Beta (Magic: The Gathering)

Beta (Magic: The Gathering)

Limited Edition Beta or just Beta refers to the second print run of the original Magic: The Gathering Limited Edition, the first Magic: The Gathering card set. It was released as soon as Wizards of the Coast could afford to pay for the rest of the print run. The company took advantage of the fact that the first edition print run had been split to correct some minor problems in the rules and fix some errors on the cards. Clarifications were made to the rulebook, and Richard Garfield's short fiction "Worzel's Tale" was removed to make room. Like Alpha it had no expansion symbol, and the text on the bottom left consisted of only the artist credit. Although many players speak of Alpha and Beta as different sets, officially they are the same set, and the company had expected that people wouldn't necessarily be able to tell the two press runs apart. However, the printer accidentally used different corner rounding dies for the second run, resulting in the two distinct sets.