Here is the remaining part of the rules you need to to know in order to start playing Magic: the Gathering.
Winning the game
Each player starts at 20 life. You win if your opponent's life reaches zero before your does. Another way to in is to have your opponent draw a card when they cannot do so for some reason (most probably because there are no cards left in their deck). These are the two most common ways a game can be won. Certain cards exist that tell let you win in an alternative way but these come up rarely and each of them tells you what the alternative condition is.
Formats of the game
There are various ways to play magic and each of them comes with a set of rules. The formats are generally divided in two types - Standard and Limited.
In Standard formats you build your deck in advance with the restriction that you can only have four copies of any given card that is not a basic land. Copies are counted by the English name of the card so if you have three English copies of a card and three German two must go. Cards with the same name but from different editions count as the same card. The minimum allowed number of cards in your deck is 60.
In Limited formats you only get to see the cards you'll be playing with when you go to the event. It is either Sealed deck - you get 5-7 15-card boosters and build your deck or Draft - 8 people open a booster pack each, take one card and pass it to their neighbour. After all the cards are taken the second booster is opened, then the third. From the 45 cards you have taken you proceed to build the deck you will be playing with. You can add as many basic lands to the pool of cards you got in a limited event. The minimum number of cards for your deck is 40.
In both limited and standard events you may have cards that are not generally useful but will help you a lot in certain matches. These are called sideboard and in standard it is either zero or fifteen cards. After the first game of each match you can exchange between your deck and your sideboard on a 1-for-1 basis. In limited each card you are not playing in your deck is in your sideboard. The exchange does not have to be 1-for-1 as long as your deck still has at least 40 cards. After the match you desideboard, i.e. return the deck to it's initial form.
Preparing for the game
In order to start the game each player must have a legal deck. Legal deck means having the minimum amount of cards and no more than 4 copies of any given card, other than basic land. It is also necessary to bring a pen and paper with you to keep track of life totals, as well as have a way to represent tokens (creatures that are not cards but are created by an effect) and counters. Counters are put on cards to note they function in a different way - a creature is bigger, a permanent has a certain number of "charges", etc. Players shuffle their decks to randomize them, then they present it to their opponent for additional shuffling. No other manipulation of the deck is allowed after it has been shuffled by the opponent. After this the decks are put face-down on the table and become player's libraries - the pile from which you draw cards each turn. The players also determine who goes first - the winner of a dice roll, coin flip or another method that generates a 50-50 outcome gets to choose if they are playing first or second.
Playing the game
The game starts with each player drawing their opening hand of seven cards. If a player if not happy with the cards they've draw they can take a "mulligan", i.e. shuffle their hand back into their library and draw one card less. Mulligans are announced simultaneously. When a player decides to stop taking mulligans they can not choose to take another later. After everybody is happy with their opening hands the game starts.
Magic is played in turns that follow a structure explained below. Turn are taken in succession, starting from the person who chose to go first.
A few definitions
Before the turn structure, I'm going to explain a few rules and terms to make things more clear.
The Golden Rule - Magic is a game that doesn't come with a book of rules. Rules are few and simple, like you've seen from my posts. Most of what you need to know in order to play is written on the cards. a lot of cards carry their own set of rules that sometimes contradict the general rules of Magic. In case a card contradicts the rules, the card wins. For example, creatures can block attacking creatures, but there are cards that change that. In this case the would-be blocker become mere spectators.
"Can't" beats "Can" - if a card or effect tells you something can't be done and another tells you it can, the "can't" wins.
Tap - Taping a permanent means to turn it 90 degrees sideways. Permanents enter the battlefield untapped with their short side facing your opponent. Taping means that they have been used for some ability or action. This is represented by the "tap symbol" 
on the cards. Lands tap to produce mana, creature tap when they attack and some permanents have other abilities that require them to tap. Example of these from the deck are Llanowar Elves (tap to add one green mana to your mana pool) and Tar Pitcher (tap and sacrifice a goblin to do 2 damage). And tapped permanent is considered exhausted for the turn and is unable to perform any other actions that require tapping.
