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| {{Infobox set non-block|
| | #REDIRECT[[Limited Edition#Alpha]] |
| Expansion Name = '''''Limited Edition Alpha''''' |
| | [[Category:Magic core sets]] |
| Symbol = Alpha.gif|
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| Symbol Description =|
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| Design Team = [[Richard Garfield]],<br>with contributions from<br>[[Charlie Cateeno]], [[Skaff Elias]], [[Don Felice]], [[Tom Fontaine]], [[Jim Lin]], [[Joel Mick]], [[Chris Page]], [[Dave Pettey]], [[Barry "Bit" Reich]], [[Bill Rose]], and [[Elliott Segal]]|
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| Development Team = Same as Design Team|
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| Release Date = July 1993 |
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| Mechanics = The entire game |
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| Keywords = [[Banding]], [[First Strike]], [[Flying]], [[Landhome]], [[Landwalk]], [[Protection]], [[Regeneration]], [[Trample]]|
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| Size= 295 (74 Common 95 Uncommon 116 Rare 10 Land)|
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| Expansion Code = LEA |
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| Previous Set = |
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| This Set = '''''Limited Edition Alpha''''' |
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| Next Set = '''''[[Beta]]''''' |
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| }}
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| '''Limited Edition Alpha''', or more commonly ''Alpha'', is the first release of Limited Edition, the first [[Core Set]] of [[Magic: The Gathering]]. It includes 295 cards and was released at Origins in July 1993 with a small run of 2.6 million cards. It did not receive much exposure beyond the West Coast of the United States. ''[[Beta]]'' was released shortly after ''Alpha'' sold out.
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| ==Set details==
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| ''Alpha'' cards can easily be distinguished from ''Beta'' and all other cards by their more rounded corners. Early tournament rules required that all cards must appear unmarked without the use of protective sleeves, and the unique corners of ''Alpha'' cards originally made them [[marked card|marked cards]] in a deck not entirely comprised of ''Alpha'' cards. This initially made them less desirable and thus less valuable than ''Beta'' and even ''[[Unlimited]]'' cards.
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| Due to the printing process, it is possible to get land cards in a rare, uncommon, or common card slot. The chance is approximately 3.31% for rares, 21.5% for uncommons and 38.02% for commons. This is because they put lands on all three printed sheets.
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| ''Alpha'' contained a number of errors that were fixed in the second, or ''Beta release'': <c>Circle of Protection: Black</c> and <c>Volcanic Island</c> were accidentally left out of the set entirely <ref>{{DailyRef|mtgcom/arcana/70|Alpha "Oops…" III|"[[Magic Arcana]]"|Wednesday, April 10, 2002}}</ref> <ref>{{DailyRef|mtgcom/arcana/137|Alpha "Oops…" V|"[[Magic Arcana]]"|Friday, July 12, 2002}}</ref>. Additionally, only two versions of each [[basic lands|basic land]] with unique artwork were included. Limited Edition was advertised as having "more than 300 cards," so a third version of each basic land was added in the Beta release in order to validate this claim.
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| ==Design & development==
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| Magic: The Gathering received its "The Gathering" subtitle for two reasons. First, "Magic" was thought to be too generic a name to trademark. Second, it left open the possibility for future expansions to have other subtitles, such as "Magic: Arabian Nights."
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| The names of many cards were initially very generic, such as "Angel" instead of <c>Serra Angel</c> and "Skeletons" instead of <c>Drudge Skeletons</c>. Adding these descriptors created more flavor on the cards and allowed other types of angels, skeletons, and everything else to appear in future expansions.
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| The rarity of many cards was based on the idea that players would have a limited set of cards in a particular area, such that there would only be a few copies of <c>Mox Sapphire</c> or <c>Black Lotus</c> in a particular area, thus naturally restricting the power of these cards. The rapid popularity of the game created a much larger community of players than initially considered, allowing players to amass large collections of these powerful cards.
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| The rule limiting only four copies of all cards except basic lands in decks did not exist in the earliest rules but was rapidly adopted from tournament play.
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| Under the original rules, players with life less than 1 were not considered to have lost until the end of the current [[:Category:Turn structure|phase]], giving that player a chance to find a solution.
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| [[Ante]] was an optional part of the original game of Magic that remained a part of the game until after the ''[[Homelands]]'' expansion.
