Magic Invitational
- For the 2019 event, see Mythic Invitational.
The Magic Invitational Tournament (initially the Duelist Invitational after The Duelist Magazine) was an annual Magic: The Gathering tournament where the sixteen best players of the past year are invited to duel in various formats, which ran from 1997 until 2007.[1]
Description
The played formats usually were specialty formats that were never played in other officially sanctioned tournaments, e.g. Auction of the People, and sometimes were experimental or specifically created for the tournament.[2] Mark Rosewater also sometimes designed special stickered cards for these formats.[3] In 2000 he recosted existing cards.[4] Played formats were switched every few rounds. The tournament itself was Round Robin, meaning that every player plays each other at least once, across many formats.
After the Round Robin portion was completed, the best two players played a finale which usually consisted of an array of formats previously played in the tournament. The winner of the tournament was allowed to design a card that would see printing on a later date after Research & Development had its input on it to make it feasible for a Magic set. The artwork of the designed card featured the likeness of the tournament's winner.
The tournament started in 1997 [5] and was held until 2007, but hasn't been held since.[6][7][8] As part of the Organized Play Department's refocusing on grassroots programs, the Invitational was cut from the schedule.[9][10]
Invitationals returned in another form with the 2019 Mythic Invitational, but these didn't feature specially designed cards for the winner. However, 2019 also saw the introduction of Player Spotlights in Throne of Eldraine.[11] These are similar to the Invitational Cards but depict the current World Champion instead.
Magic Invitational winners and their cards
- Note: Even though Olle Rade won the first Invitational, his card was only the fifth card by an Invitational winner to be published. This was due to the circumstances that Rade quit Magic rather soon after the tournament without asking for his prize. He later made a comeback and asked Wizards of the Coast if he could still get his prize for this Tournament. Wizards agreed under the condition that Rade, who had since shaven his head, would be depicted in the Art with the long blond hair he had when he won the tournament.
Public voted Invitational cards
In addition, during the 2005 Tournament Wizards of the Coast held a public vote among the users of their website for the most popular card among the submissions which would also be printed after going through the usual R&D process but without featuring the winner in the art. The winning card was submitted by Tsuyoshi Fujita and was eventually turned into Gemstone Caverns.
Formats Used, By Year
As mentioned, Invitationals used a variety of usual and unusual formats. These were:
Year | Formats Used |
---|---|
February 1997[22] |
|
January 1998[23] |
|
February 1999[24] |
|
March 2000[25][26] |
|
November 2000[25] |
|
October 2001[28] |
|
October 2002[32] |
This was the first year of the Invitational being played in Magic Online, and strange formats were therefore limited.
|
May 2004[34][35] |
|
May 2005[36] |
|
May 2006[38] |
|
October 2007[41][42] | This year, the Invitational returned to paper Magic
|
References
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (January 31, 2005). "When You Wish Upon an All-Star". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (November 17, 2022). "I was asked last week to track down the card lists for the 1997 and 1998 Duelist Invitational Duplicate Limited events.". Twitter.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (February, 2002). "Ask Wizards - February, 2002". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (February 9, 2023). "2000 Magic Invitational Duplicate Sealed Card List". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (May 10, 2004). "All-Star Studded". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (April 18, 2005). "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little All-Star". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (January 30, 2006). "Thank Your Lucky All-Stars". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (October 29, 2007). "All-Star Trek". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (August 11, 2008). "In the Mailbag". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (February 11, 2018). "Do you know why the invitational stopped?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (July 21, 2019). "Project Booster Fun". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Magic Arcana (June 10, 2002). "Five Years in the Making". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ 1998 Duelist Invitational
- ↑ Magic: The Gathering Invitational 2000
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (May 7, 2004). "Format of Duelist Invitational". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Magic Arcana (October 21, 2002). "Thoren wins Invitational". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Randy Buehler (September 26, 2003). "Post-Development Digest". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Zvi Mowshowitz (May 31, 2004). "The Future is Bright". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Magic Arcana (May 23, 2005). "Terry Soh Wins Magic Invitational 2005!". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Doug Beyer (November 12, 2008). "Topic Explosion". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Monty Ashley (October 24, 2011). "The Saga of Snapcaster Mage". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Format of Duelist Invitational 1997 via Internet Archive
- ↑ Format of Duelist Invitational 1998 via Internet Archive
- ↑ Format of Duelist Invitational 1999 via Internet Archive
- ↑ a b Magic Invitational Formats and Winners, Demonic Tutor forums
- ↑ Magic Invitational Cards - Magic Rarities
- ↑ Magic: The Gathering Invitational 2000 Duplicate Sealed Preview - Randy Buehler
- ↑ 2001 Magic Invitational
- ↑ Auction of the People Decks - Mark Rosewater
- ↑ Auction of the People: Introduction
- ↑ Duplicate Limited Intro - Mark Rosewater
- ↑ Live Coverage of 2002 Magic Invitational
- ↑ Auction of the People 2002
- ↑ a b Formats for the 2004 Magic Invitational
- ↑ Live Coverage of the 2004 Magic Invitational
- ↑ Invitational 2005 Coverage
- ↑ Up for Auction (2005 Auction of the People Decklists)
- ↑ The Field is Set (2006) - Brian David-Marshall - summary of formats and invites
- ↑ Building the Duplicate Sealed Card Pool - Aaron Forsythe
- ↑ 2006 Magic Invitational Auction of the Geniuses
- ↑ a b Auctions, Cubes, and Winstons... Oh My! (Formats and Invites, 2007) - Brian David-Marshall
- ↑ Event Coverage Magic Invitational 2007