Limited Edition (Magic: The Gathering) Explained

Expansion Name:Limited Edition Alpha
Symbol Description:no expansion symbol
Release Date:August 5, 1993
Keywords:Banding, First Strike, Flying, Landwalk, Trample, Protection
Size:295 cards
(74 common
95 uncommon
116 rare
10 basic land)
Print Run:2,600,000
Expansion Code:LEA (LA)
This Set:Alpha (Magic: The Gathering)
Next Set:Beta
Expansion Name:Limited Edition Beta
Symbol Description:no expansion symbol
Release Date:October 1993
Keywords:Banding, First Strike, Flying, Landwalk, Trample, Protection
Size:302 cards (75 common, 95 uncommon, 117 rare, 15 basic land)
Print Run:7,300,000[1] or 7,800,000[2]
Expansion Code:LEB (LB)
Last Set:Alpha
This Set:Beta (Magic: The Gathering)
Next Set:Unlimited

Magic: The Gathering Limited Edition is the first card set. It premiered in a limited release at Origins Game Fair in 1993, with a general release that August. The initial print run of 2.6 million cards sold out quickly, and a new printing run was released in October 1993. These two runs are known as Limited Edition Alpha and Limited Edition Beta, or just Alpha and Beta for short. Although Alpha and Beta are referred to as different sets by some, officially they are the same set; Wizards of the Coast had expected that people wouldn't necessarily be able to tell the two press runs apart. Beta fixed a number of misprints and errors on cards. The printer accidentally used different corner rounding dies for the second run, resulting in Alpha cards being noticeably distinct in shape and appearance from Beta cards and all subsequent cards. The Beta printing also included a revised rulebook with a number of clarifications, although creator Richard Garfield's short fiction "Worzel's Tale" was removed to make room. The print run of Beta is given as 7.3 million[1] or 7.8 million[2] depending on the source. Despite the set's print run being about three times as big as Alpha's, Beta sold out as quickly as its predecessor.

Limited Edition cards have no expansion symbol, no copyright date, and no trademark symbols; the text on the bottom left consists only of an artist credit.

Set history

Originally, the designers and playtesters of the new card game intended the name would simply be "Magic". However, the lawyers at Wizards of the Coast advised that the name was too generic to be trademarked, and was thus changed to "Magic: The Gathering". The original intent was that each Magic expansion would have a different subtitle; while the first Magic set would be "The Gathering", future sets could be labeled as "Magic: Arabian Nights" or "Magic: Ice Age". When it was decided that the backs of Magic should be identical regardless of the expansion, the name "Magic: The Gathering" would appear prominently on the back of every Magic card. "Magic: The Gathering" thus became the name of the entire game instead of "The Gathering" only being the subtitle referring to the first release.

As the names Alpha and Beta only distinguish different print runs of the same set, Alpha and Beta contain largely the same cards. However, in the Alpha print run the cards and were omitted as the art was not completed in time for the Alpha print run. As well as including these two extra cards, the Beta print run included a new illustration for each of the five basic lands, taking the total card count from 295 to 302. According to Mark Rosewater, this was done so that the product could be advertised as having "over 300 cards".[3] Several mistakes on Alpha cards were corrected in Beta. Alpha cards are easily distinguishable from Beta cards as unlike all succeeding sets, cards from Alpha have steeply rounded corners. This was reportedly caused by sharpening of the dies used to cut the Beta cards, which resulted in the less rounded corners.[4] The Wizards of the Coast tournament rules require that a deck including Alpha cards have opaque card sleeves to prevent a player from being able to identify the difference between an Alpha and a non-Alpha card in their library, as the corners are different from all the printings that followed.[5]

Alpha, Beta, and Unlimited are known for having extremely powerful cards at the higher rarities. This was an intentional choice during development; the thought was that "players (...) wouldn't be able to acquire many of the power rares, because supply would keep them actually rare".[6] Players spending hundreds of dollars to acquire multiple copies of each of the powerful rares was not anticipated at the time, as the developers assumed players would stop at around 30-50 dollars.