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| There were originally three types of [[artifact|artifacts]]: [[mono]] artifacts, [[poly]] artifacts, and continuous artifacts. Mono artifacts have activated abilities that can only be used once and tap the artifact with its use. These now have [[errata]] adding "T" to the [[activation cost]]. Poly artifacts have activated abilities that do not have "T" as part of the activation cost and can be used multiple times. Continuous artifacts have a continuous effect that does not require activation. Continuous artifacts were also understood to be "turned off" when tapped, and newer versions of some of these original artifacts now have this restriction printed on them. These three types were removed following the ''[[Antiquities]]'' expansion and before the ''[[Revised Edition]]''.
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| [[Interrupt|Interrupts]] were similar to instants, only "faster." This meant that when an interrupt was played, only other interrupts could be played in response. The timing rules of interrupts caused some other cards (such as <c>Red Elemental Blast</c>) to be interrupts for them to work properly under these rules.
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| [[Wall]] was the only [[creature type]] with a rule associated with it: Walls have [[defender]]. This rule remained a part of the game until the ''[[Champions of Kamigawa]]'' expansion.
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| ==Mechanics and themes==
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| As the first edition of Magic, ''Alpha'' introduced many [[mechanic|mechanics]] and themes. [[Keyword|Keyworded]] [[ability|abilities]] introduced in this set include [[Banding]], [[First Strike]], [[Flying]], [[Landwalk]], [[Protection]], [[Regeneration]] and [[Trample]]. The [[Defender]], [[Fear]], [[Haste]] and [[Vigilance]] mechanics were also introduced without keywords but later received them. Most other game mechanics were also introduced in this set but are too numerous to be listed here.
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| ==Creature types==
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| [[Creature type|Creature types]] were originally intended only to express flavor on creature cards, like [[flavor text]]. Thus, the intentional use of creature types to classify different races was not considered until around the design of the [[Fallen Empires]] [[expansion]], despite cards like <c>Lord of Atlantis</c> that cared about a creature's race in this set.
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| The creature types introduced in this set are: [[Angel]], [[Assassin]] (later changed to [[Human]] Assassin), [[Avatar]], [[Basilisk]], [[Bear]], Bodyguard (later changed to Human), [[Cleric]], Clone (later changed to [[Shapeshifter]]), [[Cockatrice]], [[Demon]], [[Djinn]], Doppelganger (later changed to Shapeshifter), [[Dragon]], [[Dwarf]], [[Elemental]], [[Elf]], Enchantress (later changed to Human [[Druid]]), [[Faerie]], Force (later changed to Elemental), Fungusaur (later changed to Fungus Lizard), Gaea's Liege (later changed to Avatar), [[Gargoyle]], Ghoul (later changed to Zombie), [[Giant]], [[Goblin]], Goblin King (later changed to Goblin [[Lord]]), Hero (later changed to Human [[Soldier]]), [[Hydra]], [[Imp]], [[Classes#Knights|Knight]], Lion (later changed to [[Cat]]), [[Lord]], Lord of Atlantis (later changed to Merfolk Lord), Mammoth (later changed to [[Elephant]]), Mana Bird (later changed to [[Bird]]), [[Merfolk]], [[Minotaur]], [[Nightmare]], Nymph (later changed to [[Dryad]]), [[Ogre]], [[Orc]], Paladin (later changed to Knight), [[Pegasus]], Phantasm (later changed to [[Illusion]]), [[Rat]], [[Roc]], [[Serpent]], [[Shade]], Shadow (later changed to [[Spirit]]), Ship (later changed to Human [[Pirate]]), [[Skeleton]], [[Specter]], [[Spider]], [[Treefolk]], [[Troll]], [[Unicorn]], [[Vampire]], [[Wall]], Will-O'-the-Wisp (later changed to Spirit), [[Wizard]] (later changed to Human Wizard), [[Wolf]], [[Wraith]], [[Wurm]] and [[Zombie]].
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| ==Storyline==
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| ''Alpha'' did not have a specific storyline, although the cards had a lot of flavor built into them based on the premise that [[player|players]] took on the role of a [[planeswalker]] who [[summon|summoned]] [[creature|creatures]] and cast spells in a duel against another planeswalker.
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| ==Cycles==
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| ''Alpha'' has seven [[cycle]]s and 3 [[vertical cycle]]s.
