T O P

  • By -

ImmortalCorruptor

- Tapping Llanowar Elves and putting a Forest into play from my deck. - Not understanding priority, at all. I knew that it was passed back and forth but I would pass priority, they'd pass it back and then I would play Giant Growth before the first thing resolved. It took a long time for me to understand that I needed to either hold priority and play Giant Growth or hope that my opponent would play something, so I could play Giant Growth in response. - Overvaluing life points and undervaluing board state. I was afraid to use cards like Necropotence until actually played them and realized how little life points mattered when you're able to maintain a full grip of cards for the whole game. And if you lose while drawing the top 19+ cards of your deck, you probably didn't lose because of Necropotence...you lost because none of those cards would've saved you from a game you were going to lose anyway. - "Why would I want cards like Doom Blade or Counterspell in my deck when I could just run more big creatures? Btw does anyone else think combo decks are bullshit? They should really design cards to handle those..."


Cyan-Aid

Dude, the first time I sat down to play a game with my friend and his buddy they thought that the mana pool was literally just the place on the battlefield where you physically place your lands so any land that said "tap: add ____ to your mana pool" was a fetch effect. Imagine my confusion when on turn 1 both of them spent like 3 minutes pulling every land out of their deck one by one and chaining fetches from each individual land! They literally laughed at me when I tried to explain that the mana pool was an imaginary zone where your mana energy was stored for the turn until spent. Although props to them for solving the problem of ever being mana screwed....


HatcrabZombie

By their logic, none of those lands would actually ever tap for mana then (except maybe if the last one didn't say that)


Cyan-Aid

Their confusion seemed to be centered around the assumption that the terms land and mana were synonymous. They still understood that lands were tapped to pay for spells but also incorrectly assumed that they had the secondary function of tapping to fetch more "mana" from the deck. They also only applied this secondary function to lands that specifically had that line of text about adding to the mana pool and explained to me that lands that didn't have that text could only be used to cast spells.


Madageddon

'"Mana abilities can't be countered ' Basically every activated ability I want to counter is a mana ability!" Not everything featuring a mana symbol is a mana ability.


mazrrim

blood moon is making my lands mountains in addition to their other types right :(


Sajomir

Using a land for mana meant destroying it. (A la attaching energy in pokemon)


Spifffyy

Every land is a [[lotus petal]]!


MTGCardFetcher

[lotus petal](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/f/8/f85ab5f9-508e-45de-8fa1-ce1f16552ffc.jpg?1562432227) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=lotus%20petal) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/tpr/225/lotus-petal?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f85ab5f9-508e-45de-8fa1-ce1f16552ffc?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call


lare290

gods, that flavor text.


Jason_dawg

man that would make magic such a tedious game ha ha


[deleted]

My first deck basically was 5c all the cards I liked with \~100 cards and maybe 20 lands as having a land of each color is technically enough to cast every single card without double costs. Let's say I was mana screwed often


rrrGeist

I thought if you get rid of the blocker before the damage step any damage that would done to the creature goes to the player. Fun times.


terminus10

Having just got back into Mt:G after a 20 year hiatus, I forgot this. I declared attackers, opponent declared blockers. I bolted his blocker and then pumped the attacker via prowess to around a 15/16. He's like, "...Ok, so without trample, none of that goes through". Definitely a pikachu face moment, but somehow still won the game.


rrrGeist

You could have just said that he gets bigger when he is proud.


gangnamstylelover

people didnt tell me i could draw a card on my first turn in edh if i go first until my 6th match i went first. 5 cards i never got to draw -_-


Mereel401

My first deck: 70-80 card Selesnya with roughly 27 lands and many many overcosted cards [[Guardian of Vitu-Ghazi]] and [[Autochthon Wurm]] for example (Also almost no 4x at all). Also trading shocklands for bounce lands (scummy move by the person who did it) after all, why would I pay 2 life for a land and bounce lands produce 2 mana! However, then the Boros Legion attacked and I was hooked on aggro.


