The Duelist
Encyclopedia
The Duelist was created in late 1994 as a quarterly magazine
produced by Wizards of the Coast
to accompany the increasingly popular Magic: The Gathering
trading card game. It later became a monthly gaming magazine with simply a focus on the collectible card game
and trading card game industry before publication ceased in September 1999.
What initially separated The Duelist from other card magazines of its time, such as InQuest
or Scrye
, 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. Pricelists would be included as well. Phil Foglio
and his wife Kaja
resurrected Phil's former Dragon
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
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.
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. Other card games were profiled, such as Star Trek, Star Wars, and the Pokémon Trading Card Game
. Magic gradually lost the magazine's focus as it put more emphasis on up-and-coming card games; with Pokémon's immediate North America
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 games and others.
The Duelist ran for 41 issues. The magazine was replaced with Topdeck, which was more focused on Pokémon and had relatively little to do with Magic, trying to capitalize on a younger age group. Topdeck was canceled 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 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.
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
produced by Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games...
to accompany the increasingly popular Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering , also known as Magic, is the first collectible trading card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Magic continues to thrive, with approximately twelve million players as of 2011...
trading card game. It later became a monthly gaming magazine with simply a focus on the collectible card game
Collectible card game
thumb|Players and their decksA collectible card game , also called a trading card game or customizable card game, is a game played using specially designed sets of playing cards...
and trading card game industry before publication ceased in September 1999.
What initially separated The Duelist from other card magazines of its time, such as InQuest
Inquest
Inquests in England and Wales are held into sudden and unexplained deaths and also into the circumstances of discovery of a certain class of valuable artefacts known as "treasure trove"...
or Scrye
Scrye
SCRYE is a discontinued gaming magazine that was published from 1994 to 2009. It was the longest-running periodical to have ever reported on the collectible card game hobby. It was also the leading print resource for secondary-market prices on Magic: The Gathering...
, 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. Pricelists would be included as well. Phil Foglio
Phil Foglio
Philip "Phil" Foglio is an American cartoonist and comic book artist best known for his humorous science fiction and fantasy work.-Early life and career:...
and his wife Kaja
Kaja Foglio
Kaja Foglio is a Seattle-based writer, artist, and publisher. Foglio co-won the first Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story in 2009 for Girl Genius, Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones, and has continued to co-win two Hugo Awards the following years.-Early life and education:Born in...
resurrected Phil's former Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
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 Garfield
Richard Channing Garfield is a mathematics professor and game designer who created the card games Magic: The Gathering, Netrunner, BattleTech CCG, Vampire: The Eternal Struggle , The Great Dalmuti, Star Wars Trading Card Game, and the board game RoboRally...
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
Vampire: The Eternal Struggle
Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, published as Jyhad in the first or "Limited" edition and often abbreviated as VTES, V:TES or V:tES, is a multiplayer collectible card game set in the World of Darkness. It is published by White Wolf, Inc....
and the more popular Legend of the Five Rings.
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. Other card games were profiled, such as Star Trek, Star Wars, and the Pokémon Trading Card Game
Pokémon Trading Card Game
The Pokémon Trading Card Game is a collectible card game based on the Pokémon video game series, first introduced in Japan in October 1996, then North America in December 1998...
. 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
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
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 games and others.
The Duelist ran for 41 issues. The magazine was replaced with Topdeck, which was more focused on Pokémon and had relatively little to do with Magic, trying to capitalize on a younger age group. Topdeck was canceled after 15 issues, partially due to cutting costs as a result of Hasbro's
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
purchase of Wizards of the Coast, but also due to competition from Internet resources. Wizards was already publishing The Sideboard
The Sideboard
The Sideboard was a magazine published by Wizards of the Coast that covered Magic: The Gathering tournaments and expert play. After six years of publication, it ceased its print activities and much of the content from The Sideboard was folded into magicthegathering.com.Originally titled "The...
, which was dedicated solely to Magic tournament 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.