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| *'''Basic lands''': The five [[basic]] [[land]]s were introduced in Limited Edition {{-}} <c>Plains</c>, <c>Island</c>, <c>Swamp</c>, <c>Mountain</c>, and <c>Forest</c>.
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| *'''[[Boons]]''': Each of these [[instant]]s has a [[mana cost]] of C and an effect involving the number 3 {{-}} <c>Healing Salve</c>, <c>Ancestral Recall</c>, <c>Dark Ritual</c>, <c>Lightning Bolt</c>, and <c>Giant Growth</c>. This cycle is asymmetric in that <c>Ancestral Recall</c> is [[rare]], while the other members are [[common]].
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| *'''[[Laces]]''': Each of these rare instants permanently changes the color of a permanent {{-}} <c>Purelace</c>, <c>Thoughtlace</c>, <c>Deathlace</c>, <c>Chaoslace</c>, and <c>Lifelace</c>.
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| *'''[["Lucky charms"|Lucky charms]]''': Each of these [[uncommon]] [[artifact]]s has a [[triggered ability]] that allows the controller pay {{1}} to gain 1 life when a spell of a given color resolves {{-}} <c>Ivory Cup</c>, <c>Crystal Rod</c>, <c>Throne of Bone</c>, <c>Iron Star</c>, and <c>Wooden Sphere</c>.
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| *'''[[Moxen]]''': Each of these [[rare]] artifacts has a mana cost of {{0}} and "{{T}}: Add C to your mana pool" {{-}} <c>Mox Pearl</c>, <c>Mox Sapphire</c>, <c>Mox Jet</c>, <c>Mox Ruby</c>, and <c>Mox Emerald</c>.
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| *'''Top-down cycle''': Each of these rare cards was designed at the last minute before the release of ''Alpha''. They were never playtested and were designed to fit pieces of unused artwork {{-}} <c>Island Sanctuary</c>, <c>Stasis</c>, <c>Word of Command</c>, <c>Sedge Troll</c>, and <c>Birds of Paradise</c>{{unref}}
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| *'''[[Wards]]''': Each of these uncommon [[white]] [[Aura]]s with [[enchant]] creature grants protection from a given color {{-}} <c>White Ward</c>, <c>Blue Ward</c>, <c>Black Ward</c>, <c>Red Ward</c>, and <c>Green Ward</c>.
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| ===Vertical cycles===
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| *'''Goblins''': Each of these [[red]] [[Goblin]] creatures exists at a different level of rarity {{-}} <c>Mons's Goblin Raiders</c>, <c>Goblin Balloon Brigade</c>, <c>Goblin King</c>.
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| *'''Red three-drop humanoids''': Each of these 2/2 red creatures has a mana cost of {{2}}{{r}} and increasingly powerful abilities {{-}} <c>Gray Ogre</c>, <c>Uthden Troll</c>, and <c>Sedge Troll</c>. <c>Granite Gargoyle</c> might also be considered part of this group, though it doesn't fit the theme of monstrous human-like creatures.
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| *'''Pingers''' {{-}} Each of these permanents has "{{T}}: [This] deals 1 damage to target creature or player" {{-}} <c>Prodigal Sorcerer</c>, <c>Rod of Ruin</c>, and <c>Pirate Ship</c>.
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| ==Mirrored pairs==
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| ''Alpha'' has 26 [[mirrored pair]]s.
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| *<c>Ankh of Mishra</c> and <c>Dingus Egg</c> are both rare artifacts that deal damage when a land enters or leaves play.
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| *<c>Air Elemental</c> and <c>Earth Elemental</c> are both uncommon [[Elemental|Elementals]] with a mana cost of {{3}}CC and a [[power]] of 4.
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| *<c>Benalish Hero</c> and <c>Timber Wolves</c> are both 1/1 creatures with banding and a mana cost of C.
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| *<c>Castle</c> and <c>Orcish Oriflamme</c> are both uncommon [[enchantment|enchantments]] that conditionally affect a creature's power or toughness.
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| *<c>Crusade</c> and <c>Bad Moon</c> are both rare enchantments with a [[converted mana cost]] of 2 and an effect to give all creatures of its color +1/+1.
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| *<c>White Knight</c> and <c>Black Knight</c> are both uncommon [[Classes#Knights|Knights]] with a mana cost of CC, power/toughness of 2/2, first strike and protection from the other's color.
