I've always meant to get into this but I just have not. I heard that there was a pc or online version that can be played but I don't know if that is true or not.
I am a big fan of Magic the Gathering, I was introduced to the game my freshman year of high school by one of the seniors at my school. The colors I have the best compatibility with (aka like the most and can use best play wise) is white and blue, in that order. It is a fun trading card game with many arcs and styles of play, one big con though is it can be difficult tournament wise, because you can usually use only the most up to date arc, and as another con because of this it can become expensive.
As far as I know, the online version of the game, I.e. Magic The Gathering Online (MTGO) is free to play using the sample theme deck but you need to pay (buy booster packs) if you want to play using your own deck/cards. There is no monthly cost with using the MTGO.
Another version of the game is Steam-based called Duel of The Planeswalker which include both online and offline game play. Cost for the core game is around $10, while expansion pack is around $5.
There is also old PC version of MTG called Spells of The Ancient.
The Magic the Gathering Online game costs $10 to get started and then if you want to buy any cards other than what you start with you of course have to pay but you can get cheap cards online for pennies apiece or look around in the classifieds section of the game and get free ones from people. I am a member of a guild and can get a lot of singles for free. You can buy a lot of cards on ebay for pretty cheap also. It is a pretty good game, the UI is not as pretty as the Steam one for the pc and Xbox 360 but offers the full game as opposed to the Steam one which is basically played with pre-built decks that have very minimal customization.
My friend and his stepson and nephew and their friends, which is also my gaming group, play Magic, and I have my own deck, but I personally am not really a fan and not interested in playing. Everyone once in a while it is okay but I don't like playing against other people, I don't like aggressive competitive games in this vein, especially if this is what they choose to play over RPGs so a lot of times I just sit out and let them play.
Since it is for my own personal use, I just find cards I like online and print them out and put them in card sleeves, using basic land as the stiff backing to give the sleeves proper "body", so I'm not out any more money than I've already sunk. Some of the other players complain about this some, and then go off to drop fifty dollars on rare foil hologram cards, but I really don't care, since I only play to be social anyway.
They have multiple decks with various "themes" and buy new cards and such - I have cards I've used since me and my family got into MTG when we first started years back and bought a couple of big flats of cards, so I just use mostly my same old deck, which includes mostly things that damage all creatures and players, including myself, since it is the fastest way to get to the end of the game, and the fastest way for me to exit the game, so it is win-win for me - sadly, I actually WIN the game far more than should be humanly possible.
Overall MTG is a good solid concept, but while I understand the collectibility is a cash cow, they just keep adding new rules and cards and it's just a giant mish-mash of shoehorned in rules and add-ons that make it messy, in my opinion.
Edited: JPatt on 26th Oct, 2010 - 3:21am