Err, yeah, had my first real go against Marvel and there's really no good way to answer it since it's not a true combo deck. It can just grind you out with Tireless Trackers, Gearhulks and late game Emrakuls.
Should have called a judge
So,
I own a board game company and have never actually played MTG or really any CCG/LCG format before. Mostly because I didn't want to go down that rabbit hole and my friends group has never really been into it.
I've decided since I own a board game company that this is stupid, so I started playing Magic Duels to figure out the gist of the game, and it isn't particularly difficult (though, I imagine my issue is I don't recognize different deck strategies so I keep walking into obvious traps that someone who has played more would recognize).
My question is, how do I get into playing physical MTG without friends who are into it?
Like, if I bought a planeswalker deck and the deck builders toolkit and looked up a kind of ok beginner deck and walked into Friday Night Magic and just got destroyed and messed up a ton, what would the reaction be? Like, I'm sure I am going to suck for months, and I have no real idea how cleanup and tracking works when the game isn't doing it for me.
Will I piss people off or are they used to newbs showing up and being an easy win?
As others have said, the atmosphere is going to vary from store to store. In my experience, most players will be forgiving if you're new and you make a mistake here or there, but occasionally, you'll run into the person that won't give any leniency at all.
Having played duels, you should have a good grasp on most of what you need to play the game, but one thing that's different is how
priority (when you can play spells and activate abilities) works. In 'real' Magic, it's more like passing a baton back and forth, rather than the "game-of-chicken-with-the-timer" in Magic duels.
As others have said,
sealed deck (specifically prereleases) and other limited formats, like
booster draft, are the best way to get started on a level playing field. Assuming you've played 7 Wonders, Between Two Cities, Seasons or any other number of games with drafting, you should have a good handle on the mechanics of draft. The main skills that will simply come from experience are card evaluation and reading signals (knowing which colors you should be in based on what's getting passed to you).
