Skip to main content

Volunteering at Scouts is changing to help us reach more young people

Volunteering is changing to help us reach more young people

Volunteering is changing at Scouts. Read more

Discover what this means

Magic: the crafting

Learn all about the colours of Magic and create your own card in this crafty introduction to Magic: The Gathering.

Back to Activities

You’ll need

  • See lists below
How To Play Jumpstart
– 0.0KB
How To Play MTC
– 0.0KB

Before you begin

  • To help with the card design, you could order a Magic: The Gathering Welcome Deck or look up examples online and print some for everyone to use as inspiration.

Magic: The Gathering is a collectible card game. You take on the role of a planeswalker, who collects magic energy (called mana) from the land around you. You use that mana to summon creatures and cast spells during the game. There are five different colours of Magic cards; each colour handles things differently, so you can choose what kind of planeswalker you want to be. Your deck of cards represents all the spells you know and the creatures you can summon.

Find out more on the official Magic website.

To watch in full screen, double click the video

 

Introduce Magic: The Gathering

  1. The person leading the activity should use some of the information above about Magic: The Gathering to introduce the game. They should explain more about the different colours of mana using the information in the Magic glossary at the bottom of the page.
  2. Everyone should split into smaller groups.
  3. In their groups, everyone should think about which colour they’d choose. Does one colour best suit their personality, or how they might approach solving a problem? Did anyone choose the same colours?
  1. Everyone should get into a pair with another person who chose the same mana colour.
  2. The pairs should chat and try to find one thing they both share in common.
  3. After a minute, each pair should find another pair who chose the same colour and chat again as a group of four.
  4. If there are more than five groups (one for each colour), the groups of four should join together.
  1. The teams should chat about why they chose that colour and take it in turns to share some thoughts with the wider group. Which team managed to find something they all shared in common first?
  2. The person leading the game should explain that a big part of Magic is building a deck and choosing cards that use mana of a colour that suits your personality and play style.
  3. The person leading the game should explain everyone will craft some things to help them play Magic. They should decorate them based on the colours of mana they’ve been chatting about.
  1. At the end of the session, everyone should get back into their coloured groups and share some of their creations.

Get crafting

  1. Take a sheet of A4 paper and cut it in half lengthways so you end up with two thinner strips of paper. You only need one strip each, so you could share a piece of A4 paper with a friend. 
  2. Start with the strip of paper landscape and mark a space on the right-hand side for two piles of cards. One is the ‘library’ and one is the ‘graveyard’.
  3. On the left side of the paper, write out the numbers 1 to 20 to track your life total. Get creative, this could be along a path or the trunk of a tree.
  4. Add the different stages of a turn of play along the top of the sheet. This will help remind new players what to do during the game. The stages of play are: begin, main phase, combat, main phase and end. Everyone should think of different symbols or drawings to represent the stages, and write the words too so they don’t forget. Check out the glossary at the bottom of the page for more info.
  5. Everyone should decorate any empty space – they could draw some creatures or a scene from a landscape to represent their mana colour.
  6. If anyone wants to make a larger mat, they could use a full piece of A4 paper and add space to act as the battlefield in the middle where they’ll play their cards. They could add card outlines or mark a space to play creatures they cast, as well as including space for the lands they collect during the game.

You will need

  • A4 paper
  • Scissors
  • Coloured pens or pencils
  • Rulers

Magic cards are made so the info you need to know is always in the same place. It’s time to learn a bit about the different parts of a card and create your own version. Check out the example below as a guide; you can find full details on the official Magic webpages.

  1. Start with a piece of card. An adult could make the cards in advance by cutting an A4 piece of card into four or eight pieces (depending on how big you’d like the cards to be).
  2. Think of a name for your creature and add it to a title box at the top of the card. It’s OK if you want to add the actual name later, as long as you mark out a space for the title now.
  3. Decide what creature you’ll create. Draw a box underneath the title that fills about half the space on the card. If you have access to the internet, check out the Gatherer pages (the Magic card database where you can browse through cards from Magic’s entire history) for some inspiration. Draw your creature in the box.
  4. Add a type line underneath and write what type of creature you’ve drawn.
  5. Add a short description in the remaining space. Get creative! Some cards have special abilities that are printed here, while others just have ‘flair text’ that doesn’t affect gameplay, but adds some more story or information about the card.
  6. Draw a small box in the bottom right corner and add two numbers to show the power and toughness. The first number is the power, which is how much damage your creature deals in combat. The second number is the toughness, which is how much damage your creature can take.
  7. Finish by adding a mana cost to a small box in the top right of your card. This is usually written as a number with some symbols to represent the colour of the mana.
  8. Now everyone’s crafted their own creature! If you’ve got time, you could make some more cards and try to make some different types of card. Think about different memories of being a Scout to use as inspiration as you create:
    • A land card to show your favourite campsite or place you’ve visited
    • An instant, enchantment, or artifact that might help you solve a Scouts problem or earn a particular badge
    • A creature card for any wildlife you’ve encountered during an activity

You will need

  • A4 card
  • Scissors
  • Pens or pencils
  • Coloured pens or pencils
  • Rulers
  • Erasers
  • Devices with access to the internet (optional)

Counters are small markers that are used in Magic to represent different effects on a card that last for more than one turn.

