ROANOKE, Virginia - Nov. 8, 2005 - StarCityGames.com, America's largest Magic: the Gathering retailer, today announced that it has acquired The Mana Drain, the world's most popular website dedicated exclusively to Magic: the Gathering's Vintage format. The Mana Drain will continue to operate as an independent brand within the StarCityGames.com portfolio and retain its name and unique URL: http://www.themanadrain.com.

"As you all know, I have been inactive with both the community and the game for several months. I had put a lot of work and money into the site over the years and didn't want to see it fall apart from neglect, like other sites where the owners went AWOL. I have no intention of returning, and needed to pass the ownership on to someone I knew had the resources to care for it and that had a respect for the Vintage community," said TMD founder, Steve "Zherbus" O'Connell. "Pete Hoefling has that respect and the ability to care for it. He also has a desire to leave the TheManaDrain.com forums unscathed. There will be no policy changes, no merging with StarCityGames.com forums, and no moderation changes. With the dramatic priority shifts in my own life, I feel very comfortable in leaving the site I created with these deserving hands."

"The Mana Drain is widely considered to be the premier Vintage resource in the world, and I am proud to be able to provide the site with the resources it needs to continue being such," said StarCityGames.com President, Pete Hoefling. "I believe this is a very good thing for fans of Magic: the Gathering's oldest format.

"While I do intend to add an advertising banner in order to help defray operation costs," continued Hoefling, "I want to assure the community that I have no plans to change any aspect of the TMD forums, or how they operate. Expect TMD’s existing rules, policies, guidelines and standards to remain intact."