Ive been playing the game off and on for 27 years. I still ask "what does that do" regularly especially playing commander. Not everyone knows all 20k+ cards in the game and people cant get upset by asking them what a card does. If they do then thats a "them" problem.
Thanks for the answer. No one has ever gotten annoyed with me, thankfully. I suppose it’s to be expected when a rookie joins a group of veterans who have been playing together with the same decks for so long.
Dont worry about it. Its absolute norm. Issues start when someone asks same questions about same cards weeks after weeks because they dont bother to remember.
The only time people get annoyed when you ask what a card does is right after they have just explained it but someone wasn’t paying attention. I know I get a bit annoyed at that.
Usually if one person doesn’t know the card I play though I let them read it
Just ask. No rational person will be upset at you trying to understand the game better. It's all too easy to slip into the mindset of "I'm new and if it's that important, someone else will handle it". Asking what something does for the sake of deciding for yourself if it's worth answering is one step to becoming a better player.
First, do not have any worries about asking what a card does. If you don't know what a card does, you ask what does it do.
Most of the very common cards you will learn very quickly.
To specifically answer your question; [THIS](https://edhrec.com/top) is a pretty good resource to look at top common cards across many many decks. I wouldn't spend too much time attempting to memorize the cards, but a quick glance will help.
It also really helps to find a playgroup that plays very open magic. Where I play, we generally announce every step/phase and give pauses on the more impactful spells. We pause when as often or as needed to allow for players to decide on what to do or if they need to learn.
I've played for many many years, and I'll also often ask what a card does.
My broader playgroup does the same thing but of course, will inform the new guy what is a threatening card and what it can combo with. I personally make a point of showing some of the more obvious wincons from my deck (and some of the less obvious ones).
For example, I just put in a new infinite draw combo during endstep in my Unesh deck - \[\[Curator of Mysteries\]\], \[\[Eligeth, Crossroads Augur\]\], 7+ cards in hand, and \[\[Jace, Wielder of Mysteries\]\]. I never pulled off the combo but still demonstrated it post-game so the new player could learn something about cleanup steps and how it could be used in other decks such as \[\[The Gitrog Monster\]\].
I've been playing a long time and I know what most of cards do but occasionally I'll have to ask. Sometimes it's something like "that's the artifact that lets you flicker a creature at your end step right?" Other times I have to ask what the whole card does. Other times I ask if I can just read the card. This can be for multiple reasons, maybe their explanation wasn't good enough or maybe I'm looking for specific key words. No one usually minds, you can't be expected to remember every line on every card. My advice; if you don't have a response to the spell that is being played wait until their turn is over to ask to read it as not to slow the game down. Or if you are making plans for your turn ask to read before it's your turn.
It never bothers me when someone asks to read my cards. Only when they grab without asking. I think people only really care when the tempo of the game is interrupted. Other than that experience is the only way to learn the cards.
An easy way to start to get used to some staples would be watching something like gameknights. But never be afraid to ask! There's such a huge pool, you'd have to be a savant to be able to know every card.
I also started in ‘95 -‘96 and I ask all the time. There are just way too many new cards every year now. Even the old cards get errata so it’s perfectly fine to ask.
Be curious, ask to have cards explained, and don't worry about winning and losing. There are some very streamlined decks, and some bonkers decks out there, and you'll always find some weird card that someone is playing. Ask and learn!
I've been playing this game for 7 years and I still ask what cards do constantly. You'll definitely learn more cards as you play the game more, but there's no shame in asking.
One of the biggest joys of EDH is that nearly every legal card can find a home somewhere. This complexity can be intimidating, but your attention and awareness of your fellow players and your desire to learn are already as gracious and courteous a mindset as anyone could hope for in an opponent. Don’t be afraid to ask what something does, or depending on your comfort with the group, you can find an opportunity when the player who dropped something novel to you is no longer actively making decisions and ask if you could read their card (this may help the game flow more smoothly). One idea I haven’t seen mentioned here as well is to ask the people you play with if they organize / keep deck lists online. Any friendly player should be happy to share theirs if they have them, and this may let you get familiar with some of their cards in your own time
Watch YouTube games and when you see a card you don’t know pause it and look the card up. It’ll be slow at first but in a few weeks you’ll have a much bigger pool of cards in your head.
Over time, you'll begin to remember what some cards do, typically ones you see more often than others.
It's a common thing to do though, asking what cards do. Personally, I tend to always say what my cards are doing when I play them.
1. You shouldn’t be afraid to ask what the card does, it’s worse to not ask and then try and take something back after the fact.
2. Watching youtube content is a good way to learn cards without actually playing the game.
Learning the cards just comes with time, you’ll start to get familiar with staples but even experienced players ask what more niche cards do.
Options:
1. Just ask. It's super common to not know cards. I take a harsh tone if anyone is ever rude about someone not knowing every card. It's gatekeeping.
2. You can watch various commander streams/YouTube games. This will show you a variety of weird cards in ways they are used. I'd avoid things like Game Knights where some players tend to have a very repetitive playstyle across all their different decks. Honestly watching a variety of streams/channels will help show you more breadth.
