there is over 15,000 cards atleast if you collected one of each from alpha to the newest set and more are created all the time, so to get a dead on number would almost be impossible. just count them yourselves from alpha to the newest set, let me know what you get to before you quit.
so i used a site that had all the cards from alpha to present and i found out that the acctual number is 10618 including the five colors of lands
As of June 12, 2010, I counted 11,179 different cards. I did some quick math using the gatherer, so I might be off a few.
As of Jan 31st, 2011, there are 20,043 unique cards. This includes EVERY card, from promo cards to tokens.
Some popular Magic: The Gathering lists that players are currently using include Mono-Red Aggro, Azorius Control, and Golgari Midrange. These decks have been performing well in recent tournaments and are favored by many competitive players.
There are over 20,000 different cards in Magic: The Gathering.
There are over 60 Magic The Gathering FAQ on WikiAnswers.
There are currently 10 dual lands in Magic: The Gathering.
There are over 1,000 legendary creatures in Magic: The Gathering.
Approximately 12 Million players as of 2011
In a game of Magic: The Gathering, you start with seven cards.
In Magic: The Gathering, you typically draw one card at the beginning of your turn.
Many MTG players are using online video chat services to play Magic, such as Skype, Oovoo, etc...
120 million amateur players worldwide
In a typical Magic: The Gathering deck, players usually include 1-4 planeswalker cards.
A Magic: The Gathering deck typically consists of 60 cards.