos so that you can read each card as it comes to the field and you really get whats happening. It's easy to watch because they cut out just about all of the dead time in between turns and the reactions of each players and their thought processes while they are playing cards is edited in. It's easily the best and easiest show of a TCG I have ever watched.
gamesleg When I started playing I thought that tokens were just free to play cards. I remember crushing my friends by playing 3 4/4 flying angels on turn one.
gamesleg I STILL tap my creatures to block lol, because it feels more like my creature is stopping theirs, getting in the way. I untap them once the combat is over though.
All Five for 24.99 seems great as a gift, letting someone have 1 mono color deck of each color to have for themselves, and as they learn, they could mix and match colors all they want, and easily split them back into their original decks.
I've tried to get my siblings into it but no luck. my cousins were really into yugioh when we were younger but it never grabbed my attention like mtg did. the mtg video games are ok i guess but they feel incomplete and lack the fun of card games being a physical medium. so currently nobody to play with lol perhaps my cousins will someday gain in interest in mtg
I know Im not a newbie at magic but I feel the insert is missing something really important for a new player. Upkeep. While it might not matter in these decks, the player should still be taught what the unkeep step is. Because when they delve deeper into the game, they will see cards that says "At the beginning of upkeep". From these decks, they won't know what and when that upkeep step is.
Please double check that list, Untap Draw Main Phase Attack Main Phase End Turn Upkeep has been omitted completely. Also, Attack should be replaced by Combat since, some cards refer to "At the beginning of combat". I commend CardKingdom for trying to make an easy entry to magic. And since this is a new product there are bound to have improvements that they forgot. Hopefully they are watching this video and noticing the comments. For the most part, I think that glossary is just what a new player needs handy.
Alex Vang Untap upkeep draw main COMBAT (begin combat, declare attackers, declare blockers, damage, end combat) second main phase end step discard/cleanup
So It's: Untap (you untap your stuff) Upkeep (upkeep triggers happen) Draw (you draw a card ((draw triggers happen, but that just goes for every phase))) First Main Phase (Cast creatures and other sorcery speed stuff) Begin Combat (Last chance to tap down creatures or crew vehicles before attacks) Declare Attackers (you declare attackers (Duh!)) Declare Blockers (other player declares blockers) Combat damage (combat damage is dealt) End of Combat (not really important) Second Main phase (second chance to cast sorcery speed stuff) End (End of turn triggers happen, last chance to cast something before the next turn) Cleanup (can't cast spells, discard to handsize) I think that's about it. Hope I didn't miss anything.
My girlfriend got into MTG not too long ago. Sadly, many of my friends and myself only had EDH decks. I came across this video, which took me to Card Kingdom where I purchased two Rookie Decks (one black for me and one blue for my girlfriend) and even got her a Card Kingdom Rookie playmat they designed to help teach how to play. She caught on quickly and now enjoys even EDH!
I remember when I was a rookie and thought that you tapped creatures to block and when you tapped two color lands( the ones that say "tap add COLOR or COLOR to your mana pool)and searched your library for the basic with the symbol on the land. Those were the days.
Things I remember from noob days: 1) Thinking anything with high power and toughness was good (e.g. Sea Serpent, Orgg) 2) Choosing an archetype then trading rare playables for commons just because they were in the archetype. 3) Unholy Strengthening my Forcs of Nature just to see it get Terrored. 4) Using a playset of Prodigal Sorcerers, then forgetting their triggers. Every. Single. Turn. 5) Having my mind blown when I first saw gold cards. 6) Sideboarding *several* lands just in case I met land destruction. 7) Purchasing common singles at the magazine-listed rate for an entire deck. 8) Finally realizing I could proxy entire decks to test and see what worked.
I just taught a new player how to play last night using six packs to build a sealed deck. While it was fun to Crack packs it sure was a challenge! These look like such a good time!
