Magic: The Gathering® Card Reprint Policy
9/28/99
Primary to the value of purchasing Magic® cards is the concept that each card will maintain a reasonable value over time. Because we're sensitive to this issue and to the ramifications of reprinting cards too soon or too often, we try to make decisions that won't negatively affect card collectability over time and that will enhance the value of cards you purchase.
To maintain your confidence in the Magic game as a collectible, we've created this Magic: The Gathering card reprint policy, which we will update periodically. It explains why we reprint cards and how many cards from which expansions you can expect to see reprinted in future Magic products.
Why We Reprint Cards
The Magic TCG has tremendous appeal as both a game and a collectible. For us, however, the Magic game is first and foremost a supreme game of strategy and skill. We choose to reprint cards from limited expansions in products such as the Anthologies™ box set and the Classic™ set because we believe (a) the cards we reprint make for enjoyable game play, and (b) all Magic players deserve an opportunity to play with these cards.
Border-Color Policy
Wizards of the Coast® understands that the Magic TCG appeals to many of you as a collectible as well as a game. It's always been our policy, therefore, to print a new card (one with a new name) with a black border before or at the same time as we print it with a white border. This rule also holds for existing cards reprinted with new illustrations. There are three notable exceptions to this policy:
- The 1999 Starter card set includes a few new white-bordered cards created specifically for this starter-level product.
- Portal Three Kingdoms™ products, which are intended for new players in Asia, contain all white-bordered cards.
- The Fifth Edition™ set contains some white-bordered cards with new art. We felt a set with both black and white borders would be too confusing.
We feel that in these cases the cards weren't relevant to our largest base of players, so there was little harm in printing them for the first time with white borders.
The public opinion about card border color is clear: players greatly prefer black-bordered cards to white-bordered cards for aesthetic reasons. We believe, however, that our collectors and players want to maintain the collectability of older black-bordered cards. The following is a compromise we hope will address both concerns.
As of October 1, 1999, we reserve the right to reprint cards from the Mercadian Masques™ expansion and beyond in black borders with the original art. This new policy will give Magic players what they want-black borders more often-without undermining collectability. Whenever possible, we will attempt to distinguish reprinted cards from their original versions with a different expansion symbol. We take our past commitments seriously, so this new policy will not affect any card printed before the Mercadian Masques expansion. For example, we won't reprint an Ice Age™ uncommon card with the original art in a black border.
To support this new border-color policy, starter- and advanced-level products now have their own expansion symbols. The purpose of these symbols is to make it easy for players to distinguish an original card printed in an expert-level set from its reprint in a starter- or advanced-level set, thereby maintaining the original card's collectability.
Premium Cards
Premium cards have given the Magic TCG even greater appeal as a collectable card product. Premium cards will generally look the same as their regular counterparts, with the exceptions of black-bordered premium versions of white-bordered originals and modifications made for promotional premium cards. Minor differences in the premium card's text, such as the omission of reminder text, will sometimes be necessary.
Reserved Cards
In addition to the limited nature of our black-bordered products, much of a Magic card's collectability is determined by its availability for game play. Accordingly, we have created a list of "reserved" cards that we will never print again in a black or white border in a functionally identical form. A card is considered functionally identical to another card if it has the same rules text, mana cost, power, and toughness as another card. The exclusion of any particular card from the reserved-card list doesn't indicate that we have any plans to reprint that card. The current list of reserved cards includes:
- All Limited Edition™ cards that don't appear in Fourth Edition™ or Ice Age
- All uncommon and rare cards from Arabian Nights® and Antiquities® that don't appear in Revised Edition™, Fourth Edition, or Chronicles™
- All rare cards from Legends®, The Dark®, Fallen Empires™, Ice Age, Homelands™, Alliances™, Mirage™, Visions™ and Weatherlight™ that haven't been reprinted with a white border
A complete list of the reserved cards can be found at the end of this document.
