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Starter 1999
Starter 1999 logo
Set Information
Set symbol
Symbol description A star
Design Bill Rose (lead)
Jonathan Tweet
With contributions by:
Charlie Encino
Mike Elliott
William Jockusch
Mark Rosewater
and Henry Stern
Development same as design
Release date July 12, 1999
Plane Dominaria
Set size 173 cards
(63 commons, 55 uncommons, 35 rares, 20 basic lands)
Expansion code S99[1]
Starter series
Starter 1999 Starter 2000 Seventh Edition Starter
Magic: The Gathering Chronology
Urza's Destiny Starter 1999 Mercadian Masques

Starter, now known as Starter 1999, is a starter-level Magic set that came out in July 1999. It was legalized for Legacy and Vintage on October 20, 2005.[2]

Starter booster

Starter booster

Set details[ | ]

Starter was the next attempt, after the Portal series, to ease new players into the game. Rules text were also written in bold type and separated from the flavor text with a thick line. Unlike the previous starter-level sets, Starter didn't have its own set of rules. The terminology was now for the first time consistent throughout the range of Magic products. It was just simpler than advanced-level Magic because certain cards (such as artifacts, enchantments, most instants and cards with complicated abilities) weren't in the set.

Unlike the Portal sets, Starter did contain some instants (Counterspell, Extinguish and Remove Soul). On the other hand, Starter left out any creatures with a {T} ability.

The Starter set is slightly larger than a standard smaller expansion and most of its cards are reprints of cards already available.[3] The Starter set does contain twenty-six new cards created just for this release.

Marketing[ | ]

Starter was sold in 15-card booster packs (containing 1 rare, 3 uncommon, 9 common and 2 basic lands), five different 40 card theme decks and a 2 Player Starter Set. The booster pack featured the art from Denizen of the Deep. The 2-Player Starter Set came with two decks, two playmats, a step-by-step play guide, and a simplified version of the rulebook. It contained eight cards not available in boosters, two of which haven't been printed anywhere else (Royal Falcon and Willow Elf). The Starter set was accompanied by The Official Starter Game Strategy Guide and the Guru teaching program. Starter Demogame boosters contained 24 cards, a tip card, a rebate card, and an instruction sheet. Everything two players needed to play their first Magic game.

Storyline[ | ]

No specific storyline was developed for Starter.

Cycles[ | ]

Starter has one cycle and one vertical cycle:

Cycle name {W} {U} {B} {R} {G}
Vanilla one-drops Eager Cadet Merfolk of the Pearl Trident Muck Rats Mons's Goblin Raiders Willow Elf
Each of these 1/1 creatures costs M and has no abilities.

Vertical cycle[ | ]

Cycle name
Super tramplers Lone Wolf Pride of Lions Thorn Elemental
A vertical cycle of creatures that deal their combat damage to the defending player as though they weren't blocked. It is said that this ability was created because Wizards thought trample was too confusing, yet this new ability wasn't taken too well in its place. This cycle is represented in the Impaler theme deck.

Pairs[ | ]

Starter has one mirrored pair:

Mirrored Pairs Description
Vizzerdrix
({U})
Trained Orgg
({R})
6/6 creatures with no abilities and a cost of 6M.

New cards[ | ]

# Not available in regular boosters

Functional reprints[ | ]

S99 Sampler

Starter demogame

Starter has three functional reprints:

Notable Cards[ | ]

  • Grim Tutor — one of the few notable cards this set has introduced, it is still one of the best black Tutors.

Theme decks[ | ]

For the content of the decks in the 2 Player Starter Set, see Starter 1999 2 Player Starter Set.

The preconstructed theme decks are:

Theme
deck name
Colors Included
{W} {U} {B} {R} {G}
Blinding Fury W
Time Curse U
Deadly Instinct B
Goblin Assault R
Impaler G

Misprints[ | ]

References[ | ]

  1. Wizards of the Coast (August 02, 2004). "Ask Wizards - August, 2004". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  2. Aaron Forsythe (March 11, 2005). "More About March 1st". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  3. Magic Arcana (October 06, 2008). "Flavor of the Feast". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  4. Magic Arcana (October 10, 2002). "Goblin misprints". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  5. Magic Arcana (August 27, 2002). "Squall slip-up". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.

External links[ | ]

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