From the start this site was intended to be a single point of reference for a variety of
information related to the early days of Magic the Gathering. Presenting
information which was available elsewhere in a more concise and accessible
manner. Many sites list the rarity of each card in the original sets, and many sites
have print run estimates, but this site was intended to combine the two without
needed to cross reference two sources of information. For that reason I never felt
the need to explain the background for this information, as that information is
widely available elsewhere. However recently the site has
received skepticism regarding its print run information, so in the same spirit of
providing information in a single location, I will now breakdown step by step how
the print run information has been calculated and what sources the information is
derived from.
The numbers below will not match precisely with the numbers in the print run tab,
as I would like to preserve the historical estimates which were widely used for over
20 years.
Also as a disclaimer, I would like to point out that my estimates are not the same as
other estimates which are available elsewhere, as I have made some of my own
assumptions in the calculations. Wherever I have made a judgment call in my
calculations I have noted.
Alpha
On March 6th 2021 Peter Adkison the former CEO of Wizzards of the Coast posted
information on social media regarding the print runs of Alpha and Beta.
He had recently contacted Luc Mertens who was a sales executive at Carta Mundi
throughout the 90’s dealing specifically with MTG, and asked him what the exact
purchase orders made for Alpha and Beta were (first and second print runs of
Limited Edition). Luc corresponded with Peter de Weerdt (a current WOTC sales
executive), who helped check the archives and found the following numbers on
alpha and beta print runs from 1993.
The alpha print run for Magic: The Gathering was 26,000 60-card starter decks and
70,000 15-card boosters, which would equate to 2.61 million cards.
The beta print run for Magic was 78,000 60-card starter decks and 210,000 15-card
boosters, for a total of 7.83 million cards.
We can use these numbers to calculate the print runs for Alpha.
26,000 60-card starter decks each contain 2 rare, 13 uncommon and 45 commons
70,000 booster packs each contain 1 rare, 3 uncommon, 11 common
This gives us a total of 122,000 rares, 548,000 uncommons and 1,940,000 commons
Cards are printed on sheets of 121 cards. So we need to take the total number of
each rarity, and divide them by 121, to find out how many of each rarity was printed.
This leaves us with:
Rare: 1,008
Uncommon: 4,529
Common: 16,033
Beta
When confirming the Alpha print run, Peter Adkison also confirmed the beta print
run.
78,000 60-card starter decks each contain 2 rare, 13 uncommon and 45 commons
210,000 booster packs each contain 1 rare, 3 uncommon, 11 common
This gives us a total of 366,000 rares, 1,644,000 uncommons and 5,820,000
commons
Cards are printed on sheets of 121 cards. So we need to take the total number of
each rarity, and divide them by 121, to find out how many of each rarity was printed.
This leaves us with:
Rare: 3,025
Uncommon: 13,587
Common: 48,099
Unlimited
The Duelist Complete Magic Card List (1995) and The Official Encyclopedia (1996)
both list the print run of unlimited as 35 million, so that is the number we will use.
Regarding the split between Starter Decks and Booster Packs in Unlimited, there is
less information available so an educated guess must be made. Wen Alpha and Beta
were printed 27.1% of the cards were printed in Starter Decks and 72.9% of the
cards were printed in booster packs, but it is generally recognized that WOTC
decided to change the allocation between starters and boosters at some point due to
the much higher demand for boosters. We do not have definitive information on
how much this was adjusted. Some estimates assume as low as 16.7% allocated for
starter decks, and some estimate as high as 33.3% allocated for starter decks. Given
the information recently released by Peter Askison, I think it is safe to assume
33.3% is too high as that would be even higher than the allocation in Alpha and Beta,
and I believe 16.7% is too low, as this would leave us with much less that 1 starter
deck for ever 10 packs printed, and WOTC was still trying to actively grow the
player base at this point (players which would have needed starter decks). The
number we will use for our calculation is 25% allocation to starter decks. This
figure is in-between both of the most popular estimates being used, and I believe to
be the best guess possible. This gives us the following numbers:
145,833 60-card starter decks each contain 2 rare, 13 uncommon and 45 commons
1,750,000 15-card booster packs each contain 1 rare, 3 uncommon, 11 common
This gives us a total of 2,041,666 rares, 7,145,829 uncommons and 25,812,485
commons
Cards are printed on sheets of 121 cards. So we need to take the total number of
each rarity, and divide them by 121, to find out how many of each rarity was printed.
This leaves us with:
Rare: 16,874
Uncommon: 59,057
Common: 213,326
Arabian Nights
Every source of print run information available places the print run at 5 million.
This number is not contested, and there is no known disagreement with regard to
this figure at the time this was written.
Arabian Nights only had booster packs, so all the cards would be in 8 card boosters.