  1. Counters could change a creature’s power or toughness or add an effect like making a creature fly, indestructible, or immune to hexes.
  2. Counters are super simple to make. Start by taking a sheet of scrap paper or card and drawing some small circles. You could find natural materials to use instead of coloured card.
  3. Make at least one counter you can use with your play mat to count your life total during a game. You could theme it to the colour of your favourite mana.
  4. Decorate the counters by drawing patterns to represent the colour of mana, or the effect of the counter.  Don’t forget to add +1 or -1 if you’re making a counter to change a creature’s toughness.
  5. Cut the counters out.
  6. If there’s extra time, make some more coloured counters based on the different mana colours. You could use these to play Mana time or Planeswalker post.

You will need

  • A4 card
  • Scissors
  • Coloured pens or pencils
  • Natural materials (optional)

A Magic glossary

Magic players craft their own decks and choose cards that suit their own playing styles and strategies. When they’re building a deck, people often focus on taking advantage of the different powers in each of Magic’s five mana colours:

  • White magic focuses on teamwork by using massive armies and sinking their abilities to protect both the controlling player and their creatures. White cards generally include spells like protection, balance and peacemakers.
  • Blue magic allows a Planeswalker to preview cards in their library, banish opponents from the battlefield and even manipulate time. Blue cards can include counter spells, banishments, and control cards.
  • Black magic is centred on the quest for power by any means possible. Black cards can include invasive creatures, discard spells and the ability to bring a card back from the graveyard, or prevent them from going there.
  • Red magic uses direct damage to opponents, quick acting spells and cool creatures like dragons. Red cards include fast creatures, power builders, and destruction spells.
  • Green magic combines the healing power of nature with the ferocity of the animal kingdom. Green spells include trampling creatures, life gaining spells and mana generation.

During a game of Magic, each turn follows the same pattern and you’ll play through these phases:

Begin

  • Untap (turn your cards upright).
  • Draw a card from your library.

First main phase

  • Play a land (only one for each turn).
  • Cast creatures and other spells.

Combat

  • Declare attackers.
  • Your opponent declares blockers.
  • Combat damage is dealt.

Second main phase

  • Play a land (if you haven’t already).
  • Cast creatures and other spells.

End

  • Creatures heal.
  • Pass the turn.
  • Hand – You start the game with a hand of seven cards.
  • Library – Your library is your draw pile.
  • Graveyard – this is your discard pile: creatures that die, enchantments that are destroyed, or cards you discard go here.
  • Battlefield – This is where you play your cards. You can arrange them however you like, but the experts recommend that you put the lands closest to you and your creatures closer to your opponent.
  • Creatures – Creatures fight for you – they can attack in the combat phase and block during an opponent’s turn. You’ll cast creatures onto your battlefield.
  • Lands – You’ll use lands to generate mana in the game, which is then used to cast spells. Each basic land card makes one mana of a particular colour – plains (white), islands (blue), swamps (black), mountains (red), and forests (green).
  • Mana – This is the resource used to cast spells in Magic. All spell cards show the mana cost in the top right corner.
  • Enchantments – These are spells you cast with magical effects that last as long as they’re on the battlefield.
  • Instants – Spells that can be cast at any time, even during an opponent’s turn. They have a one-time effect, then they should be put into your graveyard.
  • Artefacts – These represent machines or magical objects in the game.

Reflection

In Magic, players craft their own decks by choosing cards that suit their playing styles and strategies. All of the different colours have different strengths and weaknesses, but none of them are better than the others! This activity involved learning some things that were probably new to a lot of people. Don’t forget that everyone learns in different ways. Which part of the activity did people enjoy the most? Perhaps people enjoyed chatting as a group, crafting the play mats, or using their imagination and creating their own creatures.

Give people the chance to share what they’ve made during the reflection. It’s always nice to see what everyone’s created, but sharing their work will also help them describe the activity in their own way and make it more memorable. Are people comfortable sharing ideas? No one should feel put on the spot, but it’s good to give everyone the chance to have their say.

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

Scissors

Supervise young people appropriately when they’re using scissors. Store all sharp objects securely, out of the reach of young people.

  • The only limit in this activity is everyone’s imagination! For an added challenge, everyone could work together to create a whole deck of their own design Magic cards.
  • Everyone can choose how many of the different crafts to complete.

Think about providing a template or some pre-cut card for anyone who might struggle with fine motor skills.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Check out Mana time or Planeswalker post for some ideas of games you can play using your new cards or counters, or Learn to play Magic for some info on how to get started playing Magic: The Gathering.