Book Description
Volume 1 of the Official Encyclopedia features more than 2,000 cards from Antiquities to Legends, including discontinued cards, promotional cards, and misprints. The history and significance of each expansion complement each set.
Customer Reviews:
This book belongs on your coffee table........2002-05-01
I've had this book for years. I took it off the shelf and brought it over to an RPG game at a friends house. Just so I could do some causal reading. Everyone wanted to see the book. Even people who don't play Magic the Gathering (MTG).
If you collect magic cards, or play - these books are an excellent resource. If you want to see what the older cards look like, they are in this book.
Good even for casual collectors........2001-02-11
Volume 1 covers 4th Edition, Chronicles, Ice Age, Alliances, Arabian Nights, Antiquities, Legends, The Dark, Fallen Empires, and Homelands. There's also a section devoted to discontinued cards (leading off with, of course, Black Lotus and the original Mox cards). Cards that were removed but reintroduced before this book was published are not listed as discontinued. A page near the end of the book displays 6 of the most significant promotional cards that weren't just previews of upcoming releases.
Each set of cards covered is provided with an introduction, describing any new twists added for that set (including new types of decks that came about as a result), and any famous (or infamous) cards in that set. (A blowup of the artwork of Mirror Universe figures prominently for Legends, along with "The entire R&D team would have to be hit by a bus before we'd reprint Mana Drain.") The introductions are generally pretty entertaining and provide an informative overview (including descriptions of storylines that were added or updated by the release being described).
The individual cards for each set are listed in alphabetical order; they're shown at about 3/4 actual size. The versions of Magic that included those cards (at the time of printing) are specified, as well as any errata. The card lists' images are enough to hold the attention of even a casual collector, since the flavor text is legible and the artwork is printed well.
After covering the individual sets, the book presents "Misprints and Oddities", such as the Wyvern cards. (Errors in text are covered either with short errata for the individual cards, or in "Overlong errata" for text errors that were to big to include where the card was described.) The book concludes with a "Deckbuilders Indexes" section, as in the later volumes of the Magic encyclopedia.
For collectors.......2000-08-09
Very nice book if you're curious about older cards. I liked getting a chance to see all the old cards together, to see some some cards I'd never seen before because they're too rare.
Book Description
Over the years since its launch in 1993, the award-winning Magic: The Gathering has gained thousands of fans and has been the subject of many headlines in major newspapers as its success has spread around the world. Using the random decks and packs, devotees have dueled with each other every year using mana, monsters, and magic either in a serious bid to become the Magic World Champion, or simply to enjoy this intriguing tactical game. Now, for the first time in its history, all the card sets in this highly successful trading card game have been brought together in one volume. With over 7,200 cards beautifully illustrated in full color, The Complete Encyclopedia of Magic: The Gathering is a must-have for all those devotees, whether they are fans of the magnificent color artwork throughout the book, or serious traders, players, fans or collectors.
Customer Reviews:
Magic the Gathering.......2003-09-14
This book is very good.You can make your own price of the cards you want to sell.You can realy find out anything about Magic the Gathering you want to know. It even summarizes all of the Magic the Gatherig books that have been published.When I got it I was amazed that how many things it had on magic.I had never even dreamed about how many things that someone could write down and publish about Magic the Gathering.I think you should realy buy this book.
By your own:Lee Pennebaker
Useful, BUT..........2003-07-14
I like this book. It's great to have all these Magic cards in just one volume, instead of so many seperate ones. However, there are some problems.
They didn't bother to update the earlier parts, for starters. Thus, many of the erratas are out-of-date. Also, many times it'll make references to page numbers--but the things are no longer there. To top it all off, it says that 4th Edition is the newest set...then it says that 5th Edition is the newest set...then it says that 6th Edition is the newest set...then that 7th Edition is the newest set. Also, I would have liked to see Odyssey, Torment, and Judgment in here.
Still, despite all these problems, as I said, this IS a good book. But don't bother buying it if you have all the other volumes.
Buggy omnibus edition of volumes 1 - 6.......2003-04-28
I have in the past complained about the need for an omnibus release of the Encyclopedia's volumes to date, like that before you. I would have expected to recommend this over the individual volumes, but the main incentive there is that this is cheaper; there's no added value apart from consolidating most of the earlier volumes' material between one set of covers.
