and noticed that card rarities are listed as "C1", "U1", and so on. Based on my searches, the letter refers to the sheet the card appeared on (common or uncommon in the case of The Dark), and the number indicated the number of times the card appeared on that sheet. A bit of math revealed that this set had 121-card sheets: one sheet containing commons and one containing uncommons.
Contrast that with a recent set such as BFZ and the card rarities are just listed as C, U, R, and M:
The set consists of 101 commons, 80 uncommons, 53 rares, 15 mythic rares.
Does BFZ still use a 121 card print sheet? If so, are the remaining slots (20 in the case of commons) empty, or do some commons, uncommons, and rares/mythic rares appear more or less frequently on a sheet, just as was the case with The Dark and other older sets?
What's now known as "rare" in recent sets is what would have been called "R2" under the old nomenclature, and the "mythic" term is likewise a rebranding of R1, so those rarities mesh together neatly on the same sheet.
For the uncommons, even though the number of cards will fit on a sheet with plenty of room to spare, they actually spread them across two separate sheets. That makes 242 slots, and one of the slots on each sheet is a blank filler card that gets thrown away by the collator, yielding a nice round 240 figure that allows each uncommon to appear three times across the sheets.
Likewise, with the commons they print five different sheets, with a total of 605 spaces. 100 of the commons are C6 in all, while the last one (which is specifically chosen as a mana fixer, such as Terramorphic Expanse) only has enough room to be C5.
What's now known as "rare" in recent sets is what would have been called "R2" under the old nomenclature, and the "mythic" term is likewise a rebranding of R1, so those rarities mesh together neatly on the same sheet.
For the uncommons, even though the number of cards will fit on a sheet with plenty of room to spare, they actually spread them across two separate sheets. That makes 242 slots, and one of the slots on each sheet is a blank filler card that gets thrown away by the collator, yielding a nice round 240 figure that allows each uncommon to appear three times across the sheets.
Likewise, with the commons they print five different sheets, with a total of 605 spaces. 100 of the commons are C6 in all, while the last one (which is specifically chosen as a mana fixer, such as Terramorphic Expanse) only has enough room to be C5.
What's now known as "rare" in recent sets is what would have been called "R2" under the old nomenclature, and the "mythic" term is likewise a rebranding of R1, so those rarities mesh together neatly on the same sheet.
For the uncommons, even though the number of cards will fit on a sheet with plenty of room to spare, they actually spread them across two separate sheets. That makes 242 slots, and one of the slots on each sheet is a blank filler card that gets thrown away by the collator, yielding a nice round 240 figure that allows each uncommon to appear three times across the sheets.
Likewise, with the commons they print five different sheets, with a total of 605 spaces. 100 of the commons are C6 in all, while the last one (which is specifically chosen as a mana fixer, such as Terramorphic Expanse) only has enough room to be C5.
This is exactly correct.
Small sets are somewhat similar. The numbers are different but the same principles apply.
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http://www.wizards.com/magic/generic/cardlists/the_dark_checklist.txt
and noticed that card rarities are listed as "C1", "U1", and so on. Based on my searches, the letter refers to the sheet the card appeared on (common or uncommon in the case of The Dark), and the number indicated the number of times the card appeared on that sheet. A bit of math revealed that this set had 121-card sheets: one sheet containing commons and one containing uncommons.
Contrast that with a recent set such as BFZ and the card rarities are just listed as C, U, R, and M:
http://mtgsalvation.gamepedia.com/Battle_for_Zendikar
The set consists of 101 commons, 80 uncommons, 53 rares, 15 mythic rares.
Does BFZ still use a 121 card print sheet? If so, are the remaining slots (20 in the case of commons) empty, or do some commons, uncommons, and rares/mythic rares appear more or less frequently on a sheet, just as was the case with The Dark and other older sets?
For the uncommons, even though the number of cards will fit on a sheet with plenty of room to spare, they actually spread them across two separate sheets. That makes 242 slots, and one of the slots on each sheet is a blank filler card that gets thrown away by the collator, yielding a nice round 240 figure that allows each uncommon to appear three times across the sheets.
Likewise, with the commons they print five different sheets, with a total of 605 spaces. 100 of the commons are C6 in all, while the last one (which is specifically chosen as a mana fixer, such as Terramorphic Expanse) only has enough room to be C5.
Perfect explanation, thanks.
This is exactly correct.
Small sets are somewhat similar. The numbers are different but the same principles apply.