Alpha/ Beta playtest cards, etc.

Royal Ass. · Post by **Royal Ass.** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 3:01 am

Gunslinga- that is the EXACT advertisement I was thinking of. Good job finding that!

fvzappa · Post by **fvzappa** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 8:49 am

Yea thanks for digging up those pics.

I don't think anyone would mind if I posted some of the more obscure playtest cards w/ pictures & such... I may be able to this weekend! A few have comics on them, & the Holy Strength card looks kinda like that bodybuilder in that advert- maybe its some other thing of his... but anyhow, I may post a few other worthwhile pics soon.

And thanks to forum member ihateworking, I was able to find those stories on wizards' website that I was having trouble finding again, which is a help in putting together much needed info.

If anyone has contact info of any of the old playtesters/ employees, etc. that could help me with this research, I'd love to hear from you! Please!

Ihateworking · Post by **Ihateworking** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 8:23 am

So heres a bunch of alpha playtest cards found around the wizards website.

Drudge Skeletons, Serra Angel:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/feature/78

Flashfires, Ice Storm, Ankh of Mishra, Stone Rain
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/arcana/258

Iron Star, Lifetap, Drain Life, Swords to plowshares:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/arcana/123

Pestilence, Dark Ritual, Merfolk of the Pearl Trident, Scryb Sprites, Counterspell,
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/af113

Nevinyrall's Disk, Black Vise, Gauntlet of Might, Obsianus Golem
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/arcana/325

Timber Wolves,the Hive, Shatter, Disenchant
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/arcana/352

Wrath of God and Frost Giant?!
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/rb10

fvzappa · Post by **fvzappa** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 9:06 am

See, and the disappointing thing about these articles is NONE of these pics are of the first or second versions of their playtesting.

In other words, the scans I have shared are the only scans that show the evolution of the cards, from creatures with one number to the final two, or any cards with the colored in dots as they decided what color to make a card. Hell, I have a card that is in the final printing with no casting cost whatsoever. No color, no cost, nothing (It ended up costing one red, wanna take a guess?).

In fact, the only mention is that they are called the "Gamma, or third printing" of the playtest cards... as if they don't want to admit the work in progress (most of it anyhow).

This is why, as one of the few people that has the evolution of the creative process in front of him, staring him in the face, I aim to get this information together in one place for the public viewing.

fvzappa · Post by **fvzappa** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 11:24 pm

Oh, here is the second incarnation of playtesting... I know they did this for Arabian thru Fallen Empires, maybe later.

Notice Mark Poole's loose interpretation of his artwork. He forgot the look of the "guy holding the flag." So, he made him look like Boba Fett!

Also, see if you can quickly spot the Tormod's Crypt difference (no, not the title).

l0qii · Post by **l0qii** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 12:02 am

tap instead of sac. nice!

Ihateworking · Post by **Ihateworking** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 6:48 am

wow, I'm glad to see another update... I love this thread

but Wotc just posted some new playtest cards with more to come

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/arcana/1607

fvzappa · Post by **fvzappa** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 7:42 am

I didn't see anywhere that they mentioned that there were "more to come", but I was glad to see those.

Magic Disk was already featured, but the other 3 were new, on their site anyhow.

YET, they still are only showing off the final pre-alpha test cards, not the even more basic ones I have shown. I don't know why. I think they should show that creatures had only one number, instead of a power & toughness.

Bitc#ing, I know, but really, no mention of this just seems odd to me.

And lastly, look at that Tormod's Crypt playtest card... who wants to bet THAT would be restricted??

Ihateworking · Post by **Ihateworking** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 2:58 pm

"And the good news is that the planets have aligned and we've got more to show you"

It's from the 2nd line, maybe I just misinterpreted what it meant, i guess they were referring to the fact that they had more to show us (even though one or two are ones theyve posted before) since the last time 5 years ago.

Nice crypt btw, that would handle dredge nicely.

Great dark collection together, it's my 2nd favorite mtg expansion. I love the feel of it. Also I'm a huge star wars geek!

Rainsford · Post by **Rainsford** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 10:09 pm

fvzappa,

You mention: "See, and the disappointing thing about these articles is NONE of these pics are of the first or second versions of their playtesting.

...

In fact, the only mention is that they are called the "Gamma, or third printing" of the playtest cards... as if they don't want to admit the work in progress (most of it anyhow)."

-------------------

They may not have any earlier work left in house.

Back when they were developing the game no one ever thought it would ever be this big. So why keep hand-scrawled versions of the earliest cards? Why keep the earlier playtest sets, because they had newer and newer playtest sets that created a BETTER game.

I am a hobby game designer (semi-pro) with two of my games published, two being considered for publication, and three in beta test.

I am also a collector. My first board game went through 5 large rewrites. I have a large box of materials - hand written cards, variations of the board, etc. tucked away in my closet. If that game ever gets massive (any day now, lol) I will have a number of "pre-release beta test" games I can get to collectors (for a fee). :-)

BUT, and here is my point, the very first board I created for this board game was lost when I had it stored at a friends apartment and he got kicked out and all the items in the apartment were sold off.

