Friday, May 14, 2021

Magi Nation Duel - Traitor's Reach story through flavor

Traitor's reach was a set of Magi-Nation Duel cards that were never printed in paper, but we have the whole set released.  Magi-Nation was a game heavily influenced by story, and often, story elements (untold anywhere else, as there wasn't web-fiction for it) appeared on cards.  Traitor's Reach was the set with the most such flavor text, so we've compiled all of the relevant storyline flavor text below.  A synopsis of what we can tell from it: 


 The dark twins had created the Nightmare construct from Kybar's Fang and the knowledge found in the Great Library, and gotten access from T'lok, who was turned by Warrada, and became a traitor.  

The coalition of magi from many regions assembled in Naroom, with Nar magi heading out first.  They had a meal together, then hiked to the Teeth.  

Groll discovered T'lok's treachery, and the Twins amassed an army in the mountains, gathering Jalex, Yayek, Togoth among other unnamed shadow magi. 

The battle was large - there's many instances of Magi and Shadow Magi battling - the most explicit is that between Xandia, T'lok, and Vorga.  You can read the flavor text on: Flame Jakla, Gorath Cub, Molten Gauntlets, and Xandia.  


What else did you get from the story?  We'd love to hear in the comments below!  


Cards:

Barrelling Vemment
A flight of Vemments charged Togoth, pummeling his nightmare creatures into animite dust

Bone Cragnoc
"The creatures in the Teeth are beginning to take a slightly more malevolent look.  Perhaps we should investigate."

Bria, Relic Hunter
"Qwade, it's perfect!  How do I use it?"

Brog, Swamp Thug
"Olabra's in charge now! You answer to her or you find yourself in exile. Got it?"

Caldera Aq
The Cald Magi charged up the slopes of Kybar's Teeth, hurling fire as they went.  Before them loomed the forces of the Dark Twins.

Carillion Titan
As Yaki's creatures charged the foul minions of the Core, the carillion titan continued to grow, moving slowly but surely toward the Great Library.

Circling Darbok
As the collected forces of the Moonlands converged on the slopes of Kybar's Teeth, darboks began to circle, looking for weak creatures to take advantage of.

Crystal Saris
The Shadow Magi were too busy fending off Gogor's assult to notice that the saris had doubled in size.

Dark Vellup
Harror ambushed Dey in the vast expanses of d'Resh.  "Time to pay, fool," she hissed, between clenched teeth.

Flame Jakla
T'lok sood over Vorga, ready to drop a massive boulder on the prone Magi.  Just then, Xandia's Jakla appeared and blasted T'lok off the edge of the cliff.

Flashfreeze
Velouria's creatures surrounded the twisted furok. A blue flash of energy flowed from creature to creature, sucking the energy from it.

Gorath Cub
Chains wrapped tightly around Xandia, forcing a scream of rage from her lips. T'lok stepped from behind a boulder. "You didn't think I'd be that easy to get rid of, did you?"

Grapple Tooth
Hrada's spell barely missed Hok as he rolled off the cliff.  His trusty hook saved him from a long, painful fall.

Groll the Fallen
"Tlok! What have you done?"

Grotto Phrup
Bria's phrup nullified the magic of the relics guarding Evu's study. A brief search of the premises revealed exactly what she had been looking for.

Harvest Feast
"They make take our land, but they'll never take MY KITCHEN!" yelled Poad.  With that, the coalition forces ate what might be their last meal before the assault on the Dark Twins.

Korremar, Avatar
Korremar met Rayje and Sinder on their way out of Paradwyn.  It was easy to convince the legend and his apprentice that their goals were the same.

Lanyx, Reaper
"It's time to repay some people for their treacheries.  Korremar, Barak, Harror..."

Lightning Braggle
Lightning rained from the skies onto the heads of the Shadow Magi.  Whenever it touched the ground, the electricity took the form of a braggle.

Molten Gauntlets
"No one hurts my little sister! Especially not some two-bit Shadow Magi!" Xandia looked over the cliff to see what had become of T'lok, but he was gone.

Muck Shovel
"Hah! Your Pyder is mine now! "Arosa boasted.  "Not for long," Blygt said, a sneer on his face.

Nightmare Construct
"I've got something for that meddling Rayje, and his little apprentice too." - Warrada

Polar Eebit
Laranel and her people arrived too late to help Yaki free Naroom but they were among the first to head for Kybar's Teeth to fight the Twins.

