With the tragic news about the state of Magic: the Gathering, I'd like to remind everyone that once Magic was a thriving IP, with near limitless potential. I remember here, on /tg/ that the Phyrexian Praetors got featured in memes, and before that, the brady bunch. There was a time where Magic had its own lore threads, and forums on the topic thrived. Hell, long before the Wiki existed, Phyrexia.com existed to catalog all official lore, as well as the semi-official site Encyclopedia-Dominia. Magic lore in the 90's was exchanged through short stories, usually published in The Duelist, but also published online, paper back novels, and in the case of the Alpha rulebook, the rulebook itself. While the attempt to craft a unique world didn't come until Antiquities, Adirkson (Founder of WotC) always imagined Magic as a huge IP, and wanted it to be a multi-media platform, something it sadly failed to do. However the world building of early Magic, spear headed eventually by none other than Peter Venters, is an amazing thing. Nothing shows this better than the work of Armada Comics. I planned on starting this with The Antiquities War #1, and from their going in sequential order. Unfortunately I can't find it, (if anyone has a ripe of it, Fallen Empires and Arabian Nights, sauce). Instead I will start with the literal first comic, The Shadow Mage. So come in, enjoy some golden age 90's comic art, and lets all enjoy The Shadow Mage together.
This is where it starts, a good cover that captures the eye, accurate to whats inside the comic, but doesn't give to much away. They don't make them like this anymore.
>>94272898>You did it>You are the magic gatherer
>>94272898How bout you stop glorifying a brand that's now pure slop and fuck off? Stoking nostalgia for magic is still supporting modern magic, in its own fucked up way.It was fun once, it's shitty and exploitative now, ignore it and it'll eventually go away.
>>94272898Didnt fatbacks come with booksImagine a 2024 equivalent of that lmao
>>94272920P....premodern w...will save us....
>>94272909I found a PDF of Antiquities War though.
>>94272937Yes for a few years, and awesome display boxes too. They stopped calling them 'fat packs' a while ago, because that was body shamming or some nonsense. This Picture doesn't get just online. As someone who owns the comic, the colors are just amazing on it. I also liked how in a way Ravindel looks like he's tearing through the page itself. Just showing you how powerful and awe inspiring planeswalking is supposed to be.
I always had mixed feelings on Ravindel the Battlemage, but man, does he have style.
>>94273026Fun fact: The barge is made from Chromium Rheull, the Elder Dragon. I forget how exactle Chromium died though.
>>94273044and there we have it, a mighty sacrifice
>>94273059woops wrong page, but here it is.Fun fact: I've used Backdraft a few times in EDH, and more than once killed someone in response to Blasphemous Act or Earthquake
>>94273065Here we have our two heroes, alone now.
>>94272920What are you doing anon?
>>94273108Timber Woves vs Ironroot Treefolk, the treefolk usually wins
>>94273127Spoiler: that doesn't happen
>>94273140
>>94273157Fast forward several years.
>>94273179Alot of Alladin influences here, and since this was published in 95, that's no surprise.
>>94273192
>>94273226I cast fist!
>>94273232Fun Fact: When this was written, Urza was still assumed dead, and the idea to verify he wasn't hadn't happened yet. So this device is literally an ancient relic.
>>94273243Our Mongolian Barbarian makes an entrance
>>94273274According to the write notes on the back of the book, Ezer used Ashnod's Transmigorant to turn the berserker to an artifact creature, by accident, and Jared used Detonate to blow him up, which is why Ravindel got damaged.
>>94273296With this, Issue one of The Shadow Mage is finished.
>>94272898I never read any of the lore back then. I was a little kid and didn't really know what Kjeldor or Urza was. They were just cool fantasy names that obviously meant something, but none of that shit was forced on me.MTG stood out of the way and let me imagine things myself. I didn't need to know someone else's lore to understand a card like Remove Soul or Trap-Door Spider. I really loved that. I miss when people made things to allow YOU to be imaginative, not trying to force their imagination on you.
