Alara block
The Alara block is a Magic: The Gathering expert-level expansion block, consisting of the expansion sets Shards of Alara (October 3, 2008),[1] Conflux (February 6, 2009)[2] and Alara Reborn (April 30, 2009). The Alara block focuses on multicolored cards, in particular cards with three or more colors.[3][4]
Shards of Alara
Rock | ||||
Expansion code | ALA | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
First set in the Alara block | ||||
| ||||
| ||||
|
Set details
Bill Rose was the lead designer for Shards of Alara, and Devin Low was its lead developer. Shards is a multicolor set which revolves around three-color combinations.[5] Its tagline is, "Five worlds share one fate." The set consists of 249 cards, of which 20 are basic lands, 101 are common, 60 uncommon, 53 rare, and 15 mythic rare. It was the first set to contain cards of the mythic rarity.
The design of Shards of Alara focuses on five different "shards" which originally formed a single world. Mechanically, each shard consists of one of the five magic colors and its two allied colors. Each shard has its own keyword mechanic or strong overarching 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 |
|
Exalted[5] | Angels, Rhox, Aven, and Humans[7] | Elspeth, Knight-Errant | Brian Tinsman, Kenneth Nagle, Mark Rosewater[5] |
Esper | Blue |
|
All creatures are colored artifact creatures[6] | Humans, Sphinxes, Homunculi, and Vedalken[7] | Tezzeret the Seeker | Mark Rosewater, Mark Globus, Mark Gottlieb[5] |
Grixis | Black |
|
Unearth[6] | Demons, Zombies, Humans, and Skeletons[7] | Nicol Bolas (introduced in Conflux) | Devin Low, Erik Lauer, Brian Tinsman[5] |
Jund | Red |
|
Devour[6] | Dragons, Goblins, Humans, and Viashino[7] | Sarkhan Vol | Bill Rose, Mark Globus, Mike Turian[5] |
Naya | Green |
|
Rewards playing creatures with a power of 5 or greater[6] | Humans, Beasts, Elves, and Leonin[7] | Ajani Vengeant | Kenneth Nagle, Mark Rosewater, Mike Turian[5] |
Shards of Alara introduced several changes in Wizards' design and publishing approach. Shards and later sets have a smaller number of cards, to reduce the size of the card pool for Block and Standard
Shards of Alara also brings new
Story
The plane of Alara, once rich with mana, was torn apart by an unknown planeswalker. The world survived, but it was split into five distinct shards. Each of the shards lacks two of the five colors of mana, which influenced their development and created different environments.[10]
Mechanics
Shards of Alara introduced the mechanics of devour, exalted and unearth.
Conflux
Paper[2] | ||||
Expansion code | CON | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Second set in the Alara block | ||||
| ||||
| ||||
|
Story
The storyline focuses on the chaos which results from the Shards being forced together in a ring, constantly raking against one another. Esper finds itself clashing with Grixis and Bant, Bant is wedged between Esper and Naya, Naya finds its way between Bant and Jund, Jund conflicts with Grixis and Naya, and Grixis is pressed between Esper and Jund.
Mechanics
Conflux continues the
Alara Reborn
Scissors[2] | ||||
Expansion code | ARB | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Third set in the Alara block | ||||
| ||||
| ||||
|
Set details
Alara Reborn is the first set in the history of Magic: The Gathering to consist entirely of multicolored, or "gold", cards (cards which require mana of more than one color to play).[12] It expands on the mechanics, themes and flavor established in Shards of Alara and Conflux, but creates new combinations of creatures under the influence of more than one shard, such as coloured artifact creatures from Esper that have the Bant ability Exalted.[13]
Mechanics
Alara Reborn continues on the Shards of Alara set's Exalted, Unearth and Devour mechanics, as well as the Shadowmoor and Ravnica blocks' Hybrid Mechanic. Cards using the Hybrid Mechanic in this set lack the usual hybrid card border colors as they include a third color outside of the hybrid colors. It has also brought about the new mechanic called Cascade, which reflects the chaotic, magical nature of the Maelstrom(a huge mana-storm that has gathered about the centre of the now-reborn Alara) in altering the nature of otherwise normal spells. When you play a spell with cascade, exile cards from the top of your library until you remove a nonland card that costs less. You may cast it without paying its mana cost. Put the removed cards on the bottom in a random order. This mechanic effectively means that when you cast a spell with the "Cascade" keyword, you get to cast at least one other "free" spell directly from your library.
Reception
Shards of Alara won the 2009 Origins Award as "Best Collectible Card Game or Expansion".[14]
Notable cards
Notable cards from Shards of Alara include Elspeth, Knight-Errant and Tezzeret the Seeker
Notable cards from Conflux include Noble Hierarch, Path to Exile and Progenitus
Notable cards from Alara Reborn include Bloodbraid Elf and Maelstrom Pulse
References
- ^ Magic Arcana (March 18, 2008). "Announcing Shards of Alara". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on March 21, 2008. Retrieved March 18, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Magic Arcana — Announcing Conflux". Wizards of the Coast. July 30, 2008. Archived from the original on August 27, 2008. Retrieved January 28, 2010.
- ^ Greenholdt, Joyce (March 2008), Scrye, The Guide to Collectible Games, p. 106.
- ^ ertaislament (June 26, 2013), Shards of Alara Block, retrieved October 4, 2013
- ^ a b c d e f g h Rosewater, Mark (September 8, 2008). "Between a Rock and a Shard Place". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on September 3, 2008. Retrieved September 9, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f Rosewater, Mark (August 16, 2008). "Shard Candy". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on September 17, 2008. Retrieved September 16, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e Whitters, Richard (August 16, 2008). "Ripping a World Apart". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on September 17, 2008. Retrieved September 16, 2008.
- ^ Rosewater, Mark (June 2, 2008). "The Year of Living Changerously". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on June 4, 2008. Retrieved June 2, 2008.
- ^ Magic Arcana (August 21, 2008). "Shards of Alara Prerelease Card". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on August 23, 2008. Retrieved August 21, 2008.
- ^ Beyer, Doug. "Alara, a World Broken". wizards.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on September 22, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
- ^ "Alara Reborn Visual Spoiler". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on April 11, 2009. Retrieved August 24, 2009.
- ^ MTG Salvation (March 9, 2009). "MTGCast 146: Alara Reborn confirmed as all Gold!". MTG Salvation. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
- ^ Digges, Kelly (April 14, 2009). "The Mother of All Dragons". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on April 15, 2009. Retrieved April 14, 2009.
- ^ "35th Origins Awards". GAMA. 2009. Archived from the original on June 14, 2012. Retrieved August 6, 2012.