MTG SHARDS OF ALARA REGULAR MOL FACTORY SET

Shards of Alara was the first set to follow a new packaging policy, which amongst other things introduced a new rarity level called mythic rare, as well as the replacement of one of the commons in a booster pack with a basic land (the first time this was done outside of a core set). After evaluating the set sizes, Wizards of the Coast decided that card sets would be smaller than they had traditionally been. Initial sets of a block were now 249 cards (101 commons, 60 uncommons, 53 rares, 15 mythic rares, 20 basic lands) instead of the approximately 300 cards of previous expansions. Shards of Alara heralded the return of planeswalker cards, and introduced the first multicolored planeswalkers. The expansion symbol of the set is a representation of the five shards.

Collector numbers

Shards of Alara contains many colored artifacts. These cards were sorted alphabetically into their color when determining collector numbers. For example, the colored artifact Executioner's Capsule (which requires black mana to cast) is placed alphabetically between the black cards Dregscape Zombie and Fleshbag Marauder. Colored artifacts that require multiple colors are alphabetized among the multicolored cards. As usual, the artifacts that have a generic mana cost are alphabetized together and appear numerically between the multicolored cards and the nonbasic lands.

Mechanics

Though the set as a whole has multicolored cards as an overarching theme, due to the setting being split into five “shards” with no contact with each other, each shard was given its distinct mechanical theme.

• Bant (primary W, secondary GU): The shard of Bant was given the exalted ability, which reads, “Whenever a creature you control attacks alone, that creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.”
• Esper (primary U, secondary WB): The shard of Esper was given an emphasis on artifacts, including the first widespread use of artifacts with colored casting costs (Sarcomite Myr and Reaper King were earlier forays into this design space).
• Grixis (primary B, secondary UR): The shard of Grixis was given the unearth ability, which reads, “[Cost]: Return this card from your graveyard to the battlefield. It gains haste. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step or if it would leave the battlefield. Unearth only as a sorcery.”
• Jund (primary R, secondary BG): The shard of Jund was given the devour N ability, which reads, “As this enters the battlefield, you may sacrifice any number of creatures. This creature enters the battlefield with N times that many +1/+1 counters on it.”
• Naya (primary G, secondary RW): The shard of Naya was emphasized creatures with power of 5 or greater, “5-power matters”.

Shards of Alara also featured the return of cycling for the third time (or fourth, including Future Sight) since the Urza block.

Misprints

• Mighty Emergence lists collector number #137, should be #138.
• Manaplasm lists collector number #138, should be #137.

Notable cards

• Ad Nauseam — main engine powering the Legacy ANT deck.
• Blightning — one of the key Jund cards in Standard, also splashed in Red decks.
• Cruel Ultimatum — important card in Grixis and 5-color Control decks in Standard.
• Ethersworn Canonist — popular hate card against various decks, especially combo decks which rely on casting multiple spells in one turn.
• Hellkite Overlord — Was first released in From the Vault: Dragons, a special set predating Shards of Alara.
• Knight of the White Orchid — A popular Tithe variant, especially in combination with the Borderposts cycle from Alara Reborn.
• Ranger of Eos — Antoine Ruel's prize card for winning the 2006 Magic Invitational.
• Wild Nacatl — key creature in aggro decks such as Naya or Zoo. Wild Nacatl was later banned in Modern in December 2011. It was then unbanned in Modern in February 2014.
• Master of Etherium powered up artifact decks in Modern and still sees some play in Legacy
• Fleshbag Marauder is the first of an eponymous archetype of creature that makes each player sacrifice a creature when it enters the battlefield and sees play in Pauper aggro decks
• Fatestitcher's ability to untap any permanent lead to it seeing play in Modern Jeskai Ascendency combo decks as well as some versions of Dredge decks in multiple formats
• Relic of Progenitus is one of the best graveyard hate artifacts of all time, seeing play in sideboards of every format it is legal in but especially Modern and pauper
• Ajani Vengeant has seen sporadic play competitively and is notable for having a one sided Armageddon as a loyalty ability
• Lich's Mirror has a unique effect that prevents its controller from losing the game in exchange for effectively resetting the game for them