The (Non) Demonic Hordes In the Truth-is-Stranger-Than-Fiction-Department allow me to relate a personal experience that occurred during the Gateway '93 convention held in Los Angeles over Labor Day Weekend. Had not the likes of Shadis' own Jolly Blackburn and company actually witnessed these events, rest assured that this part of the article might have been edited out as too weird to believe. In the three weeks prior to Labor Day Weekend (the first weekend of September) 1993, every store in Southern California had experienced a huge demand for Magic: The Gathering decks and booster packs (the fatter being 15 cards sold separately for $2.45). None were to be found throughout the Southland, and the phones at retail outlets were ringing with customers wanting to know when more would arrive. On the day before the convention opened, the cards began to appear again in stores and they made their return debut, appropriately, in the exhibitor room of the convention. As decks were bought, the open areas of the convention were quickly covered with games of Magic: The Gathering. It was the instant darling of the con, and the cards in the dealer's room quickly sold out. The game playing continued unabated, however, and my (then) 7-year old son James was taking on all corners, crashing them in turn by springing one of "Daddy's Decks O'Doom" on them which I had just put together for him before the show opened. As one of his victims (Patrick Barnes) commented later, on the GEnie network, "Do not underestimate James Emrich - especially if you are playing for an ante. You won't be taking candy from THIS baby!" (Ah, I'm proud of you. son.) Playing soon gave way to trading as new cardholders attempted to build complete sets of cards or fill out certain colors of magic that they wanted to assemble into stronger, "theme" decks. It was at this time that I finished "gathering" my own complete set of cards (all 295 that were available at the time) and put them on display in the open gaming area. The crowds around that notebook amazed even me, and the envy in the eyes of many onlookers was unmistakable. Even my wife and kid were proud of the new "family jewel" (and how many games can you say THAT about?). It was when the cards sold out in the dealer room that the real frenzy began. Gamers loaded up in their cars and fanned out over the Southland in an effort to raid every deck from every hobby shop that had any. Reports came back that these hobby shops were being ravaged as gamers raced each other through their doors. Many stores instituted a policy of card sales rationing - one deck and one booster pack per customer per day, which became the standard practice of most gaming retailers in the area. After cards were purchased, their new owners would rush back to the convention floor and begin to barter them away, seeking to trade them for more of the specific cards they sought. Incredulous at this response, dealers who had bought a few unopened packs of cards for themselves (before they were all gone) decided to open them at this point and sell their contents individually! Common terrain cards went for $.25 apiece, while rare Creatures fetched anywhere from $5 - $10 a pop. It was free market, supply and demand economics, at its finest, and the frenzy continued unabated. There was even a secondary trading market that opened up in colored, transparent Pente stones, since most of the players of Magic at this convention were buying them up and using them for "tap" and "life" markers. They, too, quickly became sold out and were added to the list of "tradable" items. About this time, I realized what I had to do. Having only just completed my collection of the entire set of Magic: The Gathering cards, I announced that I would put it up for auction on the last day of the convention. What it might fetch, I could only speculate, but I had to find out. My curiosity got the best of me, despite the crashed look on my sweet son's face when I told him I was selling our complete set of cards. When asked why I was selling it, I replied that "after you climb Mt. Everest, all there is to do is enjoy the view for a moment, then climb back down." Now, we're back to collecting again at the Emrich household, and enjoying every minute of it, just like before! The first bid for the complete set of cards was $100. The second was $200. To a packed and hushed room Of gamers who had gathered to witness the sale of this phenomena, the bids kept mounting...$300, $350, $400. I thought that a few people were going to faint when the bidding topped $5OO, Slowly, the bids creeped ever upward, but when the fast bid eked up to exactly $600, the gavel fell and the lot was sold, A thunderous ovation arose from the crowd, both for the buyer and the seller Since I was also the auctioneer (and have been at game conventions for over 15 years), I had felt like I had just given birth. I stumbled back to the microphone and said, jokingly, "has anybody got a cigarette?" And with that, a collector's price for a complete set of first printing Magic: The Gathering cards was established within a month of the game's within a month of the game's release. Control Magic We all learned in school that "nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come." Clearly, the day of the card game/trading card set is upon us. At GenCon Wizards of the Coast was approached by several companies seeking a Deckmaster game