So for the duration of the article i will spend it talking about the terms and phases of the game there are several dozens of terms to go over as well as turn phases to discuss including the beginning of the game and the rules of each particular phase in the turn of the player so let's go.
Each player draws 7 cards at the beginning of the game to signify that the game is underway, then both players decide to keep or discard their opening hands based on their own choices as always, if you choose to discard your opening hand this is what is known as a mulligan, in this term you shuffle the 7 cards you drew back into the deck, shuffle the library well or deck in this case since the library is also known as the deck and draw one card less then 7 in this case this would be 6, if you don't like this hand of 6 cards you may choose to mulligan again down to 5 and 4 and so on provided you continue to get bad hands, but most players play off the top of the deck anyways, this is what is known as top decking in which most players tend to play off the cards they draw in the library.
Once both players have decided on their opening hands in this case the game begins with the first turn and the decision of the person whom goes first, the player who always goes first does not get to draw a card from the top of their deck they instead work with what they have and continue the game as per normal, there are several phases to a turn, Upkeep, Main Phase 1, Attacking Step, Blocking Step and of course Main Phase 2 and the End phase so i will be going over each and every phase with you the reader.
The upkeep phase always happens at the beginning of a player's turn, if they are upkeep effects in play they are chosen to be activated or ignored, this is also known as the draw phase as you get to draw a card during this phase, let's say you have a upkeep on a enchantment known as Arnjlot's Ascent where it's upkeep cost is 1 blue mana, if you pay the mana it will stay on the field for the turn and you'll get to use it, if not then it is removed from the game and placed in the discard zone or pile in this case meaning it cannot be used unless you return that card to your hand, this is a prominent example of a upkeep effect and they are lots of them in the game so keep a eye on them as you continue playing the game.
Main Phase 1 is the time you can play your spells like sorceries, enchantments and even creatures, by paying the costs of the cards you play in game which is played by playing lands, you are allowed to play a land a turn and only one can be played a turn if you don't have cards that say otherwise, if you do then it is a different story, as long as the costs of the cards you play are met you are allowed to play them and thus allowed to play the spells you the player cast by paying the appropriate costs, this is rather simple to get used to, however spells you play can be responded to during this phase and any other phase including the next few phases i am going to go over this is what is known as the stack, when a spell is played if it resolves it stays on the field and it's effect activates, if it is responded to by a counterspell such as Counterspell aptly named of course, then the cards are put on the stack and the last card played in this case being the counterspell, would resolve first and prevent the card played first to be not played and sent to the graveyard instead. All of these effects can and mostly likely will occur during this phase causing confusion to the new players of the game but over time most will get used to these phases and terms in the game of magic.
The next phase is the combat phase this phase pits creatures up against either players or other creatures controlled by the opposing player, during this phase any and all creatures without summoning sickness can attack, summoning sickness prevents the creature on the turn it is played from attacking in this case if you have a Ryusei, The Falling Star in hand and you just played it, it will have summoning sickness and is unable to attack but it can still block on the turn it was played in this case. However there is a ability which bypasses the rule of summoning sickness known as Haste, this ability allows creatures with this evergreen keyword to attack on the same turn they are summoned, but if a creature with haste is played on the first turn and you are the one going first it cannot attack as it is against the rules of the game to attack immediately, in the case of Goblin Guide from the zendikar block if it is played on the first turn it is unable to attack even though it has haste and has to wait a turn before it can declare a attack. All creatures that can attack are able to on this step, but you may declare the amount of attackers, which have to be at the same time in this case with 3 creatures on the field that are without summoning sickness and you choose to attack with 1 you cannot take the decision back and must only attack with the 1 creature you chose, the blocking step is next on the combat phase however.
The next step in the turn is the blocking phase and is only used when attackers have been declared. the player whom is attacking attacks as per normal but the defending player chooses the blockers and how they block creatures in this case depending if blockers are declared if not it is dealt as direct combat damage and subtracted from the opposing player's life points which start at 20 for both players, however if blockers are declared the attacking player gets to decide how much damage is dealt to each opponent's creature this is the only thing the attacking player gets to do during this phase. After damage is dealt however the appropriate cards are placed in the card graveyard zone as when a creature's toughness hits 0 it is dead and removed from the game into that zone and spells can also be played to either deal damage to attacking creatures, pump spells to pump attacking creatures to make them survive and even removal spells can be played as a response to attacking creatures in this phase so there are a lot of tricks that can be done during this phase.
The last main phase of the turn is a different one then the first as you can play sorceries and creatures during this phase but not lands as that is only one time per turn, though if you forgot to play a land during this phase then you are allowed, if not then don't worry about it. This is a simple phase to remember and that, as always spells can be responded to during the phase and such, but after the phase ends there is a final phase which is the end phase where the player ends their turn during this phase and passes prority to the opposing player which the turn order stays and plays till one player reaches 0 life and the game ends afterwards, for the next part i will go over abilites and other keywords on the cards themselves as well as power and toughness, mana costs and the like, so till next post see you later and goodbye.
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