Thursday, February 1, 2018

Magi Nation Duel History - Fans and the Future

In the last article on Magi-Nation Duel, we featured the storyline tournament and set release history.  These were gathered from all information still available, showcasing how a card game company can allow its fans to add elements to the story, and make them feel more involved in the lore by directly being able to influence the results.

Yet, like many early 2000s trading card games, Magi-Nation Duel was financially unsuccessful, and Interactive Imagination was unable to continue operation- and so, officially, the game died.

But fans are fans, and events continued on.  There were several events that still host tournaments for the game, and some started with official Interactive Imagination sponsored events, like the League activities.  Check out some of the images below, as we cover the history of fun-based organized play, and a quick list of memories of other events hosted by fans.  The second part of the article will cover what's currently been ongoing in the past few years and now, as the Magi-Nation community goes on in the second decade of the twenty first century.

After organized play and other concerns arose with the game, more fan-initiatives began.  We were able to find a variety of images from events and special hosting activities from the 2000s, but are still working at getting more information!

Snowball's Chance in d'Resh Event (2003)

This fan run named event was run on March 23rd, 2003. 

Event information:

The location is set, Interzone Comics & Cards in Gresham, Oregon.

In Addition to the main tournament we will be hosting:

  • Saturday the 22nd at 1PM - League For a DayMissed out on year one? Well here's your chance. When you show up you'll be given a special map. This map will have 3 paths. Tracker, Keeper, and Ringsmith. Tracker is 1 on 1 play. Keeper is helping out the MND community. Ringsmith is group play. There is no Regional Advantage. Each time you complete a path you will get a random sticker from year one. The first person to complete all 3 paths will get a Set of the Year one Promos (1 of each Magi, 3 each of the Creatures, Relics & Spells), Stickers and Posters. Plus they will get a set of the Preview Season Promo Cards. And each player who signs up for the Strategic Magi-Nation (prepaying) and Snowball's Chance in d'Resh (prepaying) will get bonus year one Promos and and bonus points.

  • Saturday the 22nd at 6:30PM - Strategic Magi-Nation FormatAn all new format! This will be played with single duel decks. Each Region is fighting for control of the moonlands, which region will you support? Each region elects a leader, and that leader decides where each of their "generals" attacks! Who will in in this all out war for dominance? Winner, 2nd, 3rd, and Sportsman will get March 2i tournament support and a couple extras.
  • Based on the format used at the cons last year this promises to be a fun event for the people who don't make the top 16! More info as it is availible. Winner, 2nd, 3rd, and Sportsman will get March 2i tournament support and a couple extras.
The winner received custom fan art by Lou Holstein, and fan art by Whyrl.  Posted below.  Prizes included:
  • A box of Voice of the Storm boosters
  • 1000 Animite
  • Prints of Lou Holsten's Magi-Nation Fan Art
  • Snowball's Chance Original Pencils by Lou Holsten
  • A Custom Piece By Lou Holsten
  • A Custom Piece By Katura/Zarin Ficklin
  • A sealed copy of the Magi-Nation Game Boy Color game
  • Insiider Points
  • Insiider RPG "Stuff"
  • Approximately 400 Year One League Promos
  • 30+ Promo Cards
  • 5+ Signed Promo Cards
  • A Power of the Creators Signed by Phill Tavel
  • A Power of the Creators Signed by Ed Bolme
  • 1 Japanese "Smiling" Dan
  • 2 Japanese "Smiling" Dan Signed by Dan Tibbles! (Only 3 of these exist according to Tibbles)

I have been offered "Prize Packs" by the following persons:

  • Mike Liesik, Mike Neimat & Mike Christopher of 2i.
  • 2i Artist Matt Holmberg
  • 2i Artist Rich Werner (Who is looking into attending the tournament!)

