Notes About Games

In terms of Collectable Card Games (CCG), its undeniable that Magic the Gathering is one of the most popular. Magic the Gathering has a very well defined rarity system that runs through the game, and this certainly adds to its collectable nature and popularity. This article takes you through how to identify the rarity of your cards.

The Magic the Gathering rarity system is quite simple, but has not always been so. Here are the 3 different classifications of MTG card for identification purposes:

1. The set icon’s colour

If the card has a set icon, then if it is from a set that has been released since the Exodus set in 1998, then the colour of the icon will define its rarity as such:

- Black is Common – Silver is Uncommon – Gold is Rare – Purple is Mythic Rare or Time shifted

A note should be made about the final categorisation of rarities, Mythic Rares have only been introduced to the rarity system since Shards of Alara set in 2008, and Time shifted cards were only introduced for the single set called Time Spiral in 2006.

2. Pre Exodus Cards with a set icon, but no rarity colour

The expansion sets released before Exodus (Arabian Nights, Antiquities, Legends, The Dark, Fallen Empires, Homelands, Ice Age, Alliances, Cold Snap, Mirage, Visions, Weatherlight, Tempest, Stronghold) had a set icon on their cards, but Wizards of the Coast had yet to introduce the rarity colour to these cards. You may be able to identify the rarity of the cards roughly by their number in your collection if you have large enough collection, but this is hardly accurate. To be sure of the cards rarity, you can use a Magic the Gathering card reference such as the one provided by Wizards of the Coast called Gatherer.

3. Cards with no set symbol

This is only applicable to Core Set cards release before 1999, which is all Fifth Edition cards and earlier. These cards were printed without a set icon at all. As per the older expansion cards mentioned above, the best thing to do is to visit the Gatherer tool created by Wizards of the Coast which will tell you the exact rarity of your cards.

The rarity of a Magic the Gathering card is generally intrinsic in the value of any Magic the Gathering card. Understanding that rarity can be key in making sure that you accurately value, protect and potentially release that value if you wanted to sell you Magic the Gathering cards.

Want to know more? This article is one of a number of articles and useful resources explaining how to sell your Magic the Gathering cards, all this information is available at How to Sell your Magic the Gathering (MTG) cards. For further details on this and other Magic the Gathering (MTG) related subjects, go to http://www.sell-magic-the-gathering.com.