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The Revised Edition of The Gathering (also simply known as Revised) was the fifth set released for the game (the first four being Limited, Unlimited, Arabian Nights, and Antiquites) and the third base set. It has also been known as Third Edition (with Limited Edition being the "first" edition, and The Gathering) being the second). Like previous core sets, it had no expansion symbol, and had just the artist credit at the bottom left.
The set was released in April, 1994 and, like Limited and Unlimited before it, contained 302 cards. It was the first base set to contain cards from black-bordered sets other than Alpha and Beta. Twenty cards were originally in the The Gathering) expansion, and another nineteen were originally in the The Gathering) expansion. Thirty-five cards that were in Unlimited were not in Revised, including the Power Nine. A few of the cards that were removed from the base set reappeared in later sets. Most notably, Icy Manipulator would be reprinted in The Gathering), and a few others would be reprinted in The Gathering) to celebrate the game's 10th anniversary.
Set History
Printing and Distribution
Printing of Revised began in early April 1994 and continued until April 1995, when The Gathering) was announced. It is estimated that about 500 million cards of the set were produced, which fully eliminated the distribution problems of earlier sets. The cards of Revised were still widely available even well into 1996.The cards of Revised all had white borders and no expansion symbol. However, the cards were far paler than their Unlimited counterparts, and the three-dimensional beveling of the cards was cropped out. This made the set seem by some to be unprofessional and "washed out". The beveling was returned in 4th Edition, and the colors were much more vibrant in that set. In fact, the revised printed basic lands were so numerous and common that it was almost rare to find any other lands (white or black bordered) played in decks until several years later.
The collation of the cards made it possible for a basic land card to appear in the common and uncommon slots of a pack. This was intentional; the land cards were printed on the common and uncommon print sheets. Basic lands would get their own full print sheets in 4th Edition, making Revised the last tournament-legal set until The Gathering) in which basic lands could be found in booster packs.
One card-printing error of note appeared on the card Serendib Efreet. This blue creature card was misprinted with a green border and a picture of another card, Ifh-Bíff Efreet. The name, mana cost and rules text were of Serendib Efreet, however. The Revised version is now the most common due to the limited print run of the original, intended versions.
Cards swapped out
At this stage of development, cards were swapped out to alleviate problems. In later sets, cards were swapped in and out to change the feeling of the game, but the cards removed for the Revised edition were all cut for one of three reasons:- Being too powerful. In particular, the Power Nine were removed, but also such cards as Invisibility, Forcefield, and Berserk.
- Mystifiers. Cards that were too confusing by the contemporary ruleset. Mystifiers included Raging River, Word of Command, Camouflage, Blaze of Glory, and Twiddle. Note that the effects of most of these cards were used in later sets, and several of the cards were even reprinted later in their entirety.
- Too weak. Some very few cards were dropped for being too weak, in particular Copper Tablet, Ironclaw Orcs, and Dwarven Demolition Team.
Rules Changes
The printing of Revised cleared up a number of rules problems that the The Gathering) and The Gathering) rules had. Two changes had a large effect on game play. First, the rule that "multiple effects resolve simultaneously unless a conflict arises" was changed to "effects always resolve last-in-first-out". And second, the rule for Protection fromThe most visually obvious of Revised's changes was the elimination of the Mono/Poly/Continuous qualifiers to artifacts. With the advent of the game's first tap symbol (a "T" turned forty-five degrees clockwise in a light gray circle), the qualifiers, used to differentiate when and how often an artifact could be used, were no longer needed. Artifacts that were previously classified as Mono artifacts were given the new tap symbol, while Poly and Continuous artifacts were simply re-templated without the tap symbol.
Notable Cards
- The Dual Lands: Tundra, Underground Sea, Badlands, Taiga, Savannah, Scrubland, Volcanic Island, Bayou, Plateau, and Tropical Island. These powerful and versatile lands are the only lands in Magic that can produce two different colors of mana without compensating for this advantage with a drawback, making them highly sought-after.
- Demonic Tutor: Considered the best "tutor" card in Magic, it was restricted in sanctioned tournaments due to its power level, and was not reprinted after Revised. Diabolic Tutor, a more balanced substitute, was first printed in Odyssey.
- Kird Ape: Together with the dual land Taiga, Kird Ape was potentially a very powerful 1-mana creature, and was a highly popular inclusion in Red-Green decks. After a long hiatus, it was reprinted once again in Ninth Edition. Despite being the same card, however, Kird Ape has lost some of its power without Taiga being in the same set. However, some of that power returned with the Ravnica dual land for the Gruul, Stomping Ground.
- Sol Ring: An extremely efficient mana-acceleration card, some feel that it should be included in the Power Nine. (Unlike the Power Nine, however, Sol Ring was an uncommon instead of a rare, making it easier to acquire). Due to power reasons, it is restricted in sanctioned tournaments, and has not been reprinted since Revised.
External links
"Revised (Magic: The Gathering)"