So I barely know anything about MTG but I want to get cards for myself and a couple friends. What's the easiest way to get into this? (I know there's the video game but I wanna go real cards). I see there are two deck starter kits which seem cool, maybe I get one of those for each of us and then some booster packs? Like $30 per person is what I'm going for. Are the starter decks balanced against each other? Is there other stuff I should know?
No because who cares? Balance isn't really that bad the vast majority of the time, but if it is, just use the chain system to balance them. It's a game tuned much more for casual than competitive play anyways. Buy 3 decks, learn them really well, and you'll be able to handle anything but the far outliers.