[wyre]

The rules are too large for there to be a concise resource to learn all of them. I would recommend learning the basic rules and then learning the intricacies playing the game with others. YouTube is probably a good resource for learning the game or go into you local game store and tell the staff you are interested in learning.

Be warned, mtg is addictive and expensive.

[seanwilson]

What's a good concise guide for the basic rules then?

[cheald]

MTG Arena is actually pretty good for getting started. Its tutorial modes teach you enough to start playing. There are a lot of interactions that aren't immediately obvious, though, and card/effect wording matters _a lot_.

[wyre]

I can't recommend a good guide because I learned from playing with friends. But an Internet search "how to play magic the gathering" or a YouTube search for the same thing should give you a lot of lot of guides to choose from.

If you have a local game store going in and asking if they have any resources for new players hoping to learn how to play would probably be the best option, imo.

Boardgames are social thing. Magic is the best when there is a gathering.

[cmaggard]

MTG Arena, their latest online effort, also has a "learn to play" mechanism built in.