Pruitt, Ringsmith
"Yaki, why won't you look at me? What have they done to you?"

Ripcurl
Togoth laughed. "You old fool! You may have defeated my drush but you've made my dryte stronger!" "Don't worry, I've got plans for your dryte." Mobis said.

Salara
With a swish of her wrist, Salara's orshaa grew in size.  Warrada's ball of purple energy bounced harmlessly off it.

Shadow Fird
Flocks of these foul beasts now follow Sperri wherever she roams.

Shock Ring
"Alright, Jalex, it's go time. Show me what you've got." -Ora, Defender of the Sky

Shroud of the Master
"You're not worthy to bear such a noble burden, Hrada. Take it off at once!" -Morag

Sinder, Apprentice
"Sinder, go help the others.  Warrada is mine." -Rayje

Slinking Greal
"Who cares where these things came from? All that matters is that they seem to want to help." -Yaki, Core Stalker

Snag Arboll
The new tricks that Yaki had learned in his solitude took Hrada by surprise. Dream creatures appeard from teh surrounding underbrush, leeching the energy from Hrada's dark furoks.

Sneaky Weebo
"Yes,brother, they do seem to be taking a liking to you." -Warrada

Speag Sprouts
At a gesture from Iyori, the speag sprouts swarmed as the core hyren dove in for an attack. Weaving energy between themselves, the sprouts began to grow in size.

Stagadan Charger
"CHAAAAAAAARGE!!!" - Poad, Innkeeper

Stubborn Chogus
The ferocity with which the Chogus covered Groll's escae amazed him. "I must report T'lok's betrayal to Targ'n before it's too late," thought the battered Keeper.

Tal'ik
"Don't bother, T'lok.  I'm prepared for your tricks."

T'lok, Traitor
"Of Course I'll show you how to use Kybar's Fang."

Topple
The cragnoc began to collapse under the barrage of Core creatures. Hrada's laugh of triumph turned to a groan of despair as he realized that all his Dream Creatures were in the shadow of the falling beast.

Twisted Dreams
Togoth snapped his fingers.  The approaching ormagon let out a bellow of pain, then vanished in a flash of light.

Vine Bhatar
With a powerful lash, the vine bhatar ripped energy from the gorath, leaving it dazed and breathless.

Xandia
"I'm very protective of my little sister.  Mess with her, and you mess with me."

Yayek
With Nagsis missing, Yayek has made his way to Hrada's side.


 

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

Magi Nation 2021 Updates (Part 1)

 Welcome to a new year, and some more updates and fan found things from Magi-Nation Duel!

Shorter update, with hopefully more fan content to come! 


Found relics from the Vault of Knowledge!

 On the MND Discord, he also asked the community about the format of the game: 02/15/2021

years ago a fan told me he thought The Spoils was steampunk. I adjusted my monocle and begged to differ. he then made a reasoned argument.

in the spirit of understanding, do those of you have played it consider the GBC game a JRPG? or a Zeldalike? what games does it seem most similar to? and what parts of the gameplay pulled you in? how important were the turn-based battles? and the creature collecting? would you have preferred a more action-based gameplay? I have so many questions.
  • Old trailers and 2i videos: 
 

Fan Creations and activity!

  • A fan created a 3D Printed Bisiwog!


 

  •  A fan, Demosthenes, showed images of their Lego dream creatures!  Diobor, Furok, and Parmalag!





  •  A gameplay stream of the GBC/GBA game with some of the original devs happened on the Discord channel.  You can watch the recording of it, though it's very long (7 hours+)! 

    (Apparently, the video doesn't load on mobile. Here is the link: https://youtu.be/RzDnZw0gSSw)
  • A Fan with their first video - doing an unboxing: 

 

And so we begin a new year, with some memories and hopes from this 20 year old game!  Energize your dreams!

 

Sunday, December 20, 2020

Magi-Nation Duel, Community Updates 2020 Part 3

Here are the updates from the community in 2020, part 3!
 These updates cover October - December 2020! 

 

Tournaments: 

The Wence's wandering Tournament concluded - our community's 10th tournament.

and ShadowDT was the winner after 5 rounds and top 8!  Take a look at the uncut sheet that they framed for winning 1st place!!


 You can read all the details on the full tournament report

Found relics from the Vault of Knowledge!

