Magic Reserved List Cards

The Magic The Gathering RESERVED LIST is comprised of 572 unique cards from Magic’s early years that will never again be reprinted by WotC. The Reserved List contains cards from the original 1993 Alpha set all the way through the 1999 Urza’s Destiny set. The list was first published by WotC on March 4, 1996 and has been revised twice, one in 2002 and then again in 2010. 

The only Magic sets that have cards in the Reserved List are as follows:  Limited Edition (Alpha, Beta, Unlimited), Arabian Nights, Antiquities, Legends, The Dark, Fallen Empires, Ice Age, Homelands, Alliances, Mirage, Visions, Weatherlight, Tempest, Stronghold, Exodus, Urza’s Saga, Urza’s Legacy and Urza’s Destiny.

The idea behind the MTG Reserved List was mainly to preserve the collectibility aspect of Magic The Gathering.  Back in mid-1995, WotC released their Fourth Edition and Chronicles sets which happened to include a lot of reprinted older Magic cards. This upset many players and collectors in the Magic community, so much so that WotC decided to make things right. By putting out a list of rare cards that will never ever be reprinted, WotC assured collectors that certain cards will remain unique in the game and thus their value on the secondary markets will be preserved.

Below is a list of all cards currently on the Magic Reserved List. The list shows more than 572 cards because some cards were duplicated in the early years of Magic. For example, the Black Lotus was available in Alpha, Beta and Unlimited so you’ll see three line items in the list below.