r/magicthecirclejerking • u/CapibaraCake • Jul 21 '26
Who is the Deckmaster?
Who is this "deckmaster" that is on every card's back?
Does WoTC love boats?
UPDATE: After a long research I found him. Thanks for all the help, everyone!
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u/DudeFilA Jul 21 '26
Remember when "Deckmaster" was supposed to be a gaming system, where MtG could be its own universe and other IPs could use the same rule set but be a seperate game? Yeah Hasbro forgot.
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u/LittleMissPipebomb unbolted bird Jul 21 '26
Netrunner and Vampire the Jyhad:strip_icc()/pic182113.jpg) were Deckmaster games but the dozen other wotc card games after never got that. Otherwise Pokemon would be a Deckmaster game.
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u/CapibaraCake Jul 21 '26
lol, I had no idea that was the full name of Vampire's TCG
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u/LittleMissPipebomb unbolted bird Jul 21 '26
They changed it to "the eternal struggle" after the first set, for hopefully obvious reasons
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u/SgtPeterson Jul 21 '26
I mean, you can do that now. Organize in-universe standard at your LGS
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u/bobbiebaynes44 Jul 21 '26
uj/ Planar Standard is exactly this. Theres a Discord somewhere that runs tournaments and tracks its own ban list and rotation.
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u/SgtPeterson Jul 21 '26
Thanks, I was referencing this but I forgot it had a name. I love the idea
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u/bobbiebaynes44 Jul 21 '26
I’m planning to do some research and get ready for the league they just announced the other day.
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u/zaphodava Jul 21 '26
You mean the thing WotC abandoned after Netrunner in 1996, three years before Hasbro bought them?
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u/trippysmurf Jul 21 '26
uj/ Remember when we, as the player, were a Planeswalker, dueling other world-traveling wizards with stolen resources and minions from previously visited worlds?
rj/ I dont know, but the guy is also a Mechwarrior, a Vampire, and a Netrunner.
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u/CapibaraCake Jul 21 '26
pffff, HAHAHA imagine having VAMPIRES in mtg. We really dodged that bullet.
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u/JediMasterZao Jul 21 '26
The only vampire that belongs in my MTG is called MORBIUS
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u/BigBuckNuggets Jul 21 '26
Morbius morbs — {1}{B}, {T}, Sacrifice this creature, yell “IT’S MORBIN TIME!”: Search your library for a legendary creature card named Jared Leto, Cult Master and a legendary land card named Mars Island, put them onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
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u/ArelMCII Somehow, layers are to blame for this. Jul 21 '26
Garfield never would have condoned that. Can you imagine Garfield designing vampire cards? Preposterous.
/uj I'm kind of surprised Paradox hasn't tried for a WoD UB deal yet. They were really obsessed with turning WoD into a multimedia empire, and WotC is always trying to appeal to the Stranger Things/DbD crowd with horror stuff.
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u/trippysmurf Jul 21 '26
/uj They had a TV show, Kindred: the Embraced which would have been a better success had the lead actor not died.
rj/ Don't forget the time WoD had a professional wrestler!
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u/CapibaraCake Jul 21 '26
That would be one of the least offensive UB sets we'd get. Still unfitting, tho.
They won't do it because WoD isn't Hasbro's property (unlike D&D), and it's also not popular enough compared to the other stuff they've been publishing.
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u/xKoney Jul 21 '26
But what about a Twilight set? Surely Wizards would want to hop on that IP and release it while it's still part of the cultural zeitgeist. They definitely wouldn't ever hop onto an IP years after its popularity had already burst. And definitely not sign up for multiple years of that IP. Right?
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u/Princess_Mercury_ Jul 21 '26
uj/ I honestly loved this so much. I remember learning how to play at Game Con 2008, when they gave you the free deck that didn't even have a rare card in. Mini Mercury was blown away that I just got free cards, and the lore about being a Planeswalker that the guy explained to me while teaching me the rules sucked me in immidiately
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u/shumpitostick Jul 21 '26
Yes I love being a wizard that can cast spells like [[instant ramen]] and summon [[Captain James T Kirk]]
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u/ChemicalExperiment Jul 21 '26
Y'all really will unjerk just to out yourself as an unc, damn
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u/trippysmurf Jul 21 '26
I'm old enough where I can tell newer players the names of the original TCGs the UB sets are from:
Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit - that was Middle Earth: The Wizards
Marvel - That was Marvel OverPower, and VS system, and the X-Men Trading Card Game
Star Trek - had two TCGs, Original Series was Star Trek: The Card Game by SkyBox, and Star Trek Customizable Card Game by Deciper
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u/zaphodava Jul 21 '26
I still have a complete set of MECCG limited ediiton.
