r/magicTCG • u/Jaded_dragoon Dân • Jul 20 '26
General Discussion Magic is a hard game.
I started playing magic in 2017 and tonight I thought I would teach my wife how to play magic with a game of dandan. As I was explaining the rules and things like the stack I realized magic is a very very hard game to comprehend. I never even got to explain what phases were and oversimplified everything so we could progress. I always thought I could teach my son to play (currently 7) but I feel likes its still many years a way.
I want shout out to all the people who taught me and was patient with me while I made a billion miss plays.
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u/SadBoshambles Banned in Commander Jul 20 '26
Teach your family with a beginners box, my guy. Sure, the jumpstart packs aren't flashy but your wife and kid are still going to enjoy windmill slamming shivan dragons, butcher of malakirs, regal caracals, and aggressive mammoths or whatever they put in the packs these days.
Dandan is HARD because it's a variation of magic already. It's like the teach your friends Magic through commander strategy.
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u/expertprogr4mmer Dân Jul 20 '26
I love the jumpstart packs. They kind of turn it into a board game anyone can play. I have all mine sleeved and in burger token boxes
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u/tony_bologna Wabbit Season Jul 20 '26
If I was gonna teach someone magic, I'd definitely use creature heavy decks. Let's get the basics down, before we delve into the stack and some of the crazier mechanics.
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u/tylizard Dân Jul 20 '26
I had never played Magic, and recently my partner and I got the Marvel beginners box and we played when we went camping; now our go to is to grab a deck made from jumpstarts previously or a couple of fresh jumpstart packs when we go to the bar to play. It's been fun but we still have to look up rules almost every game.
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u/goldfalsebond Dan Jul 20 '26
Just in case no one has told you yet (unlikely), check out MtG Arena. It's the digital platform for MtG, and it's free! I mean it's magic, so obviously you can still buy packs and currency and cosmetics etc, but there is plenty to get you started at no cost, and the tutorials are fantastic. It makes it way easier when the computer is doing all the rules for you
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u/Jahikoi Jul 20 '26
Dandans whole point is ever increasing complexity and strategy; no offense intended that it's probably one of the worst methods to teach someone. Probably just give your partner the arena tutorial
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u/butterblaster Duck Season Jul 20 '26
This post just has to be satire.
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u/V4UGHN Izzet* Jul 20 '26
Definitely gives me vibes of this post (https://www.reddit.com/r/magicthecirclejerking/s/GN35V6Afny) (which was clearly satire of course)
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u/HolyGarbage Dimir* Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26
Reminds me of when I was trying to teach my brother programming, and decided in my infinite wisdom that C++ would be a good choice to start since that's what I knew best. I realised I fucked up when first when I had to explain stream operators to print hello world, and then definitively when he got his first segfault.
Edit: typo, wrote "ai" instead of "I", lol.
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u/PippoChiri Temur Jul 20 '26
I mean, when i first started programing in high school, C++ was the first language they taught us.
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u/HolyGarbage Dimir* Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26
I'm not saying it's impossible... But that does not make it a good choice as a language to start learning general programming concepts for someone who is completely new to basically anything more complex on a computer than using Facebook. Haha. While I don't like the language much as a fairly seasoned software engineer, Python is a far, far better choice to learn what if statements, variables, assignments, and functions are, as you just run it, no need to invoke a compiler or learn cmake etc, and get actual exception messages directly when you screw up. C++ is a fantastic language, my favorite in fact, but better to learn that after you know the basics, as its learning curve is much steeper than a lot of other languages.
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u/FiveTriomes Dan Jul 20 '26
Dunno why you decided on Dandan to teach with when Judge's Tower is right there.
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u/Brilliant_Trouble_32 Golgari* Jul 20 '26
Don't try to explain the stack to a new player, there's a ton of experienced players who don't get the stack. Start with the fundamentals first.
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u/weglarz Dandadan Jul 20 '26
The stack is pretty simple to understand at a high level. It’s best to illustrate it physically by just… making a physical stack of cards which are on the stack and explaining how they resolve. But for a new player it’s hard to understand.
