You could play MTG: Arena for free, but I’d understand if online play wasn’t your thing.
You could also have a look at pauper decks, which are focused on being very affordable.
I must also admit that, as a longtime player, I can’t wholeheartedly recommend the hobby right now due to how the game is managed and the insane amount of releases they put out.
I gave up on Arena too because a few months without playing results in most your decks being unusable due to updates to the formats and often new mechanics to learn.
If you don’t care about tournaments and want to play with your closer friends then you can all build simpler decks with budget restrictions or you can even prepare a “cube” which is just basically an independant game that uses MtG rulesets. There’s tons of cheap cards.
Not everyone needs to do the tournament thing. There is a format called booster draft where knowing how to build a deck matters as much as how well you actually play. But it works like poker in the sense that you buy in with a sealed booster pack and you keep the cards at the end. Depending on the local format, it can be winner takes all.
I’m in this same sort of boat. It’s not that I really want to play but I have a friend who wants me to play and I’m happy to go along with it. So like you, I can’t justify the prices for something that I might (and probably) won’t even like.
What I’ve found is what are called “proxys”. Basically you can just print the cards you want for free off the internet. I’m sure there are groups out there that aren’t approving of playing with proxies but if your group falls more on the side of playing and having fun rather than collecting and you’re not trying to pass off proxies as real cards then you should be fine.
It seems to me like a great way to get started and see if it’s something you like without much investment at all
Magic the Gathering. Seems fun but I can’t justify new video game prices for individual cards
You could play MTG: Arena for free, but I’d understand if online play wasn’t your thing.
You could also have a look at pauper decks, which are focused on being very affordable.
I must also admit that, as a longtime player, I can’t wholeheartedly recommend the hobby right now due to how the game is managed and the insane amount of releases they put out.
I can’t keep up at all either. I still watch content about it but I haven’t bought cards in a while. The release pace is insane.
I gave up on Arena too because a few months without playing results in most your decks being unusable due to updates to the formats and often new mechanics to learn.
The joke about drugs being cheaper isn’t a joke. The joke is the pain your wallet feels
I joking tell parents to get their kids into Warhammer 40K, Magic the Gathering or PC gaming, that way they wont be able to afford drugs.
If you don’t care about tournaments and want to play with your closer friends then you can all build simpler decks with budget restrictions or you can even prepare a “cube” which is just basically an independant game that uses MtG rulesets. There’s tons of cheap cards.
Proxies my friend.
Not everyone needs to do the tournament thing. There is a format called booster draft where knowing how to build a deck matters as much as how well you actually play. But it works like poker in the sense that you buy in with a sealed booster pack and you keep the cards at the end. Depending on the local format, it can be winner takes all.
Yeah. I limit myself to sealed tournaments, Jumpstart, and a casual commander deck.
I’m in this same sort of boat. It’s not that I really want to play but I have a friend who wants me to play and I’m happy to go along with it. So like you, I can’t justify the prices for something that I might (and probably) won’t even like.
What I’ve found is what are called “proxys”. Basically you can just print the cards you want for free off the internet. I’m sure there are groups out there that aren’t approving of playing with proxies but if your group falls more on the side of playing and having fun rather than collecting and you’re not trying to pass off proxies as real cards then you should be fine.
It seems to me like a great way to get started and see if it’s something you like without much investment at all
MTG is a complete meme game. There is so much OP stuff it doesnt matter about certain cards becaus you can just play a different format.