Magic the Gathering in Ontario - How to Play Magic for Free with MTGPlay

Mohan writes: With the new Extended having gone into effect, players will be looking to test new deck ideas. Before you spend a lot of money on new cards or waste time on making proxies, why not use the MTGPlay software to help you playtest?

What is MTGPlay?
MTGPlay is a product created by Magic fans that essentially allows you to play Magic, with full graphics for all the cards, for free online (here is a screenshot of a game). With MTGPlay, up to four players can play Magic at once, and with the newest version of the software, even sealed deck games are possible. One of the drawbacks is that the game has no AI to judge players and solitaire play is not available. All games are played exactly as they are in real life: You need to keep track of your life, whether your opponent made an illegal play, and know how the stack works. No computer judge is going to ask if you would like to play an instant. With that said, MTGPlay is totally free and easy to use.

Here are the quick and easy steps to get yourself started. There are two paths to take:
1) Players who own the Magic: The Gathering Interactive Encyclopedia software will be able to play with all Magic cards from Alpha up through Judgment and then Seventh Edition as official Magic card set patches from Wizards of the Coast. The remaining sets will need to be added as unofficial patches that Magic players have created.

2) Without the Interactive Encyclopedia, players need to download all the Magic sets and install each one separately (Alpha up through Mirrodin).

Installing MTGPlay Without Owning the Magic: The Gathering Interactive Encyclopedia
Step One: Visit the MTGPlay site and download the latest version of the software (version 1.2.409 at around 4.7 MB) to your computer. {Note: you can also download it here from our very own downloads page! Trent}

Step Two: Double click on the MTGPlaySetup file and follow the installation instructions (choose what you wish to install and click on the next button). After the files are installed, click the close button.

Step Three: Download the latest Magic card patches for the game. It is now possible to download patches for the following sets: 4th Edition, 5th Edition, 6th Edition, 7th Edition, 8th Edition, Alliances, Alpha, Antiquities, Apocalypse, Arabian Nights, Beta, Chronicles, Exodus, Fallen Empires, Homelands, Ice Age, Invasion, Judgment, Legends, Legions, Mercadian Masques, Mirage, Mirrodin, Nemesis, Onslaught, Odyssey, Planeshift, Portal sets, Prophecy, Revised, Scourge, Starter, Stronghold, Tempest, The Dark, Torment, Unlimited, Urza's Destiny, Urza's Legacy, Urza's Saga, Visions, Weatherlight and Unglued Lands. That's right, you can now play with most Magic cards without owning Magic: The Gathering Interactive Encyclopedia.

With the player-made patches listed above, it's rather easy to load them into the MTGplay database:
- Unzip a patch into its own folder.
- Launch MTGplay.
- Click on the Game button, select the Database pull-out menu, and choose the Load New Card Set menu item.
- In the window that opens, browse to the folder where you unzipped the patch.
- There should be a spoiler text file in the directory you unzipped the patch to (e.g. 4th_edition_spoiler_en.txt). Double-click on this file.
- You should be prompted on whether or not to load the particular card set. Choose Yes.
- Repeat for each card set. Presto, that's all you need to do!

Step Four: Unzip all the Onslaught, Legions, Scourge, Eighth Edition and Mirrodin patches to your computer into separate folders on your hard drive. (Example: Create a folder named Onslaught on your hard drive and extract all the files in the Onslaught zip file to that folder.)

Step Five: To load the cards into MTGPlay, startup the MTGPlay software. If asked to load a database, when the pop-up browse window appears, choose the Magic database. Once MTGPlay loads, click on the Game button and select Database and then Load new cards. Search for the location of the Onslaught extracted files and choose the spoilername.txt file (for the Onslaught cards, the spoilername.txt file is named on_spoiler_en.txt). If a dialogue box appears asking "Do you want to import these cards?", choose Yes. After the cards are loaded, a dialogue box will appear to tell you how many cards are loaded. Simply click Ok and then move on to load the remaining Legions, Scourge and Eighth Edition card sets (simply repeat these intructions for each card set).

Step Six: Click on the Game button, select Options, click on the Download Missing Pictures from Other Players box and the Download Missing Pictures from the Internet box, and then click the save settings button. You're done!

