Magic The Gathering sets

This is a table of card sets for the trading card game Magic: The Gathering.

Wizards of the Coast releases Magic cards in core sets and in expansion sets. Core sets typically contain more than 300 cards, which have all been printed before. Expansion sets expand the game by adding new cards. Expansion sets beginning with Ice Age have come in sets of three which form a block consisting of one base set, a large expansion set of more than 300 cards, followed by two small expansion sets of less than 200 cards, which continue the themes introduced in the large set. Like core sets, base sets contain basic land cards; other expansion sets do not. The base set of each block is released every October, with the small expansion sets associated with it being released the following February and June; this practice began with Alliances in June 1996.

All expansion sets, and all core sets Sixth Edition and afterwards, are identified by an expansion symbol printed on the right side of cards, below the art and above the text box. Wizards of the Coast also assigns a three-character expansion code to each expansion. In the table below, expansion symbols and expansion codes are listed in parentheses following the name.

[Top] Core sets Alpha (LEA) (August 1993) Beta (LEB) (October 1993) Unlimited (2ED) (January 1994) Revised (3ED) (April 1994) Fourth Edition (4ED) (May 1995) Fifth Edition (5ED) (March 1997) Sixth Edition or Classic Edition (VI) (6ED) (April 1999) Seventh Edition (7) (7ED) (April 2001) Eighth Edition (8) (8ED) (July 2003) Ninth Edition (9) (9ED) (August 2005, forthcoming)

[Top] Expansion sets Beginning with Alliances in June 1996, base sets were released in October with the small expansion sets being released in February and June.

Arabian Nights (scimitar) (ARN) (December 1993) Antiquities (anvil) (ATQ) (March 1994) Legends (capital of a Doric column) (LEG) (June 1994) The Dark (crescent moon) (DRK) (August 1994) Fallen Empires (crown) (FEM) (November 1994) Chronicles1 (none2) (CHR) (August 1995) Ice Age Block/Cycle Ice Age (snowflake) (ICE) (June 1995) Homelands (globe) (HML) (October 1995) Alliances (banner) (ALL) (1996) Mirage Block/Cycle Mirage (palm tree) (MIR) (1996) Visions (V-shaped charm) (VIS) (1997) Weatherlight (open book) (WTH) (1997) Tempest Block or Rath Cycle Tempest (storm cloud) (TMP) (1997) Stronghold (keystoned arch) (STH) (1998) Exodus (bridge) (EXO) (1998) Urza Block or Artifacts Cycle Urza's Saga (two gears) (USG) (1998) Urza's Legacy (hammer) (ULG) (1999) Urza's Destiny (flask) (UDS) (1999)

Masques Block or Masquerade Cycle Mercadian Masques (mask) (MMQ) (1999) Nemesis (battleaxe) (NMS) (2000) Prophecy (crystals) (PCY) (2000) Invasion Block/Cycle Invasion (symbol of the Coalition3) (INV) (2000) Planeshift (portal swirl) (PLS) (2001) Apocalypse (crying mask) (APC) (2001) Odyssey Block/Cycle Odyssey (the Mirari, an artifact) (ODY) (2001) Torment (ouroboros) (TOR) (2002) Judgment (balancing scale) (JUD) (2002) Onslaught Block/Cycle Onslaught (unmorphed creature4) (ONS) (2002) Legions (two crossing spears on a shield) (LGN) (2003) Scourge (dragon mask) (SCG) (2003) Mirrodin Block/Cycle Mirrodin (sword) (MRD) (2003) Darksteel (shield) (DST) (2004) Fifth Dawn (helm) (5DN) (2004) Kamigawa Block/Cycle Champions of Kamigawa (torii gate) (CHK) (2004) Betrayers of Kamigawa (BOK) (2005, forthcoming) Saviors of Kamigawa (SOK) (2005, forthcoming)

[Top] Sets not legal for DCI-sanctioned tournament play Unglued5 Unglued (cracked-open egg) (UGL) (August 1998) Unhinged (UNH) (November 2004, forthcoming) Portal6 Portal (portal) (POR) (June 1997) Portal: Second Age (pentagon) (P02) (June 1998) Portal: Three Kingdoms (三7) (PTK) (May 1999)

Footnotes

¹ Chronicles, an expansion-sized set released in 1995 between Ice Age and Homelands, reprinted many previous cards, drawn from the Arabian Nights, Antiquities, Legends, and The Dark sets, that were becoming difficult to obtain but added no new cards to the game; it is not considered part of the Ice Age Block. The cards in Chronicles were reprinted with white borders, as opposed to their original black borders.

² The cards in Chronicles retained the expansion symbol of the original expansion in which the card was printed.

³ The Coalition was a group assembled by Urza to defend Dominaria against the invasion of the Phyrexians. For more information about this expansion symbol, see .

⁴ Many creatures in the Onslaught Block had the ability to morph. Morphed creatures looked like "clay spiders"; for an explanation, look under the "January 10, 2003" heading of this link: .

⁵ Unglued and the forthcoming Unhinged are satirical expansion sets published by Wizards of the Coast.

⁶ Portal was a series of sets featuring simplified rules intended to introduce novice players of Magic: The Gathering to the game.

⁷ The expansion symbol for Portal: Three Kingdoms was the Chinese character for the number three.