[Premium Article] The History of Type I/Vintage: 1993-2002 (The First Ten Years)

[Smmenen]

http://www.eternalcentral.com/schools-of-magic-history-of-vintage-the-first-ten-years/

The first ten chapters of my History of Vintage have been compiled into a single download available at a roughly 20% discount over the individual chapters. 

If you haven't read this series, now is the perfect chance to jump on board!



blurb:

The first ten chapters in Vintage expert Stephen Menendian’s acclaimed series, Schools of Magic: History of Vintage, are compiled for the first time, weighing in at over 225 pages of unforgettable history. As Magic crosses its 20th anniversary, players are more curious and nostalgic than ever about the game’s colorful history and remarkable growth. As the game’s oldest sanctioned constructed format, the History of Vintage traces back to the origins of the game and reflects the trends and strategic innovations of the game itself. The format that came into existence with the with the first Banned and Restricted List announcement in January, 1994 continues unabated today known as “Vintage.”

Deepen your appreciation and enjoyment of the game and the Vintage format by learning about the creation of the game and steady evolution of the format known primarily as “Type I.” See how each new set affected the format, and how those developments prompted changes to the Banned and Restricted list. Learn the decks of the era, and recount the tournament victories that shaped the metagame in their original historical context. Using the lens of Robert Hahn’s famous “Schools of Magic,” Stephen identifies six strategic philosophies that continue to inspire players in Vintage today. Stephen has uncovered a hidden and forgotten history with a compelling narrative and interviews. Read about the debates over the format that changed the format, and better appreciate how many of those debates continue today.

[tribet]

For your time and efforts, I ought to purchase that.

I'll make a nice colour print and read this over Xmas.

Thanks

[PETER FLUGZEUG]

Is it free for people who have purchased all the articles? I hope so.

[personalbackfire]

Steve,
Your love and passion for the format is evident in the work you do in writing articles and books. Thanks for writing this, I look forward to reading it.

[Smmenen]

Is it free for people who have purchased all the articles? I hope so.

In a sense.  This is just a compilation.  Folks who already have the PDF chapters can merge them into one file, and have their own, identical, compilation.

Steve,
Your love and passion for the format is evident in the work you do in writing articles and books. Thanks for writing this, I look forward to reading it.

Thank you very much!

I think this history is mostly forgotten or unknown, so I hope it brings it back to the forefront of the conversation once more.  There is much to be learned here. 

[brianpk80]

Congratulations on reaching this milestone. 

[Smmenen]

Thank you!

If folks get this, please consider writing a review of how the entire collection reads together!

[JACO]

Is it free for people who have purchased all the articles? I hope so.

Peter, as mentioned, it is just a compilation of works done to date. There was some minor error correction, and reformatting of decklists in every chapter to match the old Sideboard decklist style (including trying to get most of them on single pages when possible), but that's about it.

If you or anybody else has purchased all of the chapters so far and wants your personally licensed copy of the compilation please email us at eternal.central@gmail.com from the email account you purchased everything from (your PayPal email), as well as your full name, and we can make it happen.

Thank you for all the support of this project so far. Even for someone like me who has been around since almost the beginning of Magic, this series has been a worthwhile and entertaining read. Aside from retracing the minds of Type I players across the globe as they shaped today's Vintage format, I think there's always new things to learn (whether you missed them at the time, or simply forgot), especially if you took numerous 'breaks' from Magic like I and so many others have.

[tribet]

I haven't received yet but I hope it comes with some sort of nice front/cover page like a real book.

[Smmenen]

It's just a compilation for the chapters so far, so its everything that was previously available.   

I hadn't realized it, but this is over 270 pages of material!   This should keep you reading for a while.  Although, don't complain to me if you can't put it down!

[personalbackfire]

I'm about 60 pages in and am loving it. Very easy to just keep reading from chapter to chapter. Amount of research that went into it so far seems staggering. Thanks again!

[Smmenen]

I appreciate it!