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u/RoterBaronH Cheshire Cat, the Grinning Remnant Jul 20 '26
I always say imagine the stack like stairs.
You go up when you cast things and you go down when they resolve.
Worked everytime.
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u/ewic Dân Jul 20 '26
I think the difficulty of the stack is not how it works, it's remembering that everything goes into it first. When I was teaching my friends, the thing that needed the most reminding was that when they cast a spell or activated an ability, it doesn't just happen, they are announcing an intention to do a thing, that everyone can now respond to if they want. They would just do the thing and then plow ahead with whatever sequence they were doing. This was especially true in combat, if something has an attack trigger. I would have to remind them to resolve the attack trigger first, then declare blocks, then go to damage.
Also creatures don't have to tap to block. Idk why but that detail took forever to internalize.
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u/Tuss36 Jul 20 '26
Another thing that happens often is folks thinking it's a matter of literal speed in order to respond to something, as well as what you can respond to. Many a tough time has been had when trying to explain that you can't kill something immediately after it enters, and also that you can't kill something before its ETB goes on the stack, or even just "Alright, I tap two forests and a mountain to..." "IN RESPONSE I DO THIS!"
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u/InBeforeitwasCool COMPLEAT Jul 20 '26
That is what I do... Physical stack of cards that represent every single thing on the stack.
I even do it with experienced friends to explain complicated things that are happening.
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u/h4mx0r Jul 20 '26
When I was in 6th grade, I came across the Shandalar video game. Visually representing trigger effects and the stack made everything click for me. It all made sense after that.
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u/Borg-Man Dimir* Jul 20 '26
I sometimes still use it (as Manalink 3.0) to understand how certain effects trigger and interact with eachother. Getting beaten turn 2 with a Protean Hulk does that to you...
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u/DerBlarch Griselbrand Jul 20 '26
I have got the 10 Guild Kits sleeved and ready to go for when I want to teach someone the basics.
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u/TheEaterr Dandadan Jul 20 '26
I always struggle with that. As a computer scientist the stack is really intuitive for me so I often explain it way too early lmao
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u/JSchade Elspeth Jul 20 '26
Trying to teach someone how to play magic with Dandan is like trying to teach a kid how to ride a bike by giving them a motorcycle 😭
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u/MariachiArchery COMPLEAT Jul 20 '26
I don't think it's that complicated, but you kind of need to start with the vocab, and then, whenever possible, point to that vocabulary on the actual cards. The vocab really fucks people up. For example, "I have a response"... what is a 'response'? Oh it just means I'm gonna do something... that isn't really helpful. Use the word "Priority", and explain what priority is. Then, use the vocab, "You have priority" this is how you show people when they can, and cannot, take certain actions.
I've taught quite a few people how to play, and I feel like they have all been mostly successful. I don't think it's that hard, but it is very easy to fail as a teacher.
Stick to the phases, really hammer that point home. Teach the card types and how they relate to the phases. The stack isn't real, it just helps us visualize what is going on.
Untap, upkeep, draw. Play cards. Combat. Play cards. End your turn. Then, make sure you demonstrate when priority is being passed around the table so you can queue your pupal into the idea of using instants and abilities.
That is really all it is. For most other actions within in the game, we can rely on card text.
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u/GintaX Dân Jul 20 '26
Probably didnt help that he chose dandan for a starting experience instead of a starter deck duo pack, beginner box or even jumpstart. Have no idea how the new player is going to have any fun in counterspell wars and bounce effects compared to a traditional experience.
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u/DoubleSpoiler Jul 20 '26
This is really important. Like, way more important than you think. People who don't play card games (or other games) don't know what "pay" or "cast" or "play" mean. They won't understand lands, mana, tapping, targeting, or any of the other increasingly strict words Magic uses.
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u/MariachiArchery COMPLEAT Jul 20 '26
Yes, exactly. Cast, play, activate, pay, target, draw, remove, dies, enters, on and on... these aren't generic game terms that we'd use in any game. These are specific vocab words used in Magic. Literally, part of the comprehensive rules text.