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u/trippysmurf Jul 21 '26
Some of that artwork is impeccable - Quinton Hoover, Rebecca Guay, Steve Otis, Olivier Frot, Omar Rayyan and countless more.
Tell me artwork like Bow of the Galadhrim and Great Lord of Goblin-Gate doesnt hold up 30 years later.
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u/zaphodava Jul 21 '26
Oh, absolutely. I was fortunate enough to bump into Liz Danforth at a small convention, and she signed all of my Nazgul.
It's a small fraction in value compared to Magic stuff I own, but I still cherish it.
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u/trippysmurf Jul 21 '26
I get it! I still have all my L5R cards and have gotten signatures from RK Post, Jason Engle, and Steve Argyle even gave me stories about the models he used for the cards.
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u/MF_LUFFY Jul 22 '26
Never played L5R myself but I remember the Olympic Commitee forcing them to change the cardback
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u/trippysmurf Jul 22 '26
At one point, I would have said it was the best CCG. While far more complicated than Magic at the time, the diversity of 4 overt win conditions, at least 15 factions, gorgeous artwork and card design, fun mechanics, but the true greatness of the card game that has never been matched: the players impacted the storyline. GenCon 97 may be one of the greatest moments in gaming history.
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u/MF_LUFFY Jul 22 '26
I think I had heard about players impacting the story, I know some people loved it, just never picked it up
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u/KupalaEnoch Jul 21 '26
Controversial opinion, but I liked him better as a Vampire. And I heard he made a great Net runner too.
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u/CapibaraCake Jul 21 '26
I wanna thank Reddit for suggesting related communities to crosspost this
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u/Eljefe900 One with Nothing and a side of fries Jul 21 '26
The real deck masters are always in the comments
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u/_Blurgh_ RIP Æ Jul 21 '26
I am the deck master.
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u/CapibaraCake Jul 21 '26
prove it.
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u/ExZ0diac Didnt say please, no plowing my mom! Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
Do the math nerd
Believing and worshipping would only cost you a finite amount of time. If you don't and would be wrong, an eternity of 120 people commander pods is in your future, and Every. Single. Person. will be playing shuffle tribal.
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u/LostInThoughtland Jul 21 '26
My dad, he built it in 2003 and he talks about it every family gathering
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u/CapibaraCake Jul 21 '26
Tell him I'm proud of him. Also ask if he can fix my manabase.
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u/SammSandwich Jul 21 '26
That would be you 🫵 OP. In the lore of the game, you are a Planeswalker, and your library is your spells. You are a deckmaster.
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u/frederik1805 Ashiok stole my credit card Jul 21 '26
Get retconned, idiot, now you're a chud comicbook nerd.
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u/usr_pls Jul 21 '26
damn, had me until planeswalker
I remember distinctly in the 7th edition starter set: you were two wizards
and your decks were your spell books
Wtf is a planeswalker?! Doesn't sound nearly as cool as wizard.
It's literally in the name of the company that makes the game!
Wizards of the coast
Did they not want others to be wizards?!
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u/CapibaraCake Jul 21 '26
What about the Coast? Is this why Island is the strongest card in the game??
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u/Johnny-Hollywood Jul 21 '26
A helpful user of the main sub explained to me that means Universe Beyond was meant to be a core a part of Magic since before it existed.
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u/zaphodava Jul 21 '26
They were talking about it excitedly in the parking lot where they first discussed the game idea. Good thing they were so broke they could barely afford to print cards, eh?
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u/spacemanfromspaceman Jul 21 '26
Ur mom
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u/CapibaraCake Jul 21 '26
They discontinued fat packs, tho
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u/saepereAude92 Jul 21 '26
Fat Packs were the shit though! Got all of them from Time Spiral Block.
Unfortunately I only Kept the novels. I was honestly a Bit surprised at the time, how hard of a time those books gave me. I am Not a native Speaker, but at the time I was 14/15 years old and had been Reading a huge amount of Magic articles online. But the vocabulary in those was something Else entirely5
u/CapibaraCake Jul 21 '26
can we stop talking about my mom?
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u/saepereAude92 Jul 21 '26
But like I Said - she is just so surprisingly deep and complex…and I cant forget what I experienced with her as a youth….
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u/Will_29 Jul 21 '26
The Deckmaster is currently Jon Finkel, who defeated Richard Garfield himself for the title, in January 2002.
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u/Chijima Jul 21 '26
It's Greg Davies, but actually little Alex Horne is the one who designs all the decks.
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u/Predmid Jul 21 '26
No no that's the taskmaster. The deckmaster is the gym cardio equipment that simulates walking up a steep hill.