Title art for this event is missing, and still be searched for.  All of this information was found on the dead website: http://home.attbi.com/~houseflygames/












The Duel in the Desert Tournament (2003)

This was an event hosted by ROMzombie at the Phoenix Arizona Hexacon 13 in 2003.
More information is being sought about this event.  Held Saturday, July 26th, 2003, 12pm


Blue Furok

The website bluefurok.com is a still maintained Magi-Nation fan site, hosting the most reliable access to all card images, as well as having work done to create custom cards to attempt to continue the game. 


User Novelty Nostalgia, or just Novelty - designed and created multiple custom card small sets for the game, and 4 of them are still available on the site!  

Elder's Legacy Released in November 2004

Shadowsfall Released May 2005

Tainted Glimpses Released May 2006

Keeper's Quest Released May 2006

Twilight War Released May 2007

several others were in design, though they seem to be lost to time!

Current Events - Reddit Tournaments (2015-2018)

Once Reddit became a force, a Magi-Nation Duel subreddit appeared, and the fans there began hosting tournaments.  So far, 5 tournaments have been hosted since 2015.  These events are all hosted on Lackey, a system to play CCGs online. 

Inaugural Tournament had 8 players in 2015.  The winner was TechnomagusPrime.

The second event, The Regional Tournament, had a restriction where players could only use cards from the region they drafted.  It had 13 players, and was a swiss style event in 2015.  The winner was Khaotyk aka Daedleus.

The third event, the No Restrictions Tournament, had no regional penalty or restriction.  It allowed players to try a variety of different strategies that aren't normally allowed in Magi Nation Duel.  Seven players participated in 2015, and Khaotyk (Daedleus) again was the winner.

The fourth event, a Standard tournament, followed normal tournament rules, and allowed the cards from the Traitor's Reach expansion- and the previously untested Daybreak expansion, which has all the card text online and available.  The event had 4 players in early 2017, and Hershomc was the final winner.

The most recent event, taking ideas from 2i to make a:

Fan Storyline Tournament: Seeds of Chaos 

It was run and completed in early 2018.  11 players battled for a new story in the moonlands,with the winner being WBSam.  You can see the results and swiss Bracket here.  The fan storyline starts here.  Yaki, picking up where the official storyline left off, uses his corrupted core-sight to start tracking some of the shadow magi's dangerous elements across the moonlands!

More to come, more to see.  The game continues.  Energize your dreams. 

Monday, January 1, 2018

Magi-Nation League and Events for Fans

In a continued effort to catalogue events and promoted things from Magi-Nation Duel, this post is going to cover other materials from the Magi-Nation League, and Tavel's Travels, two larger scale events for Fans of the game to enjoy!  Images below are from all 7 Season Posters.

Tavel's Travels (2001)


Phil Tavel was one of the original creators of the Magi-Nation Duel, and for an official Interactive Imagination promotion, Phil traveled across continental North America to meet fans, do some gun-slinging (games against players for prizes), and sign cards.  Phil visited 30 stores in around 2 months, meeting fans, and challenging players to win a Powers of the Creators promo. 


This is one of the only images remaining of Tavel's Travels throughout game stores, showing Tavel (second from the right) signing a card for fans.  

For one store, Tavel scheduled specific gunslinging battles that would be recorded as a story for fans to read against two of the highest online ranked players in the country, and the story was published on the main Magi-Nation page, alongside which his travel schedule, and winner's list is published.  Read that article for more details on the history!

The Magi-Nation League (2002-2003)

The Magi-Nation League was Interactive Imagination's (2i) project to keep people playing the game in stores while introducing them to the game and not just to the tournament/competitive side of things of Magi-Nation Duel. 

The test League was run to see if there was interest in a Magi-Nation League structure, which there was.  Some specific materials were made for this season, such as sew-on patches and paper activities. 







Image restoration by Foghammer!

If you completed each path on the league trackers (see the "Fans and the Future" article for those), you earned stickers!  You could put them on your folder too for that.

