5th Edition

Fifth Edition (5th Edition) is a Magic: The Gathering core set that was released on 24th March, 1997. It is the largest version of a Magic: The Gathering core set, replacing both Fourth Edition and Chronicles, with the set containing 449 white-bordered cards (132 rare, 132 uncommon, 165 common, and 20 basic lands).

A large number of cards have been rotated in from earlier sets. The largest rotations come from Ice Age, but the set also includes cards from Arabian Nights, Antiquities, The Dark, Legends, Fallen Empires and Homelands, as well as a few returnees from Revised that were taken out of Fourth Edition. Fifth Edition is the first core set to feature cards with new artwork, with 218 cards being given a new treatment.

Fifth Edition was also the first version of the core set to use the cosmetic changes that were introduced in the Mirage expansion, including a slightly expanded text box and border, more visible power/toughness numbers and reminder text.

From Fifth Edition on, non-monocolor lands started having a bronze colored text box. This was set as a standard, and the color scheme carried on to all subsequent expansions and editions of the game until the 8th Edition card frame redesign. Previous expansions’ land text boxes had featured unique colors for each set or block (Mirage/Visions).

Simplified Chinese Fifth Edition was printed with a “V” symbol on each card. Simplified Chinese was the only language in which the set was printed to feature an expansion symbol. It was released in 1998, about halfway between the releases of Fifth Edition and Sixth Edition in English, and the expansion symbols were color-coded for rarity just like they are in all recent sets.