Magic the Gathering
Magic: The Gathering (MTG) is the first modern Trading Card Game that was released in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast (developed by Richard Garfield). Players can collect cards, build decks and face off against others. While there are a different types of cards (Mana, Instant, Creatures, Enchantments) and in 5 colors - Black, Red, White, Green, Blue; there are also colorless cards. Each color have their own land type (which provides mana of that color used for casting/summoning), and each have their own concepts making different playstyles possible depending on the colors used in building a deck. Tournament rules have changed many times over the years, keeping the game refreshed as it evolves.
Fun facts!
- Magic was almost called Mana Clash, as the name Magic would have a lot of issues with copywriting/trade marking. However, in development/design and playtesting stages everyone called it Magic so they went back to their lawyers and eventually the 'The Gathering' ending was added.
- There are over 10,000 unique cards! The 10,000th was printed in the Shards of Alara set.
- Magic as we know it, has 5 colors that make up their cards (ignoring colorless). However, early into development there was almost 6. Purple was a 6th color they had considered, using caves or cities for its land type.
- Originally players only had 306 cards to build deck with, however even to this day, some of the most powerful cards were printed during this time.
- Magic has its own font, called Beleren, that is trademarked by Wizards of the Coast.