The History of Magic The Gathering: From Hand-Made Cards to a Billion Dollar Phenomenon
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- čas přidán 11. 03. 2020
- To get started on your Magic The Gathering collection today: bit.ly/tgmagic
On this episode we take a look back at the phenomenon that is Magic: The Gathering, a pioneer in the trading card game space.
From its humble beginnings at Wizards of the Coast right on through its acquisition by Hasbro and it's online introduction.
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Great video. My older brother got me into Magic back in 94 and last October my 12 yr old son played his first Friday Night Magic game. It's all coming full circle.
Holy fuckin shit I love this! Curious: u had no play in this? Did they just find it and bring it to u? Lol either way, epic badassness
I grew up playing games at Wargames West…knew Wayne (R.I.P.) pretty well and he let me hang out in the store for hours even after closing.
This is a great History of mtg, this video deserves a lot more views! Great job Toy Galaxy!
Thank you very much.
Rudy where's the tacos?!
Alpha Investments stay the course
@@SecretGalaxyTV Pay no attention to this guy, he's just a creepy greed monster selling tacos in his mom's basement
Stay the course! Now where's my taco?
I didn’t learn the rules until the online version come out.
Every single friend that knew how to play would say, “It’s really easy, I’ll show you!”
They’d lend me their worst deck, beat me in three turns and say, “See! Wasn’t that easy?”
Yeah, that was my only experience with the game as well. Never have been able to get into it. I've watched it be played since, thanks to internet shows, but have never actually played it since that first couple of games.
Yep. In the pre internet days, I never truly learned the turn phases or playing the stack until MtG Duels of the Planeswalkers came out on PS3. I remember being frustrated thinking they changed the rules as I was coming off a 10 year absence from the game. Suddenly saw the game in an entirely new light and it made sense.
@@CainLatrani Yep. Same here.
Wow what dickhead "friends". They make starter packs for a reason.
Magic the Gathering was a big hit at my high school in 1997. Although it was banned due to distracts and people mistaking it for poker.
yeah card theft killed it at my high school... RIP my social life at the time :(
They tried to kill it, but they failed. When I was in high school in 2007 the scene was going strong. At lunch the courtyard was filled to the brim with Magic games lol
That moment when you realize that the average MTG commander deck these days is more money on the table than any poker game held at a kitchen table.
@James Smith I never even heard of anyone who played using Ante
I played with a very small group of nerds in my freshman and sophomore years. Man I wish I'd held onto those cards.
Richard Garfield was at Whitman College in Walla Walla when he was developing games, like Roborally and Magic. He had worked on them with playtesters from local comic book and book stores by Whitman College. I grew up in Walla Walla, and in the early 90s, if you went to comic book stores, you would have a bunch of playtesters that had been hooked. Seemed like every adult I played against back then had Black Lotuses and all the Moxes. As a kid from a family that wasn't well off, I would barely get enough trading capital to get a single Mox, for whatever main deck I was playing at the time. Usually a red direct damage deck or a black deck. One of the playtesters I played against a lot, abhorred the demonic tones of black decks. He would buy several boxes for every expansion that came out. I made sure to be at the comic book store when he went to collect the boxes, and he would open all the packs there, and give me all of the black cards cause he knew I couldn't afford to get my own. I usually had a good black deck after every expansion. Later on when he moved, helped him move, to repay the kindness. I eventually sold all my cards to a friend, but he kept the direct damage deck together, so I would keep playing with them. Wish I had kept some of them, they would be worth money now. Never had a Black Lotus though.
I always liked themed decks the most, even if it didnt always win, I always found them the most fun.
Yeah, I used to play with a 5 color Dragon Deck that wasnt that good (really hard to make it work) but was a lot of fun to have the 5 colors on my deck and my table full of dragons 😎
Can relate I play atogs in commander
I play with a red/green werewolf deck and I’m currently building a red/green/white dog and cat deck. Definitely have the most fun, no matter whether I win or not, with themed decks that I’ve worked hard to put together just right.