for their respective flagship products. The buzz that White Wolf was still eager to see their Vampire: The Masquerade done (playtesting on this Deckmaster game is rumored to begin soon), and then...who knows? Perhaps there will be BattleTech, Cyberpunk or something else on the horizon in the months ahead. Other companies, too, noticed the success of this idea. Will playing/trading card games soon go into development at other game companies? It wouldn't surprise me one bit if they did. The immediate future for Magic: The Gathering is the printing of more cards, with corrections made and previously omitted cards finally added (the Circle of Protection: Black and Volcanic Island terrain cards were inadvertently not printed in the first run). Also, one more of each Of the five base, terrain types will be produced, so that there will be a third image of swamps, plains, etc. to play with. This will raise the total number of different cards available in Magic: The Gathering to 302. Additionally, Wizards of the Coast has created a "Duelists' Convocation" as their official Deckmaster games' organization (the 1-year membership was $15 at GenCon and those under 18 require a parent's signature). In addition to a certificate, one also receives the newsletter and a chance to pre-order future cards. Hopefully, these people will also get the much needed "Frequently Asked Questions" hotsheet or, better still, the second edition rules when they become available. Beyond that, there will be a collector's edition of the card set printed (with one of each card). These cards will have square corners however so no one can slip them into a normal deck of Magic cards. The first expansion for The Gathering will be Arabian Nights, due out around the end of 1993. It will feature 70 new cards that fully integrate into Magic: The Gathering. These will be sold only in booster packs of 8 cards each and the rumor from inside Wizards of the Coast has it that "the nature of terrain might well be altered'" with this expansion (what ever that means). A complete, new game in the Deckmaster series will be Magic: The Ice Age, due out, presumably in the Summer of 1994. This second Magic game is not specifically designed to be compatible with The Gathering, but player should be able to use cards from both sets together (it's just that the results of doing so will not have been playtested and might cause some unpredictable result). At the end of the day, what we have with Magic: The Gathering is a game small enough to take anywhere (assuming one only takes a playing deck or two around and not their entire collection), fast enough to finish during a lunch hour, pretty enough to lure virtually any onlooker into playing it, plus enjoyable and varied enough so that you'll want to play it over and over again in marathon sessions. Clearly, the game demonstrates more than enough "lift" to make up for the "drag" caused by the frequently opaque and all-to-subtle rules manual and card misprintings. What makes it transcend mere mortality as a game, however, is that its trading card aspect has turned gamers into collectors, many of whom are discovering the true meaning of free market capitalism for the first time in their lives. Brace yourselves, people. As a 20-year veteran in this hobby and a native Californian, I predict that you'll be able to read the aftershocks from this baby on the Richter Scale of gaming for a long time to come. Demonic Tutor This supplemental section on Magic: The Gathering is for those lucky enough to already own more than a single deck to play with. These people usually begin arranging them into customized "playing decks," that they have designed along certain lines for improved play. Here, I will present some deck designing philosophy, that might guide you into building "The Deck of Probable Victory." The first question one must ask is "How large a deck do I want in play with?" While the rules set a minimum playing deck size at 40 (which drops to 39 after the ante), there is no maximum deck size. I've seen monster decks nearly a foot tall, rife with every Demonic Tutor (which allows one to riff through their Library/draw pile and select whatever card they want) that the owner could get his hands on. I've also seen lean, mean 40-card decks that gave their owners more predictability as to when a certain card was likely to appear. However, I was not overly impressed by either of these deck sizing strategies. It is often possible to drag out a game beyond 40 cards' worth of play (and when your deck is exhausted, you lose), making small decks somewhat dangerous. Besides, the risk of losing a particularly precious card from a 40-card deck is pretty good (since Murphy's Law will always be working against you). Conversely, monster decks are subject to so much variation in what order the cards might come up in (besides the hassle of carrying and shuffling them) that I wouldn't even bother with one. Instead, I try to build decks of about 60-65 cards, which fit neatly into a Magic: The Gathering box. These decks provide me with a nice variety of cards and I have always lasted the duration of every duel I've fought. Magic: The Gathering, Part 1 Magic: The Gathering, Part 3 Back to Table of Contents -- SHADIS Issue No. 10 Back to SHADIS List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1993 by Alderac Group This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com