@database REPRINT.guide
@author "Tom de Ruyter"
@$VER: MTG.guide 2.1 jan.97
@node MAIN "MTG Card Reprint Policy - Table of Contents"
@{" " link MTG_CARD_RULINGS.guide/MAIN}
@{b}Magic: The Gathering Card Reprint Policy
March 4, 1996@{ub}
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@{" Introduction " link INTRO}
@{" Why Cards Are Reprinted " link WHY_REPRINT}
@{" Reserved Cards " link RES_CARDS}
@{" Reprinting Cards " link REPRINTING}
@{" Non-English-Language Editions " link NON_ENGLISH}
@{" Special-Purpose Reprints " link SPECIAL}
@{" Reserved Card List " link LISTS}
@endnode
@node INTRO "Introduction"
@{b}Introduction@{ub}
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Wizards of the Coast understands that many of you were surprised by the
quantity and selection of cards from the Arabian Nights(R), Antiquities(R),
Legends(TM), and The Dark(TM) expansion sets that we reprinted in Magic:
The Gathering-Fourth Edition(TM) and Chronicles(TM). We have therefore
created this Magic: The Gathering(R) Card Reprint Policy to explain why we
choose to reprint cards and how many cards from which expansion sets you
can expect to see reprinted in future Magic products.
@endnode
@node WHY_REPRINT "Why Magic Cards Are Reprinted"
@{b}Why Magic Cards Are Reprinted@{ub}
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Magic: The Gathering has tremendous appeal both as a game and as a
collectible; however, Wizards of the Coast is a game company, and we
believe that Magic is first and foremost a supreme game of strategy and
skill. We choose to reprint certain cards from limited expansion sets in
products like Fourth Edition and Chronicles because we believe that the
cards we reprint make for enjoyable game play and that Magic players
deserve an opportunity to play with these cards.
Wizards of the Coast understands that Magic also appeals to many of you as
a collectible. For this reason, it has always been our policy to print any
card with a new card power in black border before or at the same time as it
is printed in white border. It has also been our policy never to reprint
in black border a previously published Magic card using identical art and
card power. The purpose of these policies was to make the black-bordered,
limited edition versions of Magic cards as collectible as possible.
We have discovered, however, that, in addition to the limited nature of our
black-bordered products, much of the collectibility of a Magic card is
determined by its availability for game-play purposes. Accordingly, we
have decided to expand on our previous policies by creating a new category
of cards, called "Reserved Cards," that we will never print again in black
or white border in game-functionally identical form.
@endnode
@node RES_CARDS "Reserved Cards"
@{b}Reserved Cards@{ub}
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As mentioned above, "Reserved Cards" are cards that we will never print
again in black or white border in game-functionally identical form. For
this purpose, a card is game-functionally identical if it has the same card
power and casting cost as another card. Note that the exclusion of any
particular card from the Reserved Card list does not indicate that we have
any plans to reprint that card.
The current list of Reserved Cards includes: (1) all cards from Alpha/Beta
Editions that do not appear in Fourth Edition or Ice Age(TM); (2) all
uncommon and rare cards from Arabian Nights and Antiquities that have not
yet been reprinted in white border (i.e., that do not appear in Revised(TM)
[Third Edition], Fourth Edition, or Chronicles); and (3) all rare cards
from Legends and The Dark that have not yet been reprinted in white border.
Appended to this Magic: The Gathering(R) Card Reprint Policy is a current
list of all Reserved Cards.
@endnode
@node REPRINTING "Reprinting Cards"
@{b}Reprinting Cards from Fallen Empires and Subsequent Products@{ub}
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In order to create products that are enjoyable for Magic players, Wizards
of the Coast may reprint cards from the Fallen Empires, Ice Age,
Homelands(TM), and subsequent limited expansion sets, as well as cards from
Chronicles. In order to maintain the collectibility of these products,
however, Wizards of the Coast will reprint in white border no more than 25
percent of the rarest cards from Chronicles, Fallen Empires, or any
subsequent limited expansion set. At least 75 percent of the rarest cards
from each of these sets will never be reprinted in either black or white
border. For this purpose, the rarest cards from a given expansion set are
all of those cards that appear with the lowest frequency on the rarest
press sheet used to print that expansion (i.e., cards from Fallen Empires,
Chronicles, and Homelands designated "Uncommon 1" and cards from Ice Age
designated "Rare 1" in The Duelist (TM) magazine's cardlists for these
sets).
In conjunction with the release of each new edition of the basic game, such
as Fifth Edition, we will announce which sets were considered eligible to
have cards from them rotated into the basic game. Any rare card from those
sets not rotated into the basic game at that time will become a Reserved
Card and thus will never be printed again in black or white border in
game-functionally identical form.
@endnode
@node NON_ENGLISH "Non-English-Language Editions"
@{b}Non-English-Language Editions@{ub}
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Note that the foregoing policies apply both to English-language and
non-English-language cards. The only exception to this is that special
considerations which arise when commencing publication of Magic in a new
language may force us to publish some cards in that new language in
white-border form (e.g., as part of Fourth Edition) without first
publishing all of those cards in that new language in black-border form.
In addition, note that the Arabian Nights, Antiquities, Legends, and The
Dark expansion sets will not be printed in black- or white-border form in
any additional languages, although cards from these expansion sets may be
printed in additional languages in black- or white-border form as part of
non-English-language editions of the basic game or Chronicles. Chronicles,
Fallen Empires, and subsequent limited expansion sets may be printed in
black border in additional languages. Wizards of the Coast will
periodically announce when any of these products are being removed from
consideration for reprinting in additional languages.
