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. Team champions: United States of America.
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