There were only two print sheets, photos of which can be found easily online. That
gives us the following:
625,000 8-card boosters each containing 2 uncommon, 6 common.
My math is a little different than how other people have approached this, but the
end result is the same.
This gives us a total of 1,250,000 uncommons, and 3,750,000 commons
Cards are printed on sheets of 121 cards. So we need to take the total number of
each rarity, and divide them by 121, to find out how many of each sheet was printed.
This leaves us with:
Uncommon Sheet: 10,331
Common Sheet: 30,992
Because there were multiples of each uncommon and common on each sheet, we
then need to multiply this base number by their classification (U2, U3, C1, C4, ect).
This leaves us with:
U2: 20,662
U3: 30,993
U4: 41,324
C1: 30,992
C4: 123,968
C5: 154,960
C11: 340,912
Antiquities
Every source of print run information available places the print run at 15 million.
This number is not contested, and there is no known disagreement with regard to
this figure at the time this was written.
Antiquities only had booster packs, so all the cards would be in 8 card boosters.
There were only two print sheets, photos of which can be found easily online. That
gives us the following:
1,875,000 8-card boosters each containing 2 uncommon, 6 common.
My math is the same as for Arabian Nights, a little different than how other people
have approached it, but the end result is the same.
A total of 3750,000 uncommons, and 11,250,000 commons
Cards are printed on sheets of 121 cards. So we need to take the total number of
each rarity, and divide them by 121, to find out how many of each rarity was printed.
This leaves us with:
Uncommon Sheet: 30,992
Common Sheet: 92,975
Because there were multiples of each uncommon and common on each sheet, we
then need to multiply this base number by their classification (U1, U2, C1, C4, ect).
This leaves us with:
U1: 30,992
U2: 61,984
U3: 92,976
C1: 92,975
C4: 371,900
C5: 464,875
C6: 557,850
Legends
Every source of print run information available places the print run at 35 million.
This number is not contested, and there is no known disagreement with regard to
this figure at the time this was written.
Legends only had booster packs, so all the cards would be in 15 card boosters.
This gives us a total of 2,333,333 rares, 7,000,000 uncommons and 25,666,630
commons
Cards are printed on sheets of 121 cards. So we need to take the total number of
each rarity, and divide them by 121, to find out how many of each rarity was printed.
This leaves us with:
Rare Sheet: 19,284
Uncommon Sheet: 57,851
Common Sheet: 212,121
Because there were multiples of each uncommon and common on each sheet, we
then need to multiply this base number by their classification (U1, U2, C1, C2). This
leaves us with:
Rare: 19,284
U1: 57,851
U2: 115,702
C1: 212,121
C2: 424,242
The Dark
Information from 1994 and 1995 placed estimates at 62 Million cards.
Sources include The Duelist as well as official press releases made by WOTC
representatives.
However more recent research has been conducted and estimates the print run at
75 Million, based on comments made by Tom Wylie (an early WOTC employee).
The figure we will use is 70 Million cards, for the following reasons:
Estimates place the print run somewhere between 63 and 75, so selecting 70 will
allow us to have at least a 10% margin of error on both sides. Additionally the print
run of the preceding set (Legends) is estimated to be 35 million, and previous WOTC
behavior showed a propensity to have sets preceding one another to be multiples of
their predecessors. Beta is three times the size of Alpha, Antiquities is three times
the size of Arabian Nights, so I think it follows logically that the Dark would be two
times the size of Legends (given that three times the size was never an option).
WOTC was still a small company at this stage and the final decision on print run size
would have ultimately have been made by one or two key individuals in the
organization. This estimate is the largest unknown of all the numbers provided here,
so hopefully someday we will get additional information to help with this
calculation.
The Dark only had booster packs, so all the cards would be in 8 card boosters.
There were only two print sheets, photos of which can be found easily online. That
gives us the following:
8,750,000 8-card boosters each containing 2 uncommon, 6 common.
My math is the same as for Arabian Nights, a little different than how other people
have approached it, but the end result is the same.
This gives us a total of 17,500,000 uncommons, and 52,500,000 commons
Cards are printed on sheets of 121 cards. So we need to take the total number of
each rarity, and divide them by 121, to find out how many of each rarity was printed.
This leaves us with:
Uncommon Sheet: 144,628
Common Sheet: 444,884
Because there were multiples of each uncommon and common on each sheet, we
then need to multiply this base number by their classification (U1, U2, C1, C3). This
leaves us with:
U1: 144,628
U2: 289,256
C1: 444,884
C3: 1,334,652
I just bought my last piece of power.
I remember the moment I decided that I would buy one.
I was taking a shower and in a moment of clarity I realized I could afford a piece of
Unlimited power. I had always written it off as too ridiculous, but some things had
shifted slowly over time in my life and all of a sudden it was just not that crazy. Still
crazy but not that crazy. I decided I would get an emerald, a ruby, and a Timewalk
over the course of 2019, (3 of the 4 cheapest pieces at the time), and then I would be
done.