Reprinting Cards from the Urza Block
In accordance with the commitment made in our prior reprint policy, rare cards from Urza's Saga™, Urza's Legacy™, and Urza's Destiny™ that aren't reprinted in Classic Seventh Edition will be added to the reserved-card list. Additionally, we won't reprint more than 25% of the rare cards in these sets.
Non-English Cards
All policies described in this document apply both to English and non-English cards. The only exception arises when printing Magic for the first time in a new language; we may print some cards in that language with white borders (in a starter-level product, for example) without printing them with black borders first.
Wizards of the Coast won't print cards from the Arabian Nights, Antiquities, Legends, or The Dark expansions with black or white borders in any additional languages, although cards from these expansions may be printed in non-English versions of Classic and Chronicles. Subsequent limited-edition expansions may be printed with black borders in additional languages. Wizards will periodically announce when any of these products are being removed from consideration for reprinting in additional languages.
Special-Purpose Reprints
All policies described in this document apply only to standard, non-premium, tournament-legal Magic cards. Wizards has and may continue to print special versions of cards not meant for regular game play, such as factory sets and oversized cards.
Reserved-Card List 9-28-99
Limited Edition
Ancestral Recall
Badlands
Basalt Monolith
Bayou
Berserk
Black Lotus
Blaze of Glory
Braingeyser
Camouflage
Chaos Orb
Clone
Consecrate Land
Contract from Below
Copper Tablet
Copy Artifact
Cyclopean Tomb
Darkpact
Demonic Attorney
Demonic Hordes
Demonic Tutor
Dwarven Demolition Team
Earthbind
False Orders
Farmstead
Fastbond
Forcefield
Fork
Gauntlet of Might
Granite Gargoyle
Guardian Angel
Ice Storm
Illusionary Mask
Invisibility
Jade Statue
Juggernaut
Kudzu
Lance
Lich
Living Wall
Mox Emerald
Mox Jet
Mox Pearl
Mox Ruby
Mox Sapphire
Natural Selection
Nettling Imp
Plateau (Brudi)
Plateau (Tucker)
Psionic Blast
Raging River
Regrowth
Resurrection
Roc of Kher Ridges
Rock Hydra
Sacrifice
Savannah
Scrubland
Sedge Troll
Sinkhole
Sol Ring
Taiga
Time Vault
Time Walk
Timetwister
Tropical Island
Tundra
Two-Headed Giant of Foriys
Underground Sea
Vesuvan Doppelganger
Veteran Bodyguard
Volcanic Island
Wheel of Fortune
Word of Command
Arabian Nights
Ali from Cairo
Bazaar of Baghdad
City in a Bottle
Diamond Valley
Drop of Honey
Elephant Graveyard
Guardian Beast
Ifh-Bíff Efreet
Island of Wak-Wak
Jihad
Juzám Djinn
Khabál Ghoul
King Suleiman
Library of Alexandria
Merchant Ship
Old Man of the Sea
Pyramids
Ring of Ma'rûf
Sandals of Abdallah
Serendib Djinn
Shahrazad
Singing Tree
Ydwen Efreet
Antiquities
Argivian Archaeologist
Candelabra of Tawnos
Citanul Druid
Damping Field
Gaea's Avenger
Gate to Phyrexia
Golgothian Sylex
Haunting Wind
Martyrs of Korlis
Mightstone
Mishra's Workshop
Power Artifact
