This content was originally included in The Duelist Supplement magazine. The original article can be accessed via Internet Archive here.

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Magic The Gathering
Legends

Legends, the newest expansion set for Magic: The Gathering, will be available in stores in early June. An exciting blend of new spells, new types of land, and completely new types of cards, Legends takes the player to the world of Dominia’s greatest heroes.

Myth In The Making

Work on Legends began before the first edition of Magic: The Gathering was even completed. Steve Conard and Robin Herbert, the designers of the expansion, were introduced to the game by Richard Garfield. Inspired by this new type of gaming, they began thinking of ways they could contribute to its success.

“While we were brainstorming and kicking around ideas,” Conard says, “we soon found ourselves thinking about totally new card types, not just new cards. We wanted a card that had a personally unique name, like Hercules or Beowulf—heroic figures whose names have spanned the ages. I believe that these are the personalities that drive fantasy and science-fiction literature.

Legends is the first Magic expansion developed by people other than the game’s original designers. It was designed to function either as an expansion or as a stand-alone set, but playtesting indicates that the Legends cards work best when mixed with cards from the original Magic set.

“I was introduced to Dungeons & Dragons™ early in its infancy,” says Conard. “However, I was unable to control my creative instincts and I eventually created worlds upon worlds controlled by the powerful mortals and even more powerful immortals, where gods were heavily involved. I was naturally drawn to Norse mythology, where the gods powers could rock the universe to the ultimate conflict of Ragnarok. Since power gaming has always been my thing, I had to see what I could add to Magic: The Gathering. Legends was a natural evolution.

Features to Watch For

Unique Legends

Legends, by their very nature, are unique, and this is reflected in the game rules. Only one Legend of a particular name can be in play at any one time. However, if that Legend dies, another of the same name may then be brought into play. There is no limit on how many different Legends may be played at the same time.

Special Abilities

Rampage

Attacking creatures may have the Rampage ability, which increases both power and toughness with each additional blocker assigned.

‘Bands with other’

Creatures in Legends may have or acquire the ability to band selectively with certain other creature types. For example, Legends may have the ability to band with other Legends on their side.

Multi-color Creatures

“Are there ever going to be cards that need more than one color of mana to cast?” Yes. Each Legendary hero or creature has a dynamic personality not limited to a single color. All Legends have at least two colors with a few, such as Elder Dragons having three.

The Legends Team

“Legends has allowed us to work with many remarkable people. Without the artistic talent of Jesper Myrfors, the vision of Peter Adkison, and of course, the inspired game design of Richard Garfield, the project would never have been possible. We are grateful to the East Coast design team and all the playtesters who greatly improved our knowledge of Magic and its many nuances, and to all the people who supported the project throughout.

Steve and Robin

Design group: Steve Conard and Robin Herbert

Additional design by: Skaff Elias, Jim Lin, Joel L. Mick. Chris Page, Dave Pettey

Editing: Beverly Marshall Saling

Additional editing by: Beth Moursund, Jenny Scott, and Kathy Ice, with contributions from Glenn Elliott, John Jordan, Dave Howell, Ken McGlothlen, and Kathryn Haines

Typesetting: Tom Wänerstrand, Dave Howell, Glenn Elliott, Ken McGlothlen

Art direction and graphic design: Jesper Myfors and Sandra Everingham

Legends expansion symbol: Anson Maddocks

Jobs too numerous: James Ernest, Glenn Elliott, Dave Howell, and Victor K Wertz

Color Separations produced by CMYK, Seattle, Washington. Printed in Belgium by Carta Mundi. Printer Liaison: Luc Mertens.

Playtesters: Bill Bathurst, John Blake, Wendy Blake, James Brandes, Jennifer Brown, Michael Brown, Carmon, Ben Carswell, Lee Coward, Carl Cravens, Karen Cravens, Robert Deloura, Dennis Deskey, Glenn Elliott, Nora Elwood, Pete Erceg, Ted Estes, Don Felice, Peder Fretheim, Richard Garfield, Jim Geldmacher, Alex Gray, John Guthrie, Ryan Hayden, Kirk Hunt, Michelle Huston, Dave Jackson, Brian Kawano, Sheryl Klaisner, Karl Knutson, Richard Koett, Anthony Kosky, James McAdams, Aaron McLin, Jaimie McQuarrie, Hoi Nguyen, Ken Niedermeyer, Mark Phaedrus, Tom Rovegno, Peter Sarrett, Doug Steen, Suzie & Jeff, Siegfried Trent, Steve Wescott, Zane Williams, Jeff Williamson, Elizabeth Zanger, Robert Zanger, Thorin Zanger, and Scott Ziola.

Artists: Rob Alexander, Randy Asplund-Faith, Julie Baroh, Edward Beard Jr., Melissa Benson, Liz Danforth, Sandra Everingham, Kaja Foglio, Phil Foglio, Dan Frazier, Daniel Gelon, Quinton Hoover, Heather Hudson, Richard Kane-Ferguson, Mike Kimble, Scott Kirschner, Nicola Leonard, Anson Maddocks, Harold McNeill, Jeff A. Menges, Jesper Myfors, Mark Poole, Christopher Rush, Andi Rusu, Douglas Shuler, Brian Snoddy, Mark Tedin, NéNé Thomas, Richard Thomas, Susan Van Camp, Pete Venters, Bryon Wackwitz, Tom Wänerstrand, Anthony Waters, and Amy Weber.

Legendary Lands

Like the Legends themselves, these lands are unique. Only one of each type may be in play at a time. Some impart special powers to the Legends in play, including allowing Legends to band with other Legends.

Enchant World

This card enables a player to change the scope of a battle by having it transported to another plane of existence wherein the laws of physics are not necessarily the same as Dominia’s. For example. you could take the battle to a world with heavier gravity which prevents Dominian flying creatures from flying. The Enchant World card works identically to an Enchantment, except only one Enchant World card may be played at any one time. If another Enchant World comes into play, the Enchant World previously in play is then discarded.

Rules Card

An extra card in the Legends booster explains the new card types and the special rules which apply.