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 ShortcutsThe 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."


Typing Symbols in Chat Text

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. You can also export a CSV file from the deck editor but it will have much less information about your collection.

 

 

Most of the common abbreviations MTGO players use can be found here and here.

 

Home