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| *<c>Blue Elemental Blast</c> and <c>Red Elemental Blast</c> are both common instants (formerly interrupts) with a mana cost of C and with a [[modal]] ability to either destroy a permanent of the other's color or counter a spell of the other's color.
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| *<c>Braingeyser</c> and <c>Mind Twist</c> are both rare [[sorcery|sorceries]] that cause [[target]] [[player]] to [[draw]] or [[discard]] cards.
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| *<c>Gaea's Liege</c> and <c>Cyclopean Tomb</c> are both rare cards with an [[activated ability]] that can permanently change a land's type.
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| *<c>Deathgrip</c> and <c>Lifeforce</c> are each uncommon enchantments with an activated ability to counter a spell of the other's color for CC.
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| *<c>Earthquake</c> and <c>Hurricane</c> are both sorceries that have a mana cost of {{X}}C and deal X damage to all non-flying or flying creatures and each player.
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| *<c>Fear</c> and <c>Invisibility</c> are both common [[Aura]]s that make the enchanted creature more difficult to block.
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| *<c>Feedback</c> and <c>Wanderlust</c> are both uncommon Auras that deal 1 damage to the controller of the enchanted permanent during each of their [[upkeep|upkeeps]].
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| *<c>Water Elemental</c> and <c>Fire Elemental</c> are both uncommon Elementals with a mana cost of {{3}}CC and a power/toughness of 5/4.
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| *<c>Holy Strength</c> and <c>Unholy Strength</c> are both common Auras with enchant creature that give a mirrored bonus to the enchanted creature's power/toughness.
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| *<c>Living Lands</c> and <c>Kormus Bell</c> are both rare cards that turned lands of a particular type into 1/1 creatures.
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| *<c>Lord of Atlantis</c> and <c>Goblin King</c> are both rare [[Lord|Lords]] that give +1/+1 and landwalk of its color to its creature type.
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| *<c>Manabarbs</c> and <c>Power Surge</c> are both rare red enchantments that deal damage to a player based on the number of lands he or she does or does not tap.
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| *<c>Mons's Goblin Raiders</c> and <c>Merfolk of the Pearl Trident</c> are both 1/1 common creatures with creature types that are affected by Lord of Atlantis and Goblin King.
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| *<c>Phantom Monster</c> and <c>Roc of Kher Ridges</c> are both 3/3 creatures with flying.
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| *<c>Serra Angel</c> and <c>Sengir Vampire</c> are both uncommon 4/4 flying creatures with a mana cost of {{3}}CC and a combat-related ability.
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| *<c>Smoke</c> and <c>Winter Orb</c> both allow players to only untap one of a type of permanent each turn.
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| *<c>Timetwister</c> and <c>Wheel of Fortune</c> are both rare sorceries that cause all players to draw a new hand of 7 cards.
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| *<c>Tsunami</c> and <c>Flashfires</c> are both uncommon sorceries that have a mana cost of 3C and destroy lands of a particular enemy type.
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| *<c>Wall of Bone</c> and <c>Wall of Brambles</c> are both Walls with regeneration and a mana cost of {{2}}C.
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| *<c>Wall of Water</c> and <c>Wall of Fire</c> are both 0/5 Walls illustrated by [[Richard Thomas]] with a silouetted figure behind a wall and the activated ability "C: [this] gets +1/+0 until end of turn."
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| ==Hosers==
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| [[Hoser]]s were introduced, which are cards that negatively affect one (or sometimes two) specific color(s) or basic land type associated with that color: <c>Karma</c>, <c>Blue Elemental Blast</c>, <c>Deathgrip</c>, <c>Flashfires</c>, <c>Tsunami</c>, <c>Conversion</c>, <c>Lifetap</c>, <c>Gloom</c>, <c>Red Elemental Blast</c>, and <c>Lifeforce</c>.
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| ==Notable cards==
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| *The [[Power Nine]] are some of the most valuable and powerful cards ever printed.
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| *The original ten [[Dual Lands]] are some of the most powerful and valuable lands ever printed.
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| *<c>Armageddon</c> forms the basis of the [[Erhnamgeddon]] [[control]] deck.
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| *<c>Balance</c> was initially underestimated, as were many symmetrical effects, but quickly proved to be a very powerful card and is now on the [[Restricted List]].
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| *<c>Berserk</c> was once considered powerful enough to be added to the Restricted List. It was unrestricted in April 2003 because the power of creatures, with which it works, has been low in the format for many years.
