The Complete Encyclopedia of Magic: The Gathering [Paperback]

Cory J. Herndon, Brian Tinsman et al. Beth Moursund (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 23, 2002

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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 720 pages
• Publisher: Running Press (October 23, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560254432
• ISBN-13: 978-1560254430
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #659,055 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Buggy omnibus edition of volumes 1 - 6, April 27, 2003

By 

Michele L. Worley (Kingdom of the Mouse, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Encyclopedia of Magic: The Gathering (Paperback)

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.

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A useful anthology but not as complete as it could be., November 1, 2002

By 

Robert Norse (Santa Cruz, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Encyclopedia of Magic: The Gathering (Paperback)

The new Complete Encyclopedia of Magic the Gathering conveniently combines most of Volumes 1-6 of the prior encyclopedias at 1/3 the cost (an even greater savings if you buy it from Amazon). All in one handy volume. That's the good news.
The bad news is that this latest Encyclopedia doesn't cover any Magic expansions issued in the last year (Odyssey, Torment, and Judgment). This seems particularly strange since fall is usually the time when an additional volume of the Encyclopedia is released to "update" collectors and players. This anthology stops with the summer of 2001.
The Complete Encyclopedia also drops the helpful card attribute lists found in the back of the first few volumes. It does not contain Vanguard 3 and Vanguard 4--belying its claim to be "the most comprehensive book about Magic: the Gathering ever published".
Finally it has no new text and is, quite clearly, a cut-and-paste job which splices together Volumes 1-6, which were released annually over the last half decade. These leads to some ludicrous statements such as (p. 16): "Released in February 1995, Fourth Edition is latest version of Magic: the Gathering basic set." Since we are now using 7th Edition and moving towards 8th, this is clearly a case of sloppy reprinting of old text, which is no longer accurate.
I would also like to have seen a list of cards added between Alpha and Beta.
I give the book 3 stars in spite of all of these faults (and these are only after a preliminary reading), because it is so convenient to have so much of the Magic library at one's fingertips in one volume. And so cheaply.
If the editors can address these concerns in a 2nd edition, ...

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful, BUT..., July 13, 2003

By 

Lord Seth "lord_seth" (Madison, WI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Encyclopedia of Magic: The Gathering (Paperback)

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.