Angelo Espinoza did they enjoy the game? I ask because I just got a friend into magic. I was told i was the second person to try and get him into the game. I tried him with commander and the rest is history. The first person that tried getting him into the game tried with Modern. Needless to say he was scared away due to prices. I found commander, pauper and draft are the best ways to get new players into the game. Commander being the best I've encountered so far. Especially with precon decks that new players can buy and play with right away.
He really did! I think commander, as an intro format goes, isn't the best for introducing a player to. A lot of other constructed formats follow the 60 card constructed design, so I thinks it's best to start players there because they can enjoy more of Magic that way. I feel like after they learn to actually play the game. The person I was teaching had never tried a TCG before, so I feel like commander would have been incredibly overbearing as far as interactions go.
I know how to play magic but I definitely NEED a product that teaches the game to new players. I keep the latest wotc intro decks for new players. How else am I supposed to teach people to play so I can integrate them into my playgroup? I love that more products like this exist!
GoondocksCastle I concur. I was actually just about to start a RU-vid channel and do beginner deck techs so old players can teach new players the game. But now these excist so I have no need to.
Magic duels is a horrible mess to learn how to play from. It does so many things incorrectly and the automated phase advancement is horrible garbage. I had 3 rookies join my LGS recently and they made so many mistakes during the tournaments, when we inquired where they learned this..obviously the answer was "Magic Duels", so we spent the rest of the evening "reprogramming" them over the rules of MTG.
Well, yes, there must be a step betveen M:D and tournament play. It helps introduce somebody to the basic conceptions of the game, like "what's a land?" and "why the damage on creatures acts not like in heartstone?". When they know how to play creatures and attack with them, it's enough of Duels.
You be generalising your audience, Professor. I may be an outlier, but I came for the Pokemon content and stayed for the excellent product reviews. I have never touched a physical Magic card in my life, though my parents were into it at one point and I dabbled with the PC games when I was much younger, having no clue at all what I was doing. I may actually decide to order one or two of these, depending on the opinions of my friends.
Syrahl696 *WARNING* Magic the Gathering is cardboard crack. Just know going into the game that you will find yourself spending every hard earned dollar on the game.
While looking like fairly decent decks to learn and have some fun, you could also go to your local game store and ask for 2 free 30 card sample decks for Magic which i think only needs you to register as a player (so that you can't keep coming back for more free sample decks) ... Those should be enough to get you to play the game to learn and have some fun on a rainy Sunday afternoon. If you happen to have a (or some) friends you might want to go one by one and get two decks each and combine them to make two color 60 card decks (buy 4 evolving wilds, and if they have them 4x *uncommon* dual lands in the two colors of your choice, and do the store a favour and buy a pack
It's odd how such a simple thing as a "rookie deck" would get me excited about the game. This looks like a great tool to bring in new people! Maybe I can finally get my wife to play...
Just sat my wife down the other day over a cocktail haha. She was really confused, and I was keeping it so simple. I think I'll pick up these decks so she can have everything she needs to succeed.
Your thoughts on the Planeswalker Decks made me realize something. The term "Planeswalker" means absolutely nothing to a person who is unaqqcuainted to Magic the Gathering.
I just found this video today and it convinced me to buy this instead of intro type decks sold at stores. I never played magic, but I always wanted to. I'm excited! Thanks for explaining all this so well.
I went to my LGS and told them I'm helping friends and friends of my sons learn to play. The starter decks from Wizards are free for the asking. They don't necessarily do a great job letting you know they are free or available, but I'd go this route first if you're going to teach people. The 30-card decks are easy to shuffle together to get a two-color experience when the time comes. That said, this product doesn't look bad.
I'll be buying the bundle for certain. My wife and kids are interested, but I don't have the correct vision to construct decks from a brand new players' eyes. I remembered that Card Kingdom had battle decks and was going to purchase a couple of those, but then I saw rookie decks and their quote from you. As always you, The Professor, are the go to source for informed decision making when purchasing MTG related product, including the Character Guard Clear Matte sleeves for my rarer artwork designed sleeves. Seriously, I can actually enjoy using beautiful artwork on my sleeves without worrying about the chipping and splitting hazards of using those sleeves (and thus never being able to use those sleeves for play since they're difficult to locate to begin with!). Thank you Professor. You truly are a Gentleman AND a Scholar!
