1998

The year 1998 was the sixth year of existence for Magic: The Gathering.

Events

Date		Event
Early 1998		Release of the Alternate art APAC land promotional cards.
Winter		Second release of Vanguard cards in the Arena League.
February		Re-release of the Microprose computergame in a special edition named Duels of the Planeswalkers.
February, 23		Release of Stronghold.
March		Start of the Gerrard's Quest comic series published by Dark Horse Comics.
May, 18		First opening of a Wizards of the Coast game store.
June, 8		Release of Exodus, first set to use color-coding of the expansion symbol to indicate the rarity of the cards.
June, 24		Release of Portal Second Age, another attempt to make a simplified Magic set for beginners. First and only depiction of firearms on Magic art.
July		PGI Limited, maker of the Havic: The Bothering parody set, banned from attending GenCon.
August, 11		Release of Unglued, the first supplemental set to be used outside of normal Magic. The first un-set, featuring silver-bordered joke cards.
August		Release of a poker deck box by Wizards of the Coast.
August, 12-16		1998 World Championships in Seattle, USA. Winner is Brian Selden.
Autumn		Third release of Vanguard cards in the Arena League.
September, 26		Prerelease events for Urza's Saga, featuring the first release of a foil card (Lightning Dragon).
October		Release of Urza's Saga, the first set to replace 60-card starter decks with 75-card tournament decks.
Winter		Combo Winter, too many overpowered cards and combos fill the tournament formats.
November		Release of the Anthologies box set.
December		The DCI bans a large amount of cards
		Start of the Magic Junior Super Series, replacing the Junior Pro Tour program
		First Judge Gift cards
		Player of the Year: Jon Finkel
		Rookie of the Year: Randy Buehler
		Magic Invitational winner: Darwin Kastle

Publications

• The Brothers' War (May)
• Rath and Storm (July)
• Planeswalker (September)
• Magic: The Gathering Official Encyclopedia - Volume 3
• The Official Guide to Portal Second Age
• The Official Guide to Urza's Saga
• Advanced Strategy Guide
• The Art of Magic: The Gathering - The Rath Cycle

First involved

Wizards of the Coast

• Chaz Elliott (art director)
• Ron Spears (art director)
• Scott Larabee (organized play)

Artists

Template:Col-begin Template:Col-break Stronghold

• Keith Parkinson
• M.W. Kaluta
• Mark Zug
• Michael Sutfin

Portal Second Age

• Cris Dornaus
• David Horne
• Henry van der Linde
• Jeffrey R. Busch
• Lubov
• Matt Stawicki
• Michael Weaver
• Sam Wood

Exodus

• Ciruleo Cabral
• rk post

Unglued

• Mark Rosewater

Urza's Saga

• Andrew Goldhawk
• Berry
• Brian Despain
• Carl Critchlow
• Christopher Moeller
• Greg Staples
• Henry G. Higgenbotham
• Mark Nelson
• Robh Ruppel
• Ron Spears
• Steve Firchow
• Tom Fleming
• Vincent Evans