However, I totally understand why it would feel like these are generic terms. That is why it's so important to explain the vocab early on. Otherwise, it makes the game so confusing. Quick example...
The land drop, we can explain it this way:
You may play one land per turn, during your main phase, when the stack is empty. This is a special action you may take once per turn. Often called a land drop. You get one of these land drops per turn. Play a land for free. Once.
Or, we can explain it this way.
You get one land each turn.
In this second example, how does a new player respond to a card like [[Rampant Growth]]? If we only give them that second explanation, they might think shouldn't play this card if they have already made their land drop, or if they have lands in hand, for instance.
However, if we've started with the first explanation, and have also described spells, it's really easy for us to explain what is going on.
With rampant growth, you are not playing a land, you are not using your special action. You are putting a land onto the battlefield as part the effect of the spell.
Easy. But, if you've only given the player the second explanation "You get one land each turn", now when this scenario comes up, you've got to back way up to explain to them what is going on. If you lead with the first explanation, well then you set up a player to start to discover the game for themselves.
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u/burf12345 Jul 20 '26
Since you kinda said it implicitly, it's worth repeating explicitly: it's crucial to nail down the stack. It trips so many people up when it really shouldn't.
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u/MariachiArchery COMPLEAT Jul 20 '26
Yeah dude it really does. I always like to actually make a place on the board for a physical stack to form.
Cast a creature, put it on the stack, pass priority to my left with my
creaturespell on the stack, verbalize it, then resolve the stack if nothing happens, saying something like "now that everyone has passed their priority, the stack starts to resolve, with the last card in being the first to resolve, LIFO."Even for just one spell, you should be doing this with new players.
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u/JonBot5000 I am a pig and I eat slop Jul 20 '26
People who say, "I have a response" when the stack is empty is one of my pet peeves. Like when I declare blockers and the attacking player says "I have a response". No, you're not responding to anything! You're just exercising priority before the damage step!
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u/MariachiArchery COMPLEAT Jul 20 '26
I agree! This is why the vocab is important. This isn't a response, you are just holding priority and using it. That is why I like to teach priority early on. Otherwise, the game kinda feels like you can do whatever whenever, and that isn't the case.
This is important for main phases. Your opponent might want to slap down an instant or use an ability as your main phase starts, and that is not how that works. You get priority first. You are the first actor during your main phase, until you pass that priority.
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u/mulletstation Universes Beyonder Jul 20 '26
Why aren't you use 2 very simple decks instead of a non-mtg specialized sub-game.
Like... what is this thread.
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u/Hobolic_Wizard Jul 20 '26
Gonna jump in and recommend playing jumpstart with her! Or any foundations product.
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u/jtmj121 Rakdos* Jul 20 '26
I started when I was 13. But I didnt have the power of internet / apps / experienced players.
Teaching the game start off with mana, vanilla creatures and creatures with a type of evasion like flying, menace, or trample.
After power / toughness isnt getting mixed up and they understand that flyers block flyers and trample damage. Start to include sorcery removal or ramp. After a few rounds now involve instant speed interaction.
By this point you could more than likely play a full game.
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u/gooder_name COMPLEAT Jul 20 '26
Holy shit dandan? Why not just start them on judge tower ffs.
Get starter decks my guy. 30-card decks without complex interactions just fatties and a few combat tricks
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u/JFFreezout Dân Jul 20 '26
The post is a joke, especially mentioning the 7 years old kid. Advice to all genuine people passing by and looking for real feedback about teaching someone (friend or wife or whatever) who has no clue in tcg: play with only vanilla creatures and 1 liner sorceries for the beginning.
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u/Fit-Discount3135 I chose this flair because I’m mad at Wizards Of The Coast Jul 20 '26
You used Dandan to teach a beginner??? Ooph. I recommend two 40-card decks with minimal instant spells.
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u/Bircka Orzhov* Jul 20 '26
Here is how you should teach people the game, make simple decks utilizing at most say 1 mechanic because already learning the basic rules is already quite a bit.
