MAGIC: THE GATHERING "SPELLS OF THE ANCIENTS" Information supplied by Richard Hewison The Magic of Unlimited, Arabian Nights and Antiquities sets now exclusively available on PC only from MicroProse. The battle for Shandalar continues... Play over 130 cards from the Unlimited, Arabian Nights and Antiquities sets, including out of print and rare cards. Hone your tournament skills with the Sealed Deck Generator. Duel your AI opponents in single elimination play. Use over 60 new decks, strong with multi-coloured lands and powerful new cards. New sorting features help you build even more powerful decks with the upgraded Deck Builder. Expanded Windows Help File includes new cards and new card set information. Magic The Gathering Expansion Set --------------------------------- ECTS 1997, London, England. MicroProse are proud to announce the "Spells of the Ancients" expansion set for Magic The Gathering - the hugely popular and best selling fantasy card game. The game is being developed for Windows 95 and will be published and distributed world-wide under the MicroProse brand name. One of the most popular play formats for Magic is called Sealed Deck. Players compete in tournament style play using a random set of new cards (usually a sealed Starter Deck and two Booster Packs, about 120 cards although this varies) from which they must build the best possible deck. Each player is restricted to only those cards received in their "Sealed Decks" thus insuring a more level playing field among competitors. The new Sealed Deck Generator recreates this environment allowing players of the computer game to setup a Sealed Deck tournament, generate random Sealed decks for themselves and each of the other participants in the tournament (initially AI opponents until multiplayer is ready), build a play deck from their sealed deck cards, and finally duel opponents in single elimination or round robin play, or a combination of both. Using the new cards in this expansion, 60 new decks would be added focusing primarily on multi-coloured decks (a weakness of the 4th Edition set). The new cards are exceptionally strong in multi-coloured lands and this will be one of the primary selling points of this expansion. A new start-up option will be added to Shandalar allowing players to choose to play with the cards from "Spells of the Ancients" or with the original card set. The creatures in Shandalar would get new decks chosen from the 60 already referred to above. Magic The Gathering "Spells of the Ancients" features: Between 120 and 155 new cards from Unlimited, Arabian Nights, Antiquities and Promo cards sets The Sealed Deck Generator 60 new decks Upgraded Deck Builder Updated Windows Help File For further information, please call: Jason Dutton PR Manager +44 (0) 1454 894140 jason.dutton@microprose.ltd.uk (0467 310362 mob) Rachael Hurley PR Co-ordinator(+44) (0) 1454 894192 rachael.hurley@microprose.ltd.uk Spectrum HoloByte, Inc. is a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software for use on CD-ROM-based personal computers under the MicroProse brand name. The company is also developing software for use on next generation 32/64-bit console machines, the Internet and on-line gaming services. The company has five development studios located in: Alameda, California; Hunt Valley, Maryland; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Austin, Texas and Chipping Sodbury, England. Products are available nationally and internationally under the MicroProse brand and are sold through major distributors, retailers and mass merchants. Product and company information are available for download from the MicroProse World Wide Web site at http://www.microprose.com. Stop Press: Magic: The Gathering Spells of the Ancients is out now - just œ14.99. Richard also emailed me and said - "I should have mentioned that in the UK, Microprose's "Magic The Gathering" allegedly sold less than a thousand copies in the month it was released on PC! That is a terrible statistic whichever way you look at it." @~I couldn't agree more! ... Sue - o -