In most tournaments, cards from the following sets are legal:
This format is called "Constructed."
In Extended format, cards from the following sets are legal:
There is also a list of Restricted and Banned cards on the Wizards of the Coast website for this format.
In Legacy and Vintage formats, any set is legal, but there are extensive lists of Restricted and Banned cards on the Wizards of the Coast website for these formats.
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Resources.aspx?x=judge/resources/banned
MTGVault
There is no real cheap place to get Magic the Gathering theme decks, but you can get them for a good price at the magic online store. Most websites selling decks sell them for a much higher price than necessary
Its the peice of paper that comes with decks it gives you a stratagey
I presume that you mean tournament packs. If so they are random.
Unless you have the first add-on pack, the Nicol Bolas expansion. The last two decks arent available to you.
Older (pre-Shards of Alara) 60-card theme decks don't. Newer 40-card 'Intro Packs' do.
Magic The Gathering Tactics can be downloaded directly from the website and doesn't require a purchase. However, you'll need to buy the packs in order to create powerful decks
a deck that you can pilot well and be able to respond to threats or know your "outs" in sticky situations.
Many MTG players are using online video chat services to play Magic, such as Skype, Oovoo, etc...
Planechase is a variant of the normal MtG rules, Plane and Phenomenon cards can only be used in games that are specifically 'Planechase' games. You can enter the preconstructed decks from the Planechase packs into a regular tournament, as the main deck cards themselves are all game legal, but, you could not use the Plane or Phenomenon cards and associated rules such as the planar dice rolls.
Magic the Gathering has many formats, each with it's own list of legal cards. To see a complete list see here: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=judge/resources/banned
No, The only fees for MTGO are the $9.99 US install fee and any charges incurred for product or tournament entry.