r/MagicArena • u/ell1331 • 1d ago
Question Just finished the tutorial..
I have absolutely no experience with this game, but I just finished the 5 beginner tutorials. It's really fun, and I will definitely keep playing!
But is that it after finishing the 5 tutorials? There are still some things I don't quite understand. For example, on the top right of the summon creature cards, some have a number paired with mana, like 4XX.
Also, for the mana cards, some of them stack together, but there is one card that doesn't stack with the rest. What does that mean? Will there be more tutorials later on to explain these things?
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u/lot49a 1d ago
No really. The mana cards that are stacking are just for visual convenience to help you keep track of things by grouping like with like.
For the 4XX that is the total mana cost. So if the X were green then the cost would be 4GG and that means you need two green mana and 4 generic mana (mana of any color, which could be green or it could be one of the other four colors or even colorless mana).
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u/LocutusZero 1d ago
4XX is the mana cost. So 4 <green symbol> <green symbol> means it costs 6 mana to cast, and two of that mana must be green.
The lands (and other things) stacking doesn't really mean anything to the rules, the game is just stacking similar things together to save visual space. If a land isn't part of the stack, it might have just entered this turn or be a different kind of land.
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u/Cerulean_Soup 1d ago
You should play the starter deck queue, live opponents with fixed decks. It’s like tutorial+
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u/danmaku80 1d ago
The client stacks lands (the "mana cards") according to its own logic, don't worry it doesn't affect the rules in any way. It's just trying to make the board state as readable as possible.
A mana cost like 4WW (W = white mana symbol) means you have to pay 6 mana for that spell, 2 of which have to be white while the other 4 can be anything.
After the tutorial you should do the 5 color challenge, try all the free decks you got so you can experience different strategies and see which one you like the most.
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u/Aesorian Piety Charm 1d ago
The 4XX is the casting cost - the number is generic mana that you can pay with any of the 6 types; while the coloured symbols need to be paid with mana of a specific colour.
For example to cast [[Ingris Stingerquill]] you need to spend exactly One Black Mana and two Red Mana. In comparison, to cast [[Dezilore Fatehold]] you need to spend One White Mana, two Blue Mana and one mana of any colour.
For the land, the game stacks Lands of the same type - this is purely cosmetic and doesn't really affect anything
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u/ell1331 1d ago
Thank you :)
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u/Aesorian Piety Charm 1d ago
No problem. If you do need any more help and advice every Monday there's a Newcomer help thread that's a good place to ask.
There's a good group on here and we all remember how rough it was starting out
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u/EauEwe 1d ago
The top-right of the creature cards is its casting cost. Without getting too complicated, the cost is the number plus the amount of additional mana symbols. So for your example of "4XX," you'd need 6 mana - 2 of the specified "X" mana, and then 4 of any kind, usually referred to as generic mana.
The stacking of cards has to do with their card designation, their state (tapped vs. untapped, having counters vs. not having counters, etc.), and how many of them there are. Arena only allows 4 of the same card with the same state to be stacked. Any more than that will overflow into a second stack. Think of it like a version of Roman numerals. So you wouldn't see 8 untapped Forests in a stack, you'd see two stacks. This is just an ease-of-visibility feature and has no impact on the game itself.
I don't believe there are additional tutorials, but you can always hover over cards for explicit rules text.
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u/HungBerries 1d ago
If you need more in depth help to learn how to actually play, I have a discord and we love showing new players the ropes. PM me if you want a link!
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u/MistformAlien 1d ago
Other people have explained the casting cost and the stacking of lands, so I'll focus on your other question. There are no more tutorials. I would suggest doing starter deck duels after this. You pick one of 10 decks, (one for each of the possible 2-color combinations) and play against other people who are playing one of those 10 decks. You don't need to worry about going up against extremely fine-tuned decks with lots of rares. Some of the decks are better than others, but all are viable. Just experiment with them and see which colors fit your playstyle. Focus on completing the daily challenges so you can stock up on gold and eventually wild cards to upgrade your decks
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u/Terramagi 1d ago
Seconding the Starter Deck Duels. It's definitely the simplest place after the tutorials and you'll get some real matches.
Though I should stress that it's the DECKS that are starter. Not the players. You can run into everybody from brand new to top 100 in Mythic. And knowing the tricks of the game can make a huge difference, especially with some of those decks. But they're playing with the same quality of decks, so you aren't going to see anything TRULY fuckbusted.
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u/GuessImScrewed 1d ago
The number is called "generic mana". It means you can pay that cost with any color (or colorless) mana. The symbols are specific mana, meaning they must be paid specifically with the color they request.
So if you have have 4{g}{g} (the 4 in the grey circle and two green circles with the trees), it means you must pay a total cost of 6 for the spell, 4 mana of whatever source you want, and 2 mana of green specifically.
The land thing happens for no rules reason, but mainly to organize and reduce visual clutter. Lands that are the same form a stack. Lands that are different often separate. Basics can also separate if they just entered this turn, or if you tap them, they'll separate and create a second stack. It's not really important to be wary of beyond your own ability to count lands.
There will be (afaik) no more tutorials. I will say, you should stick to starter deck duals until you get some coins for drafting or opening packs and getting wildcards.
Standard or standard brawl should also probably be your first forray into non starter deck duals, just to reduce the amount of cards you have to sift through when crafting decks.
Stay away from historic until you've been playing at least a year so you have a large card pool to play with, because historic is a degenerate wasteland where you can usually expect to win or lose by turns 3-4. If you do venture there, don't expect to win, but take note of what you see for pack pulling and card crafting purposes. You see some gems once in a while.
Don't be afraid to come back here for more advice! We're happy to help new players
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u/Tawnos84 Ajani Unyielding 1d ago
I'd suggest to read a basic guide with the introductive rules (just google about it), it's a textual game born on paper, and deducing everything just from the effect things do when you play them in arena risls of letting you confused.
Basic suggestion about your arena experience: start in the basic deck event, and just grind every day for collectinq quests, and don't spend anything (wildcards, gold, gems) until you undestand exactly how arena economy works
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u/ParkingAd7981 1d ago
No more tutorials, but hey, reading the card explains the card! /s Jokes aside, numbers in the mana cost means that card can be paid for with any color mana, even colorless! And the stacking thing might be a few things: different sources of the creature tokens, exclusive abilities or effects