If that board game ever hits it big (any second now, I can feel it) that "alpha-beta-test board" will never see the light of day, not because of anything I choose but it just isn't available to sell/show.

And, as the game designer, it just isn't that big of a deal to me.

Best rgeards,

Rainsford

fvzappa · Post by **fvzappa** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 10:58 pm

I do see your point. Myself, not fully elaborating, I know the situation better than everyone else. So let me elaborate.

I guess what I have not mentioned is this:

The first deck I purchased was strictly the "final" version of these playtest cards...all 60 cards in the deck are like the ones that they actually show off. It is even remotely possible that they may (in some cases) be the exact/ source cards that their scans came from. I purchased this deck from an ex-girlfriend of one of the playtesters. She had a lot of old-school MtG stuff. I purchased the deck because it, besides seeming interesting, was the only thing she owned that was completely new to me... I mean, RED TIME WALK? Of course I bought it!

However, after much searching, the second deck came (indirectly) from Richard Garfield himself. I have paperwork on them, dated 2004. This deck has all 3 versions of the cards. So, I know conclusively that in 2004 that the original versions of these cards were accessable to Wizards, and it was even beforehand that these cards were being shown off on the website.

I have also, on 3 seperate occasions, found MORE playtest cards of all 3 versions. So to think that they are not available to WOTC is not the case.

I also met Richard Garfield, played a few games against him using the playtest cards (I lost). He answered every question I had, & once passersby realised what was happening, it created quite a spectacle. He drew on the cards, answered questions, joked around, etc.

So, having this knowledge, that I may not have completely shared, is what frustrates me... even if WOTC does not have these cards, they do not share little tidbits like creatures having one number, etc. I wish they would.

yawg07 · Post by **yawg07** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 11:03 pm

Wizards should say, "Keith, for being so diligent in collecting these, we will give you one alpha playtest giant growth as an award."
And you'll say, "Wow! I know just what to do with my old one. A guy named Gus who is collecting the global set could sure use this baby."
And then I'll be like, "OMG YEEEEAHHHHHH!"

Yeah, something like that.

Haha, but in all seriousness, ALL the creatures used to only have one number?

fvzappa · Post by **fvzappa** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 12:42 am

yawg07 wrote:Wizards should say, "Keith, for being so diligent in collecting these, we will give you one alpha playtest giant growth as an award."
And you'll say, "Wow! I know just what to do with my old one. A guy named Gus who is collecting the global set could sure use this baby."
And then I'll be like, "OMG YEEEEAHHHHHH!"

Yeah, something like that.

Haha, but in all seriousness, ALL the creatures used to only have one number?

Haha yea, let's see if that'll ever happen. The truth is, to improve my decks, Balance & Timetwister would be the two best cards I could ever hope to get.

And to answer the realistic part of your post... yes, the original incarnation of the creatures only had one number on them. While the number of creatures they had created were limited (and undercasted), they did all indeed only have one number. I scanned a few & they are on the first page of this thread.

Now, I was thinking about this- there is something that I have NOT seen, & that is this:

I own and/ or have seen nearly all of the set... I'll have 8 of one card, zero of another (and exactly what I own would surprise you). But, I have never seen any of the dual lands or Moxes/ Lotus. The only "extra mana" card I have seen is Sol Ring. I suspect that the original batch of alternate mana cards may not have been tested.

If anyone can show me otherwise, that would be fantastic.

fvzappa · Post by **fvzappa** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 6:17 am

Okay, due to the PM's I have been getting, it makes sense to elaborate on my letter of authenticity that I have. It does actually contain some important info. It reads as follows:

"To whom it may concern,

This letter is written as a guaruntee of authenticity for the set of play-test cards represented by the list below, which has been sold to [name deleted] by [name deleted].

These cards were manufactured at the original home offices of Wizards of the Coast (Peter Adkinsons house) between the months of October 1991 and January 1992 and were used by the sellers for purposes of play-testing a game created by Richard Garfield. This game was known as "Mana Flash" and was the forerunner of Wizards of the Coasts' 1993 product release called Magic: the Gathering.

It is hereby attested that these cards are in fact original, not bein reproductions and that they have not been reproduced or copied in any fashion with the exception of the digital images. Said images having been made for historical preservation purposes."

This document then lists 60 cards... and then is signed by a few folks, including Richard Garfield. I also have a document coming from the purchaser saying he has sold them to me.

So, there you have a little more info on this stuff. Any more questions, I'll try to answer.

the swiss · Post by **the swiss** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 10:46 am

My english is not very good and I am not a player:

2 Questions:

ARMOUR R: Witch card Alpha or not released for the set ?

STARBURST 2R: You called this one "Red Time Walk"

Opponent loses next turn

Blue Time Walk Alpha:

Take an extra turn

Is this the same ?

Thanks for the answer and compliment for your work.

The Magic Librarities

Alpha/ Beta playtest cards, etc.

Who is online