1998

The year 1998 was the sixth year of existence for Magic: The Gathering. 
== Events ==
Date 	Event
 	First Judge Gift cards.
Early 1998 	Release of the alternate art APAC land promotional cards.
January, 29 - February, 2	Duelist Invitational in Rio de Janeiro. Won by Darwin Kastle.
Winter 	Second release of Vanguard cards in the Arena League.
February 	Re-release of the Microprose computergame in a special edition named Duels of the Planeswalkers.
March, 2 	Release of Stronghold.
March 	Start of the Gerrard's Quest comic series published by Dark Horse Comics.
March, 6-8 	Pro Tour Los Angeles, won by David Price.
April, 17-19 	Pro Tour New York, won by Jon Finkel.
May, 18 	First opening of a Wizards of the Coast game store.
June, 15 	Release of Exodus, first set to use color-coding of the expansion symbol to indicate the rarity of the cards.
June, 24 	Release of Portal Second Age, another attempt to make a simplified Magic set for beginners.
* First and only depiction of firearms on Magic art.
July 	PGI Limited, maker of the Havic: The Bothering parody set, banned from attending GenCon.
August 	Release of a poker deck box by Wizards of the Coast.
August, 11 	Release of Unglued, the first supplemental set to be used outside of normal Magic.
* The first un-set, featuring silver-bordered joke cards.
August, 12-16 	1998 World Championships in Seattle. Winner is Brian Selden. 
* Team champions: United States of America.
Autumn 	Third release of Vanguard cards in the Arena League.
September, 25-27 	Pro Tour Chicago, won by Dirk Baberowski.
September, 26 	Prerelease events for Urza's Saga, featuring the first release of a foil card (<c>Lightning Dragon</c>).
October, 12 	Release of Urza's Saga, the first set to replace 60-card starter decks with 75-card tournament decks.
* Later considered to be a Bah-roken set.
Winter 	Combo Winter, too many overpowered cards and combos fill the tournament formats.
November 	Release of the Anthologies box set, celebrating the fifth anniversary of Magic.
November, 13-15 	Pro Tour Rome, won by Tommi Hovi.
December 	The DCI bans a large amount of cards.
December 	Release of the 1998 World Championship Decks.
 	Player of the Year: Jon Finkel.
 	Rookie of the Year: Randy Buehler.
==Publications==
* The Brothers' War (May)
* Rath and Storm (July)
* Planeswalker (September)
* Magic: The Gathering Official Encyclopedia - Volume 3
* The Official Guide to Portal Second Age
* The Official Guide to Urza's Saga
* Advanced Strategy Guide
* The Art of Magic: The Gathering - The Rath Cycle
* Gerrard's Quest
==First involved==
===Wizards of the Coast===
*Chaz Elliott (art director)
*Ron Spears (as art director)
*Scott Larabee (organized play)
===Artists===
Category:1998