@endnode
@node SPECIAL "Special-Purpose Reprints"
@{b}Special-Purpose Reprints@{ub}
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All of the policies described herein apply only to standard,
tournament-legal Magic cards of standard size and bearing the standard
Magic card back. Wizards of the Coast has and may continue to print
non-standard versions of cards for sale or promotional use, such as factory
sets and oversized cards.
@endnode
@node LISTS "Reserved Card List"
@{b}Reserved Card List@{ub}
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@{" Limited Edition (Alpha/Beta) " link LIMITED}
@{" Arabian Nights " link ARABIAN_NIGHTS}
@{" Antiquities " link ANTIQUITIES}
@{" Legends " link LEGENDS}
@{" The Dark " link THE_DARK}
@endnode
@node LIMITED "Limited Edition (Alpha/Beta)"
@{b}Limited Edition (Alpha/Beta)@{ub}
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Ancestral Recall Badlands
Basalt Monolith Bayou
Berserk Black Lotus
Blaze of Glory Braingeyser
Camouflage Chaos Orb
Clone Consecrate Land
Contract from Below Copper Tablet
Copy Artifact Cyclopean Tomb
Darkpact Demonic Attorney
Demonic Hordes Demonic Tutor
Dwarven Demolition Team Earthbind
False Orders Farmstead
Fastbond Forcefield
Fork Gauntlet of Might
Granite Gargoyle Guardian Angel
Ice Storm Illusionary Mask
Invisibility Jade Statue
Juggernaut Kudzu
Lance Lich
Living Wall Mox Emerald
Mox Jet Mox Pearl
Mox Ruby Mox Sapphire
Natural Selection Nettling Imp
Plateau (Brudi) Plateau (Tucker)
Psionic Blast Raging River
Regrowth Resurrection
Roc of Kher Ridges Rock Hydra
Sacrifice Savannah
Scrubland Sedge Troll
Sinkhole Sol Ring
Taiga Time Vault
Time Walk Timetwister
Tropical Island Tundra
Two-Headed Giant of Foriys Underground Sea
Vesuvan Doppelganger Veteran Bodyguard
Volcanic Island Wheel of Fortune
Word of Command
@endnode
@node ARABIAN_NIGHTS "Arabian Nights"
@{b}Arabian Nights@{ub}
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Ali from Cairo Bazaar of Baghdad
City in a Bottle Diamond Valley
Drop of Honey Elephant Graveyard
Guardian Beast Ifh-Biff Efreet
Island of Wak-Wak Jihad
Juzam Djinn Khabal Ghoul
King Suleiman Library of Alexandria
Merchant Ship Old Man of the Sea
Pyramids Ring of Ma'ruf
Sandals of Abdallah Serendib Djinn
Shahrazad Singing Tree
Ydwen Efreet
@endnode
@node ANTIQUITIES "Antiquities"
@{b}Antiquities@{ub}
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Argivian Archaeologist Candelabra of Tawnos
Citanul Druid Damping Field
Gaea's Avenger Gate to Phyrexia
Golgothian Sylex Haunting Wind
Martyrs of Korlis Mightstone
Mishra's Workshop Power Artifact
Powerleech Su-Chi
Tawnos's Coffin Transmute Artifact
Urza's Miter Weakstone
@endnode
@node LEGENDS "Legends"
@{b}Legends@{ub}
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The Abyss Acid Rain
Adun Oakenshield Al-abara's Carpet
Alchor's Tomb All Hallow's Eve
Angus Mackenzie Bartel Runeaxe
Boris Devilboon Caverns of Despair
Chains of Mephistopheles Cleanse
Disharmony Divine Intervention
Elder Spawn Eureka
Falling Star Field of Dreams
Firestorm Phoenix Forethought Amulet
Gosta Dirk Gravity Sphere
Gwendlyn Di Corci Halfdane
Hazezon Tamar Hellfire
Imprison In the Eye of Chaos
Infinite Authority Invoke Prejudice
Jacques le Vert Jovial Evil
Knowledge Vault Kobold Overlord
Lady Caleria Lady Evangela
Land Equilibrium Life Matrix
Lifeblood Living Plane
Livonya Silone Mana Matrix
Master of the Hunt Mirror Universe
Moat Mold Demon
Nether Void North Star
Nova Pentacle Pixie Queen
Planar Gate Quarum Trench Gnomes
Ragnar Ramses Overdark
Rapid Fire Rasputin Dreamweaver
Reverberation Ring of Immortals
Rohgahh of Kher Keep Spinal Villain
Spiritual Sanctuary Storm World
Sword of the Ages The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
Telekinesis Tetsuo Umezawa
Thunder Spirit Tuknir Deathlock
Typhoon Ur-Drago
Willow Satyr Wood Elemental
@endnode
@node THE_DARK "The Dark"
@{b}The Dark@{ub}
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City of Shadows Cleansing
Eternal Flame Exorcist
Frankenstein's Monster Goblin Wizard
Grave Robbers Hidden Path
Knights of Thorn Lurker
Mana Vortex Martyr's Cry
Nameless Race Niall Silvain
Preacher Psychic Allergy
Scarwood Bandits Season of the Witch
Sorrow's Path Stone Calendar
Tracker Worms of the Earth
Wormwood Treefolk
@endnode