Premiered at Origins '93 in July of that year, Magic: The Gathering; was first released to the general public on August 5, 1993. The "Alpha" set consisted of 295 cards. After the Alpha print run of 2.6 million cards, some corrections were made and the remaining 7.3 million cards were released as the "Beta" set (302 cards).

These first 10 million cards sold out quickly, and in December 1993, the Unlimited Edition was released. This white-bordered set consisted of the same 302 cards as the Beta print run.