Magic: The Gathering is a trading card game where you summon creatures and cast spells to bring your opponent’s life total down to zero. Each player brings their own deck. You take turns playing lands, which give you mana, and you spend that mana on spells. In a normal game for two people you each start on 20 life.
Commander is Magic’s most popular multiplayer format. It is a relaxed group game for around three to five people. Each player has a 100-card deck led by one legendary card called the commander, and everyone starts on 40 life. If you are completely new, read the basics below, then try a learn-to-play session at a local store.
The cards you will meet
Most cards fall into a few simple groups:
- Lands produce mana, the energy you use to pay for everything else. You can usually play one land per turn.
- Creatures stay on the table and can attack or block.
- Instants and sorceries are one-off spells. Instants can be cast at almost any time, sorceries only during your own main phase.
- Artifacts, enchantments and planeswalkers stay on the table and give you lasting effects.
Magic has five colours (white, blue, black, red and green), and most lands make mana of one colour.
Setting up a game
Each player shuffles their deck, puts it face down in front of them (this is your library) and draws seven cards. If you are unhappy with your opening hand you can take a mulligan: shuffle, draw seven new cards, then put one card on the bottom of your library for each mulligan you have taken. Agree how you will track life, then decide who goes first. The first player skips their first draw, which balances out the advantage of starting.
Casting spells
To cast a card you pay its mana cost, shown by the symbols in the top right corner. A coloured symbol needs mana of that colour, and a number means that much mana of any colour. You make mana by tapping (turning sideways) your lands. Playing a land is free and does not count as casting a spell.
Creatures, artifacts and enchantments are permanents, so they stay on the battlefield once cast. Instants and sorceries do their job and then go to your graveyard, the discard pile beside your library.
How a turn works
Every turn has the same five phases.
- Beginning phase. Untap all your cards, deal with anything that happens during your upkeep, then draw a card.
- First main phase. Play a land if you like, and cast any spells you can afford.
- Combat phase. Attack your opponent (see below).
- Second main phase. Works the same as the first. You still only get one land per turn, so if you played one earlier you cannot play another now.
- Ending phase. Any end-of-turn effects happen, you discard down to seven cards if you have more, damage on creatures wears off, and play passes to your opponent.
Combat in three steps
- Declare attackers. Choose which of your creatures attack and tap them.
- Declare blockers. Your opponent can block with any of their untapped creatures.
- Deal damage. Attackers and blockers damage each other, and any unblocked attacker damages the player. A creature that takes damage equal to or more than its toughness (the second number in its bottom corner) dies and goes to the graveyard.
One point catches most beginners out: a creature cannot attack on the turn it arrives, so plan a turn ahead.
You win by reducing your opponent to 0 life. A player also loses if they need to draw a card and their library is empty.
How to play Commander
Commander keeps the same turn order with a few extra rules. The official Commander page sets them out:
- Deck size. 100 cards in total: 99 cards plus your commander. Only one copy of each card is allowed, apart from basic lands.
- Your commander. A legendary creature or artifact that leads your deck. Every card in the deck must only use mana symbols that also appear on your commander (its colour identity).
- The command zone. Your commander starts the game face up in its own space beside you, and you can cast it from there. Each time you cast it again later in the game it costs two more mana than the time before.
- Life and damage. Everyone starts on 40 life. If one commander deals you 21 or more combat damage over the game, you lose.
- Free for all. Seats are random and turns go clockwise. You can attack any player, or several players in the same turn.
Wizards suggests allowing about 20 minutes per player, so a four-player game takes around an hour and a half.
Brackets and the pre-game chat
Before a Commander game, players usually take a minute to talk about their decks. Wizards’ Commander Brackets give that chat a shared language. There are five brackets, from 1 (Exhibition, playful theme decks) to 5 (cEDH, fully competitive). The system is still officially in beta, and taking part is optional.
Brackets also refer to a list of especially powerful cards called Game Changers. Bracket 1 and 2 decks leave them out, Bracket 3 allows up to three, and Brackets 4 and 5 have no limit. The October 2025 update also describes how long a game should feel. In Bracket 2 you can expect to play at least eight turns before anyone wins, and in Bracket 3 at least six.
If you are not sure which bracket your deck belongs in, tell the table you are using a ready-made deck and that it is your first time. That gives everyone what they need to pick a fair game.
