WMagic: The Gathering is a tabletop and digital collectible card game created by Richard Garfield. Released in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast, Magic was the first trading card game and has approximately thirty-five million players as of December 2018, and over twenty billion Magic cards were produced in the period from 2008 to 2016, during which time it grew in popularity.
WThe DCI was the official sanctioning body for competitive play in Magic: The Gathering and various other games produced by Wizards of the Coast and its subsidiaries, such as Avalon Hill, before being gradually rebranded as the Wizards Play Network starting in 2008. The DCI provided game rules, tournament operating procedures, and other materials to private tournament organizers and players. It also operated a judge certification program to provide consistent rules enforcement and promote fair play.
WRichard Channing Garfield is an American mathematician, inventor and game designer. Garfield created Magic: The Gathering, which is considered to be the first modern collectible card game (CCG). Magic debuted in 1993 and its success spawned many imitations. Garfield oversaw the successful growth of Magic and followed it with other game designs. Included in these are Keyforge, Netrunner, BattleTech(CCG), Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, Star Wars Trading Card Game, The Great Dalmuti, Artifact and the board game RoboRally. He also created a variation of the card game Hearts called Complex Hearts. Garfield first became passionate about games when he played the roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons, so he designed Magic decks to be customizable like roleplaying characters. Garfield and Magic are both in the Adventure Gaming Hall of Fame.
WGuildmasters' Guide to Ravnica is a sourcebook that details the Ravnica campaign setting for the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game published in November 2018. The world of Ravnica was originally created for the Magic: The Gathering collectible card game and first appeared in the card set Ravnica: City of Guilds, which was released in 2005. It is a high-magic world with a loose Slavic flavor, and features a single city which spans the entire planet that is controlled by ten competing guilds of different ideologies.
WMythic Odysseys of Theros is a sourcebook that details the Theros campaign setting for the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game published in June 2020. The plane was originally created for the Magic: The Gathering collectible card game and first appeared in the card set Theros, which was released in September 2013. It is inspired by Greek mythology and has a powerful pantheon of Gods that are present and active in both the world and the lives of the player characters.
WMark Rosewater is the head designer for Magic: The Gathering, a position he has held since 2003.
WThrone of Eldraine is a Magic: The Gathering expansion set. It is not part of a block. It was released on October 4, 2019. The sets development codename is "Archery", and its expansion code is ELD. MTG Arena also officially launched with this set.
WGavin Verhey is a Senior Magic: The Gathering Designer at Wizards of the Coast. He has been a member of numerous Magic set Design and Development teams since joining in 2011, including Aether Revolt, Conspiracy, Conspiracy: Take the Crown, Fate Reforged Gatecrash, From the Vault: Angels, From the Vault: Annihilation, From the Vault: Twenty, Ixalan, Kaladesh, Modern Masters 2017, Oath of the Gatewatch, and Shadows Over Innistrad, in addition to being the lead designer of Archenemy: Nicol Bolas, Commander 2017, and Battlebond. He also currently writes the weekly column Beyond the Basics on the official Magic website. Mark Rosewater considers him part of the fifth generation of Magic designers.
WWizards of the Coast LLC is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games. Originally a role-playing game publisher, the company originated and popularized the collectible card game genre with Magic: The Gathering in the mid-1990s. It also acquired the popular Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game by buying TSR and increased its success by publishing the licensed Pokémon Trading Card Game. The company's corporate headquarters are located in Renton, Washington, part of the Seattle metropolitan area.
WJames Wyatt is a game designer and a former United Methodist minister. He works for Wizards of the Coast, where he has designed several award-winning supplements and adventures for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) roleplaying game. He is the author of several sci-fi and fantasy novels, including several Forgotten Realms books, and the 4th edition Dungeon Master's Guide.