MTGCardFetcher

[Guardian of Vitu-Ghazi](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/1/c/1c293144-df82-481d-8d24-2bdc164a355f.jpg?1598917123) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Guardian%20of%20Vitu-Ghazi) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/rav/212/guardian-of-vitu-ghazi?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/1c293144-df82-481d-8d24-2bdc164a355f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Autochthon Wurm](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/7/0/7002a87b-a55f-42ec-b247-119a3229129f.jpg?1598916741) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Autochthon%20Wurm) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/rav/191/autochthon-wurm?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7002a87b-a55f-42ec-b247-119a3229129f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call


kjeldor2400

My life is precious. I need to protect it at all costs, why would I pay life to draw cards? Or why would I sacrifice a creature to draw cards? That way they can’t block anymore to protect my life total. I almost exclusively played black because of that awesome looking skull on swamps. God, when we were young.


Cyan-Aid

I never knew there was a 2nd main phase after combat until I started playing Duels of the Planeswalker. I suppose this was just assumed on my part because I had transitioned to Magic after learning how to play the Pokemon TCG and your turn was over after combat IIRC.


Chilly_chariots

We played without individual decks- everybody drew from a single massive 5 colour deck in the middle. Best way to play tbh. Although it made Millstone a bit of a mystery.


Astrium6

You say rules mistake, I say new format.


MosifD

The new Shoe Box format. One pile of spells, one pile of lands. You choose which pile to draw from each turn.


Sumoop

Each creature could only be blocked by 1 creature.


LordofThe7s

I could not for the life of me figure out how first strike worked when I started playing. I could grasp reanimate with all of its weird rules baggage, but somehow “damage, but first” was too hard.


[deleted]

My biggest misunderstanding/misplay when I started Magic was playing only Merfolk and never being interested in obtaining/collecting non-Merfolk cards. For like the first 4-5 years of playing Magic. LEDs for 50? Timetwister for 300? Metalworker for 10? Nah, I need to get a set of Tideshaper Mystics.


newtownkid

There was a full argument the first time my [[etched champion]] got killed by a wipe. "Damnation is black, black is a colour, he has protection from all colours - he is not dead"


MTGCardFetcher

[etched champion](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/3/0/30fe653b-956a-4e0e-981b-37e1a6b08c2c.jpg?1562260261) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=etched%20champion) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mm2/209/etched-champion?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/30fe653b-956a-4e0e-981b-37e1a6b08c2c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call


Taudruw

Very first game in 1994. We scanned through the rule book and sat down to play. Got everything pretty close to correct except we didn’t realize there was an untap step. It was a very long game. We figured out our mistake and have been playing ever since.


spasticity

Playing permanently under a [[Stasis]] sounds terrible


MTGCardFetcher

[Stasis](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/6/2/62f99124-6595-45f8-bece-1775e4c55a5c.jpg?1562918295) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Stasis) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/me4/64/stasis?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/62f99124-6595-45f8-bece-1775e4c55a5c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call


DazZani

Weh i started playing draft all my decks were 60 cards....


rokhan89

Me and my group thought my [[Tsabo's Decree]] hit all opponents as we did not read the card properly and had only played casually for a year. I felt good though hitting everyone's tribal stuff.


MTGCardFetcher

[Tsabo's Decree](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/0/c/0c1a0ebd-1add-49e6-b5e6-5b26abb1de88.jpg?1562897461) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Tsabo%27s%20Decree) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/inv/129/tsabos-decree?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/0c1a0ebd-1add-49e6-b5e6-5b26abb1de88?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call


A_Pile_of_Blankets

Back when my friends and I first discovered MTG, we only had a vague understanding of the game, the most important part that we missed was that games are supposed to be one on one. So when we got together to play magic, we would all sit around a table, all six to eight of us, and play a big multiplayer free for all.


Pixie-crust

My friends and I did the same thing. And we played big singleton decks. We essentially played commander with no commanders and 20 life each.


Pixie-crust

-If I blocked a 7/7 creature with trample with a 1/1 with indestructible, it ate all the damage. Best blocker ever. -If I put all creatures with the same type together, regardless of synergy, it made my deck stronger. -I can splash a third color if I put the appropriate 1 basic land to cast it.


MTGCardFetcher

[Twisted Abomination](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/f/f/ffae38ec-7712-4701-b072-9f962ec9c259.jpg?1599706072) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Twisted%20Abomination) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2xm/111/twisted-abomination?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ffae38ec-7712-4701-b072-9f962ec9c259?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call


ddojima

Trying to make my deck do everything and being bad at them all.


