Magic: the crafting

Magic: The Gathering is a collectible card game. You take on the role of a planeswalker, who collects magic energy (called mana) from the land around you. You use that mana to summon creatures and cast spells during the game. There are five different colours of Magic cards; each colour handles things differently, so you can choose what kind of planeswalker you want to be. Your deck of cards represents all the spells you know and the creatures you can summon.

Find out more on the official Magic website.

1. Take a sheet of A4 paper and cut it in half lengthways so you end up with two thinner strips of paper. You only need one strip each, so you could share a piece of A4 paper with a friend. 
2. Start with the strip of paper landscape and mark a space on the right-hand side for two piles of cards. One is the ‘library’ and one is the ‘graveyard’.
3. On the left side of the paper, write out the numbers 1 to 20 to track your life total. Get creative, this could be along a path or the trunk of a tree.
4. Add the different stages of a turn of play along the top of the sheet. This will help remind new players what to do during the game. The stages of play are: begin, main phase, combat, main phase and end. Everyone should think of different symbols or drawings to represent the stages, and write the words too so they don’t forget. Check out the glossary at the bottom of the page for more info.
5. Everyone should decorate any empty space – they could draw some creatures or a scene from a landscape to represent their mana colour.
6. If anyone wants to make a larger mat, they could use a full piece of A4 paper and add space to act as the battlefield in the middle where they’ll play their cards. They could add card outlines or mark a space to play creatures they cast, as well as including space for the lands they collect during the game.

Magic cards are made so the info you need to know is always in the same place. It’s time to learn a bit about the different parts of a card and create your own version. Check out the example below as a guide; you can find full details on the official Magic webpages.

1. Start with a piece of card. An adult could make the cards in advance by cutting an A4 piece of card into four or eight pieces (depending on how big you’d like the cards to be).
2. Think of a name for your creature and add it to a title box at the top of the card. It’s OK if you want to add the actual name later, as long as you mark out a space for the title now.
3. Decide what creature you’ll create. Draw a box underneath the title that fills about half the space on the card. If you have access to the internet, check out the Gatherer pages (the Magic card database where you can browse through cards from Magic’s entire history) for some inspiration. Draw your creature in the box.
4. Add a type line underneath and write what type of creature you’ve drawn.
5. Add a short description in the remaining space. Get creative! Some cards have special abilities that are printed here, while others just have ‘flair text’ that doesn’t affect gameplay, but adds some more story or information about the card.
6. Draw a small box in the bottom right corner and add two numbers to show the power and toughness. The first number is the power, which is how much damage your creature deals in combat. The second number is the toughness, which is how much damage your creature can take.
7. Finish by adding a mana cost to a small box in the top right of your card. This is usually written as a number with some symbols to represent the colour of the mana.
8. Now everyone’s crafted their own creature! If you’ve got time, you could make some more cards and try to make some different types of card. Think about different memories of being a Scout to use as inspiration as you create:
   • A land card to show your favourite campsite or place you’ve visited
   • An instant, enchantment, or artifact that might help you solve a Scouts problem or earn a particular badge
   • A creature card for any wildlife you’ve encountered during an activity

Counters are small markers that are used in Magic to represent different effects on a card that last for more than one turn.

1. Counters could change a creature’s power or toughness or add an effect like making a creature fly, indestructible, or immune to hexes.
2. Counters are super simple to make. Start by taking a sheet of scrap paper or card and drawing some small circles. You could find natural materials to use instead of coloured card.
3. Make at least one counter you can use with your play mat to count your life total during a game. You could theme it to the colour of your favourite mana.
4. Decorate the counters by drawing patterns to represent the colour of mana, or the effect of the counter.  Don’t forget to add +1 or -1 if you’re making a counter to change a creature’s toughness.
5. Cut the counters out.
6. If there’s extra time, make some more coloured counters based on the different mana colours. You could use these to play Mana time or Planeswalker post.

Magic players craft their own decks and choose cards that suit their own playing styles and strategies. When they’re building a deck, people often focus on taking advantage of the different powers in each of Magic’s five mana colours:

• White magic focuses on teamwork by using massive armies and sinking their abilities to protect both the controlling player and their creatures. White cards generally include spells like protection, balance and peacemakers.
• Blue magic allows a Planeswalker to preview cards in their library, banish opponents from the battlefield and even manipulate time. Blue cards can include counter spells, banishments, and control cards.
• Black magic is centred on the quest for power by any means possible. Black cards can include invasive creatures, discard spells and the ability to bring a card back from the graveyard, or prevent them from going there.
• Red magic uses direct damage to opponents, quick acting spells and cool creatures like dragons. Red cards include fast creatures, power builders, and destruction spells.
• Green magic combines the healing power of nature with the ferocity of the animal kingdom. Green spells include trampling creatures, life gaining spells and mana generation.

During a game of Magic, each turn follows the same pattern and you’ll play through these phases:

Begin

• Untap (turn your cards upright).
• Draw a card from your library.

First main phase

• Play a land (only one for each turn).
• Cast creatures and other spells.

Combat

• Declare attackers.
• Your opponent declares blockers.
• Combat damage is dealt.

Second main phase

• Play a land (if you haven’t already).
• Cast creatures and other spells.

End

• Creatures heal.
• Pass the turn.

• Hand – You start the game with a hand of seven cards.
• Library – Your library is your draw pile.
• Graveyard – this is your discard pile: creatures that die, enchantments that are destroyed, or cards you discard go here.
• Battlefield – This is where you play your cards. You can arrange them however you like, but the experts recommend that you put the lands closest to you and your creatures closer to your opponent.
• Creatures – Creatures fight for you – they can attack in the combat phase and block during an opponent’s turn. You’ll cast creatures onto your battlefield.
• Lands – You’ll use lands to generate mana in the game, which is then used to cast spells. Each basic land card makes one mana of a particular colour – plains (white), islands (blue), swamps (black), mountains (red), and forests (green).
• Mana – This is the resource used to cast spells in Magic. All spell cards show the mana cost in the top right corner.
• Enchantments – These are spells you cast with magical effects that last as long as they’re on the battlefield.
• Instants – Spells that can be cast at any time, even during an opponent’s turn. They have a one-time effect, then they should be put into your graveyard.
• Artefacts – These represent machines or magical objects in the game.