Shards of Alara, Conflux, and Alara Reborn

Set Name

Shards of Alara

Block

Set 1 of 3 in the Shards of Alara block

Number of Cards

249

Set Name

Conflux

Block

Set 2 of 3 in the Shards of Alara block

Number of Cards

145

Set Name

Alara Reborn

Block

Set 3 of 3 in the Shards of Alara block

Number of Cards

145

Shards of Alara Development & Design Team
Bill Rose (design lead)
Devin Low (development lead)
Aaron Forsythe
Mark Globus
Mark Gottlieb
Graeme Hopkins
Alexis Janson
Erik Lauer
Michael Mikaelian
Kenneth Nagle
Matt Place
Mark Rosewater
Brian Tinsman
Mike Turian
Noah Weil

Prior to Shards of Alara being released, Wizards of the Coast announced they were making a number of changes to the Magic: The Gathering trading card game and publishing offerings. Say what, yep, BIG CHANGES.

Beginning with the Shards of Alara set, released October 3, 2008, Wizards will have the following changes in place:

Set Size: Smaller set sizes, This is not really that shocking as set sizes have steadily been decreasing over the years, in fact, when Ice Age was released back in 1995, it was a 383 card set, Mirroden released in 2003 as a 306 card set, compared to the most recent, Shadowmoor, a 281 card set. Shards of Alara is set to be a 249 card set.

Rarity: Along with the smaller set sizes, Wizards will also be introducing a new level of rarity called mythic rare. The mythic rare cards will appear in approximately 1 out of every 8 booster packs replacing the normal rare. Mythic Rare Foils (otherwise known as premium cards) will however replace a common as all current Foils do. Mythic Rares will also have a new color symbol and the first Mythic Rare ever previewed is below: Check out Sarkhan Vol!

Yeah, if you didn't pick up on that, Planeswalkers are definately back in Shards of Alara.

Booster Packs: The breakdown of a Magic the Gathering Booster Pack is also changing by replacing one common with a basic land. Not sure of what purpose this serves except to ensure that everyone gets a land as their last card in a draft, but the pack breakdown for Shards of Alara is as follows: 1 rare, 3 uncommons, 10 commons, 1 basic land, and 1 tip or token card.

Intro Packs: Theme Decks have been replaced by intro packs. An intro pack is a 41 card theme deck plus one booster pack. Intro packs are designed specifically at helping beginners get into the game and each one includes a premium or foil rare. Plans currently call for 5 intro packs to be released for each set, but if we know nothing else we know that could change too. Here's a first look at the Shards of Alara theme deck, I mean Intro Pack:

Book Publishing: If you are one of the many that can't wait to read the stories that accompany the cards when a new set is released then you should be aware that Wizards has also changed the publishing schedule. Magic Books will now be published quarterly, four times a year and largely focus on Planeswalkers. In the Fall a Planeswalkers guide will be released for coinciding with the plane of the main block released that fall as well. In the Winter and Summer a Planeswalkers story will be released, and in the spring a Novel regarding the current block will be released. Of course this will have some impact to the fat packs that are released with each set as well.

Fat Packs: With Shadowmoor, Fat Packs changed slightly to include only one card box and eight booster packs instead of the previous six booster packs and two card boxes. Beginning with Shards of Alara FatPacks will now include an excerpt of the most current publishing offering in lieu of the previously included set-based novel, one card box, eight booster packs, and one 20 sided spin down lifecounter / dice.

For better or worse Lots of changes are coming regarding the future of Magic the Gathering.

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