The second year of leagues was in the making, with cards designed for Kybar's Teeth already, but then the company failed.  So 5 regions still away their rings, gifts, and special limited, creatures, perhaps to be released someday....







Much like other TCGs' leagues, the Magi-Nation League had seasons (7 of them) where players had a track to earn stamps and points on by the games they played in store, following seasons based on the first six regions released in the game, as well as a test league season before that (for Underneath).  Below are the images of the League seasons.   

The Test League season was held to let 2i try and see if there was interest in running leagues, and what supplies were worthwhile.

Naroom Season.  Each season had three paths to promos- Elder, Tracker, and Ringsmith.

Underneath Season.  Each mat had original art from the Magi Nation artists.

The Cald Season.  Each path would get you different promos.  The Elder path earned Magi, the Ringsmith path earned 'Ring' relics, and the Tracker path earned a 'gift' spell.

The Orothe Season.  The best season.  This author is biased towards mer-people.

Arderial Season.  This season was mid to late 2002 at this point, and 2i was beginning to show signs of struggling to continue.

The Core Season. The last season for the first year of the Magi Nation league, there were plans for the second year having the other six regions, and promos were made for Kybar's Teeth, which were released as tournament promos instead once 2i found it unfeasible to release a second set of seasons. 

Friday, December 29, 2017

Magi-Nation Duel: Tavel's Travels

This was the story published on the Magi-Nation Duel website, about Phil Tavel's travels across America to visit game stores and play against players young and old!  He challenged players in all the game stores he came across, and those who managed to beat him would earn a 'Powers of the Creators' card. 





Tavel’s Travels, 2001
Amazing Discoveries- Tucson, AZ

By Marcello Bolivar
12/19/01

Storm clouds were brewing as Phil entered Amazing Discoveries in Tucson, Arizona. The store held many excited duelers eager to lock horns with the Creator. From within the crowd stepped forward two of Magi-Nation's most potent duelers. Within minutes Phil was sitting down to face off against Stephan Classen, while Taylor Harter patiently bided his time.

As Phil and Stephan prepared to duel, the excited group crowded around to witness the encounter. As the players pulled out their decks, their region preferences quickly became apparent: Phil was going to play his vaunted Naroom deck while Stephan had chosen to fly the Arderial banner.

As play began, Stephan revealed Delia as his leadoff Magi and swiftly brought out a torrent of Vellups. The formidable wall of creatures at the conclusion of his turn demonstrated why Delia is often affectionately dubbed "Lady Vellup."

Not to be outdone, Phil followed Stephan's solid opening round with his own flurry of creatures. The lovable Naroom Magi Evu arrayed a Furok, a Plith, a Balamant, and a Bwill before him. As the first round of play ended, both players seemed poised for a long struggle.

Stephan forcefully dispelled that notion by using Warrior Boots to pull in an Ayebaw. Under a Vellup and Ayebaw assault, Evu soon found himself without creatures to protect him from defeat.

Phil began his next round with his second Magi, Orwin, seeking to balance the scales. Delia soon found herself caving under a Naroom onslaught led by a cuddly Furok. The momentum shift was short-lived, however, as Stephan called in Sorreah to establish Arderial dominance over the arena of play. The next two rounds were an efficient display of Arderial power as Stephan pulled out the whole Xyx arsenal to defeat Orwin and Yaki in quick order. A gracious and deserving victor, Stephan found himself one of the elite owners of a Power of the Creators card.

Taylor Harter now stepped forward from the wings seeking to avenge a prior loss to Phil at Gen Con this past summer. It was fitting that Taylor chose the Core as his region, considering the Core's recent capture of the Great Library of Naroom.

Opening with Warrada, Taylor started out slowly by simply putting out a Chaos Jile. Phil however, wasted no time with Evu. After Evu's obligatory Vortex of Knowledge, he used Warrior Boots to bring in a Furok to defeat the Chaos Jile, then followed that up by bringing out an Eebit, a Plith, a Bwill, and a Balamant.

