Alpha

Alpha is the first release of the so-called Limited Edition, the first set of Magic. It includes 295 cards and was released in July 1993.

Alpha contained a number of errors that were fixed in the second, or Beta release. The cards of Alpha use a more rounded corner than Beta and all other cards; Circle of Protection: Black and Volcanic Island were accidentally left out; Cyclopean Tomb (printed without a mana cost), Elvish Archers (printed with power/toughness 1/2 in stead of 2/1), Orcish Artillery (printed with mana cost 1R instead of 1RR) and Orcish Oriflamme (printed with the mana cost 1R instead of 3R) were misprinted, and only two versions of each basic land with unique artwork was 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.

Alpha cards are fairly rare as they had a small print run and did not receive much exposure outside of the West Coast. The Beta release was sold shortly after Alpha sold out.

As a result of the more rounded corners, Alpha cards were originally considered to be marked cards, as early tournament rules required that all cards must appear unmarked without the use of protective sleeves. This initially made them less desirable than Beta cards.