Magic: The Gathering debuted at Gen Con, the largest gaming
convention in the United States, in August of 1993. There were 295 cards
in the premier set, which would come to be known as Alpha. Cards were
packaged in one of two ways: As 15-card Booster Packs, or 60-card Starter
Decks.
The novelty of Magic was such that when you opened a Booster Pack,
you would get the following:
• 11 Common or Basic Land cards
• 3 Uncommon or Basic Land cards
• 1 Rare card (though one slot on the original Alpha Rare sheet might
be a Basic Island)
You then had to take the cards you opened, and build a deck of a
minimum 40 (later 60) cards to play against an opponent. The game sold
insanely well at Gen Con, and quickly went to a second (Beta) and third
(Unlimited) printing. These all sold out, too! Wizards of the Coast began
releasing new expansions (new sets of cards), and these not only sold out,
but also quickly rose in secondaiy market value because the demand far
exceeded supply. It wasn't until the 9th set (Fallen Empires, November of
1994) that supply caught up to (and exceeded) demand.
In 1996, Wizards of the Coast introduced the Pro Tour 一 a series of
invitation-onlv events that put a spotlight on the top-end of tournament
play for cash prizes. The first Pro Tour (in New York City) paid out
$30,000 in prizes. Over time, this has grown; in 2017, each of the four Pro
Tour events paid out a whopping $250,000 in prizes!
Magic isn't just played competitively. It's enjoyed by people at local
game stores, kitchen tables, schools, and in bars. People collect the cards
to make complete sets. Many people get cards that are illustrated by their favorite fantasy artists to complete autograph collections. As I said before, there are tens of millions of people who play Magic: The Gathering each year worldwide. I have three concrete goals for this book: 1. Share niv love for Magic: The Gathering. It's a huge game, it*s fun, and we're celebrating the 25th Anniversary of it. It's spawned an entire genre of trading card games, but continues to be the first and biggest even after all these years. 2. Share niv knowledge of Magic pricing. I mentioned earlier that Ive been pla\dng Magic since 1994. Ive also been behind the scenes working with Magic since 2002.1 spent three years writing columns for Wizards of the Coast at MagicTheGnthei'ing.com. and one year providing written tournament coverage for their Grand Prix circuit. I've also been the person in charge of pricing cards for StarCitvGames.com. the largest Magic retailer in the world. I*m widely recognized as the first person to seriously write Magic: The Gathering financial articles on a regular basis, and I am considered an expert in the field of Magic prices. 3. I've been wanting to write a book about Magic: The Gathering for years now. The book you're holding in your hands right now is a pretb⁷ comprehensive guide of the value of Magic cards. While the market is ever-shifting (more on this in the next section), this book will give you a really good idea of which cards are valuable, why they are valuable, and how you should value these cards based on condition, edition, and rarity. So whether you're completely unfamiliar with Magic: The Gathering, are only casually acquainted with the game, or are a die-hard player, welcome to this book, and 25th Aimiversaiy celebration of MTG!
Please send email to [email protected] if you have any questions.