  •  A recent Nintendo leak let the GBC game version of Keeper's Quest out into the wild!  You download it at this drive.  You'll need a GBC emulator to play it, but it's the full game, lost to time and 2002!


  •  Records from the 2i days of tournament directors. Storyline Tournament Instructions and tournament rules were found!  Check them out:









  • The official 2i Tournament Rules!



  • ZucriyAmsuna showed off his poster now framed from Magi-Nation Duel!


Fan Art and Games!

 

  •  A fan, SGray, did some awesome Kayliel fan art! 
  • A fan did the GBC battle music - metal style!
  •  Other fans made the intro theme in metal style too! 

 

 

So we're closing an eventful year with a larger online tournament, some incredible lost relics of the game online, and some amazing new fan art!  Let's hope we get more great things for Magi Nation in 2021!

Thursday, September 17, 2020

Magi-Nation Duel 2020 Updates Part 2!

Welcome to another update article for the ongoing community of Magi-Nation Duel, part 2 for 2020. 


These updates cover June - September 2020.

As always, our community operates through Reddit, Discord (most active), and Facebook! We'd love to have you join us and tell your Magi-Nation Duel story, or play some games online with us!

Tournament:

The 10th community tournament started in August, named "Wence's Wanderings", as a memorial tournament to user/Randomactsofme.  You can read more about it in the individual tournament report.  Twenty five players entered the events!  Here is the memorial information for Steven. 
https://www.gofundme.com/f/healer039s-dice-memorial-fund
Congratulations to Shadow_DT (aka RealSorreah) for winning the event after 5 rounds and a top 8!  We'll be sending them the displayed uncut sheet of mnd cards, donated by Phil Tavel himself!

New Art:

Rich Werner's new Jagt Art, from his Instagram:

"Something I whipped out for a fan art project. Haven't drawn her in 19 years."

Rich has also, for the first time, opened up commission offers for Magi-Nation Duel art.  Several members of the community are taking him up on it.  Here are some of the art pieces:
User Orannis had this made of their original character.

Rich Werner did this piece of Warrada and Rayje for user Zucriy Amsuna

An unknown person commissioned Yaki in Nar.  

Found relics from the Vault of Knowledge!

  • BOA PDFs available - Did you never get to read the Book of Ages newsletter?  u/Zucriyamsuna put up scans of them all!  


  • Did you have interest in an RPG for Magi-Nation?  Blackdaggr's d20 system (for D&D 3.5) is still up for your perusal!  We'd love to hear feedback about it! 

  • There's an update for the Magi-Nation Card search engine.  It now allows text and modifiers for the search engine.  

  • On the Wayback machine, we found a Full record and description of all store locations for the Gift of the Monarch Hyren Storyline Tournament!  Check it out!
Some users recognized their store events and records.  On this site was also information on a forgotten Storyline Tournament - Mission of a Dream Warrior, to determine what region, and who, gets the Ancient's Puzzlebox.  We have no information on what region/magi won this event!  You can read the whole description on the Storyline Tournament history article which is now updated to include that event!

  • A user, Demosthenes, showed off their custom art piece by Tim Gillette from the animite store back in the day. 

  • A user, DeimosGandymede, showed off their 2i animite piece, by Matt Holmberg.


Fan Art and Games in 2020!

The fan community is strong and thriving!  User Foggy posted this fan art piece, to draw it after the Daybreak magi, Valleya!




Two users played some good old in person MND too:
Will Lead and Frunx got in a pretty epic looking game!


Video on the game!


This video shows a full coverage of the TV show and some of the card game!  Huge viewership too, despite a few inaccuracies, has reached an audience of 32 thousand views!




Thursday, August 27, 2020

Tournament Report: Wence's Wanderings

 The community hosted a 10th Magi-Nation Duel Tournament - and this time, with a theme.  This event was a memorial tournament, named "Wence's Wanderings".  


2020 Summer Tournament:
This event was a memorial event for a MND fan who just passed.8.27.20
@randomactsofme also known as Steven Adam Collins passed away just over a week ago. Steven was vibrant, excited, and creative to a fault. When our apartments were too hot, he jerry rigged a swamp cooler out of a five gallon bucket, a computer fan, and a bucket of ice.
 
Magi Nation was mentioned at his funeral as he would often drag his family into matches. His brother also lamented always being forced into evil roles in games (the axis in axis and allies, the empire in star wars, and the core in MND) because Steven loved the heroes. 
 
