Oh, look at you my friend, pondering if 2025 is the year to finally shuffle into Magic: The Gathering with that cute My Little Pony release…

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Pretty embarassing…

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MTG, that eternal beast of a game that’s been sucking in souls since the ’90s, promising epic battles and then delivering a wallet-draining addiction. Sure, it’s feasible to start now – aren’t most hobbies? But let’s cut the bs: with its labyrinth of rules, endless mass of products, and a community that’s 1 part welcoming, 3 parts smug cutthroat, and 52 parts celibacy/incel, jumping in feels like volunteering for a enema with a horses hoof. But feasible for a wide-eyed newbie? Yeah, in the way chugging hot sauce is feasible – doable, but expect heartburn, regret, and an empty wallet. Let’s gut this beast from the jargon jungle to the power-crept cemetary, from an actual player before the Hasbro chocolate starfish sniffing content creators decided to “play”, because who needs another echo chamber of the ass-kissing blogs and corporate cheerleaders?

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First off, the complexity – because nothing says “fun” like deciphering a card that reads like a lawyer’s fevered wet dream. Terms like “hexproof,” “dredge,” “toxic/infect,” “companion,” or “initiative” might as well be ancient runes at first glance, and the mechanics? They’ve piled on so many layers over the last 10 years that even veterans groan about “complexity creep.”

But here’s the truth: It’s not impossible, if you are into strategy porn and being cucked by your “professor”. Wizards of the Coast theoretically throws beginners a bone with stuff like the Foundations set, designed to ease it in without the tearing. Because, after all, this is supposed to be enjoyable, not prison Mr. Dufrense…

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They say you can jump into MTG Arena’s free tutorials, which is really just a way to not have to deal with newbies, and get you hooked on the false reality that there is lots of casual play. They hand-hold you through basics like mana tapping and combat phases. After a couple hours of bot matches, it clicks, unless you’re allergic to strategy. Then you are ready to take on actual players, cute… Feasible? Yeah, I guess, if Russian chess doesn’t seem challenging enough ; otherwise, stick to go fish.

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Acquiring products? In paper form, its quite easy of course. The above line up for 2026 may look like your 4yo’s Saturday morning cartoon line up, but its not, its the regular MTG set release schedule. No joke… Well, yes joke, but real… This doesn’t include all the “holiday releases” and cute little Super Duper Premium releases splashed in. For instance, there are at least 75 “Secret Lair” releases this year! This is a new record! The rain forests are getting quite nervous… You wont feel bad for the rain forests though, when you see the additions to this legit, serious strategy card game that has been at the pinnacle for decades, with releases like this…

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In this digital age, you don’t need to hunt down comic / card shops, though that’s still an option if you are willing to travel since many of them have closed up due to mass Hasbro price hikes and the pandemic business killer. Grab a Starter Kit online from Amazon or Wizards’ site; the Final Fantasy one is a campy crossover for 2025, packing two “ready” decks and rules for $30ish.

Digitally? Of course! Who needs the Gathering part anyway?! MTG Arena downloads in minutes, handing you free starter decks. Sadly, you will find that they are complete garbage in short order… New “standard” sets roll out quarterly – Innistrad Remastered in January, for instance – so you’ll be playing wallet catch-up in no time. It’s all too convenient, really; they make it easy to slide into spending mode.

Ah, the cost of play, lets pour the 5 gallon bucket of ranch on this shit salad. Free to start? Technically, yes, via Arena’s grind-for-cards model. But let’s be real: If you want a decent paper deck for casual nights, expect $25-50 for a precon that you’ll get blown out of the water with, plus $10 for cheap budget sleeves to protect your “investments.” No big deal… Go competitive? Ha, that’s when it turns into a black hole – Standard decks hit $200-500, and don’t get me started on eternal formats like Modern hitting $400-1000, Legacy, where singles can cost more than your rent. Boosters at $6 a pop tempt you into gambling for rares, but smart folks buy singles at their LGS to avoid the rip-off. Monthly? Casuals can skate by on $20-50 tweaking decks, but the game’s designed to whisper “just one more pack” until you’re broke. Feasible on a budget? Possibly, if you’re disciplined; otherwise, it’s a corporate cash grab disguised as creativity.