>>94273312Here we start with Issue 2. Am I on autosage?
>>94272909>They don't make them like this anymore.Thank fucking god. So happy to have left this 80s style shit (Despite being in the 90s) behind.
>>94273398Exactly it was better as a sandbox game, with settings. You can thank MaRo for the more story driven approach.
>>94273443How about comic covers that tell you whats going on in the comic? That's what I was implying on.Plus good fantasy art is timeless.
>>94273450its slimy little creeps like him that don't want anyone else to have imagination, yet want people to constantly be impressed with their ownI honestly believe MTG would be more popular and healthy today if it stuck with a more sandbox philosophy
>>94273460Here we see Mr. Every core set destroying their home. A might 2/4.
>>94273479Forgot image
>>94273477MaRo is a weasel who was eliminated round 1 in World 94, and since he wrote a puzzle for the Duelist, knew a few people, so he reported on the event. The story goes on a bit, but thats the basic start.
>>94273450>>94273477That's what helped make the Dark Souls games popular. The story stood far off to the side and let you wonder about it and just get immersed in your own adventure.Then hacks from Ubisoft couldn't understand why people liked that, and were all like "why aren't you guys impressed with our professionally written stories?" and I think the same would've happened to WotC by now if they weren't in this odd spot of being propped up by cheap corporate crossovers keeping them looking healthier than they are. But that funkopop attention is fickle and doesn't have legs to stand very long imo.
>>94273513I never got super into Demon Souls/Dark Souls, but I did beat Demon Souls. I just assumed it was the skill ceiling why they were popular. Honestly, in that regard, Ravnica had nothing to do with its own books, and was much more of a setting that a story. It was also one of the most popular blocks ever made, and use to be credited with saving Magic.
>>94273550Forgot image again
>>94273555
>>94273563
>>94273575This girl appeared in a blink and you missed it panel in the previous comic. She's kind of important.
>>94273594
>>94273603The idea of a main character, going into a pauper hospice and eventually dying, is the sort of grit you would never see in modern fantasy, let alone Magic: the Gathering.
>>94273612Remember when Goblins weren't comic relief? I remember
>>94273619Here we see a foolish king thing his wizards can stand up to a fucking Planeswalker
>>94273630
>>94273644>>94273644Jared journey of self discovery takes many unusual turns.
>>94273659
>>94273670How fat would she be now?
>>94273550Exec types hated Demon's Souls btw. Shuei Yoshida of Sony famously said "This is an unbelievably bad game." They couldn't understand it.Corporate weasels like MaRo and other narcissist at Hasbro can't understand the concept of someone experiencing something for themselves, or not needing everything spelled out for them, and are deathly afraid someone might like their own ideas instead of wanting to look at cosplay pictures of Chandra or buy a plush of Fblthp.
>>94273674
>>94273688I bet
>>94272898I wish magic art was still that good.
>>94273734
>>94273737Wait until you see the Homelands and Serra Angel comics. (Spoiler: they were drawn by Rebecca Guay)
>>94273737>>94273754
>>94273746
>>94273765EDH players should learn to play around counterspells.
>>94273771
>>94273778Women love jewelry
>>94273782"You are alone Young Carthilion. Lovers and Comrades will come and go, but in birth, in life, and in death, you are alone"
>>94273790This issue had description of locations on Corondor. I'm taking a break, maybe I'll come back later, if not I'll come back tomorrow.
>>94273837We will start issue 3 and 4 then, than the wayfarer to end the Jared Carth (in comic form) saga
>>94273398Mtg sets have had lore and stories associated with them since nearly the beginning, but the difference is that it older sets the story outside the cards was mostly ancillary. The art and flavor text of the cards told you enough to get the idea of what the setting was and your imagination could fill in the blanks. Modern sets (for a given definition of modern, as the trend has been going on for a long time now) are instead built around the stories of characters and if you haven't read the plot the cards end up feeling more like watching out of context clips of a film where you're clearly expected to know who the characters are and what the main plot is.>>94273508Ah yes, the Hurloon Minotaur. At one point it was pushed as one of Magic's signature creatures. It never really caught on.Interestingly, summoning here is depicted in a way to contradicts some of the novels, and how it's later been established to work. The expkanation established by the novels, which I think is still considered canon, is that planeswalkers doesn't actually physically summon creatures, but conjure simulacra based on creatures they've encountered while traveling the planes (which is why you can play cards representing lore characters and have them die when the opponent casts Doomblade on them despite the character still being considered alive in the canon).
