Revised Edition

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Revised Edition
[[File:{{#setmainimage:MTG BW.jpg}}|250px]]
Set Information
Set symbol
Design Richard Garfield
with contributions from
Charlie Cateeno
Skaff Elias
Don Felice
Tom Fontaine
Jim Lin
Joel Mick
Chris Page
Dave Pettey
Barry "Bit" Reich
Bill Rose
Elliott Segal
Development Same as design
Art direction Jesper Myrfors
Release date April 1994
Plane Dominaria
Themes and mechanics None new
Keywords/​ability words None new
Set size 306 (75 Common 95 Uncommon 121 Rare)
Expansion code 3ED[2]
Core sets
[[Unlimited Edition]] '''Revised Edition''' [[Fourth Edition]]
Magic: The Gathering Chronology
[[Antiquities]] Revised Edition [[Legends]]

The Revised Edition, or Revised as it is commonly called, is the third edition of the Magic core sets. It was released in April 1994.

Revised booster

Set details

Advertisement in Duelist #1, announcing gray borders

Wizards of the Coast made multiple attempts to print an improved version of the Core Set before finally getting Revised out the door.[3] Revised consisted of 306 cards. The set was originally designed without a visible marker of rarity as Wizards of the Coast wished for the specific rarity of each card to remain hidden; however, with the eventual inclusion of rarity on the card face, they retroactively determined the rarity of each card in the set (15 Basic lands, 75 Common, 95 Uncommon, 121 Rare). Revised was the first Core Set to "rotate" some cards out, some of which were considered to be "problem cards," and replace them with other cards from previously printed limited expansions. The expansions available at the time were Arabian Nights and Antiquities.[4]

Due to the printing process, it is possible to get basic land cards in an uncommon or common card slot. The chance is approximately 21.5% for uncommons and 38.02% for commons. This is because the printer put lands on all the uncommon and common sheets.

An early advertisement in The Duelist #1 stated that Revised cards would be gray-bordered, but they ultimately became white-bordered like the Unlimited Edition. A production oversight resulted in the "bevel" that framed the cards being cropped off. Also, well-used printing films gave the cards faded colors. Many players complained at the lack of quality of the set; both the card power and the look.

Marketing

Cards were available from mid April 1994 through mid April 1995. The print run is estimated at 500 million cards. The cards were sold in 60-card starter decks and 15-card boosters. The starter deck rulebook has Shivan Dragon on the cover and a checklist on the back and last pages. Revised was the first set that was supplemented with a special Gift Box. The Revised Gift Box (released on November 15, 1994) included two starter decks, 30 glass counters, a flannel bag for storing the counters, an illustrated rulebook and a card collectors' checklist.

Revised was the first set to be published in other languages than English: French, German and Italian. All had a black-bordered and a white-bordered print run.

Rules

As the players' knowledge of the game and its potential developed, so did the knowledge of the designers and developers. Their collaboration led to the first Pocket Players' Guide, which solidified the rules of Magic. However, for later editions the rules would change many times over.

Revised introduced the first tap symbol: A slightly tilted T inside a gray circle. The artifact types Mono and Poly became obsolete, the types were removed from cards that had them and tap symbols were added where they were previously implied by the type. The set also changed references to mana color in card texts to mana symbols.[5]

Cycles

Revised has 5 cycles.

Cycle name Description and notes {W} {U} {B} {R} {G}
Circles of protection Each of these common white enchantments has a mana cost of {1}{W} and the ability to prevent the all damage from a source of a given color for {1}. Circle of Protection: White Circle of Protection: Blue Circle of Protection: Black Circle of Protection: Red Circle of Protection: Green
Laces Each of these rare instants permanently changes the color of a permanent. Purelace Thoughtlace Deathlace Chaoslace Lifelace
Lucky charms Each of these uncommon artifacts has a triggered ability that allows the controller pay {1} to gain 1 life when a spell of a given color resolves. Ivory Cup Crystal Rod Throne of Bone Iron Star Wooden Sphere
Wards Uncommon white auras with enchant creature that grant protection from a color. White Ward Blue Ward Black Ward Red Ward Green Ward
Cycle name {W}{U} {U}{B} {B}{R} {R}{G} {G}{W} {W}{B} {U}{R} {B}{G} {R}{W} {G}{U}
Dual lands Tundra Underground Sea Badlands Taiga Savannah Scrubland Volcanic Island Bayou Plateau Tropical Island
Description and notes: Rare nonbasic lands that each produce two colors of mana.

Mirrored pairs

Revised has 23 mirrored pairs.

  • White Knight and Black Knight are both uncommon Knights with a mana cost of MM, power/toughness of 2/2, first strike and protection from the other's color.
  • Deathgrip and Lifeforce are each uncommon enchantments with an activated ability to counter a spell of the other's color for MM.
  • Earthquake and Hurricane are both sorceries that have a mana cost of {X}M and deal X damage to all non-flying or flying creatures and each player.
  • Feedback and Wanderlust are both uncommon Auras that deal 1 damage to the controller of the enchanted permanent during each of their upkeeps.
  • Holy Strength and Unholy Strength are both common Auras with enchant creature that give a mirrored bonus to the enchanted creature's power/toughness.
  • Manabarbs and Power Surge are both rare red enchantments that deal damage to a player based on the number of lands they do or do not tap.
  • Smoke and Winter Orb both allow players to only untap one of a type of permanent each turn.
  • Tsunami and Flashfires are both uncommon sorceries that have a mana cost of {3}M and destroy lands of a particular enemy type.

Summer Magic

When the Revised Edition was in production in 1994, a number of problems with the set became apparent. The colors were washed out, the picture for Serendib Efreet was wrong, and there was a growing concern with the Satanic images on some of the cards. The solution was to print a fixed version of the Revised Edition, code-named "Edgar",[6] which has since come to be known as Summer Magic because it was printed in the summer of 1994. The cards were distributed in regular Revised Edition boosters – no Summer edition starters were produced.

Despite its intended function as a fixed Revised Edition, there were many problems with the printing. On some cards, the colors were too dark. Serendib Efreet had its artwork corrected, but the artist credit was not. The artist name for Plateau was not corrected. Hurricane was printed with a blue border and became the most famous and most desired Summer Magic card of all. Because of all these flaws, the entire print run was recalled for destruction which led to the great Revised Edition shortage of 1994. However, about four cases (40 booster boxes) of "Edgar" survived and were shipped to locations in the U.S. and the UK. Probable locations include Tennessee, Texas, and Ireland.

Summer Magic cards can best be recognized by their prominent 1994 copyright date (a feature missing in Revised), as well as their richer colors. Today a Summer Magic Birds of Paradise is worth well over a thousand dollars. Among the rarest Magic cards in existence are the blue Hurricanes.[7][8]

Notable cards

  • At the moment of its reprinting the common Atog was the card that had more copies in existence than any other.[9]

Misprints

Misprinted Serendib Efreet
French version

See also

References

  1. Wizards of the Coast (August 02, 2004). "Ask Wizards - August, 2004". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  2. [1]
  3. David Howell: The Regathering
  4. Magic Arcana (October 31, 2002). ""Revising" the base set". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  5. Mark Rosewater (October 04, 2004). "Change For the Better". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  6. Michael G. Ryan (June 01, 2009). "A Magic History of Time". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  7. Magic Arcana (June 24, 2003). "Blue Hurricane". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  8. Brian Tinsman (October 6, 2008). "Ask Wizards". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  9. Mark Rosewater (October 22, 2018). "How Trivial". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  10. Magic Arcana (February 20, 2002). "Plateau(s)". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.

External links