🥰🥰 so nice reading this comment... Specially because I've just lost on arena (thrice in a row) using one of my themed decks haha 😌 love this
@@eddyesdras I've had zombie decks, sliver decks, Angel decks, elf decks, vampire decks, etc. Some can be effective, but i was never good enough for tournament play. mostly just games at the local game store or when i was growing up. Its too expensive for me to play now though. I'm not spending 500 bucks on cards every time there's a new expansion. MTG has just gotten too greedy, IMO anyway.
Never got into magic but I remember seeing a tournament on ESPN back in the 90s and was amazed somebody could win thousands of dollars playing a card game. Oh how my eyes were closed then!
I remember Alpha... I remember "confetti orbs"... I remember playing with Black Lotus and Moxes as if they weren't really a big deal... Now I feel old...
Chaos orb.
I member forcing people to bet cards with amulet of quoz or they insta forfeit.
Yeah me too, I've been playing competitively since beta. Made it on the pro tour a few times. Never made big money but flown to Europe to play magic is a win. Anyway, I found a hand written deck list from a couple of me and my friends at my parents house a few years ago, and calculated what those decks we played with out sleeves are worth now and they were all easily 6 figures. It's crazy, imagine telling your 13 (or how ever old you were) self that the deck they're playing with could buy a small house in the future lol.
As a Magic the gathering player I was very happy to see this video.
You and me both
Hell Yeah!!
I heard that people like to pretend that they play this game. I don’t believe you guys that you really play. No offense
And now D&D, Transformers, and MLP have had cards in MTG.
Though your running gag really showed me what the game is missing. A Hungry Hungry Hippo creature card!
there is. hippograff
@@rickrhone8420
You know, now that you said it I think I remember hearing about that card.
quick search shows 6 creature cards of the Hippo type and 2 sources for Hippo tokens
@@b.s.864 So we have the starts of a Hungry Hungry Hippo deck.
And The Walking Dead of all things. And they’re black-bordered, unique cards.
That original PC Magic game was amazing. I loved that so much. RPG style where you added to your deck throughout the game.
I still listen to the music from that game. It was amazing.
It was totally balanced how you could untap 2 time vaults by tapping one. Yea, at that level, the turns became very 'one sided' ;)
It was fantastic for the era, and the core interface was basically copied for Modo.
I still remember the first advertisement I saw for Magic: the Gathering. It was in a comic, somewhere around '98-'99. It was a deck of cards sticking through a faded and ripped back pocket of a pair of jeans. Got me to buy a deck of a kid for $10 and I've been playing off and on ever since. Such a great game! Recently taught my fiancee how to play!
I was really hoping for another "Hasbro: Till all are one" mention. One of my favorite thing in your videos.
I've been playing ever since it first came out and I've never quit playing. Thanks for doing this video.
I just have to give a heartfelt thank you! Giving Magic the Gathering its proper respect and making it wide span fame known on this channel. I have been a collector for as long as in my college years. I can not express the utter joy I feel to see this on the channel. Thank you so very much! Keep up the great work. You are the greatest!
I think I started with Ice Age, and played regularly through Mirage and 5e. I also got really big into NetRunner back around in '96.
I recently got to work on the game. So cool to watch a ToyGalaxy video on it!
I can say this- Wizards of the Coast is an amazing company to do business with. It's no wonder they've managed to stay popular for so many years. yes, I know they are owned by Hasbro, but the still operate independently. :)
Now there's a D&D Magic book: Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica
I thought they would talk about it...
Even better ever since Batlle for Zenidkar Wizards have been putting out PDFs of fifth edition supplements based on the worlds magic visits.
Eliot Benitez Theros is getting on in June (maybe... depends on coronavirus)
@@Case2_0 I didn't knew that Thanks...
Damn, what a coincidence. I just passed the box of my childhood collection in the other room. This was my shit as a 90s kid.
Pretty much collected from 1st ed until the Urza "block". Kind of stopped during Nemesis. Had so many random cards from Ice Age and Arabian Nights that my friends had never seen back then lol.