The Alpha rulebook contains a fantasy tale called "Worzel's Story" by Richard Garfield which was removed for the Beta release. Alpha deck boxes also lack a UPC on the bottom.

Mechanics

See also: List of Magic: The Gathering keywords. Being the first Magic set, Limited Edition has all of the original mechanics intrinsic to Magic, such as "tapping" cards to use their abilities. Many of the original base keywords are "evergreen" and still used commonly in Magic design as of 2019, such as Flying, First Strike, and Trample. A few keywords have since been phased out of the game. The Banding ability was discontinued in the set Tempest, released in 1997. According to the Wizards of the Coast designers, the Banding mechanic confused players and required too much text to explain.[7] When old mechanics were revisited in the Time Spiral block, banding was left out for this same reason. Much later, regeneration and "landwalk" (e.g. Forestwalk, Swampwalk) were discontinued. Landwalk was removed in 2015 with the release of Magic Origins,[8] and no more Regeneration cards have been created starting with the Shadows over Innistrad block in 2016.[9]

Many Limited Edition cards had abilities that have since become keyword abilities. The ability "may only be blocked by black or artifact creatures" was recast as the keyword Fear in 8th Edition which was replaced by Intimidate with the release of Zendikar. A rule in Limited Edition that prevented Walls from attacking was removed in 9th Edition and all walls were given the new keyword "Defender", which prevents them from attacking. 's ability "doesn't tap to attack" was recast as the keyword Vigilance in Champions of Kamigawa. "May attack the turn it comes into play" has changed twice; it was first changed to "unaffected by summoning sickness" in Mirage and then replaced with the keyword Haste in Urza's Destiny.

The rules of Limited Edition included a provision for ante. Games would be started by each player removing a card at random from their deck. The winner of the game took both cards. There were also cards that interacted with the ante, such as . This aspect of the game continued until the Homelands set in 1995, but was dropped as the cards became collectible and valuable and the company did not want to be associated with gambling.[10]

Limited Edition included a number of unique cards exploring mechanics rarely seen in later sets. is a card involving dexterity, in which the card is flipped onto the play area to determine cards destroyed by the Orb. Both manual dexterity cards such as Chaos Orb and ante cards are banned in all sanctioned Magic formats as of 2013.[11]

Notable cards

Errors in Alpha

Alpha contained numerous misprints and did not adhere to close standardized wordings for similar effects seen in later sets and printings. The following cards had printing errors, most of which were fixed in the Beta release.