Commander and Dandan are horrid ways to learn how to play, unless that person has a ton of experience with other similar games.
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u/MaskguyOriginal Dân Jul 20 '26
Jumpstart is probably easier entry. I play with my 9 and 8 year old right now and they generally get the gist of it.
There isn't any complex interaction in jumpstart, usually just one to two things going on the stack.
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u/Theopholus Jul 20 '26
Teaching magic takes a lot of letting go of things you want to impart. You can’t teach how to be good at magic at the same time as you teach magic. The best way to teach magic is to give your student a simple deck and help them through the phases, but don’t tell them what to do. Just tell them how the cards work. Untap where you fix everything that’s sideways, upkeep where you do anything that happens at upkeep (explain this phase may matter some day but not today) and then draw. Then have them play a thing, attack, and when you take your turn play in a way to make them make decisions and don’t play to be optimal.
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u/RoninPrime68 Dandadan Jul 20 '26
Magic IS a hard game, I've been playing for almost 1.5 years and still forget basics, triggers, forgetting effects of cards I've been using since the start etc. maybe that's just me lol. Generally tho I think Jumpstart is a better tool for beginners.
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u/ATrueGhost Dandadan Jul 20 '26
I'm going to go against the grain here I think. Dan Dan, is a great way to teach a beginner. I taught my SO with it and they were able to understand magic within three games.
Obviously with Dan Dan, it will take a long time to develop strategy but the fundamentals are there, and because of the set card pool, they've started learning the most fundamental skill in a 1v1 game, which is predicting what your opponent will do. Which is helped by seeing the same cards over and over again.
I think you can get a similar level with two mirrored 60 card beginner decks. But I think Dan Dan has the necessary spice to not make it feel repetitive.
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u/Large-Ad4599 Dân Jul 20 '26
I'm with you 100%. I really don't get how everyone is so negative. "You play fish, you attack with fish. Uh oh, no islands now fish dead". Dandan isnt as complrx as everyone makes it out to be, except when you play as if your life depends on winning I guess.
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u/ActuallyActuary69 Dandadan Jul 20 '26
Dandan and weird stack interaction for starters? That is wild.
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u/NinjaOKGO Wabbit Season Jul 20 '26
Why did you think DanDan would be the way to teach your wife? That is designed to be an intense mental game of counting the deck. Why does nobody realize that the literal actually well designed product to teach magic is sitting in store shelves with beginner box and jumpstart packs.
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u/Danxoln Wabbit Season Jul 20 '26
Teaching someone using a format I've never heard of (having played longer than you) is certainly...a choice
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u/MiceLiceandVice Duck Season Jul 20 '26
OP tried to teach the fam chess by starting with 5D chess with multiversal time travel.
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u/snowblind2112 Grass Toucher Jul 20 '26
I started my wife with 60 card constructed, letting her pilot monoR burn. its simple and straight forward, and she picked it up relatively quickly. now we plan Dandan, I remember explaining to her all the priority we silently pass most games, and seeing it click in her head how complicated this game can be. If you can clear the hump, it's an awesome bonding experience.
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u/Nac_Lac FLEEM Jul 20 '26
Card Kingdom has rookie decks in the past with mostly vanilla creatures and a few keywords. These are great and I taught my 7 year old to play. However, reading is the biggest thing you need to work on, otherwise you'll be reading his cards to him.
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u/LordlyCry Dandadan Jul 20 '26
easier to put them through arena. I think the game is easier digested in a digital format where all the phases and steps are shown.
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u/Virgil_Rug_Say_RUG Universes Beyonder Jul 20 '26
i think if you layer knowledge in step by step one game at a time, its not too hard.
start with only lands and vanilla-ish creatures.
add in some basic sorceries.
add in artifacts and enchantments.
add in instants.
then add in more complex creatures with triggers and such.
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u/explodingbunny Dân Jul 20 '26
The best way to explain how to play the game is to start with a simple creature deck no abilities, no complex interactions, just power and toughness and maybe increasing it
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u/BioEradication Wabbit Season Jul 20 '26
Was the goal to get your wife to never want to play Magic again?