>>94273728a 90s warehouse rave in a fantasy setting
>>94272898Back when Magic had heart. The writing quality for the books weren't great, but there was soul to it at least. Here's some of my books that I managed to find.
Bump
>>94273674>How fat would she be now?Yes.And also black, with a side-weave, and fantasy-looking modern clothes.
>>94272898>I remember here, on /tg/ that the Phyrexian Praetors got featured in memesUnfortunately the Praetors spent a long time not having any appearances, and when they finally did appear again it was mostly some variety of "one Praetor shows up, does something to further the Phyrexian master plan, and escapes after being beaten". At least nu!Kamigawa gave us Weeb-Gitaxias (Legendary creature - Phyrexian Doujinka). A shame Elesh Norn didn't get more memes despite having an important role in the end of the Phyrexian story arc and being heavily featured in advertisement for ONE and MOM. I love me some Mommy of Machines.
>>94273550Setting tends to be what MtG does better than stories. Establishing a world through cards and mechanics that lets the player imagine the sort of possibilities that lay within. Where it's at its worst is when a plane is just used as cheap set-dressing for a poorly written story, which is often all they end up doing with recent sets.
>>94274358That was always gay, but even then, that didn't officially come into standard until much. Even the Garruk Webcomic depicted Garruk branding creatures he wished to summon later.
>>94275375We get it, you didn't live in the 90s, and it shows.>>94277390Facts>>94275695The Magic novels were always paper back pulp levels, with a few notable exceptions.
>>94277732Praetor memes were fun, we need more of em
Here we rejoin our young hero, as he fights in the fall of 'throxia. This issue will be his first encounter with the Planeswalker Ravindel, but will be far from his last.
>>94281022I love Juggernaut, my unlimited playset is among some of my favorite cards.
>>94281033
>>94281050
>>94281074
Here we see the vagrants form a militia
>>94281146
>>94281146This black knight looks really cool
>>94281162Fun fact: They don't even bother to try and find him.
>>94281178Have you even played Magic if you've never flipped a Chaos Orb??
>>94281188
>>94281194
>>94281219Scathe Zombies!
>>94281224
>>94281232Our Fiery Redhead saves yet again
>>94281239I'm not sure if that was supposed to be Desert Twister, Hurricane, or some other variant of green nature spells.
Can the mono-green player beat the 5 color control deck?no
>>94281261
>>94281293
This won't be the last we see of the knight, but he won't appear again until the Wayfarer
>>94281326With this we end issue 3. The next issue is about the confrontation between Ravindel and Jared, then onto the Wayfarer. After that we will start with Arabian Nights, and The Elder Dragons, before going into the Brothers War.
The Time Spiral novels felt like a Doctor Who arc, in a good way.
>>94272941NTA, but I haven't played it with other people in years. Pre-modern drafting against AI and old videogames; rereading Dominaria era novels. But magic has been getting worse since modern started, and the worsening accelerated after I stopped playing regularly back in 2016. If you think it's going to get better, I wish you luck. I only opened this MtG thread because it's specifically about the old stuff.
Dumping anon, I appreciate you doing this. The little tidbits about what magic cards are being used/referenced is nice
>>94284283Thanks I'm trying for one or two issues a day
>>94281050I wonder if the line about him using "spells long forbidden to the mages of the world" is a cheeky reference to Chaos Orb being banned. IIRC it and the other "manual dexterity" cards were banned very quickly from tournament use.
>>94285010Never thought of that, but it's true.Some of the funniest stories I've heard involves old timers elaborating on the brief period where Chaos Orb was legal.