The editing team didn't review the old individual card sets' text, and it shows. The text covering the card sets has been lifted straight from the corresponding separate volumes. For example, the new and useful layout used for volumes 5 and 6 appears *only* for card sets first documented therein; the older sets' text haven't been revised even to fix page number references and "latest version of the basic set" material, let alone to utilize the cleaner layout.
An ordinary index is included, but *no* deckbuilder's index as such, and the related boilerplate at the beginning of the volume has been simplified accordingly - not such a bad thing, since that material dates very badly. (All 6 volumes' standard boilerplate has been combined, as far as how-to-use-this-guide and Collector's History material goes. As for the frills added for volume 5, see below.)
The "Misprints and Oddities" section from volume 1, ironically enough, has had errors inserted: of the 10 cards shown, only *one* has the correct card image matched with the accompanying text. The text itself remains identical - and in the same order - as in volume 1. (I didn't notice cards being transposed or messed up elsewhere.) Volume 1's "Overlong errata" was dropped. Apart from those appearing in volume 1, most of the separate sections on promotional cards and playtest cards have been dropped; all the World Championship Decks material has been dropped.
From volume 1: 4th Edition, Discontinued, Chronicles, Ice Age, Alliances, Arabian Nights, Antiquities, Legends, The Dark, Fallen Empires, Homelands. Fourth Edition's header text still proclaims that it's "the latest version" of the basic set. "Discontinued" is still an exact match for the section in volume 1. Chronicles' header text still uses volume 1's page numbers to refer to the Collector's History, and since the omnibus' boilerplate *has* been updated since volume 1, the numbers don't match. This holds for page number references throughout; Legends' page number for the errata for Mirror Universe hasn't been updated in the card list.
From volume 2. Mirage omits the Famous Cards section, although the playtest cards at the end of the card list were retained. Visions, 5th Edition, Weatherlight, and Portal haven't been modified (including "Portal is different from all the other sets in this book"). Volume 2's "Arena League, DCI" page was dropped.
From Volume 3: Tempest, Stronghold, Exodus, Vanguard, Portal: Second Age.
From Volume 4: Urza's Saga, Urza's Legacy, Classic (6th Edition), Urza's Destiny, Portal: Three Kingdoms, Unglued (my favourite), Starter. The 1998 World Championship Decks section and the playtest section were dropped.
From Volume 5: Starter-Level Set for 2000, Mercadian Masques, Nemesis, Prophecy. The preliminary essays on "Wizards of the Coast: From Basement to Belgium and Beyond" and "Artists Speak!" were dropped, as were the sections on 1999 World Championship Decks, Promotional Cards, and Playtest Cards. (The Misprints and Oddities section in volume 5 matched that in volume 1, see above.)
From Volume 6: Invasion, Planeshift, 7th Edition, Apocalypse.
That's everything.
Great book -- why the bad reviews?.......2003-03-30
This is an excellent book on the Magic: the Gathering game. It has a full-color picture of every card from the first sets to Invasion and 7th Edition. It is an invaluable resource for building decks, particularly for casual play but also for tournament purposes. It doesn't have the most recent sets, it is true, but such a massive project requires months of preparation and it would be impossible to add a set issued within a week or two of its publication, unless the book producers can see -- and get pictures from -- the future. The only quibble that I have with this book is that it does not have an index which classifies cards by color and type -- that is, you can't look up to see a list of blue enchantments or white creatures. Other than that minor point, this book is a great resource and also fun to look through! :) If you like Magic, buy this book.
Complete???.......2003-02-04
I was very disapointed that the cards were not the most current. With the publication date of October 2002, and this coinciding with the release of Onslaught, I thought it would be included. My disapointment increased 10 fold when I found out that Oddyssey, Judgment, and Torment were also missing from the book. I don't understand how one can say complete! and have the buyer expect anything less than the inclusion of the Oddyssey series.
Book Description
Magic: the Gathering has sold billions of cards all over the world in English and dozens of translations. The huge number of Magic cards makes these encyclopedias must-haves for any serious player. They are invaluable reference guides, collecting all the cards in the latest expansions and including information crucial for collectors as well as history, rules, strategies, and techniques for playing the hottest fantasy game of the 90's--and of the new century. With a how-to-use guide, collector's history, and a visual guide incorporating the latest releases, Volume 6 of the popular card game will also feature an in-depth look at the newest set of Magic cards, full card listings for decks and sideboards, and fully updated deckbuilders' indexes. This volume includes a fully updated chapter on all the cards released since the last Encyclopedia as well as which cards are valuable and why.