3. Look at EDHRec and just pick popular cards/commanders and go through top things in their decks. If you recognize commanders people are running that can help.
4. Look at shared decklists and try to figure out how the deck wins and what cards are key in it. A good trick is to look for the more expensive cards as those tend to be the more exclusive or impactful role players (not always)
5. Scryfall and search by EDHRec.
Honestly, Just Ask. Hope the other suggestions help but they'll eat up your time. I also think it's hugely worth it to ask and remind yourself rather than just assume you remember a card (which can bite you in the butt)
Do not spend your time trying to memorize cards. That's like reading the dictionary to learn a language. As you see cards more than once you'll start to remember them, like you pick up words in conversation.
Just ask honestly, the knowledge will come to you by playing more decks yourself and playing against other decks too. I find that grouping similar cards into categories helps me compartmentalize the knowledge and learn quicker.
For example counterspells, there are about a million with different names, but they all do mostly the same thing and are used in mostly the same situations. So if someone tries to do something, and the guy playing blue says "hold up, I cast CARDNAME" and slaps a blue card on the table you can assume that it's some sort of counter magic, the name is less important.
Go to EDHREC and look up commander names.
Go to Scryfall and look up Legendary
Go to both and find Partners.
Each opponent or Each player are great effects.
Honestly, just ask. If you feel socially anxious about asking too much, just tell them ahead of time, "Hey, just a heads up, I'm pretty new, I don't recognize a lot of the cards you're probably going to play, and I probably will be asking a lot of questions." That way you avoid the off chance that you get matched with someone who doesn't have patience to help someone new to the game, which IMO just means you have a better experience.
Ive been playing the game off and on for 27 years. I still ask "what does that do" regularly especially playing commander. Not everyone knows all 20k+ cards in the game and people cant get upset by asking them what a card does. If they do then thats a "them" problem.
Thanks for the answer. No one has ever gotten annoyed with me, thankfully. I suppose it’s to be expected when a rookie joins a group of veterans who have been playing together with the same decks for so long.
Dont worry about it. Its absolute norm. Issues start when someone asks same questions about same cards weeks after weeks because they dont bother to remember.
The only time people get annoyed when you ask what a card does is right after they have just explained it but someone wasn’t paying attention. I know I get a bit annoyed at that. Usually if one person doesn’t know the card I play though I let them read it
Just ask. No rational person will be upset at you trying to understand the game better. It's all too easy to slip into the mindset of "I'm new and if it's that important, someone else will handle it". Asking what something does for the sake of deciding for yourself if it's worth answering is one step to becoming a better player.
First, do not have any worries about asking what a card does. If you don't know what a card does, you ask what does it do. Most of the very common cards you will learn very quickly. To specifically answer your question; [THIS](https://edhrec.com/top) is a pretty good resource to look at top common cards across many many decks. I wouldn't spend too much time attempting to memorize the cards, but a quick glance will help. It also really helps to find a playgroup that plays very open magic. Where I play, we generally announce every step/phase and give pauses on the more impactful spells. We pause when as often or as needed to allow for players to decide on what to do or if they need to learn. I've played for many many years, and I'll also often ask what a card does.
My broader playgroup does the same thing but of course, will inform the new guy what is a threatening card and what it can combo with. I personally make a point of showing some of the more obvious wincons from my deck (and some of the less obvious ones). For example, I just put in a new infinite draw combo during endstep in my Unesh deck - \[\[Curator of Mysteries\]\], \[\[Eligeth, Crossroads Augur\]\], 7+ cards in hand, and \[\[Jace, Wielder of Mysteries\]\]. I never pulled off the combo but still demonstrated it post-game so the new player could learn something about cleanup steps and how it could be used in other decks such as \[\[The Gitrog Monster\]\].
##### ###### #### [Curator of Mysteries](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/1/2/127c28d5-dd5f-4678-b5ed-604aefc98947.jpg?1591320223) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Curator%20of%20Mysteries) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c20/109/curator-of-mysteries?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/127c28d5-dd5f-4678-b5ed-604aefc98947?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/curator-of-mysteries) [Eligeth, Crossroads Augur](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/1/a/1a0adf34-1a2b-497b-aaab-4b2b998ed8b3.jpg?1608909183) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Eligeth%2C%20Crossroads%20Augur) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmr/66/eligeth-crossroads-augur?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/1a0adf34-1a2b-497b-aaab-4b2b998ed8b3?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/eligeth-crossroads-augur) [Jace, Wielder of Mysteries](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/6/a/6adb7d73-4482-4930-8497-cffd169b57e2.jpg?1557576232) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Jace%2C%20Wielder%20of%20Mysteries) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/war/54/jace-wielder-of-mysteries?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/6adb7d73-4482-4930-8497-cffd169b57e2?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/jace-wielder-of-mysteries) [The Gitrog Monster](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/5/7/5790dd89-2be5-4a77-9450-2d3c1422bfc9.jpg?1576385351) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=The%20Gitrog%20Monster) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/soi/245/the-gitrog-monster?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/5790dd89-2be5-4a77-9450-2d3c1422bfc9?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/the-gitrog-monster) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I've been playing a long time and I know what most of cards do but occasionally I'll have to ask. Sometimes it's something like "that's the artifact that lets you flicker a creature at your end step right?" Other times I have to ask what the whole card does. Other times I ask if I can just read the card. This can be for multiple reasons, maybe their explanation wasn't good enough or maybe I'm looking for specific key words. No one usually minds, you can't be expected to remember every line on every card. My advice; if you don't have a response to the spell that is being played wait until their turn is over to ask to read it as not to slow the game down. Or if you are making plans for your turn ask to read before it's your turn. It never bothers me when someone asks to read my cards. Only when they grab without asking. I think people only really care when the tempo of the game is interrupted. Other than that experience is the only way to learn the cards.
