Short answers, pulled from the story.
Richard Garfield created Magic: The Gathering while he was a doctoral candidate at the University of Pennsylvania in 1991. He developed the game concept during a hike near Multnomah Falls in Oregon before bringing the idea to Peter Adkison.
The five-color system known as the Color Wheel dictates the strengths, weaknesses, and themes of every card in the game. White represents order, blue represents intellect, black represents power, red represents freedom, and green represents life, with each color drawing mana from specific land types.
The ante gambling rule was removed from Magic: The Gathering after the 1995 expansion set Homelands. This rule was originally included to encourage players to play with cards but became controversial due to regional restrictions on games of chance.
Wizards of the Coast established the Pro Tour in 1996 as a circuit of tournaments where players compete for cash prizes. The event takes place over three days with the first two days structured in a Swiss format and the final day featuring a single-elimination format.
By 2018, Wizards of the Coast had printed over 20 billion Magic: The Gathering cards. Since the game's release, over 20,000 unique cards have been created.
The Universes Beyond series introduces cross-promotional elements with other brands as special cards that are legal to play in all formats. Included brands are Warhammer 40,000, The Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who, Jurassic Park, Final Fantasy, and Spider-Man.