on the cards. Lands tap to produce mana, creature tap when they attack and some permanents have other abilities that require them to tap. Example of these from the deck are Llanowar Elves (tap to add one green mana to your mana pool) and Tar Pitcher (tap and sacrifice a goblin to do 2 damage). And tapped permanent is considered exhausted for the turn and is unable to perform any other actions that require tapping.The Stack - This is a term you will very rarely hear in a game of Magic but it is fundamental for how the game works. Magic is a game of interaction and there are times when both people would like to do something at the same time. Nothing in Magic happens instantly - each player has the chance to respond to an action by their opponent. This is where the stack comes in. In each phase and step of the turn, the player whose turn it is (the "active player") gets the chance to play a spell or ability first. After this his opponent (the "defending player") gets to do the same. Each time a spell is played or an ability is activated it goes on "the stack", giving the other player a chance to respond to it. If they do by playing a spell or activating an ability in response, these go on the stack to. The process repeats until no player wants to add anything to the stack. Then each this starts "resolving", starting from the last one, with the first one getting to resolve last. There is a simple principle that helps remember this - "Last in, first out". After a spell or ability has resolve, it is removed from the stack and player get another chance to play more spells and abilities. After both players pass on an empty stack the game moves to the next phase or step.
Now let's try with an example:
Imagine you have an untapped Tar Pitcher and another goblin creature on the battlefield and your opponent has Llanowar Elves and Jagged-Scar Archers. They decide to play another elf creature, which would make their Jagged-Scar Archers bigger and more dangerous. Of course, you don't like that and as soon as their elf spell goes on the stack you tap your Tar Pitcher and sacrifice the other goblin to do 2 damage to the Jagged-Scar Archers. Now this ability goes on top of the elf played by your opponent, meaning you get to send the archers to the graveyard before they get any bigger. Of course, your opponent may have Giant Growth and play it on the archers to save them, but they don't want to spoil your fun, do they?
Another classic example of the stack is the comparison with the pile of dishes. Like most of you may know, dishes tend to pile up when you don't wash them, with the last ones used going on top. When eventually you get to doing this manly task you start from where? From the ones on the top, of course. And if after you have washed some a new one gets added it goes on the top too. Then you have to "resolve" this dish first before getting to the ones on the bottom of the pile. So next time you are washing a pile of dishes, comfort yourself with the idea you are practicing resolving spells and abilities from the Magic stack.
Damage - In a fight between mages somebody is going to get hurt. Quite often this are the creature, summoned on the battlefield. What happens if they hit by other creatures? They receive damage equal to the power of the creature they fought with and deal to it damage equal to their own power. Once a creature receives damage equal or greater than it's toughness it goes to the graveyard and no stack tricks can save it. If it survives the damage stays on it (in Magic terms it is "marked on the creature") and remains there until the end of the turn. Then it gets cleared and the creature if as good as new in the next turn.
Let's go back to the example with the stack. What if your opponent did have Giant Growth? The Jagged-Scar Archers are now a 6/6 creature until end of turn (3 elves and the Giant Growth effect) with 2 damage on them. Imagine that they foolishly attack you (what can happen to such a big creature anyway) and you block with Mudbutton Torchrunner - a reckless 1/1 creature. It stops the enemy monster, even doing it 1 damage in the process (for a tota of 3 damage). Even better - as soon as he's laid to rest, it's ability kick is, gets put on the stack and you get to choose which creature it will deal 3 damage to. My suggestion is to do it to the Jagged-Scar Archers but of course you are free to do something else.
Playing lands, casting spells and activating abilities - One gets to do that a lot in Magic. It helps knowing the right way it is done. Each spell and ability has a cost. In the case of spells it is printed in the top right corner of the card. The numbers in colourless circles means this number of mana can be paid with any colour of mana you can produce. In the case of Jagged-Scar Archers (I mention them a lot, don't I?) the cost is two green mana and one mana of any other colour. Activated abilities have costs too and they are written in this manner on the cards "Do Something: Something Else happens". In the case of another card I'm netioning a lot - Tar Pitcher - it says "Tap it, sacrifice a goblin: Do 2 damage to target creature or player". Cost must be paid in full before a spell is cast and an ability to be activated. If not, the actions are taken back as if nothing happened. Lands are played for free (free lunch!), but only once each turn, only during your turn and only on an empty stack (who said there's free lunch?). Notice how some spells and abilities have targets mentioned? This means that when anouncing the spell or ability you must choose a target. The Tar Pitcher and the Mudbutton Torchrunner make you specify who/what you are targeting. Spells can target too as is the case with Afflict (that targets creatures) and Cancel (that targets another spell). Once announced, targets cannot be changed.