Installing MTGPlay with the Magic: The Gathering Interactive Encyclopedia
Step One: Install the full version of Magic: The Gathering Interactive Encyclopedia on your computer (choose to install all images to your hard drive). Note: Once the Interactive Encyclopedia is installed (and all the card set patches), you no longer need to load or use the Interactive Encyclopedia software. You're simply using the card images from the game and don't need to load the Encyclopedia up ever again.

Step Two: Download all the official patches for the following cards sets from the Wizards of the Coast website: Judgment Cardset, Torment Cardset, Odyssey Cardset, Apocalypse Cardset, Planeshift Cardset, Invasion Cardset, Full Nemesis and Prophecy Cardsets, and the Seventh Edition cardset. {The Judgment, Torment & Odyssey patches can be found on mtgontario - earlier than that head on over to the WotC site.}

Step Three: After all the sets are downloaded to your computer, double click on the Nemesis and Prophecy cardset executible file and install the patch. Once Nemesis and Prophecy are installed, then install the Invasion set, then Planeshift, Apocalypse, Odyssey, Torment, Judgment and finally the Seventh Edition cardset.

Step Four: Visit the MTGPlay site and download the latest version of the software (version 1.2.409 at around 4.7 MB) to your computer.

Step Five: Double click on the MTGPlaySetup file and follow the installation instructions (choose what you wish to install and click on the next button). After the files are installed, click the close button.

Step Six: Download the latest Magic card patches {Marked by "MTGP" on the mtgontario downloads page.} for the game. Unzip all the Onslaught, Legions, Scourge, Eighth Edition and Mirrodin patches to your computer into separate folders on your hard drive. (Example: Create a folder named Onslaught on your hard drive and extract all the files in the Onslaught zip file to that folder.)

Step Seven: To load the patches into MTGPlay, startup the MTGPlay software. If asked to load a database, when the pop-up browse window appears, choose the Magic database. Once MTGPlay loads, click on the Game button and select Database and then Load New Cards. Search for the location of the Onslaught extracted files and choose the spoilername.txt file (for the Onslaught cards, the spoilername.txt file is named on_spoiler_en.txt). If a dialogue box appears asking "Do you want to import these cards?", choose Yes. After the cards are loaded, a dialogue box will appear to tell you how many cards are loaded. Simply click ok and then move on to load the remaining Legions, Scourge and Eighth Edition card sets (simply repeat these intructions for each card set).

Step Eight: Click on the Game button, select Options, click on the Download Missing Pictures from Other Players box and the Download Missing Pictures from the Internet box, and then click the save settings button. You're done!

Learn How to Build Decks
Step One: Load up MTGPlay and click on the Deck Editor button. On the next page, click on the new deck button and then in the center of the page, be sure to type in the name of your deck and then hit save. To see a screenshot, click here.

Step Two: Click the Advanced Search button on the bottom right and then choose a set of cards to review (to select multiple sets, hold the SHIFT key, and then select different card sets - all the card sets you select will be highlighted). Hit the Search button and then all the cards from that set will appear in the list. Review the list and then double click on the card you would like in your deck (or right mouse click on the card and add multiple copies of that card to your deck). Click here to see a screenshot of the search page.

Step Three: After finishing adding cards to your deck and sideboard, be sure to hit the save button to save your deck.

Learn How to Use the MTGPlay Software
Load up MTGPlay and take a look at the layout of the board. Remember, the higher your computer's resolution is set to, the more board space is available. Notice that the left-hand side of the screen contains all the buttons to start a game. When in doubt, right mouse click on anything on the playing field and you'll obtain a list of choices. You can right-mouse click on your name, hand, library, graveyard, cards in play, sideboard, temp area and removed fields. Once you've found someone to play with (see the Learn How to Find People to Play the Game section for more information), you can chat with your friends through MTGPlay just as you can with Magic Online. Note: there is no need to purchase packs at $3.29, no need to see if the server is up and running, or log into a server. All you need to do is find someone to play with in the chatroom and have fun. One player serves by typing in their IP address and everyone else connects to that person's computer via TCP/IP. Once you're connected, load a deck (right mouse click on your name), roll to see who goes first (there's even a button to generate a dice roll), and start off.

