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Every card is multicolored
What this set is
Alara Reborn finishes the Shards of Alara block, and it does it with a constraint no other expansion has used: every one of its 145 cards is multicolored. The story has the five shards fully merged back into one plane, and the card file reflects it with gold and hybrid cards at every rarity, commons included.
Cascade is the mechanic it introduced. When you cast a cascade spell, you exile cards from the top of your library until you hit a nonland card that costs less, and you may cast that card for free. Bloodbraid Elf, Maelstrom Nexus and Enlisted Wurm all come from here, and cascade has returned many times since.
For Commander players the set is a source of three-color legends and multicolored staples. Maelstrom Pulse, Sen Triplets and Thraximundar still turn up, and the shard and wedge legends give three-color decks commanders that predate the later Commander products.
Themes
Every mechanic in Alara Reborn
Cascade
When you cast the spell, exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card with lower mana value. You may cast that card without paying its mana cost, and the rest go to the bottom in a random order. Debuted here and has come back repeatedly since.
All multicolored
A rule about the card file rather than a keyword. Every card is gold or hybrid, so there are no mono-colored cards and no colorless artifacts to fill a deck with. It is the only expansion built that way.
Exalted, unearth and devour
The shard mechanics from Shards of Alara, back on gold cards for their home shards: exalted in Bant, unearth in Grixis and devour in Jund.
Landcycling
A cycle of multicolored creatures with basic landcycling, and two-land-type cycling on others, which keep three-color draft decks hitting their lands.
Where You Can Play It
Format legality
Alara Reborn shipped under a single code. It predates Pioneer, so its cards are legal in Modern and the eternal formats.
Not Standard-legal. Standard only ever holds the last few years of sets, so everything this old has long since left it. These cards are still playable in Modern, Legacy, Vintage and Commander. Commons from any set are Pauper-legal; that isn't listed per set here.
Limited
The draft format
Drafted as Shards of Alara, Conflux and Alara Reborn, one pack each. With every card in the third pack multicolored, the last pack rewards having settled into a shard early.
Pick a shard by pack three
Three-color
Every Alara Reborn card is gold, so a drafter still undecided in the last pack finds most of it unplayable. The shards from the first set (Bant, Esper, Grixis, Jund, Naya) are still the frame.
Cascade aggro
Two-for-ones
Cascade turns every spell into two, which favors decks that curve out with creatures. Bloodbraid Elf is the best-known example and a Jund signature.
Commanders
The most played commanders from Alara Reborn
The legends this set is best known for. Tap one for its printings and what it costs.
Boosters, precons and singles from Alara Reborn are on TCGplayer.
FAQ
Common questions
Is every card in Alara Reborn multicolored?
Yes. All 145 cards in Alara Reborn are multicolored, gold or hybrid, at every rarity. It is the only Magic expansion built entirely that way.
What set introduced cascade?
Alara Reborn, in April 2009. Cascade exiles cards from the top of your library until it finds a cheaper nonland card, which you may cast for free. It has returned in several sets since.
Is Bloodbraid Elf legal in Modern?
Yes. Bloodbraid Elf is from Alara Reborn, which is Modern-legal, and it is not on the Modern banned list today. It was banned for a time and later released.
Is Alara Reborn legal in Pioneer?
No. Pioneer starts at Return to Ravnica (October 2012), so Alara Reborn's cards are not Pioneer-legal from this printing. They are legal in Modern, Legacy, Vintage and Commander.
All card names, art, and mechanics belong to Wizards of the Coast. Alara Reborn released on Apr 30, 2009; details reflect the set as published. Sources: Wizards of the Coast set pages and release notes, Draftsim, Untapped.gg.
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