What to buy first
Magic Academy sessions (see below) provide everything, so you can learn before buying. For your own cards, these are current beginner options from Wizards:
| Product | What it is | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Foundations Commander decks | Five ready-to-play 100-card decks, released on 2 October 2026 alongside Reality Fracture. Each sticks to one colour, costs about £35 in UK shops, and has a simple plan. | Starting Commander straight away |
| Magic: The Gathering Foundations | A set gathering many of Magic’s best-known cards, which Wizards recommends for your first games | A first collection that stays useful |
| Beginner Box | A boxed set with printed guides that walk you through your first games, plus decks to keep playing with (about £30 in UK shops) | Learning at home with a friend |
| Welcome Decks | Small starter decks that shops hand out at Magic Academy events while supplies last | Your very first games |
| Play Boosters | Packs of 14 cards from the latest set | Building a deck at a draft or prerelease |
The five Foundations Commander decks are Calling All Angels (white), Keen Engineering (blue, artifacts), Wretched Ranks (black, zombies), Reign of Dragons (red) and Tramplesaurus Rex (green). Each comes with a foil version of its commander.
The newest set is Reality Fracture, with Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek following on 13 November 2026. Independent game shops across the UK stock Magic. If you would like to practise between visits, MTG Arena is a free digital version that starts with a tutorial.
Formats a beginner will meet
- Commander. The group format described above. Cards from across Magic’s history are allowed and nothing rotates out.
- Standard. One against one with 60-card decks built from the main sets of roughly the last two to three years, plus Foundations. Many shops run Standard Showdown, a weekly Standard event.
- Booster Draft. Players take turns picking cards from packs, then build a 40-card deck.
- Sealed. You open six Play Boosters and build a 40-card deck from them. This is how prereleases work. Our guide to prereleases explains the day.
Playing at home or down the pub
Most Magic is played between friends, at home or around a pub table. Our reviewer Matt plays in a regular group of four, and Commander is made for exactly that kind of game.
- Start with ready-made decks. The five Foundations Commander decks give a group of friends a deck each, all at a similar level, so nobody is outmatched. The Beginner Box suits two people learning together.
- Agree your house rules. Before the first game, settle which cards are welcome and how strong decks should be. The brackets above give you a shared way to describe that.
- Practise between games. MTG Arena is free and lets you try ideas against other players online before you bring a deck to the table.
- Pack light for the pub. Sleeves keep cards safe from spills, and the Companion app tracks life totals for the whole table. A quieter weeknight usually leaves room to spread out.
Once you have a deck you love, a local shop is the place for drafts, prereleases and new opponents.
Where to learn in the UK
Shops in the Wizards Play Network can run Magic Academy events all year round. These are relaxed sessions for new players of any age, lasting about one to two hours. In a Learn to Play session, staff or friendly regulars teach you with Welcome Decks or a Beginner Box. In a Deck Building session you open six Play Boosters and build your first 40-card deck. Registered players get to keep a Welcome Deck from Learn to Play while stock lasts. To register, create a Wizards Account and download the Magic: The Gathering Companion app, which helps with event sign-up and can track life totals.
After that, the natural next step is a casual evening such as Friday Night Magic or a Commander night. Our guide to Friday Night Magic and Commander nights covers what happens on the night.
To find somewhere near you, browse Magic: The Gathering venues across the UK, or start with the city pages for Manchester, Leeds and Exeter.
Your first game checklist
- Pick one ready-made deck rather than building your own straight away.
- Make a Wizards Account and install the Companion app before you go.
- Bring a pen and paper or a die to track life, as well as card sleeves if you have them.
- Tell your table you are new, and read each card out the first time you play it.
- Ask questions freely. Everyone at the table was a beginner once.
Common questions
How many cards are in a Commander deck?
A Commander deck has exactly 100 cards: your commander plus 99 others. You can only include one copy of each card, apart from basic lands, and every card has to fit your commander's colours.
How much life do you start with in Magic?
In a normal one against one game each player starts on 20 life. In Commander everyone starts on 40, which suits the bigger group games.
What is the best way for a complete beginner to learn Magic?
A Magic Academy session at a local shop is the gentlest start, as everything is provided and staff or experienced players teach you. MTG Arena is a free way to practise at home, and a Beginner Box or one of the Foundations Commander decks makes a good first purchase.
Can you play Magic with more than two people?
Yes. Commander is built for groups, usually three to five players around one table, with each person playing for themselves. Two-Headed Giant lets you team up with a friend instead.
What are Commander brackets?
Brackets are an optional scale from 1 to 5 that describes how strong a Commander deck is meant to be. Players mention their bracket before a game so that everyone at the table ends up with a similar kind of game.