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| *<c>Birds of Paradise</c> has proven itself to be one of the best [[Mana fixing|mana fixers]] ever printed.
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| *<c>Black Vise</c> was far too powerful, especially when played on the first turn, and is also found on the Restricted List.
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| *<c>Braingeyser</c> was also once considered powerful enough to be added to the Restricted List.
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| *<c>Channel</c> was a key component of the fabled Channel-<c>Fireball</c> first-turn win in combination with <c>Black Lotus</c> and a source of red mana.
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| *<c>Chaos Orb</c> is the first of a class of "[[Dexterity (cards)|dexterity]]" cards that required some physical skill to achieve maximum effect, and like all dexterity cards and ante cards, are now on the [[Timeline of DCI bans and restrictions|Banned list]].
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| *<c>Contract from Below</c> is an insanely powerful card that allows its caster to draw 7 cards at the price of adding to the [[ante]], but the effect is powerful enough to make the added risk very acceptable. Some even consider this the most powerful card ever printed.
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| *<c>Dark Ritual</c> enabled many black decks to accelerate powerful cards into play quickly, especially <c>Hypnotic Specter</c>.
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| *<c>Demonic Tutor</c> is another powerful effect with a small mana cost that has found its way onto the Restricted List.
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| *<c>Fastbond</c>, like many other cards on the Restricted List, allows a player to quickly access more mana.
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| *<c>Hypnotic Specter</c> was originally thought to be too powerful, and indeed it is powerful, but the real problem was eventually revealed to be its combination with Dark Ritual.
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| *<c>Icy Manipulator</c> was used in many control decks to slow the opponent down.
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| *<c>Illusionary Mask</c> later gained fame for its ability to get <c>Phyrexian Dreadnought</c> into play quickly and cheaply.
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| *<c>Lightning Bolt</c> is a very powerful (and common) direct damage spell that still sees play.
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| *<c>Mind Twist</c> proved to be very powerful, especially with all the mana acceleration available in ''Alpha''. Like Black Vise, it quickly put an opponent at a great disadvantage and was added to the Restricted List.
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| *<c>Nevinyrral's Disk</c> was especially useful in monocolored black decks with no access to artifact and enchantment destruction.
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| *<c>Red Elemental Blast</c> is a common anti-blue card that still sees play today.
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| *<c>Regrowth</c>, like Demonic Tutor, is a powerful effect with a small mana cost, especially when combined with any number of other powerful cards and is now found on the Restricted List.
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| *<c>Savannah Lions</c> is considered one of the best [[White Weenie]] cards.
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| *<c>Serra Angel</c> was used to finish many games in control decks and is one of the iconic creatures of the game. It was once considered too powerful and left the [[Core Set]] for a time.
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| *<c>Sinkhole</c>, with a converted mana cost of 2, is considered to be far too cheap for the damaging effect of [[land destruction]], especially as a common card.
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| *<c>Sol Ring</c> is yet another card great at accelerating mana and is also found on the Restricted List.
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| *<c>Swords to Plowshares</c> is the iconic white creature removal card.
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| *<c>Time Vault</c> has had numerous changes to its function in order to make it work as intended. In 2006 the function at the time led to an infinite damage combo with <c>Flame Fusillade</c>.
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| *<c>Wheel of Fortune</c> is on the Restricted List for the power of drawing 7 cards.
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| *<c>Wrath of God</c> has been a tournament staple since players learned that powerful symmetrical effects can be good.
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| ==Points of interest==
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| Each color, except [[red]], has two [[Aura|Auras]] with [[enchant]] [[land]].
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| *<c>Ancestral Recall</c>, one of the [[Power Nine]], is considered by R&D to be the most powerful blue card ever created. It was originally called "Ancestral Memories."
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| *<c>Ankh of Mishra</c> uses the real-world Ankh symbol in its artwork.
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| *<c>Armageddon</c> was included in the beginner-oriented sets [[Portal]] and [[Portal Second Age]] and functionally reprinted as <c>Ravages of War</c> in the [[Portal Three Kingdoms]] set, yet it was removed from the [[Core Set]] after [[Sixth Edition]] for being too powerful.
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| *<c>Basalt Monolith</c> had [[errata]] for a while to prevent the mana it generated from being usable with itself because of an infinite mana combo with <c>Power Artifact</c> and an infinite damage-to-player combo with the original wording of <c>Relic Bind</c>, which also received errata to prevent this combo.
