Alpha vs Beta Cards

Have you ever heard about Magic: The Gathering cards? It is only recently that I have heard about it. Had I not been assigned to write about it, I certainly would have remained ignorant of its existence.

Magic: The Gathering is a collectible card game that combines role playing and strategy. It can be played by two or more people offline or online. The game is a battle between powerful wizards who use magic spells, items, and creatures depicted on the cards to defeat opponents.

Most magic cards have symbols on their fronts which make them easy to identify but older cards don’t have these symbols. There are many editions that have been produced; the Alpha, Beta, 4th, 5th, Unlimited, and Revised.

Revised cards have a black line around the images and have had new cards added. Unlimited cards have bevelled edges and look darker, while the 4th and 5th editions can be distinguished by looking at their copyright dates.

There are also Collector’s Edition cards, which have square edges and the borders are gold. Two other editions are the Alpha and Beta cards which are different in several aspects.

Alpha cards are the first print run of the original Magic: The Gathering Limited Edition card set. There were mistakes and omissions in the Alpha cards like misprints and a lack of standardized wording for card text. The circle of Protection: Black and Volcanic Island were also mistakenly omitted from the set.

It has all the original mechanics in the game play. Alpha cards have more rounded and harder borders than all the other cards. There are 295 different Alpha cards and the most notable are:

* The Power Nine: Black Lotus, Mox Pearl, Mox Sapphire, Mox Jet, Mox Ruby, Mox Emerald, Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, and Timetwister.
* The Dual Lands: Tundra, Underground Sea, Badlands, Taiga, Savannah, Scrubland, Bayou, Tropical Island, and Plateau.
* The Boons: Healing Salve, Ancestral Recall, Dark Ritual, Lightning Bolt, and Giant Growth.
* Chaos Orb: Requires manual dexterity in order to play well.

Beta cards are the revised version of the Alpha cards. The mistakes in the Alpha cards were corrected in the Beta cards and it was released because the Alpha cards had been sold out.

Because of the restoration of omitted cards, there are 302 different Beta cards, more than the original 295 of the Alpha cards. Beta cards are also cheaper than Alpha cards but both are more expensive than other editions.

The notable cards in the Beta card set is the same as in the Alpha card set. The difference is that Volcanic Island has been added to the Beta card set.

Summary
1. Alpha and Beta cards have the same cards, the difference is that the Alpha cards were printed with mistakes and omissions which are corrected in the Beta cards.
2. Alpha cards are more expensive than Beta cards.
3. There are only 295 Alpha cards, while there are 302 Beta cards.

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