Hi there.
I did play the game in 2019 for some time and recently got back to it. The start can be a little confusing, so i decided to share some basic beginner tips here.

I hope it helps. :)

To get you started in the game you want to unlock a bunch of cards, build decks and play all the game modes to your hearts content. To get you there, here is the way:


-> Grab hold of bonus stuff by collecting code-rewards.
Go to the ingame store, go to redeem codes and type the following in.

For Packs:
PLAYM21
PlayTheros
PlayIkoria
PlayZendikar
PlayKaldheim
PlayStrixhaven
TryKaladesh
PlayWarSpark
PlayRavnica
PlayDND
PlayMID
PlayVOW
PlayNEO
PlayNEOAlchemy
PlaySNC
PlayAlchemyNewCapenna
PlayHBG
PlayDMU
PlayDMUAlchemy
PlayBRO

For Boosts:
LevelUp
Threads
RestorativeBurst
ExperimentalOverload
mellon

For Cosmetcis:
FNMAtHome
InformationIsPower
AlwaysFinishTheJob
BrokerShield
CabarettiAlliance
RiveteerBlitz
ReadTheFinePrint
ObscuraConnive
MaestroCasualty
FunIsntFree
CrimeIsAnArtForm

edit: Crossed out some codes that sadly do not work anymore.

-> Before buying any packs for yourself, you should open these because some of them do not give "buyers protection". Meaning they will get you the cards and not fillers for doubles. So if you already have the stuff you miss out on fillers like cards for crafting.

-> Play the tutorials.

Nothing much to say here. Get the deck you like and enjoy.
You prolly did this one already since the game throws you in at first. ;)


-> Play the "color challenge" event.

It is 4 bot matches and one PvP match per color, giving you the starter Decks and some bonus cards and gold.

You now have your 4 starter 1-color decks.
- Blue - Aerial Domination
- Black - Cold-Blooded Killers
- Red - Goblins - Everywhere
- White - Keep the peace
- Green - Large and in charge


-> Play the "starter deck duel".

Here you can choose between the 10 2-colored decks and play 2 bot as well as one PvP match with them. You will get the decks, the cards and some rewards on the way.
Changing the deck for the last PvP match will unlock more decks.

You now have your 10 starter 2-color decks.
- Blue/White - Angelic Accountants
- White/Black - Balancing Act
- Blue/Green - Blossoming Growth
- Black/Green - Grave Matters
- Black/Red - Ignite the Forge
- Red/Green - On the hunt
- Blue/Red - Spellweaver
- Blue/Black - Stealthy Subterfuge
- White/Red - Storm of Blades
- White/Green - Strength in Numbers

As you can see here, when the game rotates card-sets it also changes starter decks (1-colored and 2-colored). For now it changed to:

- UR Arcane aggression
- RG Charging Ahead
- UB Grave secrets
- GW Growing hope
- WU High-flying valor
- WB Legions of Phyrexia
- RW Rebel Armory
- BG Savage Scavengers
- BR Scrapyard sacrifice
- UG Sylvan Wisdom

If you played before a change as this one, you can still do the tutoriel/event plays and unlock the cards by doing so. Still you will not get more cards from doing so if you already have the core stes corresponding to the event/tutorial.
It basicly just shifts the "meta of colors" but you only get what you are missing from the core sets, never more.

-> Play sparky-ranked event-chain.
Here you get some bot matches to get to know standart-ranked gameplay and rewards on the way.

You will now be able to play (nearly) all the gamemodes.
To get into brawl you will need to play ranked a bit and actually get a rank aside from bot-ranked.

-> about every year the core set changes and everything starts over with new 1- and 2-colored starter decks.

-> From here on it is "play as you like", but i still have some minor tips.

