About ManaScholar Academy
Clear lessons that take any player from beginner to confident.
ManaScholar exists to make Magic: The Gathering easy to learn and rewarding to master. We turn Magic's huge, confusing body of rules and strategy into a clear, step-by-step path, from the first card you draw to confident intermediate play. No scattered forum threads, no gatekeeping and no guessing: just lessons that build on each other, so every player knows what to learn next and why it matters.
The training ground for every Magic player.
Training people since 2010.
We've been giving trainings since 2010. ManaScholar's courses build on that experience: they aren't a course put together in a weekend, but years of real work on how people learn, assembled into one clear path, step by step.
What's the best way to learn Magic: The Gathering?
Learn it in order, and practice each step before the next: how to read a card, then mana and the five colors, then the turn, then combat, then a complete game. Opening Hand, ManaScholar's beginner course, follows exactly that path in 24 short illustrated lessons with a guided game and ten puzzles, and the free ManaScholar training platform lets you practice every skill on a live board.
Is there a book for learning Magic: The Gathering?
Yes. Opening Hand is a 156-page illustrated beginner's book for Magic: The Gathering, delivered as a PDF you download right after buying. It takes you from your first card to playing a complete game on your own, with worked examples, puzzles and a full answer key.
Is ManaScholar suitable for complete beginners?
Yes. Opening Hand, the beginner course, assumes you've never played. It starts with how to read a card and ends with you playing a complete game on your own, with a guided game and ten puzzles to practice on.
I already play Magic. Will I still learn something?
Most likely. The courses after Opening Hand cover the stack and priority, replacement effects and layers, card advantage and tempo, mulligans, sequencing and deckbuilding, which are the topics that separate casual players from confident ones.
Which Magic: The Gathering formats do you cover?
The rules lessons apply to every format. Strategy and deckbuilding lessons cover 60-card constructed formats such as Standard, Limited (draft and sealed) and Commander, and note where multiplayer games change the advice.
Do I need to own Magic cards?
No. Every example is fully explained in the lesson. A starter deck or MTG Arena helps you practice, but it isn't required.
How much does a ManaScholar course cost?
Opening Hand, the beginner course, costs €19.99 including VAT. You pay once, with no subscription, and keep lifetime access including updates. The training platform is free.
How are the courses delivered?
As illustrated PDF courses you buy in our shop and keep: you get the download link on screen and by email right after paying, and work through them at your own pace on any phone, tablet or computer. Alongside them, the free ManaScholar training platform lets you practice the same skills on a live board, with puzzles, simulations and games against the computer.
Is ManaScholar official Wizards of the Coast content?
No. ManaScholar Academy is an independent educational resource. It is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored or approved by Wizards of the Coast.