January 31st 2024
Blog 1:
The Creation of Magic: The Gathering
Magic The Gathering and Wizards of the Coast have had a long and storied history starting from unlikely beginnings, controversy and all the way to them becoming the tabletop juggernauts we know today. Find out about the origins of Wizards of the Coast and how Magic: The Gathering came to be as we know and love today.
Nicole Kimball
Who is Richard Garfield?
Many people know Richard Garfield as the original creator of Magic: The Gathering, which was created in 1993, but there is a lot more about him that people don't seem to know. Let's start from the beginning. Richard Garfield was born in Philadelphia, PA in June of 1963 and as he grew older, he eventually decided to go to the University of Pennsylvania to study mathematics to earn his PHD in 1993. Due to his knowledge in mathematics, he could be found working as a visiting professor at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington in the early to mid-90's. He could also be found creating his own games, beginning with RoboRally in 1985, that was unfortunately shut down by Wizards of the Coast in 1991, the production cost was deemed too high for their company.
What is Wizards of the Coast?
Wizards of the Coast was small business developed in 1990 by Peter Adkison and six other individuals who all had a major interest in developing their own role-playing games. Peter Adkison was interestingly enough, a system analyst for Boeing when he made this company. Yet, it wasn't until 1992 that their first product (The Primal Order) was released. The Primal Order or TPO for short is a book that covers different classes for different RPGs, not just the classes that The Primal Order used. Due to other RPGs existing and many RPGs styles being copyrighted, Wizards of the Coast suddenly found themselves in hot water as a company by the name of Palladium came after them with the claim of copyright infringement. This disagreement lasted until 1993 where they were finally able to come to an agreement and end the lawsuit right before they were able to release Magic: The Gathering.
Introducing, Manaclash?
Despite the lawsuit occurring against Wizards of the Coast they were still hoping to create a project with Richard Garfield despite shooting down RoboRally. Wizards of the Coast found the skills that Richard Garfield displayed in creating games to be interesting enough that they requested he make them a different type of game. The restrictions for this game were simple, the game needed to be portable as they wanted it to be playable at conventions. With this idea now in motion Garfield drew inspiration from a different game he made called Five Magics and collectible baseball cards. “By combining Five Magics with an experimental idea he had for making a game out of collectible baseball cards, he put together a set of rules for a game he called Manaclash.” As you might have guessed, the name Manaclash didn't last too long as it was eventually renamed to Magic: The Gathering in preparation for its debut in July 1993 at a convention in Dallas, Texas.
The Alpha Release.
In the original testing of Magic: The Gathering the first set to be played for testing was called Alpha. This was a set of 120 cards split between two players who could play until they got bored. “Except for the card mix, little has changed about Magic since Alpha. In Alpha, walls could attack, and losing all your lands of a particular color destroyed the associated spells in play, but otherwise, the rules are much the same now as they were in the early stages of playtesting." The following changes after Alpha came with the ability to trade in cards in Beta and the addition of new cards as well as the cost of creatures changed with the release of the Gamma version. Despite these small changes that came from the game's original development, Magic: The Gathering has found a way to keep developing as its audience has kept growing. To the point that the rules have become more advanced and updated, especially for the competitive scene that can often be found at your local card shop or convention hall.
What is Magic: The Gathering like today?
Aside from rules, a lot has changed since Magic: The Gathering was first release in 1993, whether you are looking at the number of cards they have produced or the number of people who play the game worldwide. In todays world, Magic: The Gathering is largely considered one of the most played TCG in the whole world. With this ever-growing fan base, it is no wonder that Wizards of the Coast keeps releasing new cards every few months, sometimes even faster. For some players, having over 20,000 cards to build decks from can be difficult and stressful, but don't worry. Deck Chef is here to make building decks easier as we are constantly updating our system to hold the newest cards that have been released. Not just for Magic: The Gathering, but for Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh too. So, whether you are a new player or an old player, don't be stressed about building deck's when Deck Chef is here to make the process simple and fun.