I remember the day in summer camp we all learned that multicolor cards had been created and it blew our minds. Without the internet it was harder to know how crazy the game really was right away back then.
If you're not planning on getting back into it, you should swing by a card shop and see what your stuff is worth. You might be pleasantly surprised.
I mean... Do that when the world isn't crumbling around us.
@@aidennoir597 or he can send them to me (;
@@aidennoir597 Yeah I have considered it. Probably only part with a couple of cards if they were really worth a lot though.
Obviously a lot of nostalgia surrounding the cards so would be hard to part with a lot of them.
You might have a new car in your future if your cards are worth anything. Even old land cards like Bayou are worth a ton right now. A lot of the old vintage card prices have gone up recently.
This is basically me, except I'm dumb enough to have sold my Power Nine like 20 years ago.
Thanks for a great video full of witty humor and excellent memories. I've been playing Magic since 1994 and have shared many good game nights with family and friends over the years. It's still the greatest game I'll ever play in my lifetime.
I started playing in 1994 and "got out" twice selling my collection each time eventually coming to regret those decisions, but I'm still playing today mainly Commander and at prereleases.
Each time I "got out" I /gave away/ my cards 👍 At least those people never stopped playing or collecting
I m sure there are many such stories but I had a couple shoe boxes full of cards back in 94. 😢 I dont even know when or where they dissapeared over the years. I could have been moderately wealthy.
This is the kind of game that you NEED to 'get out of' at some point. Yea, my old cards would be worth a lot, but who would reasonably invest their future in a longbox full of cardboard ? I mean in 1996. Now its practically a diversified portfolio...
I started playing this game in beta. I kinda regret getting rid of all my cards so many years ago. getting back into it now just isn't the same
Sir Sim, Esquire same here. :).
If you have the itch to play again, play Arena. Its free, thus you get your fix, and you can choose to invest money if you want.
But you are probably rich hehe
12:54 CONSUME
12:56 YOU ARE A HUNGRY HIPPO
17:05 NO ONE WINS
"It's a game with a very low barrier of entry" yeaaah, about that....
Entry level is pretty low. $20 for a new deck. Competitive level and keeping with standard is where it gets pricey
I mean you could just draft lol
MTG Arena says hi.
if you want to play for fun, try the Primordial Format. You can only pick cards from one set with certain restrictions (2x Rares, 6x Uncommons, the rest commons) and build a 40 card deck.
That way a good deck only costs about 10$ and can use fun cards not seen in competitive play.
Trevor brock I don’t think you understand the real prices to play mtg...
I started playing Magic in 2002 with Onslaught and played on off till now. I'm glad MTG Arena came out. Now I can play Magic whenever I have time.
I played MTG back in High-school (1997 - 2001) and then I stopped and just recently started buying booster boxes and dabbling in collecting cards! Great video as always peoples!
i was really into this game back in the early-mid 90's... fallen empires/ice ages era...
The mention of OverPower made me smile. VS System by Fleer is a good one for Marvel and DC fans.
That shout out to Overpower. RIP, Overpower. ❤️
Shout out for Vampire:the eternal struggle, still play today.
I laughed out loud at the final Hungry Hippos joke! 👏😆
It's a love, hate relationship with WotC... But the game was a blast in the 90s. It's crazy how long it's been since then and MtG is still going.
That magic tv ad punched me right in the face. Memory unlocked.
I started playing Magic in high school shortly after it came out. There were a lot of kids playing it by then. My friend and I used to save up and buy whole cases of booster packs. I REALLY wish I had those cards now!
Host: "Short of gross mismanagement"
Wizards: "Hold on.....$200 fetchland 5 pack as well as 13 distinct productlines for the year. That enough mismanagement yet?"
You're delusional and jaded, MTG is still doing fine
@@prestonhebb1380 lol
I graduated highschool in 1994 and remember that year several people were getting into it. I remember people discussing it on BBS’. There was an issue early on where people within the factory were pulling out rates and repackaging commons. By college it was getting bigger but so many others came out. I eventually got into other ccgs such as starwars and wildSTORM.
