Magic the gathering, help a noob plz?

First off just let me say welcome to the world of Mtg. Secondly there are many formats to Mtg (Magic the Gathering) if you want to know what all the formats are you can do one of three thins. 1) do a web search, 2) buy a Scrye magazine, and 3) you can go to your local hobby store most of them carry the latest info on what cards are banned or restricted in certain formats.