Thanks Prof! These are actually exactly what I've been looking for. My 9 year-old daughter loves MtG and I've made a few starter-type mono-colored decks to help her learn, but these are great for exactly that! Will be buying all 5.Great vid as always!
i had built my own sort of deck series when I started an MTG club on my college campus about 6 years ago. we taught maybe 20 or so people how to play magic, then donated all our commons, uncommons, and lands to the next generation down. I graduated in 2014, and i hear it is still being passed down, along with the training decks, which is pretty neat.
Cool product. Bought the set to help teach friends and family that are interested, so we're all on an even playing field and so there's good variety of options.
Good shit. My friend wants to learn MTG but hates the cost, but was very pleased to hear about these Rookie decks. He immediately clicked off the video and bought two. Can't wait to teach him!
Thanks for this. I was on the fence about jumping in with these decks but this recommendation really answered all the questions I had. I look forward to watching more of your videos when I have a better grasp of how to play. Thanks again!
Hey Prof, I just wanted to say that thanks to your channel I was introduced to a wonderful company and many great deck ideas. I share your channel with my local gaming stores to help new players. I will be sharing this video as well.
Thank you Tolarian Community College for always giving your honest and valuable opinion. Being upfront about your sponsorship and the fact that this is a sponsor made product is appreciated and I trust that your opinion was unaffected by this fact. THANK YOU!
This video came with such perfect timing. My friend has been wanting to play magic for a while and i've been wondering how to introduce all five colors to him while making it simple to understand. This product is perfect.
I have been playing for about 15years, and now I have a son and he has always wanted to do what his daddy does, this includes playing Magic. He and I play with the cards (discarded proxys) but it is not any form of Magic. I have plenty of decks with too many complicated interactions to try to teach him, and a lack of time to thumb through the piles and boxes of cards to try and build two/three decks that I could sit and show him the basic mechanics. These are a great idea! Either buying them out right, or getting the list and building them (or taking him to the card shop to "buy his own deck") This is a great bonding experience. Prof. Thanks for the review, as always great help and info.
Yet another great informational video TCC. Thank you for making me aware of this product. I have a lot of friends and family I'd like to teach MTG and these look like wonderful tools for just that.
7:15 I was like wtf is grok... looked up the meaning and I learned something today.... thanks Professor! never heard that word before I thought it was a typo/easter egg/ onomotopoeia.
This is exactly what I was looking for as a brand new player. There are like thousands of cards, and if I were to build a starter deck I'd drown. The idea of a single beginning deck that I can try and go "okay, hey, now I'm getting it" and then branch out from there is exactly what I'm looking for.
Bobbynibbles Aside from there being plenty of situations in which using the upkeep step is crucial, there are new cards that refer to the upkeep step(ex. Mechanized production, and Life crafter's bestiary). The cards are rare though, so to a very new player they probably wouldn't show up.
That's not even close to true (No new cards use upkeep). It's just factually wrong. As for why they don't include upkeep is because only a small percentage of cards care about upkeep (so they can easily just avoid including those), and it's not a phase where you do anything. All the phases on that card have actual instructions with them (with Ending being the least involved one). Upkeep is just a placeholder phase.
I just purchased the rookie desk. But I didn’t go through your sponsor link, so I submitted a ticket to CK letting them know I made my purchase because of your video. So they wrote back and noted it in my order. :-) Thanks for the videos! They’re extremely helpful in cutting through all the choices so we know what to invest in!
This is perfect! One of the teachers at my school is starting a mtg club, and while I have been playing for a few years, a lot of the people joining the club don't have any decks and know very little about the game. I should definitely let them know about this.
Over 200K subscribers ! congrats professor. Keep it up, i'm a subscriber since the very beginning. And you stayed true to the community. High quality channel.
I am super happy that my wife wants to play magic with me. These will be perfect for helping her learn the game! She has already watched your how to play video several times :)
This is a great review. I haven't played MTG since I was in high school, and I was looking to get back into it with my younger cousins. I think this is a great idea to have for my game stash if/when the power goes out, or Florida receives another hurricane.
