''The Duelist'' (or simply ''Duelist'' as it was renamed) was a

trading card game A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategy game, strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with ''Magic: The Gathering'' in ...

magazine published by

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for ga ...

History

The first full issue was distributed in Fall 1993 as a quarterly

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

to accompany the increasingly popular ''

Magic: The Gathering ''Magic: The Gathering'' (colloquially known as ''Magic'' or ''MTG'') is a Tabletop game, tabletop and Digital collectible card game, digital Collectible card game, collectable card game created by Richard Garfield. Released in 1993 by Wizards ...

. Prior the 1st issue, a special one-time Duelist Issue #0 was released and given away at Gen Con 1993. It later became a monthly gaming magazine in March 1995 with simply a focus on the

collectible card game A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategy game, strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with ''Magic: The Gathering'' in ...

and trading card game industry before publication ceased in September 1999. The magazine was based in

Renton, Washington Renton is a city in King County, Washington, and an inner-ring suburb of Seattle. Situated southeast of downtown Seattle, Renton straddles the southeast shore of Lake Washington, at the mouth of the Cedar River. As of the 2020 census, the ...

. As Magic grew, a companion newsletter (''The Duelist Companion'') was sent out to ''The Duelist'' subscribers in between magazine releases; eventually this was dropped in favor of bimonthly magazine circulation, and still later a monthly magazine. ''The Duelist'' ran for 41 issues (42 if Duelist #0 is counted). The magazine was replaced with ''Topdeck'', which was canceled in February 2001 after 15 issues, partially due to cutting costs as a result of Hasbro's purchase of Wizards of the Coast, but also due to competition from Internet resources. Wizards was already publishing '' The Sideboard'', which was dedicated solely to Magic

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

play that eventually was reborn as an online publication, and in ''The Duelist's'' wake, some of the content from the magazine merged with ''The Sideboard'' to create magicthegathering.com.

What initially separated ''The Duelist'' from other card magazines of its time, such as ''

InQuest An inquest is a judicial inquiry in common law jurisdictions, particularly one held to determine the cause of a person's death. Conducted by a judge, jury, or government official, an inquest may or may not require an autopsy carried out by a coro ...

'' or ''

Scrye ''SCRYE'' (''Scrye Collectible Card Game Checklist and Price Guide'') was a gaming magazine published from 1994 to April 2009 by Scrye, Inc. It was the longest-running periodical to have reported on the collectible card game hobby. It was also t ...

'', was its detailed pages. Each issue featured a key artist who created a unique cover (often based on an existing Magic card) and whose art was showcased inside the issue; however in later issues, these art features were discontinued. In addition to its artwork, the magazine also included articles on various strategies, game design articles, fiction from ''Magic'' storylines, product checklists, rules questions, ''Magic'' tournament coverage; even ''Magic'' puzzles were eventually introduced. Price-lists would be included as well.

Phil Foglio Philip Foglio (born May 1, 1956) is an American cartoonist and comic book artist known for his humorous science fiction and fantasy art. Early life and career Foglio was born on May 1, 1956, in Mount Vernon, New York, and moved with his family to ...

and his wife Kaja resurrected Phil's former ''

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

'' strip "What's New?", which ran for almost the entire life of ''The Duelist'', and a deck-construction column called ''Excuse Me, Mr. Suitcase?'' ("Mr. Suitcase" being a reference to the large collections of cards that some players would carry with them) was among the other regular features. ''Magic: The Gathering'' creator

Richard Garfield Richard Channing Garfield (born June 26, 1963) is an American mathematician, inventor and game designer. Garfield created '' Magic: The Gathering'', which is considered to be the first collectible card game (CCG). ''Magic'' debuted in 1993 and it ...

often wrote the quizzical back column of the magazine. ''The Duelist'' was known to occasionally give out promotional cards from upcoming ''Magic: The Gathering'' releases. In addition to Magic, it also served as a way for Wizards to introduce players to other products it owned, including the moderately obscure '' Vampire: The Eternal Struggle'' and the more popular ''

Legend of the Five Rings Legend of the Five Rings (often abbreviated ''L5R'') is a fictional setting created by John Zinser, Dave Seay, Ryan Dancey, Dave Williams, DJ Trindle, Matt Wilson and John Wick and first published by a joint venture between Alderac Entertai ...

''. Other card games were profiled, such as ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'', ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'', and the ''

Pokémon Trading Card Game The , abbreviated as ''PTCG'' or ''Pokémon TCG'', is a collectible card game developed by Creatures Inc. based on the ''Pokémon'' franchise. It was first published in October 1996 by Media Factory in Japan. In the US, it was first published ...

''. ''Magic'' gradually lost the magazine's focus as it put more emphasis on up-and-coming card games; with Pokémon's immediate

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

n success, ''The Duelist'' was converted into a dual-format publication, with general separate sections for Magic and Pokémon. By this time, it had already expanded to covering

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

s and others.

Reception

''The Duelist'' won the

Origins Award The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so (for example) the 1979 aw ...

for ''Best Professional Gaming Magazine of 1994''.

References

External links

Official site for Magic: The Gathering
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duelist, The Monthly magazines published in the United States Quarterly magazines published in the United States Card game magazines Defunct magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1993 Magazines disestablished in 1999 Magazines published in Washington (state) Magic: The Gathering publications Origins Award winners Wizards of the Coast magazines

History

Contents

Reception

References

External links