Powerleech
Su-Chi
Tawnos's Coffin
Transmute Artifact
Urza's Miter
Weakstone
Legends
The Abyss
Acid Rain
Adun Oakenshield
Al-abara's Carpet
Alchor's Tomb
All Hallow's Eve
Angus Mackenzie
Bartel Runeaxe
Boris Devilboon
Caverns of Despair
Chains of Mephistopheles
Cleanse
Disharmony
Divine Intervention
Elder Spawn
Eureka
Falling Star
Field of Dreams
Firestorm Phoenix
Forethought Amulet
Gosta Dirk
Gravity Sphere
Gwendlyn Di Corci
Halfdane
Hazezon Tamar
Hellfire
Imprison
In the Eye of Chaos
Infinite Authority
Invoke Prejudice
Jacques le Vert
Jovial Evil
Knowledge Vault
Kobold Overlord
Lady Caleria
Lady Evangela
Land Equilibrium
Life Matrix
Lifeblood
Living Plane
Livonya Silone
Mana Matrix
Master of the Hunt
Mirror Universe
Moat
Mold Demon
Nether Void
North Star
Nova Pentacle
Pixie Queen
Planar Gate
Quarum Trench Gnomes
Ragnar
Ramses Overdark
Rapid Fire
Rasputin Dreamweaver
Reverberation
Ring of Immortals
Rohgahh of Kher Keep
Spinal Villain
Spiritual Sanctuary
Storm World
Sword of the Ages
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
Telekinesis
Tetsuo Umezawa
Thunder Spirit
Tuknir Deathlock
Typhoon
Ur-Drago
Willow Satyr
Wood Elemental
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The Dark
City of Shadows
Cleansing
Eternal Flame
Exorcist
Frankenstein's Monster
Goblin Wizard
Grave Robbers
Hidden Path
Knights of Thorn
Lurker
Mana Vortex
Martyr's Cry
Nameless Race
Niall Silvain
Preacher
Psychic Allergy
Scarwood Bandits
Season of the Witch
Sorrow's Path
Stone Calendar
Tracker
Worms of the Earth
Wormwood Treefolk
Fallen Empires
Aeolipile
Balm of Restoration
Conch Horn
Delif's Cube
Draconian Cylix
Dwarven Armorer
Ebon Praetor
Elven Lyre
Elvish Farmer
Fungal Bloom
Goblin Flotilla
Hand of Justice
Homarid Shaman
Icatian Lieutenant
Icatian Skirmishers
Implements of Sacrifice
Rainbow Vale
Ring of Renewal
River Merfolk
Spirit Shield
Thelon's Curse
Thelonite Monk
Thrull Champion
Tourach's Gate
Vodalian Knights
Vodalian War Machine
Zelyon Sword
Homelands
An-Zerrin Ruins
Anaba Ancestor
Anaba Spirit Crafter
Apocalypse Chime
Autumn Willow
Aysen Crusader
Aysen Highway
Baki's Curse
Baron Sengir
Beast Walkers
Black Carriage
Chain Stasis
Daughter of Autumn
Didgeridoo
Dwarven Pony
Dwarven Sea Clan
Faerie Noble
Feroz's Ban
Grandmother Sengir
Hazduhr the Abbot
Heart Wolf
Koskun Falls
Leeches
Mammoth Harness
Marjhan
Mystic Decree
Narwhal
Reveka, Wizard Savant
Rysorian Badger
Serra Aviary
Soraya the Falconer
Timmerian Fiends
Veldrane of Sengir
Wall of Kelp
Willow Priestess
Winter Sky
Alliances
Ashnod's Cylix
Balduvian Trading Post
Chaos Harlequin
Dystopia
Fatal Lore
Floodwater Dam
Gargantuan Gorilla
Gustha's Scepter
Heart of Yavimaya
Helm of Obedience
Ivory Gargoyle
Kaysa
Keeper of Tresserhorn
Kjeldoran Outpost
Krovikan Horror
Lake of the Dead
Lodestone Bauble
Lord of Tresserhorn
Misfortune
Nature's Wrath
Omen of Fire
Phantasmal Sphere
Phelddagrif
Phyrexian Devourer
Phyrexian Portal
Ritual of the Machine
Rogue Skycaptain
Royal Decree
Sheltered Valley