Beyond that, quality of product goes hand in hand with cost… As someone who played for years and watched the meticulous focus on product quality and research & development, there is a stark contrast with the modern product we see today. R&D is near non existent, with the proof showing through the game meta breaking cards that get banned almost immediately, or banned as soon as the next set is close to coming out. This way they can suck as much coin out of the patrons as possible, before killing their cards worth. Pretty raw…

Don’t get me started on quality of print! There used to be a huge collector community for MTG Print Error cards, as they were stupid rare. Now all you have to do is buy a booster pack and your Print Error collection is like 10 cards deep! In at least the last 5 years, it has been a dumpster fire!

It has become so common that the players crack packs with errors all over the place, but they’ve gotten used to saying “well, it could have been like that other time”, just suck it up and buy another pack or box!

Do I even need to get into the serialized gambling scheme they do now? When your product is weak, non innovative, and generally bottom of the barrel, well you can Wonka it! All serialized cards in packs does, is the Willy Wonka effect.

No innovation, just basic standard lowest selling chocolate bars, or cards in this situation…

Good news? That One Ring above? Its banned in the main format it was functional for, Modern… Dont get me started on the ban list though, just look up Jeweled Lotus…

Finding people to play with in 2025? Not quite the ghost town you’d expect from a niche hobby. But, be ready for neck beards who act superior because they have been playing for 10 years, eating, sleeping, and breathing the “pro tour players” decks, with no creativity of their own, treating you stupid because you dont know. TCG Player point and click decklists, with youtube tournaments teaching them how to play their deck, while sitting in the severely strained chair not made for the weight thrust upon it… Online? Arena matches you quickly, faceless millions logging in for quick duels or events. If you can look at it like a different version of Candy Crush, it’ll work for you. But if you wanted something substantive, its severely lacking. 60% of the game is playing the player, and you get no player interaction, no gathering, no fun…

Apps like SpellTable let you webcam your physical cards for remote games. In meatspace, Wizards’ event locator points you to LGS for Friday Night Magic or prereleases – some towns have one, and big cons like MagicCon pack ’em in. Reddit groups, Facebook, or Meetup make connecting easier. Rural? Lean digital. It’s feasible, but brace for the occasional keyboard warrior, and constant inundation of digital product like booster packs that have $0 worth, and no matter what cards you get from packs on there, its worth nothing. You cant trade, you cant sell, in fact, you can get banned if you try… Pretty gross.

Finally, casual vs. pro players – the real divide where MTG shows its split personality. True Casuals? Rare Breed; they’re the minority, you’ll sometimes find them chilling at LGS Commander pods but usually they are sitting at their kitchen tables with house rules, zero stakes, and no ATF. Specify “casual” in groups, and you’ll hopefully match with folks who prioritize fun over meta-crushing. Pros (or “spikes,” as they call ’em) are the intense ones grinding tournaments, obsessing over bans and efficiencies – they’re in ranked Arena ladders or high-stakes events, often segregated. Feasible to stick casual? Tough; the game’s not flexible enough to avoid the sweatlords anymore. Realistically, the pros’ influence creeps in with point and click pro deck ordering, making even chill games feel pressured most times.

Bottom line: Starting MTG in 2025 is feasible if you’re okay with a substantial learning curve, and sitting across from a neckbeard that lords over you in “superiority”. Its up to you to burst their bubble, but remember, when you go home, you will be getting laid… Maybe you let em’ have this one… Dont forget costs that will stretch your budget and your bum. If you think you can handle that? Download Arena or snag a cheap kit, and dip in – worst case, you bail before it owns your soul. But hey, in a world of fleeting apps, at least it’s got some history, though Hasbro is burying it in the bottom of the trash can, under cheesy, gimmicky, childish, skins and walls of overpowered nonsense.