Expansion symbol
The expansion symbol is a small icon found on the right side of the middle line or type line on a Magic card and is a characteristic of that card. Each expansion symbol is unique to a particular set, identifying a card as belonging to that set. Every expansion and all Core Sets since Sixth Edition have used expansion symbols.
Expansion symbols were black-and-white through the Stronghold expansion. Since the Exodus expansion, expansion symbols have incorporated colors to identify the rarity of each card: common cards have black symbols, uncommon cards have silver or black-to-white fade symbols, and rare cards have gold symbols. A fourth expansion symbol color, purple, was introduced in Time Spiral to represent the 121 bonus Timeshifted cards in the set. Mythic Rare was added with Shards of Alara, its symbol is red-orange.
The Chronicles expansion consists entirely of white-bordered reprints. It is unusual because it does not have its own expansion symbol and instead uses the expansion symbols of the cards' home expansions.
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Expansion symbols matter
There are three cards from regular sets that mention expansion symbols in the rules text:
- Apocalypse Chime destroys all nontoken permanents from the Homelands expansion.
- City in a Bottle makes it impossible to play cards from the Arabian Nights expansion.
- Golgothian Sylex When this is tapped, each nontoken permanent from the Antiquities expansion is sacrificed by its controller.
There are also three cards from Unhinged that mention expansion symbols:
- Greater Morphling, for
this card's expansion symbol becomes the symbol of your choice until end of turn. - Symbol Status puts a 1/1 colorless Expansion-Symbol creature token into play for each different expansion symbol among permanents you control.
- World-Bottling Kit lets you choose a Magic set for
. Remove from the game all permanents with that set's expansion symbol except for basic lands.