Soldevi Digger
Soldevi Excavations
Splintering Wind
Sustaining Spirit
Sworn Defender
Thawing Glaciers
Thought Lash
Tidal Control
Tornado
Varchild's War-Riders
Wandering Mage
Winter's Night
Mirage
Acidic Dagger
Afiya Grove
Amulet of Unmaking
Asmira, Holy Avenger
Auspicious Ancestor
Barreling Attack
Bazaar of Wonders
Benthic Djinn
Bone Mask
Brushwagg
Cadaverous Bloom
Canopy Dragon
Carrion
Catacomb Dragon
Chaosphere
Circle of Despair
Cycle of Life
Discordant Spirit
Divine Retribution
Emberwilde Caliph
Emberwilde Djinn
Energy Bolt
Energy Vortex
Forsaken Wastes
Frenetic Efreet
Grim Feast
Hakim, Loreweaver
Hall of Gemstone
Harbinger of Night
Hivis of the Scale
Jabari's Influence
Jungle Patrol
Kukemssa Pirates
Leering Gargoyle
Lion's Eye Diamond
Lure of Prey
Malignant Growth
Mangara's Tome
Mindbender Spores
Misers' Cage
Mist Dragon
Natural Balance
Null Chamber
Paupers' Cage
Phyrexian Dreadnought
Phyrexian Purge
Phyrexian Tribute
Political Trickery
Preferred Selection
Prismatic Lace
Purgatory
Purraj of Urborg
Rashida Scalebane
Razor Pendulum
Reflect Damage
Reparations
Rock Basilisk
Sawback Manticore
Seeds of Innocence
Shallow Grave
Shauku, Endbringer
Shimmer
Sidar Jabari
Soul Echo
Spectral Guardian
Spirit of the Night
Subterranean Spirit
Tainted Specter
Taniwha
Teeka's Dragon
Teferi's Imp
Teferi's Isle
Telim'Tor
Telim'Tor's Edict
Tombstone Stairwell
Torrent of Lava
Unfulfilled Desires
Ventifact Bottle
Warping Wurm
Wellspring
Yare
Zirilan of the Claw
Zuberi, Golden Feather
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Visions
Aku Djinn
Anvil of Bogardan
Bogardan Phoenix
Breathstealer's Crypt
Chronatog
City of Solitude
Corrosion
Diamond Kaleidoscope
Elkin Lair
Equipoise
Eye of Singularity
Femeref Enchantress
Firestorm Hellkite
Flooded Shoreline
Forbidden Ritual
Griffin Canyon
Guiding Spirit
Kaervek's Spite
Katabatic Winds
Kookus
Lichenthrope
Lightning Cloud
Ogre Enforcer
Phyrexian Marauder
Pillar Tombs of Aku
Pygmy Hippo
Quirion Druid
Rainbow Efreet
Retribution of the Meek
Righteous War
Sands of Time
Squandered Resources
Suleiman's Legacy
Teferi's Realm
Three Wishes
Tithe
Triangle of War
Undiscovered Paradise
Viashivan Dragon
Zhalfirin Crusader
Weatherlight
Abeyance
Aboroth
Ancestral Knowledge
Avizoa
Bone Dancer
Bösium Strip
Bubble Matrix
Debt of Loyalty
Dwarven Thaumaturgist
Ertai's Familiar
Firestorm
Fungus Elemental
Gallowbraid
Goblin Bomb
Heart of Bogardan
Heat Stroke
Infernal Tribute
Inner Sanctum
Liege of the Hollows
Lotus Vale
Mana Web
Maraxus of Keld
Morinfen
Mwonvuli Ooze
Null Rod
Paradigm Shift
Peacekeeper
Pendrell Mists
Psychic Vortex
Scorched Ruins
Thran Tome
Tolarian Entrancer
Tolarian Serpent
Urborg Justice
Urborg Stalker
Wave of Terror
Well of Knowledge
Winding Canyons
Xanthic Statue
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All trademarks, including character names, are property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. ©1999 Wizards.
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