MTGO Tips and Tricks
Every now and then I like to try my hand at articles despite my horrible grammar and spelling skills, so I thought of an idea that requires very little of either since all of the information is either from the WOTC message boards or other public places. I have noticed there are a lot of players that do not know a lot of the basic tricks on MTGO and there are even more that do not know all the shortcuts and when I asked an adept for a complete list of all the MTGO shortcuts I found out there was no such list. So I will start out with all the shortcuts that I know of and then I will move on to just random tips for playing and trading. If you know of some I forgot please leave the suggestions on the message board and I will continue to add to the list.
Gameplay Shortcuts
F2 - yield once right now to the
current [OK] prompt.
F3 - by the way, has been around for a long time. The change for SOK is that in addition to removing your auto-yields, it will now also unset F4 and F6.
F4 - auto yields this turn as long
as the stack is empty
F6 - auto yields even if something is on the stack (use once per turn)
F8 - auto yields when you have no possible actions (use once per game)
F9/F10- a single key versions of
<alt>-Y and <alt>-N which are the same as clicking 'Yes' and 'No'
respectively. Be careful when using these not to go to fast and click 'Yes' to
"go first", and then 'Yes' to "do you want to mulligan".
F4,F6,F8 can be undone with F3 or using the "Remove auto yields" menu
option.
press <ALT>-<PAGE UP> = the Chat window grows 1 line
bigger.
press <ALT>-<PAGE DOWN> = the Chat window shrinks 1 line smaller.
The syntax there means you press and hold the alt key while at the
same time you press the page up/page down keys. The change will be remembered
for the next game you play as well and will be remembered until you close
magic. You can grow the window as large as you want. Or you can shrink it down
to 0 visible lines. The chat entry window will remain however. I would
recommend never going below 1 visible lines though so you can always see the
game messages.
When drafting, you can press ctrl-click mouse (or maybe alt-click mouse) to outline a card. That card will be picked if you run out of time to pick normally (by just clicking).
ctrl key - In Magic Online, you automatically pass when you play a spell or ability. If you want to keep priority, just hold down the CTRL (control) key while you play the spell or ability.
Chat Shortcuts – The chat shortcuts were copied from the MTGO help files and are ™ & © 2002 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
Most rooms in Magic Online have a chat
area located near the bottom of the screen where players can exchange messages
with other players in that room. Players can also carry on private chats with
other players.
The chat area on most windows includes a list of players in the room or area, a chat window where messages are displayed, and a line where you can type messages. |
Private Chats
Sometimes a player's name appears on a room's player list, but that player is
actually looking at another Magic Online screen. Sometimes
a player may want to talk to a friend without involving everyone in the room in
the conversation. A private chat is the best way to handle these situations.
You can chat privately with another player by right-clicking on that player's name and selecting Private chat. You can also start a private chat with someone on your My Buddies list by right-clicking on his or her name on that list. Any message you type in the private chat window will only be seen by you and the other player.
If you don't want to receive private chats from a particular user, you can right-click that player's name and select Block User.
Chat Commands
/away
You can mark yourself as being away from your computer by typing /away message
in any chat window, where the message is what you want to tell other users.
Your status and message will be displayed in the chat area of the room you're
in. Any players who try to send you private messages will get an automatic
reply telling them that you're away, but you'll still receive their messages.
When you return to your computer, just type /away to show that you're
back.
For
example, if a player with the user name Bob types /away running a marathon,
the message Bob is away - running a marathon appears in the room the player is in. When the player
returns and types /away, the message Bob
is back. is sent to that room.
/me
You can send a chat message that starts with your user name by typing /me message
in a chat window. For example, if a player with the user name Bob types /me
thinks Magic Online is the best game ever in any chat area, the message Bob thinks Magic Online is the best game ever appears.
/join
You can start or join a group chat by typing /join room name in
any chat area. For example, if Bob typed /join Wombats rule! then a
private message window with the name Wombats rule! would appear on Bob's
screen. Other players could join that chat by typing /join Wombats rule!