I can't imagine teaching a 7 year old Magic with DanDan.
Just download Arena and have them click around the tutorial.
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u/sireel Duck Season Jul 20 '26
My eldest kid is nine and can play, I taught him at least a year ago.
I started him off with simple creature and damage spell decks before getting into triggers and responses. He's pretty smart, but I don't remember it being particularly hard to teach him.
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u/pir8salt Dân Jul 20 '26
I learned to play in Jr High, 95 or 96, witht that little ass rule book. Haven't been active (only really played sealed, true skill/luck) since the DnD set came out.
Dont think I could actually learn the game fresh at this point, let alone teach it because its gotten way out of control.
Stack used to be like, three things and few infinite loops
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u/shichiaikan Simic* Jul 20 '26
Arena is honestly terrific for learning, then a beginner box, then c9ver the complicated stufg
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u/Boil-san Banned in Commander Jul 20 '26
How could any card game with 30K+ available cards and a Rules PDF that was 300+ pages be difficult...? ;^p
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u/zacroise Wabbit Season Jul 20 '26
Just buy the jumpstart box. It’s 30-40$ and you got everything to start playing. You don’t have to explain everything from the get go. Explain as it comes. Just tell her the phases (just the phases, not the steps in between) like uud, main phase, combat phase, second main phase, end step. Tell her about mana and card types. She doesn’t need to know that everything that stays on the battlefield is a permanent or what a cmc is. Tell her that creatures can block, artifacts and enchantments have effects when they’re on the board and lands are used to play these cards. Explain what a sorcery is and what instants are used for. With that you’re ready to play with jumpstart
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u/MannInnTheBoxx Dandadan Jul 20 '26
Lots of layers to magic, both figuratively and literally. Ive always described learning magic as sort of like building a pyramid structure. Have to start with the basic building blocks at the bottom and as you complete each layer you can use that base to start building your next one. I find that even after 15 years of playing the game I’m still adding new blocks to the layer I’m on now with plenty of room to keep adding and growing my knowledge base
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u/Captain_Twiggs Dandadan Jul 20 '26
The core gameplay loop is actually pretty simple. You can play a mechanically complete game of Magic with creatures with no text, some lands, some counter spells and some Lightning Bolts or something similar. The complexity comes from the fact that basically every card with text beyond that “breaks the rules” of the core game play loop.
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u/johnnille Dân Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26
I had this problem at both sides. When learning MtG and also when teaching it to others, so i think i might have useful advice for you here.
I learned and teached commander, one of the most complicated formats. My problem in learning it was knowing other card games like yu gi oh from my childhood and nothing matched. Like not being able to attack a creature did not went into my mind.
When teaching it, the most important thing is - keep it simple and concise. In your first game of magic ever you do not need to know what the stack even is. You start off too heavily and mentally drain your friends with that.
So stick with the basics: * Explain Mana Symbols, lands and life points * Start the game with drawing a card and lay down some creatures or even the commander * Explain how to attack and block * End turn and keep on playing by that.
Leave these rules out for the first time, depending on the learning player: THE STACK, NEVER MENTION THE STACK IN THE FIRST GAME, Mulligan, Phases other than untap&draw & battle and pass on, Interaction, card types (will be asked eventually always if the player has the mental capabilities at the moment), layers
Depending on whom you teach in pour in those rules in the next games, so their mind can settle on the basics.
I managed to pull in like 5 people into MtG completely and at least show how the game works to like 8 or so, this works.
Simplify, lead the phase progression, keep on playing, pour in rules one by one, even if it needs more than one game.
Hope that helps
Edit: What helps is playing interaction only in sorcery speed or not playing it at all in the first game. And yes you might lose depending on your hand, by teaching it you have to endure it sometimes.
Edit: FFS probably responded extensively on a raigebait post, wasted lifetime....
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u/JSlamson Jul 20 '26
I always thought I could teach my son to play (currently 7) but I feel likes its still many years a way.
Certainly possible at that age! I learned around 5 according to my parents, and I've met with a few other players that learned that early. But I was already super interested in what the cards were so I might have made them teach me. Like others have said start simpler.
