Magic's Golden Age

[Killer Joe]

I'm curious, when do YOU think Magic's "Golden Age" was or do you think we're still IN that age?

For me, I think Magic's "Golden Age" was during the time before "Net Decks". I think internet decks really changed the environment therefore changing gameplay tactics and such. Perhaps the years of a "Golden Age" could be between the time of it's introduction (circa 1993) to the summer of '96 (aka "Black Summer" because of the popularity of Necropotence).

I learned how to play during the winter of '95 - '96 but don't consider myself an "Old School" kind of player. I really came of age during the Tempest Block.

How about you, what do you think?

 

[EricBess]

You really want to open this Pandora's box, YJ?

I don't know if I would say there was a "Golden Age" of Magic, but I definitely agree that "Net Decks" went a long way to ruining things. To me, half of the game was trying to come up with a good combination of cards to give yourself an edge over your opponent. Coming up with something new and unexpected should be rewarded.

I fancy myself a decent deck builder, but I would be fooling myself to say that I am exellent in that field. I think I have the first step down. Being able to come up with a good concept and a good set of cards. Problem is, I don't have the time or patience to test and tweak a deck, so I seldom rate with the top players in tournaments.

To me, the game of Magic has various levels of strategy:

1- Building your deck. This to me is at least 40% of the game.
2- Tweaking your deck. This comes with time and testing and is about 20% of the game. Note that this is part of building a deck.
3- Choosing a deck. Choose the right deck based on what you expect to run into and what you think has the best chance of winning. 10% of the game.
4- Play the deck. Don't make errors that cost you a win, etc. 30% of the game.

The problem is, with "Net Decks", step 1 and most of step 2 is already done for you. Plus, it has been done for everyone else too. What that means is that step 1 becomes 0% of the game, step 2 becomes 10% of the game, step 3 becomes 60% of the game. Step 4 remains 30% of the game.

I think people are really missing out because steps 1 and 2 are truely the funnest part of the game. However, they are definitely the parts that take the most time and are the most frustrating. What's more, with net decks it makes it more difficult to compete because these decks have undergone a lot of tweaking and are very good decks. That means that if you are going to compete using all 4 steps, your decks have to be that much better. That means even more time and more frustration in steps 1 and 2.

I remember when you could go into a card shop and pull out your own deck for a "casual" game and not have to worry about getting beaten across the head with a "Net Deck" because your opponent was experimenting also. Not anymore. Now, too many people don't even bother.

 

[rkoelsch]

You could really answer this 2 ways.
Personally my golden age was during Ice Age. I was playing almost everyday and there were 4 or 5 different card shops in a relatively small city. This is when I enjoyed Magic most. Necropotence wasn't thought to be a good card right away. You could buy a Black Lotus for $50 dollars just about anywhere(but who spent that on a card). I remember attending an auction at a card shop where I bid $8 on a Fork and won.

But I think the Golden age for Magic could be just starting. The Invasion Block was very interesting. The banning of Necro shows that the DCI might finally have started to smarten up. Even with all the powerful cards that Invasion has I haven't heard of anything being considered to be banned. Wizards has finally found a way to make older players buy the Basic set. I think black border foils is an excellent idea. The split cards really took me by surprise and renewed the wonder that maybe everything isn't a rehash. So this looks like a good time to be in Magic. As far as Magic shops there are only 2 left. So for me personally it is not a good time to be in Magic.

 

[Spiderman]

First you have to define what "Golden Age" really means.

I liken it to "An Age of Innocence", when no one really knew what mana curves were or the power of drawing cards (aside from Ancestral Recall) or what the cards were before the set came out. In that case, I agree with YJ in the time frame (I'm looking at a Sept. '96 Duelist that has its first article on Magic on the Web).

The Internet speeded up the process of letting "Net Decks" (those that consistently win) available to everyone within days. This is opposed to people wondering what cards were in The Deck and perhaps hearing about it at a convention or when they go out of town and bring the stories back home.

My personal Golden Age or Age of Innocence was in 94 with Revised and Fallen Empires. No one really knew the power of Dual Lands; I think I traded a Tropical Island for a couple of commons like Lightning Bolt. No one knew the crash of speculating on Fallen Empires was coming; everyone bought a couple of boxes in hopes that prices would go up like all expansions before. I didn't buy boxes; I traded my Deserts to my friends back and forth for various cards. I still played for ante because it was exciting and risky to think you might lose a card. And that's how I won my first Serra Angel. No one around me really knew how to build decks anyway, we just threw cards together (with matching lands) and played with the Lucky Charms. That was my Golden Age.

 

[Killer Joe]

Perhaps "Age of Innocence" would be a more appropiate question to ask; when was YOUR "Age of Innocence"?
But back to the "Golden Age" of Magic, when do YOU think it was or is?

 

[Zadok001]

My Golden age is actually right about now - I have a hundred new deck ideas, dozens of chances to play, and high school is almost over completely (~45 minutes left!), meaning I'll have a lot of time to play. I love the current environment, even if I wish WoTC would let us have a FEW cards that don't require 2+ colors to use well. I can't wait for Oddysey, and Magic rules.

 

[Istanbul]

My Age of Innocence would have to be the Unlimited/Antiquities days.
When my friend and I would keep track of how much black mana we'd pumped into our respective Frozen Shades, because the Unlimited ones said 'B: +1/+1' and not 'B: +1/+1 until end of turn'.
When I sold a Mox Emerald for $25 and thought I was doing really well.
When Terror was the universal answer to any irritating creature.
When Force of Nature not only saw play, but STAYED in play...and won, when it did, because there was nothing bigger.
When Circles of Protection were cheating, because once they were in play, only two colors had a way to deal with them.
When you couldn't make land destruction decks, or good white weenie decks, or mono-blue control, because the cards simply didn't exist.
When we all heard that the next expansion might have 'gold' cards, and laughed, wondering what kind of mana they'd cost.
When card sleeves were two nouns that had BETTER not go together, you cheater.
When getting four copies of a rare card was next to impossible, no matter what it was.
When 'X-spell' meant Fireball, Disintegrate, or Stream of Life. And that's that.

Yeah, I'm friggin' old. But you know what? Magic was FUN back then. There were no snide, arrogant little kids telling you how much your deck sucked, because theirs was as bad or worse. There were no netdecks; either you learned how to 'roll your own', as it were, or you got stomped but good. There were no tournaments...friends played friends. Sometimes for ante, sometimes not.

*sigh* And yes, I think that was Magic's golden age. When it wasn't a profession, or a status symbol for the arrogant, or a let's-see-who's-richer contest...it was just friends having fun. That's what a game should be.

 

[Mr_Pestilence]

To me, casual Magic's "Golden Age" is when I get an idea for a new deck. I've built hundreds of different types of theme decks over the years, and I never get tired of it.

As far as competitive Magic goes, the "Golden Age" was when I could build a new deck the day of the tournament, and do pretty well with it. I like seeing new and unusual decks, and I hate knowing 90% of my opponent's deck after his first turn. Playing Fires, Rebels, or a deck full of counterspells round after round just gets boring, even if I happen to be winning.