Seeing the opposing forces before him, Taylor sprung his trap. He wasted no time in turning Phil's Balamant and using essence of Naroom to take over his Plith, which then attacked Phil's Eebit. The dark powers of Core were not finished however, as Taylor then used Agram's Plaything to overcome the Bwill and dispatch Evu.

The game was fierce, as Taylor used Core's manipulative powers to repeatedly take control of Phil's gauntlet of creatures. Phil counterbalanced the Core's evil ways by transforming his remaining creatures into relentless energy-draining machines.

The game saw Magi after Magi fall to defeat. First Naroom's Evu fell, followed shortly by Warrada, the true power behind the current throne of Core. That left Agram to face Orwin once and future ruler of the Core versus the great Elder of Naroom. Weary from battle, Orwin fell at last to Agram's dark attack. Yaki came forward to carry the banner and vanquish Agram, but that reprieve was short-lived as Zet emerged to push the forces of evil to eventual victory.

Having avenged his earlier defeat, Taylor happily accepted his Power of the Creators card. With two of Magi-Nation's top-ranked players and two PotCs as newfound plunder, Arizona's duelers served notice that they are a force to be reckoned with in the World of Magi-Nation.


Phil Tavel's Creature Beat-Down Deck
Magi
1st Evu
2nd Orwin
3rd Yaki

Creatures
2 Balamant
2 Bwill
2 Eebits
1 Forest Hyren
2 Furok
1 Giant Carillion
1 Leaf Hyren
1 Plith
2 Pylofuf
2 Stagadan
2 Twee
2 Wasperine
2 Weebo

Relics
2 Energy Band
2 Rayje's Belt
2 Relic Stalkers
2 Robe of Vines
1 Tomorrow's Jewel
3 Warrior Boots
2 Water of Life

Spells
2 Bottomless Pit
1 Grow
2 Resonate
2 Shockwave
2 Tap Roots
2 Umm...No
1 Vortex of Knowledge

Stephan Classen's Arderial Deck
Magi
1st Delia
2nd Sorreah
3rd Ora

Creatures
2 Ayebaw
3 Elder Vellup
2 Lovian
3 Vellup
2 Xyx
2 Xyx Elder
3 Xyx Minor

Relics
1 Alaban Gloves
2 Rayje's Belt
2 Storm Rising
3 Warrior Boots
2 Water of Life

Spells
2 Beam of Light
2 Cataclysm
2 Lightning
3 Shockwave
1 Shooting Star
2 Sorreah's Dream
2 Thunderquake

Taylor Harter's Core Deck
Magi
1st Warrada
2nd Agram
3rd Zet

Creatures
1 Chaos Jile
2 Chaos Plith
3 Core Grag
1 Darkbreed Hyren
2 Koil
3 Shadow Vinoc
3 Wudge

Relics
2 Agram's Plaything
1 Essence of Naroom
2 Rayje's Band
2 Rayje's Belt
2 Rayje's Boots
3 Shadow Bones
2 Shadow Cloak
2 Tomorrow's Jewel
3 Warriors Boots

Spells
2 Blight
3 Corrupt
1 Dream Rift
3 Turn
1 Vaporize

Here was his full tour schedule and list of winners! 

Date Location City Winner
Tues 11/6/2001 Wizards of the Coast Tukwila, WA
Thurs 11/8/2001 Beckmon's Cards Twin Falls, ID
Thurs 11/8/2001 Mystic Comics Logan UT
Fri 11/9/2001 Attactix Aurora, CO
Fri 11/9/2001 CollectorMania Parker, CO
Sat 11/10/2001 Wizards of the Coast Broomfield, CO
Mon 11/12/2001 Reader's World Springfield, IL Dave Autzen
Tues 11/13/2001 The Game Preserve Indianapolis, IN Travis McKinney



