Beta Magic The Gathering Cards
Limited Edition Beta or just Beta for short was the second part, after
revisions, of the first print run of the first Magic: The Gathering
set. It was released only a few months after Limited Edition Alpha's
publication to correct some minor problems in the rules and to make up
for the fact that the first run had completely sold out. Clarifications
were made to the rulebook, and Richard Garfield's short fiction
"Worzel's Tale" was removed to make room. Like Alpha it had no
expansion symbol, and the text on the bottom left consisted of only the
artist credit. Although many players speak of them as different sets,
officially they are the same set.
Two cards accidentally omitted from Alpha were restored: Circle of
Protection: Black and Volcanic Island. A third accidentally omitted art
variant for each of the five basic land cards was also restored,
bringing the set's card count to 302, multiple illustrations of each
card are counted separately, as the game's publisher does to generate
the 302 total, while noting that without the separate art the total of
the set was 292 actual cards bearing different names. The few cards
with printing errors from Alpha were fixed and put into this expansion.
In the past, Beta versions of cards were worth more than their
Alpha counterparts. This was mainly because the corners of Beta cards
are rounded in the same fashion as later expansions, making them more
desirable to players. However, multiple years ago opaque card sleeves
appeared on the market and it became legal to mix Alpha cards with
other Magic cards. This made Alpha practically as desirable as Beta,
and even more so because of the smaller printing. Currently, Beta cards
usually go for slightly lower prices than their Alpha counterparts, but
their value still greatly surpasses any other printings.
Though Beta had a larger print run of 7.3 million cards versus 2.6
million, it sold out as quickly as its predecessor. Because many
players believed that the basic set would always be in print, most did
not take care of their cards, thinking they could always replace them.
Many players now have their cards rated by third party institutions
such as the PSA to make them more competitive to sell on the open
market. Only five Gem Mint Beta Black Lotus in the world have ever been
given the highest PSA rank of 10. One was sold in a private auction for
$20,000. This card was sold to the individual who also owns the
original canvas artwork of the Black Lotus painted by Christopher Rush.
Sealed booster boxes of Alpha and Beta can be easily distinguished by the fact that Beta boxes have a UPC. Alpha's do not.
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Make Your Own Card
A very cool new magic the gathering related website that allows it's visitors to quickly create their own magic the gathering cards. Check out the one that the Moxdiamond Staff created!