Get some more cars:
You will have gotten some "jump in tokens" by now. Go to play-> events and then "jump in!". Here you can play alchemy mode with 2 half-decks you get for 1k gold, 200 gems or your jump in tokens.
You choose from random half-decks with a set "motto" like "toxic" in two waves so you end up with a small deck e.g. "toxic / critters". One win with this deck also gets you a bonus card.
Since you can keep the cards it comes a bit cheaper then buying packs and it is a great way to get a feel for the gameplay and the featured "mottos" in colors.

Draft vs. buying packs (to get even more cards):
Well this one is harder to decide.
On paper buying card-packs will not be as good as playing draft (a mode in which you open decks, then play till you loose 3 times or win all games 4-7) and keep the cards you picked. Since you buy into draf game mode you might want to know what is worth more in the end.
Net-value wise your best choice would be premier / traditional draft > sealed / limited draft > quick draft> just buying card packs. But the shop also gives you 1 gold pack per 10 bought packs, so it has a bonus now. Still draft gives you more.
Draft wins let you also net some gems you can then use to buy into draft (going unlimited / infinite) or buy packs and so on.
Still some draft variants do not have buyers protection, so drafting early (before you got lots of cards from that set is worth more then later):
But ... The biggest point here is draft itself. You will want to get your gems/money back from it or at least a bit, so you need to win and that is not so easy when you are new (and/or the set is new).
Decide for yourself if you like to play draft or not. The better you are (should be around 48-60 % win-rate) the better the net-worth gets, but draft takes time and is more complex then just playing other game modes. You might end up reading a lot or watching streams to get good on it. I for one like it a lot.


From here on out it is you playing the game as you like. There will be yearly seasons with 4 (?) sets of cards over a year and 10 sets of cards playable outside historic. AT this point there are 19 card-sets that are not playable in standart and so on anymore. This ofc. moves on with the game.
You can always just buy card packs, but draft will be limited over a time.

edit: It seems the Core set will change later then i thought, so the range of sets will get bigger for standart froom here on out.

Events will come and go and offer chances to get rewards. Look at what they want you to do and if you like to participate.
Some events will even be free to take part in -> do so if you can

You might also be able to get some rewards via ingame mail for events and such.

The shop has a "deals" section that lets you net some (nearly) free rewards at times.

Enjoy the game the way you like!

Starting out:
- Green decks are easy to play.
- White decks are easy to play.
- In general creatures > buffs > removals > spells in general will be easier to use for beginners. Combos, reviving, milling, synergy, counters and so on will be harder to play at first.

- do not fear to play "just one color"
- try not to get into 3 or more colors to fast
- switch around with starter decks and try them before you go build your own

- before building decks "from the internet" be sure you have the cards for crafting (prolly around 4-6 mythic, 20 rare). There is no use in building half-a-good-deck, better keep collecting till you can craft-finish one meta-deck you want to use


Daily quests:
- You can have up to 3 at one time -> doing dailies can be done every 3 days.
- Dailies give you either 500 or 750 gold -> reroll the once for 500g.
- There is little win in doing the daily 15-wins quest each day -> do not burn yourself out on this one


Game modes:
- BO1 is your arcade style "normal game", BO3 is best of 3 with a side deck versus the same opponent. -> This is the traditional game play but maybe not so good for beginners.
- Standard is your friend as a beginner, because you got less cards then other ppl.
- Alchemy is your next best pick since it is the "traditional online experience" (other cards than paper magic).
- Historic and explorer are great game modes, but you need cards for them. Just going with standard decks into these might not be much fun.
- You can always stomp bots.
- You can play all game modes as "ranked" (aside from bot).
- You have a "constructed" rank for your normal ranked games and a "limited" rank for your draft games (not all draft modes count as ranked)
- You can always just play friends in 1on1s.
- Brawl comes in standard and historic format. Go find out if you like that. ;)
- Sadly no commander or 2-headed-giant so far (but commander might come?!?)

I know it is not much, but i hope it helped to get through the first couple of days and generally find yourself in the game. The guide ends here, with everything done i wanted to do and hopefully something you were searching for.

Best regards.