Customer Reviews:
They're learning!.......2002-11-30
Volume 6 covers Invasion, Planeshift, Seventh Edition, and Apocalypse. As usual, this volume only deals with expansions released since the previous volume of the encyclopedia. If you've *never* collected previous volumes, you might want to look into _The Complete Encyclopedia of Magic: The Gathering_ instead (which is no longer complete, what with the expansions released after the summer of 2001).
Before launching into the expansion chapters, the usual introductory material includes 'how to use this guide' and a Collector's History - a few paragraphs of introduction plus the usual Magic timeline, including the 'for beginners' decks (e.g. Portal), the basic sets, and the expansions. The introduction to the Collector's History gives the roll call and price list for the Power Nine - the most notorious and expensive cards of them all: Black Lotus, the 5 original Mox cards, Time Walk, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall.
Each set of cards covered in Volume 6, as usual, is provided with an introduction, the style of which has been updated to make it more useful. Each introduction begins with 'At a Glance': Release Date, Size (number of cards), Featured Mechanics, and The One-Sentence Story. For example, Featured Mechanics for Invasion lists 8 features: multicolored spells, kickers, Dragon Legends, dual lands, Kavu, and 'divvy' cards. After 'At a Glance', each introduction continues with the kind of material provided in previous volumes, still broken into segments but now given a framework and consistency by conforming to At a Glance. The framework begins with the story segment (a few paragraphs fleshing out the one-sentence version), the development segment (design history), individual segments for each of the entries in the Featured Mechanics list, concluding with Standout Cards. All the segments are interspersed with images of the relevant cards. After the Standout Cards discussion, of course, we come to the main body of the chapter for a given set: the cards.
The individual cards for each set are listed in alphabetical order; they're shown at about 3/4 actual size. The versions of Magic that included those cards (at the time of printing) are specified, as well as any errata. The card lists' images are enough to hold the attention of even a casual collector, since the flavor text is legible and the artwork is printed well.
The introduction for the 7th edition chapter adds a new item: a table listing Cards Removed from the Basic Set (compared with 6th edition): 31 each for white and blue, 35 for black, 26 for red, 24 for green, 24 artifacts, and 6 lands. (On the bright side, Serra Angel has been brought back - I thought it was gone for good.)
After covering the individual sets, the book gives an overview of 2000 World Championship decks, this time including photographs of the World Champion and the other 3 quarterfinalists. The book concludes with a "Deckbuilders Indexes" section, as in the earlier volumes of the Magic encyclopedia.
Customer Reviews:
magic the gathering volume 2.......2001-08-16
though i dont have this book my friends say its an excellent book and I've seen it for my self and it is definatly a must buy
One from the master himself.......2000-06-25
Richard Garfield is the creator of Magic The Gathering card game. This book gives the reader an in-depth look into the game and shows the beautiful illustration that each card contains. This is a must have for all players and collectors of the card game.
Not as good as the first one but still good!.......2000-06-13
If you are a mtg collector, you definitely need this book. Although it is much "thinner" than Volume 1 but it's still a must for any serious mtg collector
I Love this book!.......1999-06-07
I collect the cards and I don't know how I would have known if they were rare or common cards if I hadn't found this book. It's the best!
This Book is so Good, It makes magic much funner.......1999-06-06
It so good it has tempted me to buy alot of Magic cards
Book Description
In association with Wizards of the Coast, the creators of Magic: The Gathering, and the Magic experts at Top Deck (Wizards' official trading-card game magazine) Thunder's Mouth Press announces the next volume in the essential reference series Magic: the Gathering-the Official Encyclopedia Volume 5. Magic: the Gathering, Encyclopedia 5 includes full-color reproductions of every new Magic card released since last October. Magic: the Gathering has sold billions of cards all over the world in English and dozens of translations. The huge number of Magic cards makes these encyclopedias must-haves for any serious player. They are invaluable reference guides, collecting all the cards in the latest expansions and including information crucial for collectors as well as history, rules, strategies, and techniques for playing the hottest fantasy game of the 90's - and of the new century.
Customer Reviews:
Still doling out a few expansions at a time..........2001-07-28
Volume 5 covers Magic: The Gathering Starter Level Set for 2000, Mercadian Masques, Nemesis, and Prophecy. I wish the powers-that-be would get their act together and collect everything to date into a single volume. Instead, as usual, this volume only deals with expansions released since the previous volume of the encyclopedia.