I bought my first piece December 5th, 2018. I was on a rooftop in Manilla and had
just finished mobilizing the biggest project of my career to date, which included a
bonus. I was laying by the pool sipping a pina colada after three weeks hard work
seven days a week when I saw that MTGSeattle had listed an HP emerald. Just my
kind of power, heavy play but not gross. I emailed for pictures and was hemming
and hawing over it when he dropped the price by another $100 and I had to take the
plunge.
The second piece I saw pop up on Ebay from a store in the city where my brother
lives. They listed an MP time walk at a great price, and I contacted them by emails
too see how much of a cash discount I could get. We went back and forth a few
times but eventually the owner stopped replying. Then on Christmas eve I got a
message: “I can do 1,300 cash today”. I had $500 in my wallet, and knew I could get
$300 from the ATM. I asked my brother to take out another $300, and then
borrowed money from my father for the first time in over a decade to make up the
rest. We drove down to the strip mall where the card shop was, and peeked around
looking for the shop before we finally found it. When he pulled it out I couldn't
believe how nice it was, I light tested it and louped it before laying out the money on
the countertop. I remember we turned the lights off in the entire store so I could
light test it. Ask I was leaving one of the patrons of the store asked: “you gonna buy
the full set?”, and I replied: “no, just picking up three pieces”.
The third piece happened all of a sudden. I woke up in the morning and checked
TCG (my usual routine), and saw a Ruby listed for $900 (about $400 under its
market value at the time). The seller had horrible feedback, but when I looked
though it, none of it was for fake cards, it was all for delayed shipping and horrible
communication. I googled the store name and found an email address for the store
and send him an email asking for pictures. It was super HP, but they were good
enough pictures to tell it was legit, and he had the card in hand. I asked my brother
what he thought and his reply was: “you are gonna regret it more if you pass on it
then if you buy it and have to get a TCG refund”. I pulled the trigger and it showed
up in 5 days in all its authentic glory.
After getting the three pieces I had decided I needed, I decided I needed one more,
and Ancestral Recall, the best piece of power. It was outside of my budget, but I new
I needed that raw power in my oldschool deck. I scanned Ebay daily until I found
one that was listed by a shop I knew, so I emailed them to see if they could take 10%
off the asking price. They agreed, and we had a deal.
Now that I had the timewalk and the ancestral I really needed a sapphire to make
my blue splashes stronger. I found one for a good price on Ebay and then made the
purchase. The seller cancelled the order and told me (the card was more HP then he
had originally thought, and didn't feel comfortable selling it. I assured him I was
aware of the condition and didn't care, after some back and forth he eventually
shipped it to me.
I decided I needed one more piece of power (and then I would be done for sure), a
mox jet. Me and my brother had decided to go to GP vegas, and play in the oldschool
event at the GP, as well as a side event. I was playing UR counterburn with black
splash and the jet was a key piece I was missing. I decided I would pick one up at
the GP before the event. It was the first GP for both me and my brother, and the first
real MTG event either of us had attended. I showed up a day early to give myself
time to make the Jet deal, and walked around for 6 hours looking at cards, and
getting price quotes on the cards I was selling. I finally found a good looking MP Jet
for 1,600 with roller lines (which I love), and needed to come up with the cash. I
sold an LP alpha illusionary mask to a chinese buyer for a good price, sold some
fetch lands, and two Italian invoke prejudices to come up with the money, and then
purchased my prize. I had one loss at the GP event, which didn't qualify me for the
finals, but when CFB redid the finals, they invited all players who were x-1 to come
and compete. I ended up finishing 8th place, and during the tournament.
I had been putting off buying a time twister because I consider it to be the weakest
piece of power, but after GP Vegas I knew y deck was missing the blue draw seven.
Christmas eve a timetwister popper up from a seller I knew on discord, and I
purchased what I was sure was my last piece of power.
Looking at my power seven, I knew that I would need to at least get a pearl. It
would make up dead guy ale build much better and then I would at least have the
complete set of moxen. I checked discord daily until a seller I knew listed a great MP
copy at a good price. As we were finalizing the purchase he asked me if I needed
anything else and I said I was done buying power. He sent me a picture of the HP
lotus he was selling for $6,000 and I told him: “no thanks, I don't think I will ever get
a lotus. They are just too much”.
The next Christmas I decided I would try and sell some cards to get a lotus. I found a
seller with an HP copy, and decided I would sell some cards I was not using and get
the Lotus. The next week the prices of power doubled overnight, and my plan was
dead in the water. I would never be getting a lotus. I thought about getting a CE
copy instead, but knew I would just always wish it was Unlimited.
About a year later my brother