''Apprentice'' is a program that assists in playing ''

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 ...

'' over the Internet and maintains a searchable

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases ...

of ''Magic'' cards. It was developed by Dragonstar Studios from 1996 to 1999 and based on an earlier program from 1995 by Tan Thor Jen. Christopher Warden, owner of Dragonstar Studios, acquired the

source code In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the ...

for the original 1995 Apprentice, which was written in

Visual Basic Visual Basic is a name for a family of programming languages from Microsoft. It may refer to: * Visual Basic .NET (now simply referred to as "Visual Basic"), the current version of Visual Basic launched in 2002 which runs on .NET * Visual Basic ( ...

. It was then ported to

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The orac ...

by Mike Allen and after creation of the 1.0 port development was continued by Ryan Davis. The last release was in the version 1.4 branch and a 2.0 branch, developed by Davis, was promised in the future. However, Dragonstar Studios disbanded. In 2007 Apprentice 2.0 was

open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized so ...

d on

SourceForge SourceForge is a web service that offers software consumers a centralized online location to control and manage open-source software projects and research business software. It provides source code repository hosting, bug tracking, mirroring ...

. In 2012 Apprentice started being updated again, with a new website created.

Gameplay

''Apprentice'' lacks a rules engine; the game moves forward by the players typing out their current actions. ''Apprentice'' simply provides an interface that can keep track of the current phase of the game; cards in play and their current state; and cards in the graveyard. There is no concept of card ownership; players may use as many copies of a card as they would like in decks they create. Cards which interact with sideboards such as the ''

Judgment Judgement (or US spelling judgment) is also known as ''adjudication'', which means the evaluation of evidence to make a decision. Judgement is also the ability to make considered decisions. The term has at least five distinct uses. Aristotle s ...

'' "wishes" or the '' Dissension'' split card Research/Development are not implemented directly, and are instead usually adjudicated by creating temporary new cards on the spot. The old 1.46 is

freeware Freeware is software, most often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for the ...

and is downloadable without need for either charge or registration. The current version is free while it is in beta, pricing model of full version is currently unknown. However, when Dragonstar Studios disbanded, they did not release the Apprentice 1.0

due to the legal agreement between them and Wizards of the Coast. Hence, the 1.0 branch is frozen in time without the possibility of any future upgrades or bugfixes. However, the simple data format used to store cards has allowed new sets to be added and the registry of cards updated. ''Apprentice'' was officially acknowledged and licensed 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 science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games. It is currently a subsidia ...

, as it only uses publicly available rules and lists of cards.

Netdraft

Netdraft is the main program used by both ''Apprentice'' and ''

Magic Workstation ''Magic Workstation'' (or MWS) is a program created by Magi-Soft that assists in playing '' Magic: The Gathering'' and other card games over the Internet and maintains a searchable database of ''Magic'' cards. Users of the free version of the game ...

'' to support "drafts," a popular limited format. Netdraft hosts up to 8 players who may draft from any magic set. This includes

out of print __NOTOC__ An out-of-print (OOP) or out-of-commerce item or work is something that is no longer being published. The term applies to all types of printed matter, visual media, sound recordings, and video recordings. An out-of-print book is a boo ...

sets as well as the most recent set in the interval between the Prerelease event and the street release. Unlike the original ''Apprentice'', Netdraft has been occasionally updated, and is currently spartan but functional.

Backwash

''Apprentice''s usage was threatened with the proliferation of the "Backwash" program which allowed undetectable cheating; for example, the ordering of each player's library. This program threatened the viability of ''Apprentice'' in leagues where any kind of prizes were available. An update was created that allegedly allowed the staff to check for the use of such 'cheat' programs, however. Apprentice 2.0 includes encryption to prevent these types of exploits.

Supported games

Games currently supported are

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 ...

and Star Trek Customizable Card Game (2nd Edition only as of now), more games are planned to be added.

References

External links