Professor, to be honest. I haven't played a game "Magic" in my life. I was a Yugioh player but I stumbled across your channel and watched your product comparisons. I came for those comparisons and stayed for the articulate and knowledgeable person you are. I always look forward to your videos. So I thank you Professor.
Thanks for the review Prof - I was actually thinking of starting a Magic club at the high school I work at, and these will be perfect for just that! I wouldn't have even looked for a ready-made product like this if not for this video :)
I have recently opened up a club at my high school and I use rookie decks to teach people who are interested in learning how to play. and I never would have found them without this video so for that I thank you
Great video man. I actually have never played Magic, I collected some because they looked cool when I played Pokemon oh 18 or so years ago. I got turned onto your videos while researching sleeves and cases for Star Wars Destiny which I just started playing. I think I will pick up all of these decks to try magic out next paycheck. Thanks man.
This is EXACTLY what I've been looking for. My daughter found some MtG cards in the basement. No idea how they got their, as I gave my cards away 20 years ago. A grand total of of 52 red/black cards with 3 Atogs, 2 Grey Ogres, el Hajjaj, Lord of the Pit (which we christened Lola des Pites), Vampire Bats, Dark Ritual and a few others. All heavily worn, some slightly chewed. But it doesn't matter, we've had great fun and many laughs playing from a shared library. I know most of you are freaking out, but the carefully crafted decks with interlocking synergies and Hail Mary bombs are far to complex for a 9 year old who can't read English. They also happen to be what drove me from the game way back in the day. These decks are perfect for us. We can move beyond plinking with the bats or waiting for Lola to show up, which are the end results of most games we play.
Thanks for the review! I'm looking for an easy way to teach a friend how to play. I could build a few decks from my bulk rares, but I don't tend to keep 4 copies of everything. This will be a great way to get him into the game and we can graduate to Commander pre-cons next :)
One of the appeals I found of drafting a new core set was the charm in the simplicity of the set. Cards didn't synergize as perfectly but instead functioned cleanly. When you described the decks bringing back that feeling I was pleased.
For real, I'm going through your back catalogue of videos, cause I just found your channel about 2months ago, and I've rejoined magic about 6 months ago, with only 1 of my decks from when I played before. I'm loving ravnica, but I was thrown a little off by modern. And I only started sleaving my cards a month ago, I do miss that sound and feel of unsleeved cards.
Love this , was just thinking about getting my kids into magic but I play online now because of work and life so I don’t have time to take them to Fnms every Friday. This would be an amazing thing to get for them and the whole set of 5 decks would only be like $30. Great video keep it up professor
I'll be sure to pick up a few of these. I'm newish to Magic but being able to have rookie decks on hand to show other people why I like this game is always a good idea.
I was already planning on buying some of the battle decks for casual play, and now I am going to order a set of these! I have wanted a good way to teach some of my friends, and these look perfect!
Most drafts, there isn’t even a single card in your deck that’s worth using half a pack of sleeves to protect. Ok, fair enough, you can use the same sleeves again next draft... but still.
Just made rookie decks for my friends daughters. You bring up a valid point too they don't get flip cards/energy/vehicles etc wish they still had core sets for when I give them boosters
been playing since urzas saga....bought a set of 5 of these to teach some coworkers that were interested...definitely would recommend these if you wanna teach the game....MUCH better than any wotc intro product in my opinion
I wish these existed a year ago when my nephew told me he wanted to learn how to play Magic just for that turn order card. I made him a deck of each color very similar to what these do except I included an 'exciting' bulk rare creature in each deck to keep his excitement up. What kid doesn't want to play a big scary dragon in a red deck. At the end of the day he loved playing cards with his cool uncle and I had a lot of fun building stupid decks without worrying about them not being too good. His favorite deck after learning how to play was a black Bogbrew Witch Festering Newt deck.
