Portal is the name given to the three Magic: The Gathering starter level sets. The original Portal was released on May 1, 1997, followed by Portal Second Age on June 24, 1998 and Portal Three Kingdoms on July 6, 1999.[1][2] The Portal set was inspired by Chinese mythology; Three Kingdoms in particular by the 14th century Chinese historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong.[3][4]
Portal was Wizards of the Coast's first major attempt at a set that new players could come into the game and understand. Back before the major rules changes brought forth by 6th Edition, Magic rules were more complicated; today, they are simplified with the addition of the stack. The three Portal sets attempted to mitigate the complexity.
The original 215-card Portal set was released in June 1997 and sold in starter sets consisting of two 35-card decks, one booster pack, a play guide, and a play mat, and also in 16-card booster packs.[5]
As of October 2005[update], all cards Portal, Portal Second Age, and Portal Three Kingdoms are legal in Vintage and Legacy tournaments.
Mechanics
No new mechanics were introduced with Portal, but there were several "simplifications" made to the game through things left out of the set. Instants did not exist within the set (instead, every "one-shot" spell was a sorcery; however, some sorceries could be played at particular times uncommon to sorceries but normal for instants; most of these cards have since received errata making them Instants). All rules text was in boldface. All flavor text and reminder (italicized) text was not boldface. To separate rules text and flavor text, the cards utilized a line with a slight bulge on both top and bottom; this makes the line look like a very elongated diamond. Rather than using the words "block", "graveyard" and "library", Portal used the words "intercept", "discard pile" and "deck". Portal cards had no creature types.
Second Age also did not have Instants, though a number of Sorceries in the set have since received errata from Wizards of the Coast retroactively changing their card type to Instants. It also carried over the different style for rules text. Portal Second Age cards dispensed with the "Summon" wording for creature spells, and were the first to word them as "Creature -- type" that was adopted with 6th Edition. In Second Age, "block" remained as it was, replacing "intercept" from Portal. Similarly, "graveyard" re-replaced "discard pile", and "library" re-replaced "deck".
Portal Three Kingdoms is the only starter level set to introduce a new keyword ability into the game: "Horsemanship", an evasion ability that works like flying in that creatures with horsemanship can be blocked only by creatures with horsemanship. Creatures with horsemanship can block creatures without horsemanship as well, but not be blocked by creatures with flying, likewise Horsemanship creatures cannot block flying creatures. As such, these creatures are effectively 'unblockable' by almost all other creatures. There was controversy when the set became tournament legal, as some players thought that cards with the horsemanship ability should be errata to have flying instead. Wizards of the Coast initially considered making this change but decided against it, stating that the creatures with horsemanship are rare and not aggressive enough to make an impact on vintage formats. Horsemanship has become an obscure ability due to the limited production and geographical release of the set, and Wizards have stated that it will be unlikely that horsemanship will return on new cards in the future. With the release of Time Spiral, Wizards returned a vast number of older pre-8th Edition keyword abilities and mechanics; horsemanship was not among the mechanics that returned. The Magic the Gathering Online set Masters Edition III included a number of cards from the Portal Three Kingdoms set including ones with horsemanship.
Notable cards
Notable cards in the Portal sets include Imperial Seal, Ravages of War, Rolling Earthquake
Reception
In a review in the July 1997 issue of InQuest, Jeff Hannes stated that the "cards are clean, simple, and concise", making the set "an outstanding tool for beginners" who may otherwise have trouble with the terse card text of other Magic: The Gathering sets.[5] He also stated that the set "does an outstanding job...to bring new players into the game at a less-daunting level".[5]
References
^ ab. Wizards.com. 1997. Archived from the original (TXT) on March 2, 2000. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
^Wizards of the Coast (1998-06-25). . Archived from the original on September 30, 2000. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
^Miller, John Jackson (2001), Scrye Collectible Card Game Checklist & Price Guide, p. 520.
^Moursund, Beth (2002), The Complete Encyclopedia of Magic The Gathering, p. 720.
