[Premium Article] History of Vintage: 1995 & 1996

[Smmenen]

http://www.eternalcentral.com/?p=3449

I'm super excited to be able to announce the next two chapters of this project, 1995 & 1996, the most formative years in the format’s grand history. This took longer than expected to finish for a host of reasons, including all of the history I had to dig up, source, verify, etc.   

What's most important about these chapters are the exclusive interviews and decklists PUBLISHED FOR THE FIRST TIME ANYWHERE.  You will see historical Type I decks that have never appeared anywhere else before.

Blurb:

Do not miss the story of The Deck, perhaps the most famous archetype in the format’s history.  Culled from long forgotten archival materials, historical records, new exclusive interviews with key players of the era, and much much more, you will see decks published in these pages for the first time ever and read about:

* The surprising decks that won the 1995 and 1996 Type I Championships and the stories behind them.
* The emergence of The Deck and Brian Weissman’s unforgettable contributions to the game.
* Type I Necropotence and Mana Crypt decks published here for the first time ever.
* Every change to the Banned and Restricted List in 1995 and 1996.
* The impact of each of the new sets of the era on the Type I format, including Ice Age, Homelands, Alliances, and Mirage.
* The card and the deck that got Fastbond restricted (published for the first time ever!).
And much much more!

Weighing in at 40+ pages, this article will keep you turning page after page, and offer a deeper and more profound appreciation for the format’s history and the format as it exists today than you ever thought imaginable.

[CorwinB]

Thanks a lot ! I was impatient to read the follow-up to the first part.

[PDM]

Are you going to sell this as a full book eventually? I'm interested but the ideal of paying 17 times isn't really appealing. I'd rather pay something like $15 or $20 once if there was a subscription to the whole series.

[nedleeds]

Had the day off today so I read this over some coffee. It came together really well ... it's hard to believe some of this material is more than 15 years old. It's also odd (and embarrassing ... see: my raging response to the restriction of Fastbond  ) to go back and see the opinions and thoughts you had as a 19 year old preserved forever on the echoes of the internet. The article definitely makes me miss the wild west of Magic ... when information was at a premium and you never knew exactly what lurked inside your opponents deck.

[Smmenen]

Thanks Sean, I also thought this came together very nicely.  I'm proud of this work, and hope that the subsequent chapters reach this standard.

One of my readers said that he's interested in taking some of the decks from these articles and playing them against each other.  I highly encourage Vintage players to try that.  Some of the decks, especially in these two chapters, are particularly well suited for that.  In fact, I will be doing the same.  

Are you going to sell this as a full book eventually? I'm interested but the ideal of paying 17 times isn't really appealing. I'd rather pay something like $15 or $20 once if there was a subscription to the whole series.

That remains to be seen on how well this series does.   I'll continue to produce these chapters as long as there is a market for them.  
It's best to assume we won't.  This is a series, not a book.

To be honest, I've deeply under-priced what I'd like to sell these chapters for (given the amount of work I put into them -- far more than you possibly imagine (it's like doing a year in review by 10 times harder) so that these chapters are accessible to the most amount of people.  

[CorwinB]

I finished reading it, and it was a very enjoyable read : the amount of documentation is incredible, and I really like the way this is written (really mindful of the context of a specific deck/tech, without trying to find ways to shoehorn an old concept into something new).

I didn't get a chance to test the decks, but I remember playing "Proto-Zoo", Millstone-control and Prison (Icy Manipulator/Winter Orb) decks back in 1995-1996 (didn't have any piece of power except Ancestral Recall).

At this price and this publication schedule, I don't see myself skipping future issues, this is one of the best MTG history pieces I've ever read.

[BaronSengir]

Great article. I have always wanted to read something like this as I wasn't playing back then and always wanted to know what it was like back then. 

[PeAcH]

@Smmenen

Great job with this second article Steve

I really love it. Totally worth the money. I will keep buying the rest of the series for sure.

It´s more than obvious through the amount of detail and well-weaved narrative that it has taken you a lot of time and research to assemble such an important piece of history for the format we all love.

Reading through your pages makes brings me back all the memories, all the fun I had when I started, got my first ever piece of power (before I sold all my p9), played some of the decklists you refer to, lacked information and tried to provide different approaches to decklists which were kept secret and such.

Reading all this new released card impact, changes, people names, awesome decklists, and epic battles makes me realize one more time this is where I want to be and the format I want to play

Vintage for me keeps the truly essence of the original game alive.

For all the not-sure buyers of the article, if you love the format, you will LOVE the series.

Well played Sir, it does not seem an easy task to accomplish.

[Smmenen]

I deeply appreciate the kind words and great feedback.  I hope that this series continues to get that positive word-of-mouth and spreads like wildfire   If non-Vintage players get into this series, I have no doubt that they will come to love this format as much as we do.

Based upon this feedback, I feel like my goal of creating and fostering an appreciation for this format is being accomplished, by illustrating how the format that emerged in 1994-96 continues to evolve and exist today.  In that respect, I'm particularly excited about the content for the next few chapters, especially 1997, where we see the rest of the format's important archetypes finally emerge and we set the stage for the next period of the format.  It is as much a journey of exploration and discovery for me as it my readers, as I did not play Magic from 1997-2000.  I quit shortly before Mirage came out, and started again just before Invasion.  

This period, 1997-2001, is like shedding light on the dark ages of the format, and in a sense, reviving that history for modern eyes and contemporary appreciation.  I will continue to seek out and interview key players for their insights and views.

One of the amazing things is that despite the age and obscurity, the metagame seems to come together so clearly in response to innnovations, new printings, and changes in the B&R lists.  

This is an enormous project, but I feel it is worth it because it is a timeless project.   I believe that years from now people from every part of the Magic community will turn to this work as a seminal piece on Magic history.  

One of the fun outgrowths of this is that I will be playing, for fun, some of the decks in these chapters! 

Keep spreading the word!

[Smmenen]

I had asked our trusty editor, Jaco, to take a section from the chapters and make it free (a practice we will do for each of the chapters).   

I recommended he either choose the long section on The Deck (which was quite deep and analytical) from 1995 or the shorter section on Necropotence from 1996, and make that the free preview.  He choose the latter.  So, you can blame him.

Anyway, he just put it up today.   It has one decklist that has never been published before.  It's a goodie that, many of you who enjoy playing old school decks, will surely enjoy: http://www.eternalcentral.com/?p=3449

Intro is:

Black Summer: Necro Reigns

During the Summer of 1996 Robert Hahn published an article in The Duelist that opened with these ominous words: “There is today a storm blowing through the Magic: The Gathering tournament scene, and it is called Necropotence.” Hahn’s words were as prescient as they were foreboding, as that Summer had become known as Necro Summer...

read the rest of this section now!  http://www.eternalcentral.com/?p=3449