18:46 wow, that was prophetic
Finally i know what happened. Why the cardframe changed and the powercreep started. Hasbro bought Wizards 1999
speaking my language.... been playing off and on since 94. Finally sold all my physical collection a couple of years ago. So much time and money.......
I remember when I was in high school during the late 90s, one whole edge of the cafeteria would always be dominated by Magic players during lunchtime.
I never played the game despite being curious about it, but from the outside looking in the whole thing seemed so complex, and with such a steep learning curve I never bothered to give it a shot.
Looking back at it, it's kinda funny now, considering I've made doodles for Magic in an official capacity, lol.
oh wow, you've made art for MtG?
How does one get a chance to make art for the cards?
"dominated" feels like the wrong word for the nerds being isolated in one corner.
@@tartrazine5 The people who were "nerds" in high school in the 90s are running Google, Twitter, Amazon and Facebook now... so, yeah, "dominated" is about right!
I love the old commercial! Made me actually chuckle a little
I wanna see a history of Battletech video next.
There's alot you cover:The tabletop game, the cartoon, and the legal troubles.
We've already shot it and are currently editing it
Yay! :D
I'm 30 now I've been playing magic the gathering since I was 12 years old my favorite deck might be my EDH elf deck
Look at that well read Arena! My favorite book.
Whoa, new intro sequence! Very slick, kinda digging it, kinda miss the old one. Verdict: impressed, but conflicted 🤔
Keep doing stuff like this. I love you guys.
"Nothing short of gross mismanagement"
Oh, how you nailed it, brother...
My first step into Magic was when I traded a rubber figurine I found at a bus stop to a girl for a sheet of about 9 Ice Age set cards. Shortly after that, I found a seller at a local antique shop that was selling off many of the older sets cards for 25 cents each and every week I would buy about 5-10$ worth of cards from them, in addition to a couple of the then current booster packs from various stores. Had many arguments with friends over cards abilities that were not specifically laid out. The most infamous card for us was "Frozen Shade"(or may have been Wraith), which just gave +1/+1 per swamp tapped every turn, while later reprints specifically state "till end of turn".
Great video but what I really appreciated the most was the humor in it. 10/10
Love the new into and music. Way to keep the channel fresh! As someone who knows nothing about MTG I appreciate the history. The hungry hungry hippos reference was great too.
Cardboard Crack deserves it's name.
Your eBay ad break was awesome
Magic "The Gathering" was most likely a reference to how you'd be buying card packs for years to come. Or how they'd be gathering your income.
Great video! Awesome subject. I run a channel devoted to fantasy board games, so this is right up my ally. An attorney I work for had major role in shaping Magic’s financial success, and I’ve seen some of the original design docs for the game. Great history.
I played mtg for a while, but more importantly I have the 1st edition of Roborally and it's expansion, I don't know if it's first printing but definitely 1st edition
I'm jealous!
Do you have the pewter Twonky?
@@invisiblehand13 He does!!!
Hi, Greg!!!
I remember when they opened several Wizards of the Coast at local malls. I stepped in once, looked around, but the type of nerds there were not video game nerds like the 15 year old me back then.
I’ve been waiting so long for someone to make a video on the history on magic for so long I’m thrill to see this video
Original MTG ad - "You'll never play the same game twice!"
Dimir Rouges and Mono Red Goblins - "Hold my beer."
I had a friend who would always play blue decks.... we aren't friends anymore.
Just mix a little black and red in it and blue is fixed
I was about to say you want to kiss your friends off, pull out your blue deck
Two Islands should be illegal.
@@allnamesaretakenful with some of the blue decks I've played against two islands was one too many. I loved the surveil mechanic from the last Ravnica block
That’s why I didn’t have friends as a kid
Big MTG player here, wow this is very exciting.
I have collected and then sold off multiple collections for this game. I stopped entirely years ago. Too much spent out chasing specific cards and buying boxes of boosters to get one specific card and not getting it (mainly because buying those boosters was cheaper than said card). So I moved to Warhammer, which also got REALLY expensive as time went on and Games Workshop kept revising the rules as well as what miniatures were usable in your army and making the minis ever more expensive with each year that passed. Now I keep to old school Battletech and the Final Fantasy TCG. Both of which are a ton cheaper overall.
