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As the title says, I'm thinking of introducing my cousins son to Magic. He's 9 years old, but quite introverted and seems mature for his age. I think he could be a geek in larval form

So Magic has a lot of nuance that it can take a while to get to know but on a basic level, I think the rules can be fairly simple to get to grips with.

Has anyone introduced the game to younger kids, do they get it well enough or is it a bit over their head?

Help and suggestions much appreciated!

Go buy a duel deck! And play it over and over until her gets it. The decks are pre balanced and have decent selection. Switch decks with each other. If he's getting it and enjoys it, give him his favorite deck, go buy some boosters, and build those decks up a little.

If he's still in at that point he's hooked.

Thanks for the quick reply! So you think someone as young as 9 will be able to grasp the main rules and gameplay?

Grasp and causally play, of course. Build decks to twist the mechanics of the game to destroy FNM tournaments... maybe not until he's 11 haha

Altayre wrote:
Thanks for the quick reply! So you think someone as young as 9 will be able to grasp the main rules and gameplay?

Yep. Just don't try to introduce them to the stack or priority until they've got a firm grasp of the simpler rules.

MTG has fairly simple rules overall ; its just when people get funky with manipulation of those rules that it gets to be brain achingly complicated.

So much of the "complexity" depends upon the playgroup. If you've got a group of casual players playing together chances are the decks will work along simpler elements of the mechanics; you'll get a few combos going but they won't be extreme (unless someone "net-decked" ).

Whereas if you've got a group of tourny level players the nature, style and design of the decks will change significantly; you'll get a lot fewer fluffy decks and a lot more powerful combos going off.



So I'd say 9 is a perfectly fine age to introduce them; if there's a group playing locally who have a similar age and casual approach to the game then it will be an ideal introduction. Asides after 4 or 5 years of playing chances are from that young start he'll be a pro ;p

I'd personally introduce him to something that is more productive from a cost/benefit analysis, like illegal street drugs (sorry, not a big magic fan, couldn't resist. I'd prefer Netrunner).

Seriously though I get the feeling that it wouldn't be so hard of a task to master. I'm pretty sure I could have handled at least the simpler aspects of the game at that point in my life.

I started with the very basics with my friend's 6 year old son. He was not interested in learning how to read but he really wanted to play Magic. I made simple decks with only creatures and sorceries. Once he could play with those, I told him he could add different cards if he could read them to me and tell me what they would do in his deck. He played Magic until he was 12 and video games really stole his soul.

I've taught it to the 8-10 year old range. The basic rules are very simple, and easy to grasp. One land per turn. Explain the "mana cost". Instants can be played anytime. Anything else is played during your turn. Attack/block. 20 life. Who ever is lowered to 0 first loses. The hardest part is the mana symbols, but as long as you stick to monocolored decks it's still pretty simple.