Several Alpha cards have other minor mistakes, most of them relating to the font.[22]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Alpha, Beta, Unlimited Editions . . August 10, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080904131914/http://www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/productarticle.aspx?x=mtg_tcg_abu_productinfo. dead. September 4, 2008.
  2. Web site: Limited Edition . Crystal Keep . November 1, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070406063112/http://www.crystalkeep.com/magic/products/limited.php . April 6, 2007 .
  3. http://media.wizards.com/2016/podcasts/magic/drivetowork307_limitededitionpart1.mp3 Limited Edition Part I
  4. http://i.imgur.com/lQjxx5a.jpg Magic: The Gathering - Official Encyclopedia, Volume 1
  5. https://web.archive.org/web/20110124212119/http://www.wizards.com/ContentResources/Wizards/WPN/Main/Documents/Magic_The_Gathering_Tournament_Rules_PDF1.pdf Official Tournament Rules
  6. Web site: To Thine Own Elf Be True . https://web.archive.org/web/20080827144742/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr345 . dead . August 27, 2008 . Rosewater . Mark . Mark Rosewater . Making Magic . . August 18, 2008 . December 19, 2010.
  7. Web site: The Baby and the Bathwater . https://web.archive.org/web/20160117103922/http://archive.wizards.com/Magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr100 . dead . January 17, 2016 . Rosewater . Mark . Mark Rosewater . Making Magic . . December 1, 2003 . December 22, 2014.
  8. Web site: Evergreen Eggs & Ham.
  9. http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/150524883138/re-regeneration-turning-into-indestructible-eot Blogatog
  10. Web site: The Original Magic Rulebook . Magic Arcana . . December 25, 2004 . September 18, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100907045909/http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtgcom%2Fdaily%2Fjc20 . September 7, 2010 . dead .
  11. https://web.archive.org/web/20090405093416/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/ld/32 The Winding Path
  12. Web site: History of the World . Newmark . Leigh . InQuest Gamer . InQuest Gamer . WizardUniverse.com . December 15, 2006 . July 20, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070930153805/http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazine/inquest/002758188.cfm?page=1 . September 30, 2007 . dead .
  13. Web site: The Power Nine . https://web.archive.org/web/20031127184758/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/arcana/432 . dead . November 27, 2003 . Magic Arcana . . October 15, 2003 . July 20, 2007.
  14. https://www.polygon.com/2019/3/5/18251623/magic-the-gathering-black-lotus-auction-price Magic: The Gathering’s Black Lotus sells for $166K at auction, doubling its value
  15. Web site: Playing Fetchlands Properly. Iain Telfer. October 23, 2002.
  16. Web site: Zen and the Art of Cycle Maintenance . https://web.archive.org/web/20020713161940/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/mr28 . dead . July 13, 2002 . Rosewater . Mark . Mark Rosewater . Making Magic . . July 8, 2002 . July 20, 2007.
  17. Web site: Tap One Mountain . https://web.archive.org/web/20021001200019/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/bb9 . dead . October 1, 2002 . Ben . Bleiweiss . . February 27, 2002 . July 20, 2007.
  18. Web site: Legacy Format Deck Construction . DCI . Duelists' Convocation International . . June 1, 2007 . July 20, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070626034759/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=judge%2Fresources%2Fsfrlegacy . June 26, 2007 . dead .
  19. Oops: the definitive guide to Magic misprints. Waterman. Paul. 4. Scrye. 85–86. February 1995.
  20. Web site: Alpha "Oops..." V . Magic Arcana . . July 12, 2002 . July 20, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071027143116/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom%2Farcana%2F137 . October 27, 2007 . dead .
  21. Web site: Alpha "Oops..." IV . Magic Arcana . . May 15, 2002 . July 20, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070930083853/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom%2Farcana%2F95 . September 30, 2007 . dead .
  22. Web site: /dev/joe's list of Magic:the Gathering errors, version 1.0 . Magic Judge List Archives . DeVincentis . Joseph . September 17, 2010 . January 15, 1996 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110718073625/http://oracle.wizards.com/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind9601c&L=mtg-l&P=3529. dead. July 18, 2011.
  23. Compare with
  24. Web site: Alpha "Oops..." VII . Magic Arcana . . October 4, 2002 . July 20, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071027143128/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom%2Farcana%2F198 . October 27, 2007 . dead .
  25. Web site: Alpha "Oops..." . Magic Arcana . . February 1, 2002 . July 20, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071027143135/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom%2Farcana%2F22 . October 27, 2007 . dead .
  26. Web site: Alpha "Oops..." II . Magic Arcana . . February 25, 2002 . July 20, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070906075925/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom%2Farcana%2F38 . September 6, 2007 . dead .
  27. Web site: Alpha "Oops..." VI . Magic Arcana . . October 12, 2002 . July 20, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070910235601/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom%2Farcana%2F182 . September 10, 2007 . dead .
  28. Compare with
  29. Web site: Alpha "Oops..." III . Magic Arcana . . April 10, 2002 . July 20, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070906080842/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom%2Farcana%2F70 . September 6, 2007 . dead .
  30. The mistake can be seen on,

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Limited Edition (Magic: The Gathering)".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.