Before launching into the expansion chapters, the usual introductory material includes a Magic timeline, including the 'for beginners' decks (e.g. Portal), the basic sets, and the expansions. This volume has been padded a little with profiles of 3 of the artists, including some alternate sketches of various cards, e.g. Grim Elf of Vengeance, which was pulled from the Unglued set as *too* grim and vengeful for that expansion.
Each set of cards covered in Volume 5, as usual, is provided with an introduction, describing any new twists added for that set (including new types of decks that came about as a result), and any famous (or infamous) cards in that set. (A blowup of the artwork of Lin Divvi, Defiant Hero appears in a sidebar for Nemesis, "This Rebel's Too Cool for School".) The introductions provide an informative overview (including descriptions of storylines that were added or updated by the release being described). (Volume 1's introductions were more entertaining, due to the much higher number of problem cards in earlier decks.)
The individual cards for each set are listed in alphabetical order; they're shown at about 3/4 actual size. The versions of Magic that included those cards (at the time of printing) are specified, as well as any errata. The card lists' images are enough to hold the attention of even a casual collector, since the flavor text is legible and the artwork is printed well.
After covering the individual sets, the book gives an overview of 1999 World Championship decks. Three pages near the end of the book discuss, respectively, Misprints & Oddities (such as the alpha-version Orcish Oriflamme with a casting cost of 1 rather than 3), Promotional Cards, and Playtest Cards. The book concludes with a "Deckbuilders Indexes" section, as in the earlier volumes of the Magic encyclopedia.
volume 5 in an essential line.......2001-02-01
Frustrated collectors have long valued these books as a way to see full-color reproductions of those cards they haven't acquired yet. Deckbuilders love the indexes found in the back of these books. As usual, the front pages have nice historical details on Magic as a whole, and each section has details on that particular set. Recommended highly.
Magic essential.......2000-11-05
This book is an essential piece of work for the player who wants to know the newer cards. The cards which are coming nowdays are very complex and it is important that you have a reference so that you can get an idea of what you might be facing and to use this information to get ideas on how to stop or counter it.
Book Description
The Official Encyclopedia Volume 2 picks up where Volume 1 left off. This collector's edition cover features Ivory Charm from the Mirage series.
Customer Reviews:
Worthwhile mostly for completists.......2001-12-16
Volume 2 covers Mirage, Visions, 5th Edition, Weatherlight, Portal, and Arena League (only 1 page for this last). As always, this volume covers ONLY those expansions released between the publication of the 1st and 3rd volumes of the encyclopedia, and ends with a "Deckbuilder's Indexes" section. This last is the only reference to other expansions of Magic, so it actually isn't useful anymore; the deckbuilder information for the most current volume should be used instead. Frankly, this volume should not have been released until a few more expansions were out; it's skimpy, but if you want complete coverage of all Magic expansions, you're pretty much trapped; the 2 stars are for the material not available in other volumes.
The introductory material (i.e., the section before the expansions are presented) is a bare minimum in this volume: "How to Use this Guide" and "A Visual Guide to Magic Cards". The book isn't intended to teach a newcomer to play the game, or to explain much of Magic strategy; seek elsewhere for that sort of thing. On the other hand, each expansion covered in Volume 2, as usual, is provided with its own introduction, describing any new twists added for that set (including new types of decks that came about as a result), any noteworthy cards in that set, and a very brief description of the storylines affected by the expansion). Consequently, the entertainment value of the introductions is in inverse proportion to the number of broken cards in the expansion and the severity of the flaws, so the introductions in this volume are much more bland than those of Volume 1.
For example, Mirage's introduction, the longest in the book, covers the introduction of "instant enchantment" and "Charm" cards, and two special abilities introduced with this expansion, "flanking" and "phasing". The descriptions of these characteristics compare them with pre-existing (i.e., volume 1) spells and game mechanics, so you need to be familiar with Magic to get anything out of this. Similarly, new cards introduced as toned-down versions of old spoiler cards don't come with a detailed description of the old card (e.g. Final Fortune vs. old Time Walk). The story line description is given in 4 paragraphs, padded with lots of white space, followed by two equally padded pages of details of famous Mirage cards: Grinning Totem, Celestial Dawn, Hammer of Bogardan, Maro, Tombstone Stairwell, and Political Trickery.