Steven loved games and owned two companies that made game materials, Dungeonbrick and The Arcanist’s Armory. Many people will miss Steven’s products, and more people will miss him as a person. Feel free to participate in his honor. (Written by user/Artimillies Strongbow)
 
The event was hosted online similar to past events, running swiss rounds with a cut to Top 8.  Decks were permitted to use both Unreleased sets, Traitor's Reach and Daybreak, as well as Unreleased Promos.  Twenty five players signed up to compete, likely partially due to the special prizes donated by the community and one of the original creators of the game, Phil Tavel.  You can see some of them below! 



Yes, that's an uncut sheet, of Awakening Starter decks!
 
Prizes were announced as follows:
We had some wonderful donations by user/Drakk2, an anonymous user, and original
game designer Phil Tavel! Here are our prize breakouts!

1st- uncut sheet, choice of Phil Tavel signed promo (of original 5)

2nd-pin (of choice) plus set of lesser promos, choice of Phil Tavel signed promo (of original
5)

3rd-pin (of choice) plus set of lesser promos, choice of Phil Tavel signed promo (of original 5)

4th-choice of 1 of better promos, and set of lesser promos, choice of Phil Tavel signed promo (of original 5)

5-8th 3 random smaller promos (3 cards total). the last choice of a Phil Tavel signed promo (of original 5) or one of the 3 animite cards.

Random winner not in top 8: choice of special promo.
1 Random secret prize: 1 Promo Magi
Sportsmanship or promotion/streaming: hat (Random winner not in top 8, with some
consideration)

You can see a live update of all rounds and standings in this window below!  Scroll in the window to find each round!
 


Here are the top 8 players' standings!

In First place, with a 5-0 undefeated record, is Joker!

In Second, at 4-1 is Whipporwill 

In Third place at 4-1 is Shadow_DT 

In Forth place at 3-1-1 is JK007 

5th through 8th are as follows: 

5. Tessei with 3-1-1 

6. ZucriyAmsuna 3-2 

7. Kroodhaxthekrood 3-2 

8. Grunfindel 3-2.

 

And here is the top 8 single elimination bracket!

https://magination.challonge.com/wanderingsTop 


After 4 rounds, congratulations to Shadow_DT!!  We're mailing them the uncut sheet and everyone else their prize!  Thanks for participating!

Here's an image of the sheet, once Shadow_DT framed it! Below is a picture of the winner of the Magi-Nation Duel hat, wearing it! 




Thursday, July 30, 2020

Insiider's Fan Story

Insiider.com was a fan site of Magi-Nation Duel in the early 2000s, and recently we found an archive of many of it's pages.  Republished here is the fan-organized Magi Nation story about Orwin, which was started off by the 2i staff member, Steven 'Shteevie' McLaughlin.


Insiider Fan Story.  2003 captured, 3 chapters. 

Orwin - Naroom Cartographer  (Chapter 1 written by Steven ‘Shteevie’ McLaughlin)

 Rising over a low hill and parting the branches of thick woody shrubs, Orwin gazed down into the little vale below him. Reaching back for his parchment and coal, he hunkered down between the bushes and scratched out what he saw onto his map.

 Orwin's tongue stuck a bit out of the corner of his mouth as he looked up to reference the lay of the land around him. It was important that he sketch everything out just right, since no Magi had been out this way for many years, nor was anyone likely to be here in the near future. Satisfied with his work, he tucked his map and coal stick into his knapsack and headed down the hill between a pair of enormous ghostbark trees.

 The forest was quiet today, the bustle and flutter of life on foot and feather giving way to the calm serenity of leaf and breeze. Orwin spotted little of the sylvan wildlife, and took pleasure in the solitude. The calamity of the great cities could be too much for young Orwin, who greatly preferred to spend his days out in the wilderness exploring and mapping places untouched by civilization.

 There was a little clearing in the lowest part of the vale, just large enough for Orwin to lie down in if he wanted to. The usually mulchy forest floor gave way to thick grass that looked so cool and tempting Orwin couldn't resist taking his boots off to walk barefoot in it. The cool blades tickled and caressed his feet, leading to the thought that maybe stopping for a while in this clearing wouldn't be so bad.

 Orwin settled down in the sweet smelling grass, picking a few blades and holding them up to his nose. The bright, crisp aroma reminded him of desserts he'd had as a child. An idea popped into his head, and he opened his pack to rummaged around for his canteen. Rubbing the blades of grass between his fingers, Orwin dropped them into his canteen and shook it. Taking a long drink from the canteen, he was pleased to find that the sweet grass had given his water a clean, relaxing flavor.