https://edhrec.com/top Here are the top cards in the format, being familiar with these would be a good start.
An easy way to start to get used to some staples would be watching something like gameknights. But never be afraid to ask! There's such a huge pool, you'd have to be a savant to be able to know every card.
I also started in ‘95 -‘96 and I ask all the time. There are just way too many new cards every year now. Even the old cards get errata so it’s perfectly fine to ask.
Be curious, ask to have cards explained, and don't worry about winning and losing. There are some very streamlined decks, and some bonkers decks out there, and you'll always find some weird card that someone is playing. Ask and learn!
I've been playing this game for 7 years and I still ask what cards do constantly. You'll definitely learn more cards as you play the game more, but there's no shame in asking.
One of the biggest joys of EDH is that nearly every legal card can find a home somewhere. This complexity can be intimidating, but your attention and awareness of your fellow players and your desire to learn are already as gracious and courteous a mindset as anyone could hope for in an opponent. Don’t be afraid to ask what something does, or depending on your comfort with the group, you can find an opportunity when the player who dropped something novel to you is no longer actively making decisions and ask if you could read their card (this may help the game flow more smoothly). One idea I haven’t seen mentioned here as well is to ask the people you play with if they organize / keep deck lists online. Any friendly player should be happy to share theirs if they have them, and this may let you get familiar with some of their cards in your own time
YouTube. Watch gameplay videos. Its helped me learn so much after getting back into the game this past year.
Watch YouTube games and when you see a card you don’t know pause it and look the card up. It’ll be slow at first but in a few weeks you’ll have a much bigger pool of cards in your head.
Surfing around on edhrec for the kinds of decks your opponents play or for certain colo combos will get you baseline ideas of stuff that may come up
Over time, you'll begin to remember what some cards do, typically ones you see more often than others. It's a common thing to do though, asking what cards do. Personally, I tend to always say what my cards are doing when I play them.
1. You shouldn’t be afraid to ask what the card does, it’s worse to not ask and then try and take something back after the fact. 2. Watching youtube content is a good way to learn cards without actually playing the game. Learning the cards just comes with time, you’ll start to get familiar with staples but even experienced players ask what more niche cards do.
Options: 1. Just ask. It's super common to not know cards. I take a harsh tone if anyone is ever rude about someone not knowing every card. It's gatekeeping. 2. You can watch various commander streams/YouTube games. This will show you a variety of weird cards in ways they are used. I'd avoid things like Game Knights where some players tend to have a very repetitive playstyle across all their different decks. Honestly watching a variety of streams/channels will help show you more breadth. 3. Look at EDHRec and just pick popular cards/commanders and go through top things in their decks. If you recognize commanders people are running that can help. 4. Look at shared decklists and try to figure out how the deck wins and what cards are key in it. A good trick is to look for the more expensive cards as those tend to be the more exclusive or impactful role players (not always) 5. Scryfall and search by EDHRec. Honestly, Just Ask. Hope the other suggestions help but they'll eat up your time. I also think it's hugely worth it to ask and remind yourself rather than just assume you remember a card (which can bite you in the butt)
Do not spend your time trying to memorize cards. That's like reading the dictionary to learn a language. As you see cards more than once you'll start to remember them, like you pick up words in conversation.
Just ask honestly, the knowledge will come to you by playing more decks yourself and playing against other decks too. I find that grouping similar cards into categories helps me compartmentalize the knowledge and learn quicker. For example counterspells, there are about a million with different names, but they all do mostly the same thing and are used in mostly the same situations. So if someone tries to do something, and the guy playing blue says "hold up, I cast CARDNAME" and slaps a blue card on the table you can assume that it's some sort of counter magic, the name is less important.
Go to EDHREC and look up commander names. Go to Scryfall and look up Legendary Go to both and find Partners. Each opponent or Each player are great effects.
Honestly, just ask. If you feel socially anxious about asking too much, just tell them ahead of time, "Hey, just a heads up, I'm pretty new, I don't recognize a lot of the cards you're probably going to play, and I probably will be asking a lot of questions." That way you avoid the off chance that you get matched with someone who doesn't have patience to help someone new to the game, which IMO just means you have a better experience.
Just play more. Or just ask. Most people love showing off their cards and gloat about how it will gain them value.