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| *<c>Berserk</c> was removed from the [[Core Set]] for being a "spoiler," or too good, after its addition to the first [[Restricted List]] in January 1994. [[Richard Garfield]] explained its absence from the [[Revised]] set in [[The Duelist]] Supplement thus: "Anything that multiplies is potentially abusive. Failure to have a <c>Fog</c> should not warrant 80 damage." Berserk was removed from the Restricted List in April 2003 because it has decreased in power as a result of the variety of cards now available in [[Vintage]].
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| *<c>Birds of Paradise</c> was created because the bird in the artwork commissioned for <c>Tropical Island</c> was too prominent. It has always been available in [[Standard]] except for a brief time after ''[[Eighth Edition]]'' rotated out and before the ''[[Ravnica]]'' expansion rotated in.
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| *<c>Braingeyser</c> was on the first Restricted List in January 1994 and was removed from it in September 2004 for being expensive, slow, and worse than other cards in Vintage.
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| *<c>Camouflage</c> turned attacking creatures [[Morph#Comprehensive_Rules_references|face-down]], but when the [[Morph]] mechanic defined the characteristics of a face-down card the wording of Camouflage was changed to create a random assignment of blockers, which effectively emulated the original intent of the card.
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| *<c>Castle</c> is one of a few early cards that were later functionally changed, making it both better and easier to understand. The removed text prevented attacking creatures from gaining the bonus because of [[Vigilance]].
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| *<c>Celestial Prism</c> is rather underpowered and is strictly worse than <c>Mana Prism</c>, <c>Mana Cylix</c>, <c>Darksteel Ingot</c> and <c>Prismatic Lens</c>.
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| *<c>Channel</c> is one of many cards that is overpowered because of its ability to trade one resource for another at a low cost, in this case life for mana.
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| *<c>Chaos Orb</c> was removed from the Core Set with the intention of it or a card like it returning one day. Richard Garfield said of its absence from Revised: "No, we didn't can the concept. There will always be weirdo cards like this floating around, but the same old one gets passé." The card was later added to the [[Timeline of DCI bans and restrictions|Banned list]] for being a "dexterity card," or a card that could be better based on a player's skill in using it, removing it from tournament play and from future sets. This was also helped by the fact that its use made it optimal to place cards in ridiculous and confusing places, mixed with opponent's permanents. Chaos Orb was also the focus of an urban legend that said an early tournament was won by a player who tore his card into small pieces and scattered them over his opponent's cards. This legend inspired the [[Unglued]] card <c>Chaos Confetti</c>.
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| *<c>Circle of Protection: Black</c> was left out of the ''[[Alpha]]'' set in part due to confusion surrounding its artwork. The contracted artist bailed at the last moment so the original Art Director, [[Jesper Myrfors]], created its original artwork quickly on the computer.
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| *<c>Circle of Protection: Red</c> is the only Circle of Protection to appear in every Core Set (and even a few [[large expansion|large expansions]]) until ''[[10th Edition]]''.
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| *<c>Clockwork Beast</c> was originally worded to remove a +1/+0 counter when declared as an attacker or blocker, although this was unclear. It was functionally changed in ''[[4th Edition|Fourth Edition]]'' to reflect how most players played the card. It also has the greatest combined [[power]] and [[toughness]] among [[artifact]] [[creature|creatures]] in ''Beta'' and was played early on for having power greater than its [[converted mana cost]] and for the advantages of it being an artifact creature.
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| *<c>Cockatrice</c> was ironically generally worse than its [[uncommon]] comrade, <c>Thicket Basilisk</c> because having [[flying]] somewhat negated the <c>Venom</c> ability.
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| *<c>Consecrate Land</c> is the first card to use [[indestructible|indestructibility]], although that [[keyword]] would not be created until 2003.
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| *<c>Conservator</c> is strictly worse than <c>Pearl Shard</c>.
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| *<c>Contract from Below</c>, <c>Darkpact</c> and <c>Demonic Attorney</c>, like all other [[ante]] cards, have been on the Banned List from its inception.
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| *<c>Copy Artifact</c> is unusual for its ability to be both an [[enchantment]] and an artifact when in play.
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| *<c>Craw Wurm</c> excites many players initially because it is usually the first creature of its size that new players come across. This makes it a good [[Timmy]] card.