You know what, Dan? I *am* a hungry hippo. Ya got me.
i remember seeing a game on like ESPN 13 or something when it was brand new and i had just got into it. No one believed me,! Now, years later, its on every screen in my LGS!
i think two or three of those ESPN aired games found their way onto VHS. i definitely recall the 1997 nationals in the very least, first time i ever heard the name jon finkle.
11:08 Bushiroad represent!
Trust me, pre-order ikoria now.
Used to play Magic all the time back in the day. I still have a huge collection of cards that have gone untouched for at least 20 years lol.
Think maybe it's time to throw 'em up on Ebay?
Make sure to check the prices first. You probably have some serious serious value in your collection.
Hey there Motown Philly, we'd love to have you! We have a large MTG and trading card community already with plenty of room for your collection too! Check out some info here on how to get started selling: www.ebay.com/help/selling/selling/start-selling-ebay?id=4081 Happy selling!
This was a great video overall. The Hungry Hungry Hippos bits we're made me burst out laughing every time.
I had no clue M:TG was so massive and has lasted this long.
Its a cult, and if you are not actually in it, it just seems like a group of dorks in a comic shop. The fact that YuGiOh and Pokemon have their own cults there as well can even make it hard to tell which cult they are in, unless you know the shows
I used to play Zen Magic with Richard Garfield (He taught at Whitman College, where I was a student) we played 66 games.
53 ties
I had 13 wins and 0 losses.
He was lovely to play with and his frustration with not beating me makes me smile to this day.
Was somewhat semi collecting the Cards in the 90's but then i finally took part in playing.
Got some of my favourite races in there like ..well
SLIVERS!
After a nearly 25 year hiatus from MTG I started playing again a couple of months ago and booooooy did things change over time.
No mana burn. Blew my mind.
My older brother started playing when it first came out. I was a little too young to play it then, but LOVED the art work.
I started playing a few years later and had more than enough to build multiple decks.
This is the first MTG content that has actually gotten me legitimately interested in playing this game.
Same for me.
@@ethanstatler1827 can play for free mtg arena
Yeah, all this was when they cared abiut the game though. Now its all abiut nickle and diming their playerbase and pushing their identity politics.
There's good reason the game is known colloquially as "cardboard crack". It's powerful stuff. It draws you in. It makes you want more as you empty your bank account. It consumes your thoughts. (I started in '99)
@@ThatSomethingGuy arrgghhhh. I wimp out and play arena lol
Seriously though, when are we getting that overpower back? Love that game.
Well History of DnD DONE!, History of MtG DONE! Now History of HEROCLIX! thousands of figures mostly Marvel and DC, but MANY other IPs. Its a toy, its a game, they come in blind booster packs. and some pieces can fetch prices as high as ~$200.
Love your stuff Dan. Thank you
It would seem to be more "on brand" for the channel too.
If they do, they need to mention that Mageknight was first, followed closely by MechWarrior (aka Battletech). Oh. Wait. That's the version of Battletech that everyone wants to forget and (rightfully) hates. Never mind. Yeah, better to go with the Marvel/DC stuff. You won't get hate for that.
cliix system in general
One thing is clear from this video:Dan has an unhealthy obsession with Hungry Hungry Hippos.
I got a hunger for some hungry hippos. And the only cure is hungry hungry hippos.
I! Love! It! I have great memories of Hippos under the tree one Christmas. I laughed my @$$ off at Dan's jokes here.
