How to start your Magic 2014 career on the best possible footing - hints, tricks, and tips

Magic: The Gathering has always been a daunting prospect.

Its mix of fantasy setting and card-collecting can create a pretty dense barrier that a lot of people are intimidated to push through. That's a shame, because beneath all that there's an amazing, intricate deck building game.

Magic 2014 definitely lowers the barrier for entry, offering iPad and Android gamers a chance to sample the offline play for free before taking the plunge into the esoteric card-types, gameplay styles, and extensive multiplayer options.

Think of this guide as a primer, a way to ensure you're not going into the game blind, with a few tips and hints for intermediate players who are looking to get a little bit more out of the Magic 2014 experience.

It's by no-means exhaustive, but it should set you on your way to becoming a Planeswalker of note.

This is probably the most important piece of advice you'll be given at the start of your Magic career. You need to know the cards that make up your deck and you need to understand what each of them does.

All too often in the first few games you play you're going to use a card wrong and it's going to mean the difference between winning and losing.

Study your cards when you unlock them, read them carefully when you pull them from your deck, and make use of the deck management options the game gives you.

This tip counts double for sealed play, when you build a deck from a series of randomly picked cards.

The better you understand the cards that make up your arsenal of creatures and spells, the better you're going to fare when your back's against the wall or when your opponent makes a mistake.

This might sound silly, but make sure you read the description and info of every card that your foe plays. You need to know what to play to counteract the effects of your enemy's spells and creatures and, perhaps more importantly, what not to play.

There's nothing worse than playing one of your strongest cards only for it to be cut down before it's got a chance to do anything because you weren't paying attention to something your opponent threw down in his last turn.

Land cards are the currency of Magic 2014, they should be the most common cards in your hand, and you should usually play one at the start of your turn if you've got a chance. Land gives you Mana, and Mana is what you need to do everything else in the game.

Each of the other cards you want to play costs Mana, and you'll need to 'tap' your Land cards in order to use them. Your land regenerates at the start of your next turn and you can use Land cards that you play at the start of your turn to buy cards in the next phase.

It's always worth dropping a Land card if you've got one in your hand, especially if you have a spell in play that uses the number of Land cards you've played to generate a bonus or extra health.

If you're playing a Sealed Play game, remember that some cards use different kinds of Mana generated from different kinds of Land, so make sure you've got the right cards to be able to cast the spells you're carrying.

If Land is the currency of Magic 2014, then your creatures and spells are all the things you can buy. There are a huge variety of monsters and magic powers for you to play, and more to unlock as you play your way through the single-player campaign.

Look for combinations of sorceries, enchantments, and creatures that complement each other, and don't waste your cards playing them just for the sake of it. The same goes for the instant cards you have in your deck - don't throw them away unless you really need to.

Work out when you need to be defensive and when you're perfectly poised to attack, and use your monsters accordingly.

Make sure your big hitters don't get trapped chipping away at little monsters when they should be smashing chunks out of your opponent's health bar, and by the same token make sure you're in a position to frustrate your opponent by blocking and diverting his attacks.

Figure out who you are

Once you're comfortable with how the game works, it's important to figure out how you want to play it.

Do you want to be the sort of Planeswalker who relies on brute strength to batter your opponent into submission, or do you want to compile a deck of tricksy enchantments and sorceries that are going to befuddle your foes?

There are decks and options for any play style, but you'll need to unlock them in the single-player campaign or pay some cash if you want them.

It's always worth fighting the Planeswalker that uses the deck you're interested in trying, though, as you'll get a feel for the deck while you try and counter its moves.

In the end, the best advice you can take is to go out and play. Experiment with different decks, chance your arm at Sealed Play, and find out what works best for you.

Tactics and styles reveal themselves as you fight it out and, perhaps most importantly, you'll have an awful lot of fun figuring out what sort of Planeswalker you are.