>>94285670Here we see the once proud Sultan reduced to rags, and captured by Jared's men.
>>94285684WotC officially doesn't release maps. The only official maps ever printed by them is the map of Teresiare in the 1995 Calander (which I think was drawn by Amy Weber, but don't quote me), the Kamigawa playmat. both maps of Dominaria, and the Domains, which I'll get to in a second.
>>94285699The Domains Map (which I'll post after this issue) is a beautiful piece by none other than Tom Wänerstrand. The art was commissioned for the cancelled Magic: the Gathering RPG which was spear headed by former keeper of continuity, Peter Venters.
>>94285723The official reason for this by Mark Rosewater was 'we are just bad at drawing maps'. The actual reason was lucidity. If there is no visual representation of the world, you can move things around as you see fit.
>>94273044If I recall he was at a summit between the Planeswalkers trapped on Dominaria and the surrounding Plains after Urza used the Sylex and broke that portion of the multiverse off into its own bubble for a time. The meeting went sour and Chromium was killed in the crossfire.
>>94285743
>>94274358Thw way the sets were depicted in terms of the Players as Planeswalkers when the sets were first coming out was >Antiquities A historical record and archeological discoveries of the Brother War>LegendsI forget but it was basically the creators D&D PCs>The DarkPlaneswalkers are drawing upon negative aspects of the universe for their spells, if you dare use this power you better hope it doesn't corrupt you.>Fallen EmpiresAnother historical recordThen in the late 90s they released the brothers war book and the Artifacts cycle that followed itWhile also making The Dark into the era of collapse following Urza using the Sylex but before the world went into the Ice Age, following Jodah as the world darkened and being the first book in his own trilogy with Ice Age and Alliances being the second and third books respectively.
>>94285828Not entirely, Legends was developed almost entirely free from WotC by two friends of Garfield who lived in Canada. Its development is both interesting and hilarious. Its the set where Garfield said 'fuck this, I'm out' because the guys wouldn't send card in order. It had a really cool series of "Chess" pieces in each color, that would work sort of together with the other ones, but each color unfortunately did the same. Early on, there are real world legends in the set, but all of them except Nebuchadnezzar were removed, however a few snuck in (like Master of the Hunt) into the final product.
>>94285899
>>94286065Solid words of advice
>>94286085
>>94286990
>>94287015
>>94287021
>>94287028
>>94287040
>>94285699Technically they did a map of the spheres of New Phyrexia in ONE (it's seen in the artwork of the Phyrexian Atlas, and the promo box of the set came with a postcard-sized version), but it just shows the order of the sphere instead of being a detailed map. IIRC there was a map of the original Phyrexia shown in some magazine that similarly showed the layered spheres.
>>94287050
>>94287054I remember seeing that on Phyrexia.com, I didn't think it was an official map.They must have reversed the policy since the last time I cared. Strixhaven also has a fairly detailed map both of the school, and the plane.Now the awful truth is revealed.
>>94287070
>>94287085When you decide to punch above your weight class.
>>94287093
>>94285899Hey, it's that one manarock that shows up in most commander precons and isn't as good as Arcane Signet or Sol Ring!
>>94287103I run Wellfare Stone in alot of old school formats, and its a clutch.
>>94287119I always wanted a Hellfire
>>94287126I'm going to go on a ran here. I was excited for Foundations. I use to go to standard events with whatever stuff I won/packed, and whatever old school cards I had that were legal. I'd always get compliments on my Unlimited Shivan, or Serra Angels. Foundations has reprinted two of my alltime favorite red spells, Shivan Dragon and Ball Lightning (which I luckily have a playset of beatdown ones, foil promos, and The Dark). Unfortunately, with the announcements of UB being standard legal, I think I'll pass on ever playing standard again.
>>94287152Forgot image
>>94287126He's generating three mana for free! And casting a Shivan Dragon! I could think of better things to do with Black Lotus, but the dragon was one of MtG's original "mascot" creatures, and unlike Hurloon Minotaur from earlier it actually is considered iconic by players as well.