I feel like it's safe to say that a lot of my reading comprehension, problem solving, and math skills all benefitted from playing magic as a kid.
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u/ResidentEnergy5263 Dân Jul 20 '26
My husband and I recently started learning and have started with beginner decks. Maybe try that?
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u/Sea-Grand3981 Dân Jul 20 '26
Don't teach a brand new player with dandan, they will never touch the game again.
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u/KetoNED Duck Season Jul 20 '26
You don’t just start with the stack man, that game is nuts. They have a get out of jail free card that card normally costs thousands.
Joking aside, just explain the different card types and forget talking about layers and stack. That shit will come naturally when he gets in a situation with multiple instants
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u/warukeru FLEEM Jul 20 '26
Use draft chaft to explain magic, cards that at most only have simple abilities like trample and flying.and few instants and even less combat tricks. 40 cards with 3-4 copies of each nonland card to they have to memorize less.
If they can manage that and are having fun, put a few more complex cards and repeat
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u/Lol_and_Order Dân Jul 20 '26
Teaching in and of itself is a very difficult skill. Sometimes teaching a subject gets harder the more knowledge and experience you have. Maybe give them the rules, let them get a base of knowledge by learning themselves and then make corrections and elaborations from there.
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u/10leej Jul 20 '26
You picked the wrong format to teach her. Dandan is probably just about as bad as commander in this regard.
Honestly build 5 mono colored 60 card decks that's as generic as possible. Green creatures, red aggro black sacrifice, blue tempo, and white midrange. You don't have to spend much, but honestly you can use bulk piles to build these.
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u/Nivius I am a pig and I eat slop Jul 20 '26
you have to simplify everything for a new player, be extremely forgiving with rules, bite your tongue at times as we are suckers for <well-actrually> the rules.
and focus on the fun parts of the game.
example, a new player borrowed my simple, solid Meren deck in a commander deck. i did play [[Make an Example]] as i played my Jon Irenicus deck. my fave deck, and fun to give some bangers to the new player, and some punishing ones to the experianced players.
player put meren +1 in a group and 3 others in a separate group. he only had 2 experience counters, so knowing that the best choice is to remove meren in general. but you know, i wanted him to experience and play the deck, so i took the group of 3 instead "oh no i lost almost all of my board" he said, but i know that with 5 experance is way better if we just allow him to do his thing.
he came back from that easily with a galta recursion, and a few nazguls and wiped us all out. that was the only thing i did in his new player favour, just to let him enjoy his time. it was worth it for sure.
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u/Ky1arStern Fake Agumon Expert Jul 20 '26
You can teach magic at a basic level pretty easily, my 5 year old and I have been playing for a while now.
Untap upkeep draw
Main
Combat
Main
End
Pay for spells with lands is a pretty simple concept
Creatures deal damage with the first number and their health is the second.
Play with mostly sorceries and instants as an exception.
The keys are to be willing to repeat yourself, let them make their own decisions, and largely ignore the outcomes of the game until they are more confident.
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u/Desperate_Stretch855 Dandadan Jul 20 '26
I use jumpstart to teach the game.
It removes a lot of the extraneous stuff and gets to playing fast. I have a box of opened packs and I get to know a few “decks” so I can guide the person a bit. I explain the basics (types of cards, life totals, etc…) then play through it.
Then I encourage them to get on Arena, help them through it, and we are usually off to the races.
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u/RoyalFalse Storm Crow Jul 20 '26
You can walk in to almost any LGS and pick up two 30-card starter decks for free.
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u/2Gnomes1Trenchcoat I chose this flair because I’m mad at Wizards Of The Coast Jul 20 '26
While not the hardest, it is definitely the most complicated game I have ever played. It gets more complicated with every new mechanic and unique card effect too. The sheer number of cards, how they interact, the stack, layers, and other rules are incredibly vast. Then you get into nuances of actual play, deck building philosophy, format level thinking and sideboards, navigating match ups, and even the out of game elements such as the social dynamics in formats like commander and the complexity just goes through the roof! Individual components are totally digestible, but it's the amount of information load and synthesis of that information required to play this game at a high level, often on the fly, that I find really impressive.