 Eyelids drooping in contentedness, he leaned back against his pack, and began drifting off into an afternoon nap. Just before he slipped away into dreams, a noise pricked his ear, and he sat up to look around. The bushes between the ghostbark trees were rustling, and something - or someone - was coming through.

 

Chapter 2 - The Arrival ( Submitted by Ben O'Barr)

 Quickly ducking under the top of the low grass so he wouldn’t be discovered, Orwin reached over to his canteen and quietly placed it in his knapsack. While crouching low on his stomach, the Magi spied through the blades of grass at the rustling bushes. Grasping for his boots, Orwin pulled them on his feet and waited in anticipation for the newcomer.

 Slowly, a green paw with sharp claws emerged from the foliage, followed by a huge wooden creature with large, leafy brown wings. There was no mistaking what he saw - it was a Leaf Hyren.

 Orwin was amazed of the creature. Hyrens of any kind were a rarity just to see in the wild, let alone collecting enough animite to even summon it. Orwin was so awed by the creature that he almost forgot one of the most important things he had been told about them - they were extremely dangerous, and this one was heading right for him.

 Snapping back into reality, Orwin realized that he had to get out of there, and fast. Hyrens could supposedly defeat an opponent in one blow, and this Magi didn’t feel like hanging around to watch it firsthand. Glancing from side to side, Orwin tried to plot out the best route to escape and not be seen, but before he could get an accurate look of the surroundings, the dream creature let out a horrible cry.

 Shifting his eyes back to the Hyren, Orwin now noticed that the creature must be in terrible pain, and before it even reached the edge of the grass, it collapsed in a heap on the moss.

 

Chapter 3 - Friend and Foe Alike ( Submitted by Beth Z./FlameRaven)

 Orwin stared in shock. What could possibly cause such a powerful creature pain? Cautiously, he leaned forward for a closer look.The Leaf Hyren snapped at him as he approached. A malevolent glare was fixed on him, but the effect was lost due to the pain clearly visible in the Hyren’s eyes.

 “Hey, just calm down now. I’m not gonna hurt you. Just let me see.” Orwin said soothingly as he inched closer to the huge creature. The Hyren stilled, but didn’t take its gaze off him. The thought crossed his mind that the words were horribly cliché and the Hyren would probably eat him no matter what he said. Still, he couldn’t just leave it here like this. Keeping a wary eye on the Hyren’s claws and teeth, he bent down and examined the wound.

 A deep gash ran down the Hyren’s back and thigh. Golden liquid oozed from the wound. Orwin frowned. The cut was quite deep, and would take a long time to heal. He knew a few poultices that would stop bleeding and ease pain, but he wasn’t sure if they would work on dream creatures. He looked at the shimmering liquid again.

“Strange,” he thought, “it’s almost like tree sap . . .”

 There was nothing for it but to try. Pulling his pack over, he brought out a soft cloth, bandages, and aum leaves to dull the pain, among other herbs. The Hyren stared at him, still suspicious, but curious as well. It peered at him, twisting its long neck around. What was this Magi doing?

 Looking at the Hyren for approval, Orwin used the cloth to gently wipe the liquid away from the cut, and then ground the herbs together into a gooey poultice. Lifting it out of the small container, he spread the poultice over the cut, then bandaged it.

There was one thing left. Closing his eyes, he put his hands over the bandages and concentrated. A soft green glow grew around his hands as he let his own energy flow into the Hyren, who looked greatly surprised as it felt its strength return. As the Sap of Life spell finished, the green aura around Orwin’s hands slowly faded away.

Orwin picked up his supplies and put them back in his pack. Standing, he again turned to the leaf Hyren. “You’ll be okay now. Just take it easy for a day or two, all right?” The Hyren got to its feet, looking amazed at its ability to do so. It turned to Orwin, gratitude shining in its golden eyes. Orwin wasn’t sure if the creature understood him, but he’d like to think so. With a slight nod, the Leaf Hyren flew off.

 Orwin watched the Hyren disappear among the trees, his thoughts already jumping ahead. Something was in this forest, his forest, and he didn’t like it. Shouldering his pack, he trudged off to find out just what that ‘something’ was.


What do you all think?  Should we as the fan community work and complete this story, 18 years later?  Post in the comments!!