Summoning Sickness and Haste - Creatures that have just come into play cannot be tapped for attacking or activation of abilities the turn they joined your side. To be able to do so you must have controlled me the whole time since your most recent turn started. The creatures with the "Haste" ability (such as Raging Goblin) don't pay attention to such formalities and are ready to go the turn they enter the battlefield.
Mana pool - something simeple to end this section. The mana pool is simply the place where the mana you have produced goes. It stay there until you use it or until the game moves to the next step of the turn in which case the mana is lost and cannot be recovered.
The phases and steps of a turn
These are the phases and steps of each turn:
1. Beginning phase. It consists of:
- Untap step - This is the time when you untap all your tapped permanents
- Upkeep step - This is the step when costs associated with the upkeep of permanents are paid. Card that require upkeep cost say so in theirs rules text. If you have no such cards you don't have to pay anything
- Draw step - This is the step when you draw your card for the turn. An exception to this is that the player playing first doesn't draw a card on their first turn.
2. First Main Phase (also Pre-combat Main phase) - Only during this phase you can play lands. You are limited to one land per turn. You can also play creatures and other spells and activate abilities, while the only thing your opponent can do is play instants and activate abilities.
3. Combat Phase. During this phase only instants can be played abilities can be activated. It consists of:
- Beginning of combat step - The last chance for your opponent to do somthing before you send your guys at him
- Declare attackers step - This is when you announce which creatures attack your opponent and tap them. Remeber - you can only attack a player, not the creatures they control. You can only attack with creature that you have controlled constantly since your most recent turn sdtarted. An exception are creaturs with "haste", who can attack the turn, they enter the battlefield.
- Decklare blockers step - Your opponent declares which of their creatures block each of your attackers. Any creature that is on the battlefield and is untapped can block. Tapping it later doesn't remove it from its duty of a blocker. They are not required to block any creatures but it helps their survivability sometimes. A blocking creature can only block one attacker. An attacking creature can be blocked by any number of creatures. In this case the attacker announces the order in which their creatures will assign damage to their blockers. After this both players get a chance to play spells and activate abilities.
- (First strike damage step) - This step happens only if either player has creatures with the "First strike" ability (such as Youthful Knight). As the name of the ability suggests, those creatures get to deal their damage first, before they get hit by creatures without first strike. After first strike damage is deal players can play spells or activate abilities.
- Normal damage step - This is when creature deal damage equal to their power to one another (or to player if they are unblocked). Creatures that are blocked don't assign damage to players, even if the creature blocking them is no longer in combat. If a creature is blocked by more than one creature, it first has to deal enough damage to destroy the first creature in the order of blockers, before moving to the next. Enough damage is damage equal to the creature's toughness, minus all damage previously dealt to it this turn. For example if a 3/3 creature is blocked by a 2/2 creature and a 1/2 creature (in that order) it has do assign two damage to the first, before dealing the remaing 1 point of damage to the second blocker.
- End of combat step - This is where the combat ends.
4. Second Main Phase - same as the First Main Step
5. End phase. It consists of:
- End step - The last point in a turn where a player may cast a spell or activate an ability. This is when effects lasting "until the end step" end.
- Cleanup step - This is when effect lasting "until end of turn" end and when damage marked on creatures gets removes from them. Also, if the player whose turn ends has more than seven cards in their hand, they must discard down to seven cards.
And this is all you need to know to play Magic!
The blog can just end here, because now you have all the necessary information to start playing. Everything else will come with practice. However, I have decided to continue writing in order to help you understand the more advanced aspects of the game. The next few post will anayze the deck, people who signed for the dare got from Bragster.com. I will also talk about more strategic aspects of the game, help yopu find good read about Magic: the Gathering and show you how to enter the community of people, playing and enjoying the game. In the meantime I will very much appreciate comments, feedback, suggestions and anything you would like to share with me.
Welcome to the world of Magic!