😅😂🤣
EDIT: Oh.... Sh**. Dan, can I use your comment up there as a pickup line?? True believers would get it. And if I fail, then, I have these comments with which to excuse myself. 👍
Pretty sure this is Dan's family reunion
czcams.com/video/kKQ_coXOKgg/video.html
I was hoping you would talk a little about Duel Masters, as no one but me seems to remember it, and it had a cool toy line that i loved. ( it came out around the time of xevos i seem to recall)
EDIT:Duel Masters was a more kid friendly simplified version of magic the gathering that came out aroud the same time pokemon and digimon were hitting it big. They had a huge armored dragon mascot that was sort of a cousin to charazard or greymon. Lots of tie in media like comics and toys too
Duel masters was created by wizards and a Japanese studio as a more marketable option in Japan
That would be good nice considering that while WotC killed off DM in west in Japan it has been going on strong all this time and is they 2nd most popular TCG after YGO.
@@Mecha82 wow! Really?! I didn't know that, but i loved that game as a kid. It got me mostly because the "Red Mana" was full of dinosaurs (and i loved dinosaurs) i lover how fast it was because you didnt have to draw mana. I definitely wouldn't have gotten into magic without it. Wonder if theres some way to play it online?
Fun fact: while here in west MtG is #1 TCG in Japan it's #5 TCG with YGO being #1 in there. They #2 TCG is Duel masters that WotC killed off here in west.
I started MtG back in 1998 with Tempest block and I have been playhing it on and off since then. Currently I rarely play MtG and when I do it's always Commander. These days I am far more into Cardfight Vanguard and Warhammer 40,000.
In high school, some friends and I were at a party amd we were discussing D&D. Some guys mocked us for it...
And, seriously, later we saw them playing Magic: The Gathering.
I only started playing regularily May this year and playing EDH. The history of this is awesome
(Friend tried to teach me 17 years ago and at that time I had not the patience for standard)
Thank you for making this video.
Great intro. Thanks guy's. Keep up the good work.
The game was only about four years old when I first started playing. I don't have a massive collection, however, I have a respectable collection. I have a binder with 255 rare and mythic rare cards. Of course my decks have some too. My five color Dragon deck especially. My favorite in the deck being Dragon Broodmother. She's great.
I'll never look at hungry hungry hippos the same way again.
Another great video...I got into MTG right before the Ice Age expansion...I stopped playing after Nemesis. It got to expensive. My friends and I would chip in to buy boxes of cards and then split them up by what colors we played. So if someone had a Black/Red deck in mind and you played with just Red an argument would usually break out.
I happen to know threw a few other friends one of the former top 10 in the world MTG player Brian Kibler. He also worked for the company also was a analyst when they use to show it on ESPN yes it was on ESPN. I do believe he helped to work on the board game you talked about before he went out on his own and has a company that makes there own tabletop games and educational games. Really good guy.
Having read the instruction manuals and having the rules of many CCGs explained to me in terms a toddler could understand, I still have no idea how to play these things.
The greatest game of all time. (At least it was in 94-95 haha).
A game to play while you're waiting for your next game to start? See, this is why I'm not that big a gamer. In the hiatus between games at a con, I want to have a drink, chat to friends, and get some fresh air.
Love the new opening Dan & Greg!
love the new intro! well done!
Had fun with it when it first came out but, stopped after the Oasis expac. Same thing happened with Yugi as I was never much of a card collector lol.
Great history for Magic the Gathering Info. Thanks 🙏
The Black Lotus isn't really an 'instant kill' card... It's one amongst many components in maybe one or two strategies for one turn kills... but as with all such tactics, you gotta get your GOD DRAW for that. It's usually just a stupid quick mana boost.
love playing MTG with friends and family. but i will forever stay away from tournaments and playing strangers at the card shop because people are too competitive and just rude. losing is part of it and its ok, you win some and you lose some but I've encountered way too many that act like losing is the end of the world.. or they cheat to win... but the game is so much fun and when played for fun and fair, is highly recommended.
love the new intro and music!
I remember my friends and I finding a bunch of magic cards in the forest behind my elementary school and having no idea what they were. (No Internet to check and no friends who knew)
We thought they were legit magical haha. They seemed so mysterious
Awesome choice! Always informative
Clue with Tim Curry, Christopher Loyd , and Lee Ving from the punk band FEAR. Allstar cast. It came out in the mid 80's, it's hilarious. Love the board game when I was a kid.