Colored artifacts which require multiple colors are alphabetized among the multicolored cards. For example, the colored artifact Executioner's Capsule (which requires to cast) is placed alphabetically between the black cards Dregscape Zombie and Fleshbag Marauder. These cards were sorted alphabetically into their color when determining collector numbers. Shards of Alara contains many colored artifacts. Any card which would generate mana of a color that doesn't match the chosen shard generates colorless mana instead. In addition, a deck could not generate mana outside its shard's colors. Colorless cards could be played in any deck. The mana cost of each card in a player's deck could contain only mana symbols that matched the chosen shard's three colors (mana symbols in a card's text box were ignored). As players build their decks, they had to choose one of the five shards ( Bant, Esper, Grixis, Jund, or Naya). Designed to highlight the fun and flavorful aspects of the set, the Theme Tournaments had the same structure as the prerelease tournaments (Sealed Deck format in which each player receives one tournament pack and three boosters), with a few additional rules. In light of the flavor of the shards, Shards of Alara launch parties (October 3–6, 2008) were Wizards Play Network events that featured a new format: the Theme Tournament. The expansion symbol of the set is a representation of the five shards. Each of the five shards has its own game play themes, and its own stable of artists. Design lead Bill Rose assembled no fewer than fifteen people on five teams, one for each of the five three-color shards. Shards of Alara design was anything but typical. Shards of Alara heralded the return of planeswalker cards, and introduced the first multicolored planeswalkers. 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. After evaluating the set sizes, Wizards of the Coast decided that card sets would be smaller than they had traditionally been. 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). Release events were held on October 3, 2008, the same day the set went on sale. The prerelease events for this set were held on September 27–28, 2008. Shards of Alara is the forty-seventh Magic expansion and was released October 2008 as the first set in the Alara block. Three-color play, colored artifacts, large creatures
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