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| *<C>Dingus Egg</c> was actually on the original Restricted List for its combo with <c>Armageddon</c>, <c>Balance</c> and other powerful land destruction spells.
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| *<c>Disintegrate</c> was one of two common red X-damage spells in ''Beta''.
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| *<c>Disrupting Scepter</c> was considered a good card initially, as discard was a powerful strategy then.
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| *<c>Dragon Whelp</c> is one of only a few "actually good" cards in the original [[Sligh]] deck.
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| *<c>Drain Life</c> plays an important role in many <c>Necropotence</c> decks to recoup life lost to the Skull.
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| *<c>Firebreathing</c> and <c>Jade Statue</c> are the only non-[[creature]] cards in ''Beta'' with [[flavor text]].
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| *<c>Force of Nature</c> has the greatest combined power and toughness among [[green]] creatures in ''Beta''.
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| *<c>Lord of the Pit</c> has the greatest combined power and toughness among [[black]] creatures in ''Beta''.
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| *<c>Mahamoti Djinn</c> has the greatest combined power and toughness among [[blue]] creatures in ''Beta''.
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| *<c>Personal Incarnation</c> has the greatest combined power and toughness among [[white]] creatures in ''Beta''.
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| *<c>Shivan Dragon</c> has the greatest combined power and toughness among [[red]] creatures in ''Beta''.
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| ==Misprints==
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| *<c>Contract from Below</c> {{-}} The artist's name, [[Douglas Shuler|Shuler]], was misspelled.
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| *<c>Cyclopean Tomb</c> {{-}} printed without a [[mana cost]].<ref>{{DailyRef|mtgcom/arcana/95|Alpha "Oops…" IV|"[[Magic Arcana]]"|Wednesday, May 15, 2002}}</ref>
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| *<c>Demonic Hordes</c> {{-}} printed with an [[upkeep]] cost of literally "BBB" instead of three black mana symbols.
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| *<c>Elvish Archers</c> {{-}} printed with [[power]]/[[toughness]] 1/2 instead of 2/1.<ref>{{DailyRef|mtgcom/arcana/198|Alpha "Oops…" VII|"[[Magic Arcana]]"|Friday, October 4, 2002}}</ref>
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| *<c>Force of Nature</c> {{-}} printed with an [[upkeep]] cost of literally "GGGG" instead of four green mana symbols also the artist's name, Shuler, was misspelled.<ref name=I>{{DailyRef|mtgcom/arcana/22|Alpha "Oops..."|"[[Magic Arcana]]"|Friday, February 1, 2002}}</ref>
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| *<c>Orcish Artillery</c> {{-}} printed with a [[mana cost]] of {{1}}{{R}} instead of {{1}}{{R}}{{R}}.<ref name=II>{{DailyRef|mtgcom/arcana/38|Alpha "Oops..." II|"[[Magic Arcana]]"|Monday, February 25, 2002}}</ref>
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| *<c>Orcish Oriflamme</c> {{-}} printed with the mana cost {{1}}{{R}} instead of {{3}}{{R}}.<ref name=II/>
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| *<c>Phantasmal Forces</c> {{-}} printed with an [[upkeep]] cost of literally "U" instead of a blue mana symbol.<ref name=I/>
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| *<c>Red Elemental Blast</c> {{-}} printed as an [[instant]] instead of an [[interrupt]].<ref>{{DailyRef|mtgcom/arcana/182|Alpha "Oops…" VI|"[[Magic Arcana]]"|Thursday, September 12, 2002}}</ref> <ref>{{DailyRef|mtgcom/arcana/534|Alpha Red Elemental Blast|"[[Magic Arcana]]"|Tuesday, March 30, 2004}}</ref>
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| *<c>Unsummon</c> {{-}} The card reads "Return creature to owner's hand; enchantments on creature are CARD ed. Unsummon cannot {{...}} "
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| ==References==
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| {{reflist}}
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| ==External links==
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| *[http://www.wizards.com/magic/advanced/1_2_3e/ABUnlim.asp ''Alpha'' Product Page] (old)
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| *{{Prodpage|abu|Alpha}} (new)
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| *{{MTGref|jc20|The Original Magic Rulebook|John Carter|Saturday, December 25, 2004}} (transcription)
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| {{sets}}
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| [[Category:Magic expansions and sets]] | |