After each expansion's introduction, all its individual cards are listed in alphabetical order, shown at about 3/4 actual size. The versions of Magic that included those cards (at the time of printing) are specified, as well as any errata. The artwork came out fairly well, but the flavor text for red cards is hard to read. My copy suffers from other printing problems as well (the non-flavor text came out blurred for some Mirage cards). Each card's name is printed separately below the card, but it's annoying to pay money for this.
The best book I have ever bought.......2001-07-02
The collectable card game Magic: The Gathering was first released in 1993. Since then, dozens of expansion editions have been created and discontinued. This first Encyclopedia (made in 1996) shows every card from the first 8 editions - from Arabian Nights to Alliances (made in 1996) - as well as the whole 4th Edition (the Basic set at the time). Most interestingly of all the cards that were Discontinued before the 4th Edition are also displayed. All of the cards pictured in the book have been out of print for at least half a decade, so this is most likely the only place where you will be able to see them. The guide is well made, all in colour, official looking, and excellently laid out by the people who created the game. The card images have been shrunk by about 25% so that 12 of them can be fitted onto a side, however, the artwork and text are still clear. The rarity of each card is also detailed. As well as the encyclopedia images, there is a foreward by the game's creator, an introduction to each set (with each sets best cards highlited), deckbuilder's indexes, images of promotional cards, misprinted cards and oddities, a history of the game, and a visual guide to Magic cards (teaching how to identify ones from different sets, e.g. cards in the Alpha set have more rounded edges). I have owned this book for three years and I still refer to it regularly....
Magic: The Gathering Encyclopaedia.......2001-02-22
What is the difference between Vol 1 and this book? Part of selling a book is to give the buyer an idea of what the book is about. Do I need to buy Vol 1? Is Vol 2 incorporating Vol 1 or an addition to? Unfortunately, I can't pluck the book cover off the monitor screen and read the back blurb to make that judgment for myself.
An Encyclopedia, Nothing More.......2000-08-21
This is a very good encyclopedia, with up to date cards, and even a discontinued & misprint section, both of which are interesting. The only problem with this book is that it is an encyclopedia. Nothing much else, besides an introduction to the book and each section, which should be expected. It gives no tips on, forsay, how to use the cards, or something to that effect. Overall it's a good book, if you're looking for an encyclopedia.
The first Official Guide.......2000-08-12
Among all 4 volume published, this is the most comprehensive, it contains every cards in magic during that time and this is the first - First Official Guide. Before having this guide, collectors have to keep track with Duelist or Inquest for a full list (in text). This book is not only a good book with all coloured pictures, it is also the best reference for any Magic Collectors. Highly recommended.
Customer Reviews:
Sigh, it's getting thinner again.......2000-06-13
Seems like it's getting thinner and thinner each volume. They should publish it later (until they have enough cards to fill-in). But then as a serious MTG collector, it's still a must to have.
Oh, God, not another one..........2000-03-09
Just finished the review below...since when an erratum for every card was good? Errata are the behind-the-scenes changes in the rules - how is that good? It only complicates the game. Also, I've noticed that with every volume the amount of info steadily decreases:the first volume held images of well over 2000 cards from Third and Fourth Ed., Arabian Nights, Antiquities, Legends, Ice Age, The Dark, Fallen Empires, Alliances, and who knows what else. It was jam packed with an out-of-order chronology, the banned cards, lots of strats and card info. The second volume was thirty percent smaller - 1300 cards from Weatherlight, Visions, Fifth Ed., and Portal. It was bleaker, smaller, less enthralling. Now, THIS volume features 900 cards from four small expansions - they didn't even wait for the block to be over. Some of illustrations are botched or ill-colored, and the text on the best cards... Of course, if you want some sort of help choosing or organizing your M:TG cards, you will need this, but, believe me, this is not a diamond in the rough.
THIS BOOK IS SUPERB.......1999-11-19
This book has all the information you could possibly need, is very interesting, is complete, and has wonderful pictures. This book is great!
GET IT
A perfect reference!.......1999-08-12
Full color photos and errata on every card... a must
This was a great help.......1999-06-25
This book was a great help to search for a deck of Magic cards.Its cool you should buy it.
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Magic: The Gathering -- Official Encyclopedia Volume 4
Magic the Gathering: Official Encyclopedia: The Complete Card Guide, vol 3
Magic: The Gathering -- Official Encyclopedia: The Complete Card Guide, Volume 5
Magic: The Gathering -- Official Encyclopedia, Volume 2: The Complete Card Guide (Magic the Gathering)
Magic: The Gathering: Official Encyclopedia: The Complete Card Guide, Volume 2