>>94287195Idk, maybe its just cause I was a kid at the time, but Hurloon is one of the first pieces of art that comes to my mind when someone says 'old school Magic'. I was honestly surprised when we didn't get a Time Shifted version of him. He really was everywhere, plus what creatue would be better at point blank range than a dragon?Maybe something that doesn't destroy your castle.
>>94287223>>94287195Fun story actually. So it was the summer of 08, and I was in the midwest visiting my dad. It was a semester break. In that time, I befriended some older Gen X'r who in his own words, stopped buying/playing cards in 96 (I never seen him with a card newer than Alliances, not even a Mirage card). He would play in our big multiplayer games, or one on one games, and when people asked him why he didn't buy newer cards, he explained in 95/96 he had charged so much to his credit card buying Magic cards (and other stuff) that he ultimately had to declare bankruptcy. He realized then he had an addiciton, his cards in a closet, and quitbuying cards, but had decided he wanted to play again. He wouldn't buy though, because he knew it would come back, nor would he trade, for the same reason. Anyway one time we are in a 6 player game and he goes on turn 1 Island, Mox, Mox, Lotus, and everyone but me is like 'what the hell is he doing'. He casted a Mahamoti and passed turn (kept it alive with a FoW though)
>>94287264This ends the comic saga of 'The Shadow Mage', but tune in next time for the tale of the Wayfarer.
As a new player. it's fun to see and hear about how magic used to be. I got in playing commander with pals because one guy bought some LotR decks. So seeing LotR, Doctor Who, Warhammer 40K and the like seemed normal, even if strange to realize this was only a recent thing and the game's been mostly free of outside IP's for like 25 years.Been a good while since I've looked at a comic, and it's refreshing. The cock'trice crashing into the earth in >>94287040 is striking. Love the colours.Looking forward to The Wayfarer.
>>94287732You should also check out a few of the novels when you have a hour or two free. My recommendations include Arena, Ravnica: City of Guilds, The Thran, and The Gathering Dark, The brothers war trilogy is also nice, and its a shame how they bastardized its tone.
>>94288897Here we see our hero facing a Thunder Spirit
>>94288919I never liked this doesn't look like the card, like at all. The colors are really great though
>>94288926Don't cut yourself on that edge kid.
>>94288939I mixed it up, this is the one with the edge.Since I botched that I'll give you some card trivia instead. The flavor text to Thunder Spirit is one of a handful from the proverbial 'modern era (post WW2). Most of the others are also from Legends. However the 9th edition flavor text of inspirit has a quote from General MacArthur to the people of the Philippines. Also, the flavor text to Thunder Spirit is describing a train.
>>94273782a grixis caster? bad news
>>94288962
>>94288998wrong again, fuck
>>94289005
>>94289161He arrives
>>94289165
you alive, OP?
>>94289307Yeah I'm ok
>>94289367After beating the shit out of a bar, our hero gets some rest.
>>94289373
>>94289482Here we get to see Magic original amazon women, the Avenant.
>>94289667
>>94289673
>>94289678Kristina of the Woods here is Magic's OG slut. She slept with our hero, Sandruu (a minotaur planeswalker), and Taysir or Rabiah. She's also one of Urza's Nine Titans.
>>94289684She's waifu material though
>>94289698
>>94289714
>>94289722Here with the sudden art style shift, we get an ongoing explanation of Magic and its colors. This art style was used alot in the mid-90s for comics, as any fan of Vertigo could attest to.
>>94289730Here we see several iconic creatures from the past. This includes the former face of the game, Hurloon Minotaur, as well as Kird Ape and Serra Angel.
>>94289746Here is a further description of white magic, and how like all magic, its neither good, nor evil.
>>94289756Finally we get to the last page of issue 1.Everyone thanks for the kind words and I hope you've enjoyed
>>94289767Thanks Anon!
