[Premium Article] Schools of Magic: The History of Vintage Chapters 1-2: 1993-94

[Smmenen]

I am not sure of the reanimator decklist your talking about but I have a VERY old duelist that lists Brian Wiessman's "the deck" along with the other "tier decks" of the time which included these 2:

and

4 nicol bolas
4 deep spawn
4 animate dead
4 hell's caretaker
4 triskelion
4 tetravus
5 mox
4 mana Vault
sol ring
black lotus
demonic tutor
ancestral
time walk
mindtwist
4 Yawgmoth's Demon
4 bazaar of baghdad
4 underground sea
4 badlands
4 volcanic island
1 swamp

This might be the deck your speaking of, not sure, but it's what I found.  Glad I kept this duelist.  I figured the first official list of "the deck" was worth keeping.

Which issue of the Duelist is that?   That looks like it could be the list I'm looking for.   Did you accurately transcribe it?

For this project, I've obviously tracked down most of the early issues of the duelist, but I didn't see that list.  I 've purchased the missing issues of the duelist on ebay, so hopefully I'll be able to fill in gaps.  I've also been tracking down old players. 

[nataz]

Jaco/Steve

I bought this a couple of Weeks ago to read on my kindle while on travel, and the formatting is way off. Either it'd so small I can't read it, or I have to constantly move the page around. I'll Google around for a solution on my end when I get home, but what are the chances you can fix it on your end? It's pretty much unreadable for me the way it is now. I can't be the only one who doesn't want to/can't read this on a high resolution monitor.

Good luck on the rest of the series.

-nataz

[JACO]

Jaco/Steve

I bought this a couple of Weeks ago to read on my kindle while on travel, and the formatting is way off. Either it'd so small I can't read it, or I have to constantly move the page around. I'll Google around for a solution on my end when I get home, but what are the chances you can fix it on your end? It's pretty much unreadable for me the way it is now. I can't be the only one who doesn't want to/can't read this on a high resolution monitor.

Good luck on the rest of the series.

-nataz

I'll holla at you about this via PM. I'm not sure what the trouble you're having exactly is caused by, but I'll troubleshoot it with you.

[thorme]

I appreciate the interest, but caution that I will only produce chapters so long as there is demand for the previous chapter.

...It could seem selfish, but if I start to read (and buy) a story, I would like to be sure I'll have all of it, and not only the teaser, if you see what I mean.

The whole story is better than the sum of its part, I think.

I'll echo that this project absolutely begs to be a book.  Of course, I appreciate that Steve and Eternal Central can't commit to such an endeavor without knowing whether it will be worth it.

Let me suggest a modern-day solution:  www.kickstarter.com

I'm sure there is someone at EC familiar with kickstarter, and that would be a win/win....more revenue for them (as folks like me aren't willing to invest in early chapters without knowing the entire work will eventually materialize) and a big win for interested Vintage fans.  Lots of cool things you could do too with bonus levels.

Steve - you should see if EC is willing to kickstart the book version.  I for one would gladly be a backer.

[Smmenen]

Just an FYI, I updated Chapter 2 with Marck Chalice's The Machine, and once Jaco is done editing it, everyone who already bought it should be able to receive the updated copy. 

This is, I believe, the first time that deck has ever been published in its entirety. 

Also, I was hoping to publish Chapter 3 before the holidays, but the delays mean that we might publish Chapters 3 & 4 together.   Then again, we might not.  Chapter 3 is so meaty it might just be better to stand on its own.    I'm well into Chapter 5 at this point, which is fascinating because that's the year with the first Duelist Invitational, Prosperity decks took off (since Visions was released), and Workshop and a bunch of other cards were unrestricted.  This is a history I didn't even know until I uncovered it. 

[BaronSengir]

Thanks for doing this Steve, I know it had to be a lot of work but this really is a treasured article for me. A lot of this I knew but there is so much I didn't know and always wondered about that this article talks about, like why so many Legends cards are over costed...  Amazing work and I'm glad you did this one.

[Smmenen]

Thanks for doing this Steve, I know it had to be a lot of work but this really is a treasured article for me. A lot of this I knew but there is so much I didn't know and always wondered about that this article talks about, like why so many Legends cards are over costed...  Amazing work and I'm glad you did this one.

Thank you.  I hope people enjoyed seeing Mark Chalice's The Machine for the first time in the Chapter: 1994.  There are many new and never-before-published or seldom seen decks that appear in the next two chapters: 1995 & 1996.

I'm really glad that people are learning from this.   While I knew many of things mentioned in the first two chapters, there is much that I did not know, and even less that I knew from subsequent chapters.

GI noted the broad scope of this project as appropriate and challenging.  Noting how difficult Brian Demars said it was just to write a year in review, imagine, now, how much MORE difficult it is to write a year in review of a year that happened nearly 20 years ago, where almost none of the relevant information can be found on the web.

My hope is that this project takes a life of its own -- as I continue to expand and move forward, that more information and people come out of the woodwork with more insights and more tidbits. 

My ultimate goal is that people come to appreciate how the format has evolved, and how the format that existed in 1994-1996 continues unabated, as the exact same format today. 

[BaronSengir]

GI noted the broad scope of this project as appropriate and challenging.  Noting how difficult Brian Demars said it was just to write a year in review, imagine, now, how much MORE difficult it is to write a year in review of a year that happened nearly 20 years ago, where almost none of the relevant information can be found on the web.

My hope is that this project takes a life of its own -- as I continue to expand and move forward, that more information and people come out of the woodwork with more insights and more tidbits. 

My ultimate goal is that people come to appreciate how the format has evolved, and how the format that existed in 1994-1996 continues unabated, as the exact same format today. 

That is so true. The tournaments and decks back then just aren't document that well if at all; after all the internet was still a new developing concept that most people didn't have yet. I'm definitely spreading the word about this article and trying to get others to get it because every Magic player deserves to know how the game started.

[Smmenen]

I appreciate it.   For folks who read the first two chapters, I promise that the 3rd and 4th chapters are extremely rich, and much bigger and more insightful - largely because we have growing tournaments and many more results to discuss.

I'm working on the fifth chapter (1997) now, and it's utterly fascinating.   I can't wait for people to read about all of the amazing innovations and events in '97.

[Smmenen]

Once this is done I sure hope it is sold as a physical book. I'd buy it for sure.

Someone on EC asked this question, and now that the first 5 chapters have been published, and I've already submitted the 6th (1998) for editing (and the 7th chapter is being worked on now), we have a clearer sense of what the final product is going to be like.  

Let me just say that the final e-book (presuming there is one) will be nothing more than the compiled, already published chapters.  

HOWEVER, such a book will likely be MORE expensive than buying the chapters individually, and certainly no less.  

If we do a physical book, it will likely be *much* more expensive to cover the costs of printing etc.  So if you were on the fence about purchasing the individual chapters, I'd encourage you consider getting them now...

There are enough chapters out there (with the next scheduled to come out March 17th), that you will feel like you are reading history.   The first five years are, if you will, a complete narrative arc.  Plus, who wouldn't want to read the first five years of the history of this format?

The chapters so far are listed here: http://www.eternalcentral.com/?tag=history-of-vintage