Rivals Quick Start Set

Rivals Quick Start Set is an expansion of Magic: The Gathering, published by Wizards of the Coast on July 1st, 1996. Being the first box set in the history of Magic which featured preconstructed decks and extensive game guides, it was aimed to better explain the rules of Magic than any standard rule book could. It was made in the United States by Shepard Poorman, a large commercial printer located in Indianapolis, Indiana. All Rivals Quick Start Set cards have the card name, casting cost, card type, flavor text and copyright line shifted down slightly compared to standard and Alternate Fourth Edition cards. The letter spacing is different as well and they also have a speck on the back of all the cards (on the left of the green symbol). They also fluoresce differently (orangish) under a black light.

There were two versions of the Quickstart set: a US version, and an International version. The International version included eight extra cards including Phantom Monster, which is not in the US version. The International version was printed in English, German, Italian, French and Japanese.

Most Rivals sets contain cards exactly identical to Fourth Edition cards, and therefore do not qualify as uniques. However, there are some sets that are slightly different: instead of the usual 4E "1995" copyright date, these cards are dated "1996". Furthermore, many of these "1996" cards have differing card texts from the Fourth Edition versions: some have Fifth Edition text, and some have unique text all of their own. If you find one of these, save it: it's not worth any more than regular 4E cards, but fans of esoterica will be amused by them.

It consists of 65 different cards.