TOP 10 REASONS TO BUY:

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1 In case Because it s just awesome isn t enough TOP 10 REASONS TO BUY: FIVE WORLDS! In Shards of Alara TM, you don t get just one new world for Magic: The Gathering. You get FIVE! Alara was whole once. But that was millennia ago. Where once there was one plane, now there are five: the Shards. The plane of Alara was a world rich with mana, a world in balance until the Sundering. In a cataclysm of unimaginable proportions, Alara was rent into five separate worlds, each a refraction of the others. Each of the five shards is MISSING two colors of mana, and over thousands of years the exclusion of those influences has shaped the evolution of each shard. Within the game itself, this is expressed through game mechanics unique to each shard, use of specific artists within each shard, and the creature types that have survived and thrived in each world.

2 Bant: Bant is a utopia a world of knights in shining armor who compete in ceremonial battles for the favor of Angels. Did I say Angels!? Angels, one of the most popular creature types ever, are back in a big way in Shards of Alara: Esper: Esper is a world where knowledge is revered, and everything is measured and controlled. The denizens of Esper believe that enlightenment comes from infusing their flesh with a metal called etherium, so every living thing on Esper is an artifact creature! Esper realizes the potential of colored artifacts first hinted at in Future Sight with Sarcomite Myr. Grixis: Grixis is a Hellscape of death and decay, where everything is undead or dying. Vampires, Demons, and Zombies roam the rotting land. If Grixis had a soundtrack, it would be screaming death metal! On Grixis, undeath is the norm, and its mechanic

3 reflects that: Unearth allows you to bring back the creature for one last attack before you remove it from the game forever. Jund: Jund is a barbaric world with a vicious food chain. Goblins sit at the bottom of that chain, and dragons roost at the top. The barbarian humans that fit somewhere in the middle spend a lot of time battling for survival, and trying to avoid beasties like this one: Naya: Naya is a lush jungle world, where things grow to gigantic proportions. The elves and humans that live in Naya worship the behemoth monsters that roam the land, and live hedonistic lives. Their philosophy is Live for today, because you never know when a behemoth is going to come by and smash your village!

4 Gold! Gold multicolored cards are back in a big way! This popular theme last seen in Ravnica allows R&D to bend some of the rules of spellcasting, and print powerful cards like this behemoth from Naya: Mythic Rares: Mythic rares are a new rarity for Magic: The Gathering! Mythic rares replace the rare in approximately 1 in every 8 booster packs. There are 15 mythic rares in Shards of Alara, so each individual Mythic Rare is about twice as rare as a regular rare in this 249-card set. The possibility of busting a foil mythic rare adds a new layer of excitement to opening a booster! Planeswalkers Guide to Alara: This is a new for-sale book available with Shards of Alara. The Planeswalker s Guide to Alara is essentially the creative bible for the set, and features both finished and sketch artwork that was used to create the set. It was written by Doug Beyer and Jenna Helland, two members of the creative team that created Shards of Alara, and it is a must-have for any fan of the storyline behind the cards.

5 Planeswalkers! Gold Planeswalkers! Planeswalker cards were first introduced in Lorwyn, and it has been almost a year since players have been able to get their hands on new versions of this popular new card type. In Shards of Alara, they finally have the chance, and for the first time, we can debut GOLD Planeswalkers!