For more information, visit the pages below to see some screenshots of the various pull down menus:
- Right mouse click on Player 1.
- Right mouse click on your library.
- Right mouse click on your hand.
- Right mouse click on your graveyard.
- Right mouse click on the blank board to create a token creature.
- Right mouse click on a card in play to change the text or add a counter.
- View of what a creature attacking or blocking looks like (remember, you have to right mouse click on the creature and set it to attacking or blocking). Be sure to have your speakers on to hear the cool attacking and blocking sounds!
- Move your library around the board. (Click in the white space by your name and hold, then drag your cards around the board.)

To Start a Game
Step One: Find someone to play with in the MTGIE Club Chatroom.

Step Two: If you're connecting to your opponent (he's serving), find out if he's ready, ask him for his IP addess, and then select connect and type in the person's IP address and hit okay. (If you're serving, then hit the game button, select serve and then okay. Tell your opponent your IP address and once he's connected to you start playing.) Note: If you are behind a firewall and wish to serve, you must open up port 1001 on the firewall for your opponent to be able to connect to you. {If you don't know your IP address pay a visit to the IP Chicken to find out.}

Step Three: Once you're connected, load a deck and play!

Basic Rules:
- To put a card into play face down, hold the SHIFT key down and drag the card from your hand into the playing field.
- To put a card on the bottom of your library, hold the left control key down and then drag the card onto your library.
- Right mouse click on your hand to discard a card at random into the graveyard.

Using MTGPlay to play online can be great fun, but there are some drawbacks. Here's a list of what you can and cannot do with the game:

Pros:
• Play with up to four people at once.
• Have access to card sets from Alpha to Eighth Edition (you'll even be able to use APAC lands, play with the rare World Champion card, or even the Portal Three Kingdoms cards).
• Chat interface built into the game.
• Can build sealed decks with a sealed deck generator.
• Easy to use MTGPlay interface: You'll be able to do anything, like discard a card at random, look at your (or someone else's) graveyard, show your hand to selected Players, remove cards from play, gain control of a person's permanent, allow someone to click on your deck and save it, and even enter a game as a spectator.

Cons:
• Drafting is not possible.
• Maximum number of players at one time is four.
• Once in a blue moon, the game might unsync and someone can't see what cards you have out in the playing field. Simply pick up your playing library/hand area and wiggle it around. This normally solves the problem.
• Lack of fellow players: You'll have to use the chatroom to find people to play the game with so spread the word about this game.
• Future card sets will not be available as patches by Wizards (but unofficial patches are sure to be created by fans).

Learn How to Find People to Play the Game
Step One and Only One: Visit the MTGIE Club Chatroom.

Play with people from around the world. The best time to meet people is either the weekends or around 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. (EST) on weeknights. Remember, the more people who come to this site and play games, the more players there will be. Spread the word. If you log on and are discouraged that you don't see anyone there, simply open another browser and surf the Web, and wait for someone to contact you. It won't be long before someone else pops in and sends you a message (by right mouse clicking on someone's name in the right menu, you can send a message to someone. This sends a pop up on the person's computer so that if they're browsing the Internet with another window open, they'll see your pop-up. VERY nice and easy to use. See the pic below). It's common for one person to visit the chatroom, see no one there, and leave. Veterans of the chatroom know to wait around with their speakers turned on. If someone wants to catch your attention, they'll either send you a message (and described above) or make a noise: Meow like a cat, slap sound, harp playing, etc. Although it might appear difficult to find someone to play with, if you wait in the chatroom, someone is sure to pop in sooner rather than later.

Learn How to Play Sealed Deck with MTGPlay
Step One: Connect with another player and then one person right mouse clicks on his name and chooses Sealed deck.

Step Two: The player who is initiating the Sealed deck game then sets up the type of packs to play with. After decks and boosters are chosen, the player who initiated the Sealed deck game clicks on the Okay button. The other player then receives a message asking him if he'd like to participate in a Sealed deck game consisting of whatever packs/decks that the initiator picked and this player would hit Yes.

Step Three: After the other player chooses Yes, a pop-up window appears for each player with their random cards from their packs. Simply build your deck by adding all your cards to your deck and then hit the Load button. Then go through your library (right mouse click on it) and put any cards you don't wish to play with in your sideboard.

Summing It All Up
No matter if you wish to play Type 1, Type 2, Extended, or Sealed, MTGPlay is the affordable way to go - it's free. I hope this tutorial has been useful and that players give MTGPlay a try. Have fun!

Ron Vitale

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