Kristina has cute feet
I have this game for PS1 that follows the Planeswalker War on Corondor as well as the fight between Jared and Ravidel. Such a shame they never gave conclusion of what happened in the end of this war. We know Jared is alive so we can only assume he managed to kill Ravidel.
>>94289767Thanks anon. I've always been fond of the type of art in >>94289730. More emphasis on colour and rough shape to evoke feeling while letting realism fulfill only the bare minimum. The photos of the basic lands are pretty funny.It's fun to see the Serra Angel in >>94289746 be so picturesquely what you'd consider "beautiful" at the time. Those enormous earrings aren't really in vogue anymore, neither are golden glitter makeup and the reddest lipstick imaginable.Take care anon.
>>94289730>Black = EVILCANCEL IT!!!
>>94272898>The Antiquities WarThere's a big-ass collection of old MtG comics on getcomics (There's also Fallen Empires in it) https://getcomics.org/other-comics/magic-gathering-collection/
>>94292746Maybe even by the 90's, that look was rather, dated? Especially the hoop earrings. >>94292322There use to be a blog called "The Multiverse in review", he apparently got in contact with Gomez (the writer of a lot of these comics), and they talked about the Planeswalker war. Jared was going to finally kill Ravindel, but the battle would have basically left battered with one foot in the grave. He would have lived out the rest of his days in peace in White Woods with Kristina. It was always assumed he died in the war, because when Kristina was talking with Urza about recruiting planeswalkers, he wasn't mentioned (but Taysir and Daria was).
>>94293995In this issue you will get to see two tribes of pointy ears kill each other, because they want to both talk to a Force of Nature.
>>94292806Stealing your bike is more of a blue thing though
>>94294047So when Time Spiral came out I couldn't understand why Spitting Slug of all cards was shifted (especially since Hurloon wasn't). When I got into Old School over a decade later, I found that Slug was apparently a fairly popular card in its time. With aggressive stats and being cheap to acquire, it and whirling dervish were cheap efficient green creatures who were popular among the more casual/budget oriented crowd.
>>94294063
>>94294085
>>94294090
>>94294099Bye Spitting Slug. Hello pointy ears.
>>94294104Tap those MF down!
>>94294123I own an Alpha Craw Wurm
>>94294132
>>94294147
>>94294152Here we see our amazonian hunter fall on her ass. Good thing she's a 1/2
>>94294164She really does.... get around
>>94293995>He would have lived out the rest of his days in peace in White Woods with Kristina.They should have never brought him back in Dominaria United, feels kinda sad now. Where even was he when his lover died?
>>94294688Exactly. It was sort of a good way to tie about the other pre-revisionist planeswalkers that never came back. They died in the war
>>94295134We get more of this lovely art style
>>94295179
>>94295194
>>94295203Krista is cute (and a slut)
>>94295208
>>94295211
>>94295216
>>94295216With this, we end issue 2.
>>94295227Gentlemen, I have a sudden assignment up north, so I'll be away from my PC for the next day. I'll try to get issue 3 before I go but if I don't, I should be back by saturday. Happy HalloweenPS: I don't normally share the letters in these, but this one includes world building discriptions over to the side.
>>94295240Happy halloween anon and good luck with your assignment
>>94289746So Jared starts out as Gruul, and then adds white for Naya.. Meanwhile the evil battlemage guy was Dimir. Checks out. The comic predates the factions the color-pairings were named after, but the basic traits associated with different color-pairs were already there, at least for the allied colors (there's a few pre-Ravnica enemy color pair cards, though those are rare, and I think all of them are B+W/G to represent a character that's become corrupted by black mana, or the Phyrexians specifically).>>94295208I'm a sucker for girls with freckles.
>>94295754The evil guy casts plenty of red. Ravindel is definitely Grixis. >>94295255Thanks but I'm not leaving until the morning. So part 3
>>94295792Speaking of, he's alive.
>>94295879Here we see him and Liana fighting for the moxes.
>>94295888
>>94296009It appear we reached image limit, I'll make a new thread.
>>94285699they did release maps for Ixalan and Dominaria on their website but that was well after this era
