Planeswalking:
A Crash Course

Brit Butler
2012-09-24

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The Basics

Starting State

• Both players have 20 life.
• Both players have 60 card decks.
• Both players draw 7 cards.
  Note: You can mulligan if your opening hand is garbage.

Win Conditions

1. Opponent has life <= 0.
2. Opponent cannot draw a card when required.

Players take turns back and forth until someone wins.

Areas of Play

• Library


• Hand


• Battlefield


• Graveyard


• The Stack - sort of

The Golden Rule

If the cards contradict the rules in any way, the cards take precedence.

Hack the game!

Card Colors

Cards can have more than one color.

Color is indicated by border and cost.

Lands and artifacts are considered colorless.

Card Types

• Land
• Artifact
• Creature
• Enchantment
• Instant
• Sorcery

Everything but land is a spell.

Anything that stays on the battlefield is a permanent.

Land is a persistent resource used to cast (pay for) spells.

You may only play one land per turn.

Turn Structure

1. Untap - Reset renewable resources


2. Upkeep - Probably a nop, or pay for things


3. Draw


4. First Main Phase - Play a land if possible


5. Optional Combat


6. Second Main Phase - Play post-combat spells if desired


7. Discard - Discard until 7 or fewer cards are in your hand

Combat: How does it work?

1. Declare attackers


2. Opponent declares blockers


3. Deal combat damage

Not so bad, right?

Popular Strategies/Deck Archetypes

Pair up.

Let's do this!!!