portal, magic, gathering, this, article, relies, excessively, references, primary, sources, please, improve, this, article, adding, secondary, tertiary, sources, find, sources, portal, magic, gathering, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, november, 2021, . This article relies excessively on references to primary sources Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources Find sources Portal Magic The Gathering news newspapers books scholar JSTOR November 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message Portal is the name given to the three Magic The Gathering starter level sets The original Portal was released on May 1 1997 followed by Portal Second Age on June 24 1998 and Portal Three Kingdoms on July 6 1999 1 2 The Portal set was inspired by Chinese mythology Three Kingdoms in particular by the 14th century Chinese historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong 3 4 PortalportalReleasedMay 1 1997 1 Sizebetween 221 228 cards depending on languageExpansion codePORFirst set in the Portal blockPortal Portal Second Age Portal Three Kingdoms 5th Edition Weatherlight Portal Second AgeReleasedJune 23 1998Size165 cardsKeywordsnoneMechanicsnoneDevelopment codeNoneExpansion codePO2Second set in the Portal blockPortal Portal Second Age Portal Three Kingdoms Exodus Unglued Portal Three KingdomsReleasedJuly 6 1999Size180 cardsKeywordsHorsemanshipMechanics Zodiac cycleDesignersHenry Stern lead Development codeNoneExpansion codePTKThird set in the Portal blockPortal Portal Second Age Portal Three Kingdoms Urza s Destiny Starter Contents 1 Set history 2 Mechanics 3 Notable cards 4 Reception 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External linksSet history EditPortal was Wizards of the Coast s first major attempt at a set that new players could come into the game and understand Back before the major rules changes brought forth by 6th Edition Magic rules were more complicated today they are simplified with the addition of the stack The three Portal sets attempted to mitigate the complexity The original 215 card Portal set was released in June 1997 and sold in starter sets consisting of two 35 card decks one booster pack a play guide and a play mat and also in 16 card booster packs 5 As of October 2005 update all cards Portal Portal Second Age and Portal Three Kingdoms are legal in Vintage and Legacy tournaments Mechanics EditNo new mechanics were introduced with Portal but there were several simplifications made to the game through things left out of the set Instants did not exist within the set instead every one shot spell was a sorcery however some sorceries could be played at particular times uncommon to sorceries but normal for instants most of these cards have since received errata making them Instants All rules text was in boldface All flavor text and reminder italicized text was not boldface To separate rules text and flavor text the cards utilized a line with a slight bulge on both top and bottom this makes the line look like a very elongated diamond Rather than using the words block graveyard and library Portal used the words intercept discard pile and deck Portal cards had no creature types Second Age also did not have Instants though a number of Sorceries in the set have since received errata from Wizards of the Coast retroactively changing their card type to Instants It also carried over the different style for rules text Portal Second Age cards dispensed with the Summon wording for creature spells and were the first to word them as Creature type that was adopted with 6th Edition In Second Age block remained as it was replacing intercept from Portal Similarly graveyard re replaced discard pile and library re replaced deck Portal Three Kingdoms is the only starter level set to introduce a new keyword ability into the game Horsemanship an evasion ability that works like flying in that creatures with horsemanship can be blocked only by creatures with horsemanship Creatures with horsemanship can block creatures without horsemanship as well but not be blocked by creatures with flying likewise Horsemanship creatures cannot block flying creatures As such these creatures are effectively unblockable by almost all other creatures There was controversy when the set became tournament legal as some players thought that cards with the horsemanship ability should be errata to have flying instead Wizards of the Coast initially considered making this change but decided against it stating that the creatures with horsemanship are rare and not aggressive enough to make an impact on vintage formats Horsemanship has become an obscure ability due to the limited production and geographical release of the set and Wizards have stated that it will be unlikely that horsemanship will return on new cards in the future With the release of Time Spiral Wizards returned a vast number of older pre 8th Edition keyword abilities and mechanics horsemanship was not among the mechanics that returned The Magic the Gathering Online set Masters Edition III included a number of cards from the Portal Three Kingdoms set including ones with horsemanship Notable cards EditNotable cards in the Portal sets include Imperial Seal Ravages of War Rolling EarthquakeReception EditIn a review in the July 1997 issue of InQuest Jeff Hannes stated that the cards are clean simple and concise making the set an outstanding tool for beginners who may otherwise have trouble with the terse card text of other Magic The Gathering sets 5 He also stated that the set does an outstanding job to bring new players into the game at a less daunting level 5 References Edit a b Portal Spoiler List Wizards com 1997 Archived from the original TXT on March 2 2000 Retrieved 2007 07 13 Wizards of the Coast 1998 06 25 Portal Second Age Spoiler Cardlist Archived from the original on September 30 2000 Retrieved 2010 03 08 Miller John Jackson 2001 Scrye Collectible Card Game Checklist amp Price Guide p 520 Moursund Beth 2002 The Complete Encyclopedia of Magic The Gathering p 720 a b c Hannes Jeff July 1997 On deck Portal InQuest Gamer No 27 Wizard Entertainment p 88 Further reading EditAlder Melody August 1997 The perfect hook The Duelist No 18 Wizards of the Coast pp 43 45 External links EditWizards official page on Portal and Portal Second Age Wizards official page on Portal Three Kingdoms Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Portal Magic The Gathering amp oldid 1145509789, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
