Was Magic: The Gathering the First Ever Trading Card Game?

Magic: The Gathering was released by Wizards of the Coast in 1993, far earlier than other popular trading card games like the Pokemon TCG (1996), Yu-Gi-Oh! (1999), and Duel Masters (2004). In fact, Magic was the very first trading card game ever published, and many of the ideas it introduced to the gaming world were truly novel at the time. 

This is why Magic has inspired and influenced basically every TCG that has come out since, and many players still consider Magic the best trading card game ever made.

However, Magic was heavily influenced by popular tabletop role-playing games of its time, and trading cards had already existed for over a hundred years in the form of sports cards and collectible bubblegum cards. Magic has also evolved in the 30+ years since its initial launch, so the game looks very different these days than it did when it was first released.

Read on to learn all about the creation, evolution, and even the future of Magic: The Gathering!

How Magic: The Gathering First Came to Be

Magic: The Gathering was originally created by Richard Garfield while he was attending the University of Pennsylvania for a PhD in combinatorial mathematics. Magic wasn’t the first game Garfield had designed, though, and he actually first met with Wizards of the Coast to discuss an unpublished game he’d made years earlier called RoboRally. 

A card from Magic: The Gathering’s 2004 Unhinged set depicting Richard Garfield, the game’s creator. Image source: Wizards of the Coast

Wizards of the Coast eventually published RoboRally in 1994, but the company actually asked Garfield to design a different game for them at first. Wizards saw a need for a game that could be played quickly and with only a few pieces during downtime at gaming conventions, and they asked Garfield to come up with a game like that. 

To meet this need, Garfield began designing and playtesting the card game that eventually became Magic: The Gathering. Luckily, he didn’t have to start from square one. As he stated on the official Magic: The Gathering website, he’d actually designed a card game in 1982 called Five Magics, the design and mechanics of which were greatly inspired by tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons and Cosmic Encounter. Garfield used Five Magics as the basis for his new game’s design. 

From this mixture of business needs, extant gaming concepts, and repurposed mechanics from Five Magics, Garfield alchemized the Limited Edition Alpha version of Magic in August of 1993. Because of all the playtesting Garfield did with fellow students, the 295 different cards in this initial set already had many defining features modern-day Magic players would recognize: a five-color mana system, beautiful card art, customizable decks, and robust combat rules.

Black Lotus, an infamously overpowered card released in Limited Edition Alpha. This card is so powerful, it allows a crafty player to win on turn one. Image source: Wizards of the Coast

The game proved incredibly popular almost immediately, and the first printing of Magic cards sold out very quickly. Word then spread within the gaming community, warranting rereleases and expansion sets, such as the 1993 Arabian Nights set and the 1994 Antiquities set. The rest is history, and Magic: The Gathering has now been played by over 50 million people worldwide. 

That doesn’t mean Magic and its community simply went on to live happily ever after, though. To stay fresh and competitive as the community grew and new games hit the scene, Magic has had to evolve many times by introducing new cards, banning old cards, and implementing new rules—not all of which have been popular. 

How Magic: The Gathering Has Evolved 

While Magic: The Gathering was a fun and functional game when it was first released in 1993, its staying power and growth is largely due to Wizards of the Coast’s willingness to update the game’s rules and card base. This is why the company has a dedicated branch called Research and Design whose job is to create new sets and come up with fresh mechanics.

This means there are many rules contemporary players have to follow that weren’t part of the game upon release. There were also several mechanics in the base game that went by different names than they do now, such as deathtouch, and some initial mechanics have been phased out altogether, namely mana burn. 

Wizards of the Coast has also changed Magic’s ruleset many times to clear up ambiguities and make the game more balanced. One of the most controversial of these rule updates was the introduction of “the stack”—a mechanic that dictates in what order cards resolve—in 1999’s Sixth Edition (6E). Many players were initially upset by the introduction of the stack because they thought it dumbed the game down, but the stack has been an integral part of the game’s flow ever since. 

The stack and other 6E changes are just a few examples of the many ways that Magic: The Gathering has evolved over the decades. Other changes include card bans, the emergence of professional tournaments, and the implementation of different play formats like Standard, Commander, and Vintage. 

Skullclamp, which was originally introduced in 2004’s Darksteel set, has been banned in several MTG formats to maintain the game’s balance. Image source: Wizards of the Coast

The Future of Magic: The Gathering

Magic: The Gathering is showing no signs of becoming less dominant in the gaming industry. Players still gather every weekend to play together in their homes and neighborhood card shops, and the game first crossed $1 billion in annual revenue in 2022, almost three decades after it launched. 

Additionally, Wizards is always working on and releasing new Magic expansion sets, which add novel mechanics, updated lore, and hundreds of unique cards. You can learn about upcoming sets by checking out the official Magic: The Gathering website.

Magic: The Gathering Arena’s interface. This game allows you to collect virtual cards and battle with competitors online. Image source: Wizards of the Coast

These days, you can even play Magic virtually on your smartphone, tablet, or personal computer through MTG Arena or Spelltable. Still, after all these years, nothing beats collecting physical Magic cards you can play with and trade between your friends. 

Protect Your Trading Card Collection With Goat Armor 

Magic: The Gathering can be an expensive hobby since picking up a new booster pack or deck can cost a pretty penny. However, some Magic cards are immensely valuable, so the hobby can also be considered an investment. For example, one Magic card sold for $2 million in 2023. This means that you should protect your cards from wear and tear as much as possible. 

We can help you there.

At Goat Armor, we create state-of-the-art card binders and toploaders that will keep your cards in pristine condition for decades.

Not only will this enable you to resell them later. It will also allow you to enjoy them with your loved ones and make fun memories for years to come.