Magic: The Gathering compilation sets
The collectible card game Magic: The Gathering has released compilation sets, reprint sets, and box sets over its history. These are distinct from core sets and expansion sets, the most heavily marketed sources of new cards. With the exception of Chronicles, reprint sets generally do not affect tournament legality in supported formats; for example, cards reprinted in the Modern Masters reprint set, while legal for tournament play, did not necessarily cause the card to be included in the "Standard" environment.
These sets tend to be of two types: sets with a fixed deck buyers receive, and sets sold in randomized booster packs, similar to "normal" expansion sets, but only consisting of reprint cards. Chronicles, Premium Foil Booster, and sets of the Masters brand are printed in randomized boosters; others have a fixed card set.
Chronicles
Chronicles was the first compilation set of Magic: The Gathering, released in July 1995. Unlike many later compilation sets, Chronicles was treated like a normal expansion set, including renewing tournament legality for cards reprinted in it. For tournament play, Chronicles was designated as an extension of the Fourth Edition base set. Chronicles reprinted cards from Arabian Nights, Antiquities, Legends, and The Dark. Wizards of the Coast released a similar set called Renaissance into the German, French and Italian markets.Masters
Masters is a series of Magic: The Gathering compilation sets. The "original" Masters Editions were Magic: The Gathering Online exclusive sets designed to put old cards created before the release of MTGO into circulation. Masters became an official printed series in 2013 with the release of Modern Masters.The paper Masters series consists of:
- Modern Masters, released in 2013
- Modern Masters 2015 Edition
- Eternal Masters, released in 2016
- Modern Masters 2017 Edition
- Iconic Masters, released in 2017
- Masters 25, released in 2018
- Ultimate Masters, released in 2018
- Double Masters, released in 2020
Modern Masters is a set that consists of reprints of cards which are legal in the Modern format. Modern includes all cards from Eighth Edition onwards, barring a small number of banned cards. The first Modern Masters was released on June 7, 2013. It has 229 cards ranging from Eighth Edition through Alara Reborn. The set was released in the English language only. The original Modern Masters distribution was highly limited and Wizards of the Coast stated they would not like to release as much as they did with Chronicles. Wizards of the Coast eventually loosened this, and printed considerably more of the 2015 and 2017 editions of Modern Masters. Notable reprints in the original Modern Masters included Dark Confidant, Tarmogoyf, and Vendilion Clique.
The second set, Modern Masters 2015 Edition, was released May 22, 2015. It has 249 cards. In addition to the blocks in the original Modern Masters, the 2015 edition features cards from Zendikar block, Scars of Mirrodin block, Magic 2010, Magic 2011, and Magic 2012. The set was released in Japanese and Simplified Chinese in addition to English. Twenty to thirty cards feature new artwork, and a number of new tokens are included. The English booster pack in Modern Masters 2015 Edition used recyclable paper cardboard as packaging material instead of foil packs, the first set doing so in Magic history. It also raised some complaints of easier theft of the cards, however. Notable reprints in Modern Masters 2015 Edition included Bitterblossom, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, and Karn Liberated.
Eternal Masters is a Magic compilation set released in June 2016. Similar to the Modern Masters sets, it reprints cards, but from all of Magic's history rather than restricting itself to the Modern format, thus aiming itself at casual formats such as Cube as well as the Vintage and Legacy formats.
Modern Masters 2017 Edition was released on March 17, 2017. It was also released in English, Simplified Chinese, and Japanese. The 2017 edition added Innistrad block, Return to Ravnica block, Magic 2013, and Magic 2014 to the sets eligible for a Modern Masters reprint. Notable reprints in Modern Masters 2017 Edition included Tarmogoyf, Damnation, Liliana of the Veil, Snapcaster Mage, Voice of Resurgence, and the enemy color "fetchlands" such as Scalding Tarn.
Iconic Masters is a Magic compilation set; it was released at Hasbro's HasCon's 25th anniversary celebration of Magic in September 2017, and released to the wider public in November 2017. It is a compilation set with reprinted cards originating throughout the history of Magic, similar to Eternal Masters. The set is generally perceived to have had poor sales due to the two month delayed nature of its wide release, which happened only a few weeks before the release of Unstable. Wizards of the Coast would later apologize for setting wrong expectations for the set as well as the strange scheduling after receiving negative feedback about the set.
Masters 25 was released on March 16, 2018. It was themed as a celebration of 25 years of the history of Magic, with cards from every printed set.
Ultimate Masters was released on December 7, 2018. In the set's official announcement, it was noted that it would have an unusually high price point, but would contain unusually high-value reprints. It is the first Magic set to include a regular-sized "box topper" promotional card with each booster box. Wizards of the Coast announced that it would be the last Masters set for some time; however, Double Masters would be released less than two years later.
Double Masters was released on August 7, 2020. Due to the "double" theme of the set, each draft booster contains two rare or mythic cards and two foil cards of any rarity, and each booster box contains two "box topper" promotional cards. It is the first Masters set to be released without an official list price.
Anthologies
Anthologies was a box set and the second compilation set. It was printed in November 1998 to celebrate the 5th anniversary of Magic. It featured cards from Alpha through Urza's Saga. The print run was unknown.Unlike Chronicles, but like other box sets such as Battle Royale, the reprinted cards did not count as current product, and thus were only legal in formats which allowed the original cards being reprinted to be used, and were not automatically legal in Standard at the time the product was available.
Anthologies had two decks: "Dark Alliance", a black/red "aggressive deck" with goblins; and "Defenders of the Cause", a green/white control deck. It was printed with and without expansion symbols. The cards had white borders and standard backs.
The Anthologies cards with identical copies in 5th Edition bear a striking resemblance to those from 5th Edition and can be difficult to differentiate. They can be told apart by looking at the copyright line: 5th Edition cards have "© 1997", whereas the Anthologies reprints have "© 1993-1998", which became the new standard for the copyright line with the release of Exodus.
The reviewer from the online second volume of Pyramid stated that "For latecomers to the game, this is a great way to get a taste of some cards from supplements long ago out of print and snapped up by the collectors."
Battle Royale
Battle Royale was a Magic: The Gathering boxed set, the third compilation set, released in November 1999 as a collection of cards emphasizing the multiplayer aspect of the game. Most of the cards included are ones that can affect multiple opponents. This promotion included cards from all different sets that existed previous to it. The cards still retained their original expansion symbols although they were printed with white borders, which was the standard for reprinted Magic: The Gathering cards of "core sets" until the 2007 release of Tenth Edition. These are the only sets that are printed with white borders Another interesting aspect is that colored expansions symbols were added to the cards that didn’t have them previouslyThe set included 160 cards built into four different two-color theme decks which are 40 cards each: Spirit Gale, Chargoyf, The Deluge, and Cinder Heart.
Beatdown
Beatdown is a box set for Magic: The Gathering, and the fourth compilation set. It was not legal in Standard at the time of its release. Beatdown was released as a pair of preconstructed decks combined with accessories, unlike the normal distribution of Magic cards in randomized packs. Alternate art was done for four cards: Sengir Vampire, Erhnam Djinn, Ball Lightning, and Clockwork Beast. The set is white-bordered, and the expansion symbol is a mace. There are no White cards in the set.The set includes 122 special edition Magic cards divided into two theme decks, Aerodoom and Ground Pounder. The focus of the two decks in the Beatdown box set is to overwhelm your opponent with decks that included some of the more powerful creatures in the game, to that date, such as the aforementioned Erhnam Djinn, Sengir Vampire, Ball Lightning and Clockwork Beast. The Beatdown set was released in October 2000.
Clockwork Avian was misprinted without flying in Beatdown.