this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2023
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I'm very new to mtg and have only been playing arena a little, but I've ordered some physical decks. I was wondering if there were some famous cards that a beginner should know? For any reason really, gameplay, lore, etc.

Thanks in advance!

PS. is there anything like the Reddit bot that fetches the cards here?

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[–] ag_roberston_author@beehaw.org 1 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Lightning Bolt, Counterspell, Swords to Plowshares, Cultivate, Dark Ritual

[–] soul4rent@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

Probably the card design categories as well, since if you know a lot of the categories you know what strategies to expect, or even build.

Things like

Removal - spells and abilities that get rid of permanents you don't like

Board wipes - cards that clear the board of all creatures (including your own), and sometimes other permanents too.

Ramp - cards that get your more mana than you're usually "supposed" to have at a stage in the game.

Card Draw - spells or abilities with the magic words "draw a card", or something similar

Looting - spells and abilities that discard a number of cards and draw a number of cards.

Wheels - spells that discard your entire hand and draw a number of number of cards.

Cantrips - a minor effect with the words "draw a card" tacked onto it.

Xerox spells - 1-2 mana Cantrips with the only effect being some library manipulation + "draw a card". Usually blue.

Counters - spells and abilities with the magic words "counter target spell", sometimes with a condition for the counter. Usually blue.

Beaters - big creatures

Mill cards - cards that put the top card(s) of someone's libraries into your graveyard.

Reanimators - cards that drag a creature from a graveyard to the battlefield

Clones - cards that enter as a copy of something

Tribal - cards that care about creature types, like goblins, angels, etc.

Burn - spells and abilities that directly damage your opponents. Usually red.

Stax - cards that interfere with the normal plans of both you and each of your opponents, hopefully your opponents a lot more

Tutors - spells and abilities that search for a specific card in your library

Fog effects - spells and abilities that prevent all damage for a turn, usually from creatures.

Any I'm missing?

[–] Basilisk@mtgzone.com 1 points 2 years ago

Other categories I can think of would be "Looting" and "Rummaging", which are cards with the effects "draw a card, then discard a card" or "discard a card, then draw a card" respectively, and "flicker/blink" which exiles a card and then brings it back either immediately or at the end of turn. Also possibly "eggs", cheap artifacts, often 1 mana, that you crack for an effect.