Difference Between Alpha and Beta Cards

June 2023 · 5 minute read

The alpha card is the limited edition and the first edition of the printed games which was released on 5th August 1993 and the second limited edition of the printed games was beta games which are released on 4th October 1993. As they both are for the same which is the gathering.

Alpha vs Beta Cards 

The main difference between Alpha and beta cards is that alpha cards are the first limited edition of the printed games and there is a rule book of alpha while beta is the second limited edition which is removed to make the room. And the two cards are added in this which are removed from alpha.

Alpha is a limited edition and the first edition of the printed games which was released on 5th August 1993 these are expensive cards and the total is 295. And at the starting, they have the small stoke of 2,6 million cards of alpha. And these cards are having round corners which a 2mm radius.

Beta is a  second limited edition of the printed games which are released on 4th October 1993. this is not that much expensive are the total number of cards is 302. These cards are available in the mid of October to the mid in December year 1993. And they also have round corners but less than the alpha cards. 

Comparison Table Between Alpha and Beta Cards 

Parameters of Comparison Alpha CardsBeta Cards
Released on Alpha cards were released on 5, August 1993Beta cards were released on 4, October 1993
Black bordered cardsThere are 295 Black bordered cards presentThere are 302 Black bordered cards present
Corners It has rounded cornersIt also has rounded corners but less than Alpha cards
Rule bookWorzel tale includes alpha rule bookWorzel tale does not includes a beta rule book
Cards 295 cards and two are removed302 cards and the cards from alpha is added

What is Alpha Cards?

Alpha is a limited edition card which is commonly called alpha only as this was the first print run of the limited edition and the first core and a basic set of magic named as the gathering. This contains 295 black-bordered cards. And this was the first edition. And the mane alpha is a nickname but is widely used for the edition of the print run.

Alpha was released on the 5th of August in the year 1993 and the origins of its release are July and august with the small stoke of 2,6 million cards. In the starting, the set was not much exposed on the west coast of the united states, and this is available in late August and September in the year 1993. And there was a rule book available of 32 pages which added the starter decks which have Bog Wraith on the cover.

Alpha is designed and organized by Richard Garfield and by the development team which contains 11 members in that and was the limited edition. This is easily distinguished for the other cards like beta as they have more rounded corners, the radius of the corners of these cards is about 2mm instead of 1mm which is called the standard size but this does not have that.

What is Beta Cards?

Beta is a limited edition and commonly known as beta only which is the second print of the limited edition and the second core and the basic set of the magic named as the gathering. This contains 302 black-bordered cards. And this card was released after alpha in a short period which was the first printing as it was sold out so then beta was introduced as the second option. As the name beta is the nickname that is accepted for the print run.

Beta was released in October on 4th October 1993 and then more than 300 cards are organized which are the limited edition. Therefore the card version validated the 3rd version. The print run was announced by Wizards and these cards are available from October to the mid of December in the year 1993. And these are divided into over 60 cards as a starter deck.

The cards are here are less rounded. And a new 4mm corner purchased bt Carta Mundi so that the demand will increase up to million cards. Because of this ½ corner found on playing cards and that was the difference and this also allows the future set to have small borders and large artwork.

Main Differences Between Alpha and Beta Cards 

  • Alpha cards were released on 5, august 1993 whereas beta cards were released on 4, October 1993
  • Alpha cards have 295 Black bordered cards whereas beta cards have 302 Black bordered cards.
  • Alpha cards are having rounded corners whereas beta cards also have rounded corners but the corners are less rounded when we compare them to alpha cards.
  • Worzel tale includes alpha rule book whereas beta is omitted in this.
  • Alpha has 295 cards where 2 are removed whereas beta has 302 cards where the 2 removed alpha cards are added accidentally.
  • Conclusion 

    From the above content, we can conclude that both alpha and beta cards are the limited edition cards from the print run and are released in the same year 1993 but in different months and this is very easy to identify between them which is alpha and which in one is the beta card as the alpha cards are more rounded and the beta is less. As these cards are printed there are some mistakes that also took place so that when the second limited edition was printed where these mistakes were corrected in that cards which are beta. And we also get to know that the alpha cards are more expensive than the beta cards and the count of alpha cards is less than the beta cards as alpha cards are 295 and bet are 302 as conclusion we get to include knowledge about the two different printed gaming cards.

    References

  • https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167268198000845
  • https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306454908003186
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