FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Carrie Thearle
Sue-Lane Wood
Media Relations
Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
(206) 226-6500, ext. 7695

Premiere Magic: The Gathering Pro Tournament
Sells Out in Two Hours

Renton, Wash. (December 18, 1995)-The Seniors division of the first Magic: The Gathering® professional tournament sold out in only two hours on Thursday, December 14, according to Karin Kriznik at Wizards of the Coast, Inc., makers of the successful trading card game Magic: The Gathering. Competitors from around the world called to reserve their spots in the Black Lotus Pro Tour to be held February 16-18 in New York City. Prizes totalling $60,000 will be awarded to the top finishers that weekend. The competition is the first in a series of five professional tournaments which will be held around the country next year.

Winners from amateur Magic tournaments will compete in the Seniors tournament, including the top eight finishers from the 1995 World Championships. They are among several dozen special guests Wizards of the Coast¨ invited to the competition. The Seniors competition was open to 256 players ages 18 and older.

Players are already in training for the tournaments. One Senior competitor, Chip Hogan, is traveling close to 200 miles every weekend to prepare for the event. He makes the trek from Dallas, Texas to Abilene, Texas to learn how to play Type II Magic tournaments from players who are said to be among the best in this style of play. In September, Hogan won the Magic: The Gathering Type I National Championship, sponsored by Andon Unlimited, a division of Wizards of the Coast.

Slots are still available for players 18 and younger in the Juniors tournament, which will be held concurrently with the Seniors event. 128 Junior competitors will play for scholarships equal to the cash prizes in the Seniors division. To register, players should call Customer Service at Wizards of the Coast, (206) 624-0933. The entrance fee is $50. One parent or guardian will be admitted free while accompanying a Junior participant.

The event is being held at the Puck Building, 295 Lafayette St., New York, New York. Admission for the general public is $10.

Wizards of the Coast created a whole new category of games when it released the first trading card game, Magic: The Gathering, in 1993. So big was the initial demand for the game that the first print run of 10 million cards sold out in six weeks instead of the originally estimated six months. To date, more than one billion cards have sold worldwide, and the game is translated into five languages: French, Spanish, German, Portuguese and Italian. A Japanese translation is scheduled for release next spring.