I want to try it, but I spend all my money on YuGiOh
I advice you to grab a friend and split the cost of one of these duel decks. It'll cost about $20 total, but it's well worth it.
If you enjoy it and would like to get further into it, you should first decide what format to play.
-Standard is probably the most common format. It uses the standard, 60-card minimum deck limit, allowing only up to 4 of each card (excluding basic lands). It uses the standard win conditions as well, you lose if you can't draw a card, lose all 20 health, or gain 10 poison counters. Having fairly fast play, you duel players 1v1, with most games ending around turn 8-10 average, however some finish as early as turn 3. It limits the cards you use by employeeing a system of card blocks. Blocks are the different "series" of cards, each block having 3 sets that make it up. For example, the Zendikar block is made up from the sets Zendikar, World Wake, and Rise of the Eldrazi. Each set typically contains 250 different cards. Inbetween blocks are the yearly release, which generally reprint many of the good cards, this set being about 250 cards in size. The Standard format allows you to build your deck from the two latest blocks as well as the lastest yearly set (ie 2012). When a new block or yearly set is released, the oldest one rotates out, meaning you are unable to use those old cards. This keeps the format fresh and ever changing, but it takes quite a toll on your wallet. Also, most the cards from the Duel Decks cannot be used.
-Modern is the newest format to have been released. It functions exactly the same as the Standard Format, minus the Block system. Instead, you are allowed to use any card printed from the Mirroden set onwards (with exceptions on the ban list). This means that you won't have to continuously purchase cards and one deck will last you a while. Also, you should be able to use the Duel Decks in this format.
-EDH is widely considered the most "fun" format and is completely casual. Each deck is made up of 99 regular cards and 1 general card (which is a creature), with each of the 99 cards being completely unique (with the exception being basic lands). You may choose any card from any format ever printed ever, though an optional ban list exists (and most players abide by it). Each player instead has 40 life, but the other lose conditions remain the same. The is also an additional way to lose. If a players general deals 21 points of damage to a single player, that player automatically loses, regardless of their overall life. Setting your general aside, the game plays like normal except that you may play your general (if you have the right mana) as if it were in your hand (but it isn't). Also, if your general dies, it does not go to the graveyard, but instead is set aside. You may play your general again, but instead of the normal casting cost, it cost 2 more to play, meaning each time it dies it costs more to bring it back. As it is a casual format, there are many different ways to play. You can do a 1v1 battle, like normal, or you can play with 7 other people, forming alliances and the like. There is even an additional "board game" you can add to the mix for extra fun. I recommend that everyone who plays MtG should play EDH unless they are impatient or are sore losers. EDH games can typically take hours to complete (especially with up to 8 players playing). Also, other formats have a particular feel to them. Each deck has a specific win strategy that they try to achieve every game. If this plan is messed up, that player typically loses. EDH is entirely different. Because you may use any card ever printed, most players put cards with completely ridiculous effects (like putting all players creatures into a pile, then rolling dices to see who gets what) that may not match with their deck. While these cards might not directly help that player win, it can sometimes turn a game around in just one turn. Often times, a player who has 2 or 3 life remaining is spared, only to play a card that puts the entire game in their favor, many times winning it for them. If you can imagine the differences between the actual Yu-Gi-Oh! card game and the show, EDH is akin to the latter.