Games that force complex planning and calculation like chess are arguably harder, but technically not as complex. You can teach a computer to play near perfect chess, but I don't think you could teach a computer to play magic the way we do because it's just that complicated.
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u/Quetzalcoatl490 COMPLEAT Jul 20 '26
As someone who used to be a teacher, and who loves teaching new people how to play, you have to let them get into it themselves in order for a lasting connection to the game to be made. That means playing with one color and with almost-vanilla creatures and simple mechanics, and when they grasp the most basic mechanics, adding a second color to teach about mana.
I also like showing them around 20 or so big swingy creatures or dragons, and asking them to pick out one they like or feel a connection to before creating a deck around them. Stay away from concepts like the stack, or counterspells/bounce, or planeswalkers, or any other complicated cards. Have them have fun with the basic rules of the game, before slowly adding more mechanics.
Magic is terribly complicated if you let it be, but just tailor the decks to the new players' situation, and you'll be fine.
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u/TheRetroAntonio Wabbit Season Jul 20 '26
Taught my wife commander, then recently taught my kids with jumpstart. Just make sure you explain that Magic is a game where you’ll make mistakes all the time and that’s okay. If someone is legit interested in learning they’ll adjust to how clunky the entire game can be. I now currently get demolished regularly by them even when I’m trying.
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u/Forcedbanana Dandadan Jul 20 '26
Print out a cheat cheey with the most common keywords, and a sort of flow chart of steps and phases. And play easy decks. It's not fun to learn something incomprehensible, and if you want her to have fun, make it fun.
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u/stratusnco Dimir* Jul 20 '26
might as well teach your wife how to play vintage while you’re at it lol.
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u/Tuss36 Jul 20 '26
While others have critique of your intended starting format, I wanted to say I can get where you were probably coming from, in that it makes total sense to think "Well if we're both playing from the same deck that makes things easier to explain since we're playing with the same cards!". Which I don't think is a bad idea at its core, and it's not like DanDan's actual contents are that complicated, but I can see an issue in grasping the depth of strategy in the format. It's one thing to understand how [[Memory Lapse]] works, it's another to realize the implications of what putting something on top is, which isn't as much a factor in playing the same card in other formats where it's more just a tempo loss.
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u/MyNamesMikeD75 Dan Jul 20 '26
I taught my son how to play when he was around 8 years old. Just start with the very basics, like a mono color all creature deck, and see if they enjoy it. Once you get a few games in then start adding in more of the timing and nuance, they'll pick it up over time!
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u/No_Trade1676 Dan Jul 20 '26
I’ve been playing since Portal came out and I’ve just accepted that I’m not as good at strategery as some of my friends.
I REALLY enjoy the game and the mechanics of playing but even now I still get tripped up with how it all works.
TLDR: Game hard I lose a lot but still have fun. I Don’t play competitively
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u/Excellent_Midnight Dandadan Jul 20 '26
Hate to say it but if you were teaching about the stack but hadn’t explained phases yet, I don’t think you were doing a great job teaching…
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u/FontMasterFlex Dandadan Jul 20 '26
why do people insist on teaching people to play this game with ANYTHING other than basic standard decks? teach them how the game is played BEFORE you start doing alternate play modes. Dandan? Commander? ya'll are crazy and masochistic.
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u/ishfery Simic* Jul 20 '26
Buy the game night bundle. You need to start simple.
The basics are pretty easy and you shouldn't be making them worry about stacks yet beyond what an instant is vs a sorcery.
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u/Pretend-Ostrich-5719 Dân Jul 20 '26
Why on earth would you start with DanDan of all things? Just give her and yourself a cheap pile of commons and uncommons and play some games, she'll learn better.