Everyone who's gotten this so far can't seem to put it down, which is better than can't pick it up once they've put it down

What in particular is most interesting to you? 

[Smmenen]

If people bring printouts of this compilation to Eternal Weekend, I will be happy to sign them.  FYI

[personalbackfire]

What in particular is most interesting to you? 

Having not read more of it in the past day or so, mostly the early history of the game and chapter 1. I started playing around Masques block and have had a love for Type 1 (at the time) every since, so I am fairly familiar with the format since then but it was definitely cool to see actual lists of decks before there was a 4 card limit, early deck lists with the 4 card limit, then how they began to look more familiar (The Deck).

I also really loved the images of the test cards, like Ancestral. I thought that was pretty cool that you had those images in the article, I had never seen them.

[Smmenen]

It was a journey of discovery for myself as well, going through archives, searching old websites and newsgroups, digging up long forgotten decks and stitching together a history that has been lost or forgotten.  Each voice or perspective was merely a shard of a larger picture.

Since so many of my sources were disparate, the greater effort here was generating a coherent narrative.  Data points don't knit themselves together, so the heart of this work is building a narrative, which is a work of analysis and synthesis.  

As disparate as the sources were, the work going forward is going to be even harder because the sources become more voluminous.  For the first few years, I was relying 90% on print sources, and moved toward 90% electronic sources with interviews towards the end.  Now I have to wade through much, much more.  

Still, even only halfway through this project, I think the narrative has turned out to be surprisingly coherent and insightful about the format as it was and as it is.  

There is much to enjoy here: the early history of the game, the evolution of the metagame, innovations, understanding Wizards policies and practices, the stories of the players who lived the game, and much more.  It's a colorful history, and I hope that begins to penetrate the consciousness of this community in a more deliberate way.

[Varal]

Hi, I was reading the tenth chapter and realized your Origins Mask deck had fetchlands before Onslaught release. Otherwise, it's really fun to see what vintage looked like before I played it.

[Smmenen]

Hi, I was reading the tenth chapter and realized your Origins Mask deck had fetchlands before Onslaught release. Otherwise, it's really fun to see what vintage looked like before I played it.

Wow, there are three fetchlands in there!  That is clearly a mistake.  I pulled the decklist from here, only a few months later: http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/print.php?Article=4003

I must have published the updated list.  I will correct that in future editions.

[gribdogs]

I had picked up all 10 chapters as they released, and then JACO very kindly sent me the new compilation.  The only suggestion I have after reading Titus' book is to get this ePublished in the future.  This is a very deep and interesting read for anybody interested in the history of Magic, and especially Vintage. 

[JACO]

I had picked up all 10 chapters as they released, and then JACO very kindly sent me the new compilation.  The only suggestion I have after reading Titus' book is to get this ePublished in the future.  This is a very deep and interesting read for anybody interested in the history of Magic, and especially Vintage. 

Thank you for the feedback. If and when this is eventually completed, if it gets to final book form it will indeed be made in different formats (PDF, ePub, etc.).

[Space_Stormy]

Sorry for the necro but Smennen asked me to as I just finished the first 10 years and I have to say that was a great read and well worth the money!  The amount of works cited on every chapter was insane and such a sign of the great labor of love these 270+ pages were.  Honestly it was crazy how long 4x Mana Crypt was legal for and I had no idea how much people were opposed to Prosperity when it came out.  All in all was great and anyone who likes MTG history definitely invest the money.

[Smmenen]

LOL, I wasn't asking you to advertise the book for me, but I was encouraging you should share any feedback you had.

Thanks for the complimentary words.  

The Prosperity era hit just when I quit Type I, which is too bad, because I would have greatly enjoyed playing those decks.  The people in my Type I play group told me about it when I got back into the game.  I imagine it would have been great fun, while not quite as broken as dueling Academies.

As a side note, I'm actually well under way in writing Chapter 11: 2003, so that should be coming out in the next month or so, assuming I keep this pace and we can get the whole thing edited.