is the name of the beginners set which came out on
August 27 ,
1999 . The set contains 173 cards. The set became known as '''Starter 1999''' after the release of Starter 2000.
After three sets in the Portal Block, ''Starter'' was
Wizards Of The Coast 's fourth major attempt at a "Starter Level" set that new players could come into the game and understand.
Most of its cards were reprints of cards already available (many of them from the Portal-sets). But it also contained 26 new cards, created just for the release. Starter cards were available in a fixed-deck game, randomized boosters and 5 preconstructed decks (one for each color).
The starter game came with two decks, two playmats, a step-by-step play guide, and a simplified version of the Magic: The Gathering rule-book. The starter-game contained eight cards which weren't available in the boosters.
Starter ended up causing confusion, because up until the set's release, Tournament decks were known as "Starters".
Starter had a short print run, and has become very difficult to find. It was replaced with Starter 2000 less than a year later.
No new mechanics were introduced with Starter. It left out elements unnecessary for basic gameplay, such as artifacts, instants, and complicated abilities.
Wizards of the coast attemped to market Starter by providing a guru program to experienced players to help new players start the game, the guru program awarded players with redeemable coupons for booster packs and a special collectable set of "Guru Lands".
The only card of note that has not appeared anywhere but Starter is Grim Tutor. A slight downgrade from Demonic Tutor, the Grim version is still powerful enough in Vintage that it has become a sought after card. Given the shortage of copies in existence, Grim Tutor currently sells for over $100.
