I am new to these type of games myself but will do my best to answer any questions. Game play hasn't started yet and won't start until mid next month. A starter pack is $5 if you don't need a Steemit account / $10 if you do ( USD ). You need to purchase the starter pack if you want to play in the tournaments which will have real cash value added to them. Starter packs contain 15 common cards. Booster packs contain 5 random cards and cost $2 USD each.

Check out the below post by @davemccoy. It will give you a better understanding of game play.

https://steemit.com/busy/@davemccoy/steem-monster-rules-101-the-beginning

• Welcome To Steemit :)