<-- Revised | Magic: The Gathering Basic Sets | Fifth Edition -->
On
May 5, 1995, the fourth edition of the
Magic: The Gathering basic set was available in stores. It contained a significant change from the
Revised Edition, both in the number of cards in the set, and just cards added and removed. The set total was 378 cards, with cards added from
Arabian Nights,
Antiquities,
Legends, and
The Dark.
The cards removed from this set were chosen for a few reasons. A number of cards removed were removed for being too powerful - just about any card that was on the restricted list at the the the set was rotated was removed, including such favorites as Sol Ring, and all the Dual Lands. A number of cards were removed for being just too confusing. Rock Hydra was one of the prime examples here, as the rulings for the card were running longer than just about any other card. Other cards were removed for being underpowered, such as Kudzu or Jandor's Ring. There were also a number removed in an attempt to make the game a little more "family-friendly". Cards with questionable themes or artwork were removed - Living Wall, for example, because the artwork was rather disgusting, and all of the "demonic" cards. Unholy Strength even had the pentagram in the background removed.
Before Fourth Edition, land cards were printed on the large sheets that the common and uncommon cards were cut from (there was even a land card - an Island - on the rare sheet for the Limited Edition and Unlimited Edition). By removing them and putting land on seperate sheets, they both increased the number of cards that could be printed in the set, and prevented basic land from ever being found in a booster pack.
Fourth edition cards did not have an expansion symbol, but they did have more vibrant color than the Revised Edition cards, and they added copyright notices at the bottom of the cards. All the cards for this set were listed as "Copyright 1995". The packaging was also radically changed. Instead of the simple book-like appearance to the deck boxes, and simple color and text on the boosters, the deck box was a dark red, with a metallic red frame with a center oval. The booster packs used this design, but had one of five pieces of card art inside the frame.
The tap symbol from Revised was also changed again, this time to make the symbol easier for players in other languages to understand, as Magic had been spreading worldwide by this time. Instead of the tilted 'T', it was a black card-shape inside a circle, with a curved arrow in it.
Artifact
Black
Blue
Green
Red
White
Land
Removed Cards:
The following cards were removed from the basic set after the Revised Edition.