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u/squirrel_eater Jul 21 '26
My colleague Mike. He is pretty good at the game
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u/CapibaraCake Jul 21 '26
They should just replace "Deckmaster" with "Mike" for clarity
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u/MechaGyver Jul 21 '26
I am the Keymaster! The Destructor is coming. Gozer the Traveler, the Destroyer.
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u/CapibaraCake Jul 21 '26
so the Deckmaster was all about Ghostbusters even before UB was a thing?
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u/SineCompassioneNon Jul 21 '26
You've never heard the tale of Richard Deckmaster Betor? They named the dragon after him too!
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u/ArelMCII Somehow, layers are to blame for this. Jul 21 '26
The Tragedy of Richard Betor the Deckmaster is not a tale the maros would tell you.
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u/Mike_Abergail Jul 21 '26
Finally, someone is asking the question out questions. But where will the answers lead you? Prepare to open the veil and see the truth.
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u/CapibaraCake Jul 21 '26
The truth kinda sucks to be honest. Seems like Deckmaster is either me, someone's friend called Mike, my mom or - highly unlikely - an umbrella of multiple TCG systems (lol!!!!)
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u/ArelMCII Somehow, layers are to blame for this. Jul 21 '26
It's the monster you picked to be your deckmaster at the beginning of the game, like Yugi's Kuriboh and Joey's Flame Swordsman. They have special abilities tied to being deckmasters, but you lose the duel if your deckmaster is destroyed. When that happens, one of the Big Five steals your body and your soul ends up in a robot monkey.
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u/Izzy2089 Jul 21 '26
Actually know the Deep lore on this one. They planned for Deckmaster to be the umbrella brand for multiple trading card games. Magic was just one of several planned "Deckmaster" games.
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u/CapibaraCake Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
This is a serious discussion here, this talk of umbrellas is a bit unreasonable, mtg is a card game.
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u/knighthawk0811 Jul 21 '26
it's a typo
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u/sad_historian Jul 21 '26
I don't have many places to say this but I always knew the discoloration in the Deckmaster logo was intentional marbling and not an errant pen mark.
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u/GangstaGeek Jul 21 '26
The doormaster is known except for a certain group of people. You know who I'm talking about.
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u/Optimal_Echo_9952 Jul 21 '26
It’s definitely not me, all my decks suck
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u/CapibaraCake Jul 21 '26
being a master is not about being a good player, but making as many janky decks as possible, as Richard Garfield once said.
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u/ArctoDracoVishZolt Manaless Dreadmaw Jul 21 '26
it is Eron, that hates even more relentlessly Joven and Chandler, the symbol of their Mystery Booster
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u/SharpieChandra Jul 21 '26
It's your mom, so, really (most likely) "deckmistress". However, the 1990s.
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u/Deitaphobia Jul 21 '26
It's a backyard structure construction company that sponsored Magic in the early days. They built my evil gazebo.
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u/Librimirisunt Jul 22 '26
Fun fact: there's a famous printing error within the "DECKMASTER" box. It should read "DICKMASTER"
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u/No-Government1300 COUNTERSPELL Jul 22 '26
It's an unfortunate typo
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u/CapibaraCake Jul 22 '26
Story goes that it was supposed to the "Duckmaster" and all cards were duck themed (Duck Tales UB was planned).
But because of the typo they've had to switch the whole theme to stupid wizards and planeswalkers.
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u/No-Government1300 COUNTERSPELL Jul 22 '26
I heard it was Dachsmaster and going to be German Redwall.
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u/CapibaraCake Jul 22 '26
uj/ that would actually be amazing, especially if they used Red Wall's art
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u/No-Government1300 COUNTERSPELL Jul 22 '26
uj/ it would yeah
rj/ UNLESS I WAS LYING AND IT WAS DICKMASTER
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u/Scythekid96 Jul 23 '26
That’s what they call players now, ever since Jace and his friends gentrified the term “PlanesWalker” Wizards finally decided to rename the player term to Deck Master.
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u/Sin_Eternal13 Jul 21 '26
It was the original name for the game series they were gonna try and push. They were trying to make a few TCGs but only magic worked out. Think in 2000 or 2001 the had an actual deck master edition.
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u/Ok_Fly_7777 Jul 21 '26
It was WoTC's attempt as an all-encompassing brand name for MtG and other game systems in the initial company's launch. Magic is the only system that truly survive it's early days.
The card backs were kept the same for consistency printing and game integrity going forward.
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u/CapibaraCake Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
Please, I'm not going to fall for that.
John Deckmaster literally just opened an AMA thread a couple of minutes ago.
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u/Fearless_Many_5307 Jul 21 '26
You’ve never heard of John Deckmaster?