Magic: The Gathering
Richard Garfield's 1993 creation, Magic: The Gathering invented the collectible card game genre and became a phenomenon that consumed thousands of hours and dollars from basement dwellers and tournament pros alike. Casting spells, summoning creatures, and crushing opponents with clever deck construction, Magic made trading-card games respectable — and obsessive.
Richard Garfield, a mathematics PhD and game designer, created Magic: The Gathering for the young Seattle publisher Wizards of the Coast. The first set, Limited Edition (Alpha), released in August 1993 with just 295 unique cards, and immediate demand soared. Wizards couldn't print fast enough; Alpha boxes sold out, prices skyrocketed, and speculators treated rare cards like securities. The game's depth was revolutionary: mana management, creature interactions, spell combos, and deck-building theory gave it staying power beyond mere collecting.
By the mid-90s, Magic had spawned professional tournaments, strategy magazines, and an ecosystem of players ranging from casual dorm players to world champions competing for shares of six-figure prize pools. The game's regular expansion sets (4-5 per year) kept the meta fresh and addiction high. Competitors arose (Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh) but Magic, with its complexity and depth, carved out a more strategic niche. It remains one of the most successful trading-card games ever published, with Wizards of the Coast (now owned by Hasbro) still printing new sets and hosting tournaments.
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