I have plenty of friends that I want to get into MTG, and I've only just barely started out myself. I'm buying all of them. Thanks for introducing me to these. :)
After watching this video, I purchased one of each of the Rookie Decks to teach my 9 and 10 year old nieces how to play MtG. The Professor's review was spot on. They are indeed even more simple and easy to grasp then the Welcome Decks. I highly recommend these decks for teaching new players.
I built a set of decks very similar to these to reach my nephew the game many years ago. At first he loved Blue but later went with Green. Made his uncle Ian proud.
Electrum Music I gutted it and put it back together with some bombs from kaladesh and my good pulls from an aether revolt fat pack and it's wildly fun to play. Now it might not be the best standard deck by any means but it's all in good fun
I'm glad someone has taken up the mantle of the "Sample Decks" that Wizards dropped. I have a set of the Origins sample decks, and I have taught (well, started to teach) many friends to play using them. The best part about them is they were well-balanced against one-another (after replacing Plummet as the only removal in the green one - I replaced it with Wild Instincts). It's a type of product that there is a need for, even if just having the decklists available is the most valuable part.
This is fabulous. I've been looking for some product exactly like this to teach the kids at my youth group the game. I was going to go for the battle decks from CK, but this is easily the superior option. Sweet!
I haven't played magic since I was like 13, and I recently went with a friend to a card shop for draft night and then a casual duel night. Simply having a friend who knew the owner was a nice in for me, the guy actually just gave me like 2 or 3 rookie decks free of charge. This is prob actually fairly common, because they have a vested interest in inducting new players into the community. Hell, on draft night, I got to keep all the commons and uncommon from everyones decks! It was great and made sense, of course they didn't need them because they've already been playing with the cards for months and know what they like, but as someone who's struggling to just get enough cards of shared functions to make a themed deck, it was incredibly fun! Even though almost none of them are worth anything, it still gave me enough basic, fairly good value plays to start actually building a deck to suit my playstyle
I have made some similar decks to teach kids how to play. The mechanics are focused around the main phase so complex timing is avoided, with a small amount of creature abilities that can interact with combat phases. These types of decks are important for players looking to expand their play groups with new blood
Glad I found this. There's this gal I'm interested in and she's never played MTG but is interested in learning, I'll probably pick up a couple of these to help teach her.
I am planning to pick up a few to have around the house for my nephew and any curious friends. I think these would be perfect for little kids who may get confused by more complicated mechanics.
ive been playing for 8 years and i often teach new players, these decks definitley fix the often occuring problem of having overcomplicated decks (and occasional bad teachers trying to teach someone whos played for about 15 min so far lol) i will definitley pick these up just for that reason. A+++ card kingdom.
These are the decks that welcomed me into the gathering. Seriously these helped me know the actions in a turn and basic mechanics. I’m at the point of wanting to learn more and realizing I don’t need or want intro packs now (I regretfully purchased the 9.99 starter pack...ugh). Also card kingdom is an amazing site and their customer service is the best.
4:14. Ok. I know the cards are effectively worthless. But that Riffle Shuffle still sent shivers down my spine x_x. Professor, Thank you for this vid and the Battle decks video. I've become quite fond of LRR's MTG content and have been searching for a reasonably priced way to get into the hobby. These Rookie decks will permit me to introduce my wife to the game and should she find it enjoyable, the Battle Decks look like a clear next step before diving into Sealed or Drafts. :D.
Great video, as always. Really loved the insight into this new products. Was waiting for you to compare the rookie decks to the free sample decks that Wizards makes for new players and was surprised and disappointed when that didn't happen.
I do the same exact thing except that its a singleton theme deck with the best common and uncommon cards in the game (less than 5 bucks a card though). Its designed for 5 player free-for-all games and the best part is that you don't need sleeves or care if the decks get trashed or stolen. Having something like this is a must in every magic lovers collection because you have a collection of relatively fair decks that are easy to play even for the most casual players who don't even own magic cards.
I think a full set of these, sleeved up and in some cheap boxes would fit nicely in my travel case. This would be great for having quick games with friends new to magic.