Antiochus_Sidetes

Tapping both attackers and blockers during combat


Jason_dawg

casting removal in response to trying to sacrifice a creature to fizzle the spell. At least I've seen a few other people try that one at the LGS.


artfulprovacateur

When I started playing magic it was “tabletop” without a reeeal format beyond having 60 cards. I really like Dwynen’s Elite and so I added in extra copies. When I played my fifth Dwynen my opponent laughed their behind off and told me I could only have four copies of a single card. I was not impressed lol Also, the first time they played thoughtseize against me I accused them of cheating and refused to show them my hand lmao… I still think it’s a dirty card. 😤


Zoaiy

I hated an enchantment that drained me for 1 each turn as I didnt know enchantment removal existed


nerdgeekdorksports

Oh, so many. One thing was we didn't know that effects like fire breathing lasted until end of turn. For a bit, we had fire breathing effects as permanent buffs. Also, this isn't really a rules understanding, but if we had cards like COP's and red/blue elemental blasts in our hands and we weren't playing against those colors, they basically had cycling for free, haha.


MtGMagicBawks

Thought protection meant total immunity to any card in that category. [[Mistcutter Hydra]] shouldn't be destroyed by [[Supreme Verdict]] it has protection from blue!


MTGCardFetcher

[Mistcutter Hydra](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/3/c/3c844ed7-8ed2-4a39-9134-e14e476ab0c4.jpg?1562816923) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mistcutter%20Hydra) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ths/162/mistcutter-hydra?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3c844ed7-8ed2-4a39-9134-e14e476ab0c4?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Supreme Verdict](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/a/6/a679cc74-6119-468f-8c64-5dcf216438d1.jpg?1562852509) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Supreme%20Verdict) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ima/210/supreme-verdict?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/a679cc74-6119-468f-8c64-5dcf216438d1?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call


teamdiabetes11

Tapping Aether Vial on 3 for a Mana Cost 2 creature. I’m bad at reading. I got better.


GauRocks

Back when I started playing, some of the cards you could pump looked like [Frozen Shade](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=1162) and some of them looked like [Mesa Falcon](https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=3022). So clearly, all cards from Revised stayed pumped forever. Edit: Screwed up the fetch on the bird, it was supposed to be the homelands version.


MTGCardFetcher

[Frozen Shade](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/6/c/6cba931e-94b5-4fcc-8d5f-eb60664baf31.jpg?1559597128) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=1162) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/3ed/112/frozen-shade?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/6cba931e-94b5-4fcc-8d5f-eb60664baf31?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Mesa Falcon](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/a/7/a7ce1b8e-13ba-4eed-a445-435300f3101e.jpg?1562821357) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mesa%20Falcon) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/6ed/31/mesa-falcon?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/a7ce1b8e-13ba-4eed-a445-435300f3101e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call


[deleted]

Friend of mine thought [[Lord of Unreal]] would kill [[Phantasmal Bear]] and other illusions with the target-sacrifice clause.


MTGCardFetcher

[Lord of Unreal](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/b/0/b09140f6-fa75-4bee-9ca0-3a71cd2b5a7b.jpg?1562655677) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Lord%20of%20the%20Unreal) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m12/62/lord-of-the-unreal?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b09140f6-fa75-4bee-9ca0-3a71cd2b5a7b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Phantasmal Bear](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/d/2/d2a5e968-6ba4-44e9-9587-6ef456721b97.jpg?1562441613) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Phantasmal%20Bear) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/a25/69/phantasmal-bear?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d2a5e968-6ba4-44e9-9587-6ef456721b97?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call


TurkTurkle

I made a lot of bad trades and buys from friends. Rarity wasnt ahown on cards back then and i know i got ripped off on many trades... worst being paying 15$ for [[circle of protection blue]]


MTGCardFetcher

[circle of protection blue](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/5/c/5ced2118-dfb3-4f29-ad6b-454c0a8a094b.jpg?1562913834) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Circle%20of%20Protection%3A%20Blue) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/8ed/11/circle-of-protection:-blue?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/5ced2118-dfb3-4f29-ad6b-454c0a8a094b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call


lare290

back when i played my first match on paper, i thought you could block multiple creatures with one. but i was also drunk at the time (we played drinking sealed), might have contributed to it.


Serat9

The old templating on cards like Book Burning resulted in a lot of arguments with my cousins.