The Origins of Magic: The Gathering
Richard WeissKey Takeaways
- Magic: The Gathering was designed by Richard Garfield and published by Wizards of the Coast. Its general release was August 5, 1993.
- Peter Adkison founded Wizards of the Coast in 1990. Garfield did not found the company. He pitched it a board game in 1991 and was asked for a portable, quick-playing game instead.
- The first Magic World Championship was held in August 1994 at Gen Con in Milwaukee. The Pro Tour started in New York in February 1996.
- Hasbro completed its purchase of Wizards of the Coast on September 30, 1999, for about $325 million.
Table of Contents
Magic: The Gathering was designed by Richard Garfield and published by Wizards of the Coast in 1993. It was shown at the Origins Game Fair in Dallas in July 1993 and went on general release on August 5, 1993.
Who Created Magic: The Gathering?
Richard Garfield designed Magic while he was a doctoral candidate in combinatorial mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania. He finished his PhD in 1993 and then taught mathematics at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, before joining Wizards of the Coast full time in June 1994.
Wizards of the Coast was founded by Peter Adkison in 1990, outside Seattle. Garfield was not a founder. In 1991 he approached Wizards with a board game called RoboRally. Adkison passed on it because it would have cost too much to produce, and asked Garfield for a game that was portable and quick to play, i.e. something for the downtime at gaming conventions. Garfield's answer became Magic, the game that defined the trading card game (TCG). During development it was briefly called Mana Clash.
When Did Magic: The Gathering Come Out?
Wizards demonstrated Magic at the Origins Game Fair in Dallas in July 1993. The general release followed on August 5, 1993, and the game sold out of everything Wizards had shipped to Gen Con in Milwaukee that month.
The first set is known as Limited Edition Alpha and has 295 cards. Arabian Nights, the first expansion, followed in December 1993.
In Magic, each player starts at 20 life, and the cards come in five colors: white, blue, black, red and green. For the rules, read how to play Magic: The Gathering and how many cards are in a Magic deck.
Magic: The Gathering Timeline
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1990 | Peter Adkison founds Wizards of the Coast outside Seattle |
| 1991 | Richard Garfield pitches RoboRally. Adkison asks for a portable, quick-playing game |
| July 1993 | Magic is demonstrated at the Origins Game Fair in Dallas |
| August 5, 1993 | General release of the first set, Limited Edition Alpha (295 cards) |
| December 1993 | Arabian Nights, the first expansion |
| August 19 to 21, 1994 | First World Championship, at Gen Con in Milwaukee |
| February 16 to 18, 1996 | First Pro Tour event, in New York |
| September 2, 1997 | U.S. patent 5,662,332, "Trading card game method of play," is granted with Garfield as inventor |
| September 30, 1999 | Hasbro completes its acquisition of Wizards of the Coast |
| June 24, 2002 | Magic: The Gathering Online goes live |
| 2019 | Magic: The Gathering Arena is released |
The First World Championship and the Pro Tour
The first major Magic tournament was the 1994 World Championship, held August 19 to 21, 1994 at Gen Con in Milwaukee. Zak Dolan won it.
The Pro Tour came two years later. Wizards brand manager Skaff Elias proposed a yearly tournament structure with cash prizes in 1995, and the first Pro Tour event was held in New York on February 16 to 18, 1996.
Hasbro and Digital Magic
Hasbro completed its acquisition of Wizards of the Coast on September 30, 1999, for approximately $325 million, according to a Hasbro quarterly filing with the SEC. In its 1999 annual report, Hasbro said Magic had more than six million players in 52 countries. Wizards of the Coast is still a Hasbro subsidiary.
Magic also moved to the screen. Magic: The Gathering Online went live on June 24, 2002, and Magic: The Gathering Arena was released in 2019.
Playing Magic Today
Magic is the game that started the modern TCG category. See what TCG stands for and the oldest trading card games for what came next.
If you play, we carry the table gear: TCG playmats, a custom playmat printed with your own image or logo, card sleeves and toploaders, and dice sets.
Sources
- Magic: The Gathering (Wikipedia)
- Wizards of the Coast (Wikipedia)
- Richard Garfield (Wikipedia)
- Limited Edition (Wikipedia)
- How Trivial (Wizards of the Coast)
- Pro Tour (Wikipedia)
- Magic: The Gathering World Championship (Wikipedia)
- US5662332A, Trading card game method of play (Google Patents)
- Hasbro Form 10-Q, 1999 (SEC)
- Hasbro Form 10-K for 1999 (SEC)
- Magic: The Gathering Online (Wikipedia)
- Collectible card game (Wikipedia)
- Magic: The Gathering Comprehensive Rules (Wizards of the Coast)
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