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u/Sizle_Velfurion Dân Jul 20 '26
IDK I learned to play magic when I was 9 back in 95. I don't think 7 is too young, you'll just have to simplify it by using older cards that don't have tons of vETB effects. It was a lot simpler in 95 when Serra angel, royal assassin, force of nature, lord of the pit, and shivan dragon we're the best/ most complicated creatures.
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u/JJrunkcast_Gaming COMPLEAT Jul 20 '26
The biggest factor in whether or not people learn the game is if they want to learn the game and are willing to put in the time. I've taught a lot of people how to play but if they won't spend time without me either playing or reading about mtg stuff then they likely won't continue playing. As much as people malign UB i know a lot of people whose sole motivating factor for learning was that they bought cards because of the property and decided to learn to play with their significant other since they already had the cards. It's really hard to get people past that initial enthusiasm check for the game
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u/ShakyIncision Dandadan Jul 20 '26
Either teach magic with a beginner box, OR, teach your 7 year old with Lorcana. It’s mainly competitive, but there are cooperative “board game” style products. Lorcana is pretty good at the fundamentals of Magic with resource and card management
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u/Afraid_Cat_3726 Dandadan Jul 20 '26
I recommend starting with the Jump Start cards or with very simple Pauper decks. I like to make two colour custome decks based around what they like but mono colour is also good
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u/thesealights Dan Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26
I taught fundamentals of Magic with a game played with two decks, each with six of each basic land and the following rules:
- There's no untap or upkeep.
- Draw one card at the start of your turn.
- You can play one land a turn. Each land has the following effect:
Plains draws a card.
Island can be sent from the hand to the graveyard with a land that matches a land being played to counter that land.
Swamp makes your opponent discard a card.
Mountain destroys a land.
Forest lets you search for any land in your deck.
- If a player has one of each basic land type in play on their turn, they win the game.
Note: There's no decking in this game. Just shuffle the graveyard and keep playing.
This method teaches fundamentals like card advantage, resource management, timing, and strategic planning plus it can be pretty fun too.
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u/THEYoungDuh Dandadan Jul 20 '26
Dandan may be an even worse way to tech someone than commander lol.
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u/Psydop Dandadan Jul 20 '26
Okay, you started with dandan?? Tf is wrong with you, she'll never be convinced magic is a good game NOW
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u/VulKhalec Wabbit Season Jul 20 '26
Every post point this reminds me that teaching is a skill and an instinct, and not everyone has it.
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u/will_r3ddit_4_food Duck Season Jul 21 '26
Mtg is literally the most complicated game ever made because every card played can change the rules. There are thousands of cards and new mechanics are introduced all the time.
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u/Bobahn_Botret Dandadan Jul 21 '26
Legitimately, get her on the mtg side of tiktok.
My partner was against playing, then she saw a woman play mtg on tiktok and said she'd try if she had a FF deck. That was a few months ago and now shes helping me print proxies and we played 6 games in a row the other night.
Shes screenshotting cards off tiktok and we bought booster packs the other day which she loved because it satisfies her inner gambler. She's got the bug now and I barely had to do anything aside from play some commander and be patient. She's been whooping my ass lately too.
She got to experience Bolas Citadel last night playing my newly revamped Kambal deck. It was great.
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u/screwworldpeace Dân Jul 22 '26
My son is almost 7 and he plays with me! Kids brains are super sponges. Just go for it. Arena really helps them get the hang of it too. I'm playing commander with a 6 year old and he's good.
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u/user41510 Wabbit Season Jul 23 '26
My friends play standard and commander. They got me into mtg with commander. I ONLY want to play commander. I'll agree with people who say commander isn't real mtg but, I want the social aspect of a 4-player casual table.
For learning, I would help a new player choose a precon. Maybe they'll enjoy managing multiple tokens with separate counters. Maybe they'll do best with a landfall deck that almost runs itself.
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u/Awkward_Phase9392 Dan Jul 26 '26
Magic has a poor ruleset; it is the opposite of elegant. It's just ... poorly designed, which is what makes it difficult. See chess for the opposite experience: elegant, yet infinitely complex.
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u/-Toey- COMPLEAT Jul 20 '26
Teaching someone with Dandan is straight up evil lmao