Michael Welling



Andrew Steckley
Wed 11/14/2001 Be A Gamer West Dundee, IL Tim Kouba



Noel Meyer
Tues 11/20/2001 Collectible Investments Berkley, MI Shane Reeves



Chris Staunton



Khris McKee
Tues 11/20/2001 The Guardtower Columbus, OH
Sat 11/24/2001 New World Manga Livingston, NJ Taylor Nummi



Joe Montalbano
Mon 11/26/2001 Wizards of the Coast Garden City, NY
Tues 11/27/2001 The Game Castle Londonderry, NH
Wed 11/28/2001 Jumpgate Portsmouth, NH
Wed 11/28/2001 The Knight's Quest Gardner, MA Vince Sosa



John White III



Jeremy Coulomb
Wed 11/28/2001 Griffon Games Greenfield, MA Tim Adan



Colton MacLeay
Thurs 11/29/2001 Sarge's Comics London, CT
Thurs 11/29/2001 The Gamer's Realm Windsor, NJ
Fri 11/30/2001 Dream Wizards Rockville, MD Graham Bannon
Fri 11/30/2001 Wizards of the Coast Hanover, MD Nathaniel Wise
Tues 12/4/2001 Dr. Bob's Game Shop Huntsville, AL
Wed 12/5/2001 Ground Zero Mobile, AL
Thurs 12/6/2001 The Strategy Center Clermont, FL Bob Hutchison



Jeff North



Jason Edgley
Thurs 12/13/2001 Lone Star Comics Hurst, TX Jeffrey A. Sass



Justin McDonough
Sat 12/15/2001 Amazing Discoveries Tucson, AZ Stephan Classen



Taylor Harter



Robert Davidson
Sat 12/15/2001 Wizards of the Coast Mesa, AZ Tom Scott
Mon 12/17/2001 DNA Cards and Comics Pacifica, CA CJ Vossen



Tim Gin



Simon Lai



John Peralta



March Johnson
Tues 12/18/2001 Bizarro World Davis, CA Lazarus Agbowo Jr.



Jared Tholer



Shivam Bhatt
Wed 12/19/2001 A-1 Comics Roseville, CA Denver Martin



Patrick Sander



Carey Cox



Matthew Momsen


 Finally, here are some of the surviving images from his journey!

Mesa, AZ

Twin Falls, ID

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Bablovia and other Silly Things

Welcome to the wacky world of UN!



Bablovia is Magic's newest world, based on silly behavior, jokes, and basic mayhem.  It is the setting of the third Un- (silver bordered) set, for jokes, hilarity, and fun, Unstable!

The world class intro to Bablovia!

Un-sets and silver bordered cards are all about what's possible in a card game but not generally possible in Magic: the Gathering black border competitive formats.  Un-sets also have a lot of comedy, jokes, and fun creature types, without the constraints of world connections, story line, or specific settings.  Here for your enjoyment are the listings of history and flavor elements of various Un-sets. 

Jokes!



there are ton of jokes in Un-sets, so these articles give a few of them away!


Unglued had a large number of jokes.  Unfortunately, most of them weren't online yet, as the Duelist covered most articles on Magic.  But here are some of them, at least!

Unglued! Jokes, "get it??"


Unhinged was the sequel to Unglued, as Unglued 2 never made it to print.  It would be 9 years later until we saw another Unset, Unstable!

Promos of Unhinged!

Get it?  Unhinged Part 1.


Get it?  Unhinged Part 2.



Unstable is finally released in 2017, and there are many new fun mechanics: here are the explanations behind the cards! 

Scraps part 1.   Part 2.

A good description of many of the art designs for Unstable.

There are text and flavor variants!




A fun thing, Wizards of the Coast sends out a silver-bordered Holiday card each year: You can see them all and their wallpaper here.

Unseen!  Unglued 2 never made it to print, but Maro has shown off a variety of ideas and cards, including poisonous vegetable creatures!

Unseen 1Unseen 2!