/info
You can bring up a player's information page by typing /info name
/addbuddy
You can also add a player to your buddy list at any time by typing /addbuddy
name. If the player's name has a space in it, put quotation marks
around it, /addbuddy "player name".
/goto
You can go to the room that a player is in by typing /goto name.
If the player's name has a space in it, put quotation marks around it, /goto
"player name".
/eject
In a multiplayer game, players can opt to eject another player from the game by
typing /eject name. If the player's name has a space in it,
put quotation marks around it, /eject "player name."
You can include certain symbols in your chat messages by
using special key combinations. Symbols may be used in any chat message you
send.
Symbol |
Key Combination |
Description |
CRTL+Q, W |
White mana symbol |
|
CTRL+Q, U |
Blue mana symbol |
|
CTRL+Q, B |
Black mana symbol |
|
CTRL+Q, R |
Red mana symbol |
|
CTRL+Q, G |
Green mana symbol |
|
CTRL+Q, T |
Tap symbol |
|
CTRL+Q, number or X |
Colorless mana symbols |
|
CTRL+Q, A |
Ten colorless mana |
|
CTRL+Q, C |
Twelve colorless mana |
|
CTRL+Q, L |
Sixteen colorless mana |
|
CTRL+Q, S |
Smiling face |
|
CTRL+Q, F |
Frowning face |
|
CTRL+Q, Y |
Sick face |
|
CTRL+Q, E |
Trophy |
|
CTRL+Q, I |
Wizards of the Coast logo |
|
CTRL+Q, Z |
Catching some z's |
|
CTRL+Q, V |
Arrow |
Shortcut Keys
UP ARROW and DOWN ARROW |
Scroll though your sent messages on the line where you type messages. |
LEFT ARROW and RIGHT ARROW |
Move the cursor in the message you're typing. |
HOME |
Move the cursor to the beginning of your message. |
END |
Move the cursor to the end of your message. |
CTRL+c |
Copy selected text. |
CTRL+x or DELETE |
Cut selected text. |
CTRL+v |
Paste in the text which was cut or copied last. |
SHIFT+LEFT ARROW |
Select text to the left of the cursor. |
SHIFT+RIGHT ARROW |
Select text to the right of the cursor. |
(You can also use your mouse to select text and move your cursor
within a chat message you're typing.)
™
& © 2002 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
Trading
Tips
When you click cards from the person’s binder that you are
trading with, in an irregular, fast, fashion a lot of the cards will disappear due to lag. It is best to try to make obvious double
clicks by double click fast and then waiting at least half a second in-between
double clicks to stop cards from lagging out of trade. If cards do lag out all you have to do is
simply re-trade and they will still be there.
On the confirm window make sure to count over what is being
traded because scammers will add/subtract cards at the last minute hoping that
you won’t notice.
When trading with someone if you want to see what cards
they have that you do not have you set number owned = 0 on the upper left hand
corner. You can also change it around by
showing only foils or regulars or even cards you do not have 4x of if you play
around with it a bit. This is great for
someone trying to complete a set or trying to figure out which cards they need
for their deck.
General
Tips
If you mouse over a card you will see a larger version of
that card to the left. If you position
your pointer over the card and press the right mouse button the card will
resize.
When the enlarged picture of a card is in the top left of the screen during a game, if there is an effect highlighted in grey on the card, holding left click over that effect will bring up a box explaining what that effect does
If you want to see every Magic the Gathering card that was
ever made simply click on the collection tab, then click the “show pre-Invasion
card sets” box and then set number owned = 0.
To export a CSV file which is basically a database file
that lists your cards open your MTGO account and go to your card
collection. On the right hand side of the binder (just under the "CARD
SHOP" icon) you will see a small icon that is shaped like a square graph.
Click on this icon. Your binder will now be displayed as line items for all the
cards in your collection. Now right click on any line item. You will now see 3
choices. Click on "SELECT ALL". This will high-light all the items in
your binder. Now you must right click again (on any line item ). You will again
see three choices. Click on "EXPORT AS CSV". A box will now pop up
asking you where you want to save the file and also to name the file. Give the
file the name of your account and save it to your desktop so that you can easily
find it.
Most of the common abbreviations MTGO players use can be found here and here.