Shards of Alara
Encyclopedia
Shards of Alara is an expansion set from the trading card game Magic: The Gathering
. It is the 47th limited-edition expansion set for Magic and was released on October 3, 2008. On Magic Online
Shards was released on October 20, 2008.
block. Bill Rose was its lead designer, and Devin Low was its lead developer. Shards is a multicolor set which revolves around three-color combinations. Its tagline is, "Five worlds share one fate." The set consists of 249 cards, 20 basic lands, 101 common, 60 uncommon, 53 rare, and 15 mythic rare.
The design of Shards of Alara focuses on five different "shards" which together formed a single world once. Mechanically, each shard consists of one of the five magic colors and its two allied colors. Each shard has its own key worded mechanic or strong over-arching theme, and its own creature types. The five shards were designed separately by three person design teams.
Shards of Alara introduced several changes in Wizards' design and publishing approach. Sets from Shards forward have a smaller number of cards, to reduce the size of the card pool for Block and Standard constructed tournament formats. A new level of rarity, "Mythic Rare", was added; mythic rares replace a booster pack's rare card in 1 out of 8 packs. Also, as part of a move to make products more beginner friendly, booster packs include a basic land in place of one of the commons, and pre-constructed decks will be rebranded as "Intro Packs" including a 41-card preconstructed deck and one booster pack. There are design changes to the fat pack, which for Shards includes five distinct box arts and the replacement of the usual set novel with an excerpt from A Planeswalker's Guide to Alara. Shards was the last set for which tournament packs were released.
Shards of Alara also brings new planeswalker
cards to the game. The first multicolored planeswalker to be revealed publicly was the red and green . It was followed shortly by the white and red , which is a new form of from the Lorwyn
set, and was the promotional card at Shards prerelease events and Launch Parties in September/October 2008.
Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering , also known as Magic, is the first collectible trading card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Magic continues to thrive, with approximately twelve million players as of 2011...
. It is the 47th limited-edition expansion set for Magic and was released on October 3, 2008. On Magic Online
Magic: The Gathering Online
Magic: The Gathering Online or Magic Online is a direct video game adaptation of Magic: The Gathering, utilizing the concept of a virtual economy in order to preserve the collectible aspect of the card game. It is played through an Internet service operated by Wizards of the Coast, which went...
Shards was released on October 20, 2008.
Set details
Shards of Alara is the first set of the AlaraAlara
Alara may refer to:* Alara , a popular Turkish name* Alara , an insect genus in the family Derbidae* ALARA, an acronym for "As Low As Reasonably Achievable"* Alara of Nubia, the unifier of Kush...
block. Bill Rose was its lead designer, and Devin Low was its lead developer. Shards is a multicolor set which revolves around three-color combinations. Its tagline is, "Five worlds share one fate." The set consists of 249 cards, 20 basic lands, 101 common, 60 uncommon, 53 rare, and 15 mythic rare.
The design of Shards of Alara focuses on five different "shards" which together formed a single world once. Mechanically, each shard consists of one of the five magic colors and its two allied colors. Each shard has its own key worded mechanic or strong over-arching theme, and its own creature types. The five shards were designed separately by three person design teams.
| Shard Name | Primary Color | Secondary Colors | Primary Mechanic | Dominant creature types | Planeswalker | Design team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bant | White | Green Blue |
Exalted | Angels, Rhox, Aven, and Humans | Elspeth, Knight-Errant | Brian Tinsman, Kenneth Nagle, Mark Rosewater Mark Rosewater Mark Rosewater is a Magic: The Gathering card designer. He is currently Magics head designer.-Biography:Rosewater grew up in Pepper Pike, Ohio, where he attended the Orange High School. Rosewater has a Jewish background. Rosewater has described himself in his youth as a "social outcast", who did... |
| Esper | Blue | White Black |
All creatures are colored artifact creatures | Humans, Sphinxes, Homunculi, and Vedalken | Tezzeret the Seeker | Mark Rosewater Mark Rosewater Mark Rosewater is a Magic: The Gathering card designer. He is currently Magics head designer.-Biography:Rosewater grew up in Pepper Pike, Ohio, where he attended the Orange High School. Rosewater has a Jewish background. Rosewater has described himself in his youth as a "social outcast", who did... , Mark Globus, Mark Gottlieb |
| Grixis | Black | Blue Red |
Unearth | Demons, Zombies, Humans, and Skeletons | Nicol Bolas (introduced in Conflux Conflux Conflux is a Magic: The Gathering expansion set, released on February 6, 2009. It is the 48th limited-edition expansion set for Magic and includes 145 cards.- Set Details :... ) |
Devin Low, Erik Lauer, Brian Tinsman |
| Jund | Red | Black Green |
Devour | Dragons, Goblins, Humans, and Viashino | Sarkhan Vol | Bill Rose, Mark Globus, Mike Turian Mike Turian Michael Turian is a successful professional player of Magic: The Gathering. He won Pro Tour New York with Team Potato Nation. Turian also won two Grand Prixs. In 2008 Mike Turian was voted in the Hall of Fame. He was inducted during the World championship in Memphis.- Career :Mike Turian qualified... |
| Naya | Green | Red White |
Rewards playing creatures with a power of 5 or greater | Humans, Beasts, Elves, and Leonin | Ajani Vengeant | Kenneth Nagle, Mark Rosewater Mark Rosewater Mark Rosewater is a Magic: The Gathering card designer. He is currently Magics head designer.-Biography:Rosewater grew up in Pepper Pike, Ohio, where he attended the Orange High School. Rosewater has a Jewish background. Rosewater has described himself in his youth as a "social outcast", who did... , Mike Turian Mike Turian Michael Turian is a successful professional player of Magic: The Gathering. He won Pro Tour New York with Team Potato Nation. Turian also won two Grand Prixs. In 2008 Mike Turian was voted in the Hall of Fame. He was inducted during the World championship in Memphis.- Career :Mike Turian qualified... |
Shards of Alara introduced several changes in Wizards' design and publishing approach. Sets from Shards forward have a smaller number of cards, to reduce the size of the card pool for Block and Standard constructed tournament formats. A new level of rarity, "Mythic Rare", was added; mythic rares replace a booster pack's rare card in 1 out of 8 packs. Also, as part of a move to make products more beginner friendly, booster packs include a basic land in place of one of the commons, and pre-constructed decks will be rebranded as "Intro Packs" including a 41-card preconstructed deck and one booster pack. There are design changes to the fat pack, which for Shards includes five distinct box arts and the replacement of the usual set novel with an excerpt from A Planeswalker's Guide to Alara. Shards was the last set for which tournament packs were released.
Shards of Alara also brings new planeswalker
Planeswalker
In the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering, a planeswalker is a mage with the ability to travel to different planes of existence.-Magic: The Gathering:...
cards to the game. The first multicolored planeswalker to be revealed publicly was the red and green . It was followed shortly by the white and red , which is a new form of from the Lorwyn
Lorwyn
Lorwyn is the 66th Magic: The Gathering set, 43rd expert level set, and the first set in the Lorwyn Block, released in October 2007. It is codenamed "Peanut"...
set, and was the promotional card at Shards prerelease events and Launch Parties in September/October 2008.