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Over the last few years, Magic: the Gathering has released many official sets–but those are not their only products. In fact, there have also been quite a few special collections, such as the Duel Decks, the From The Vault collections, and the Premium Deck series. Plus, there have been new formats introduced, such as Commander and Archenemy.

All of these mentioned products have their own set symbols, and that leads to quite a bit of confusion for both M:TG newbies and veterans. I’ve heard quite a few M:TG players trying to figure out these rarer symbols, and I’ve been a little bewildered by it all as well. Finally I decided to compile a reference article about it, to help us all learn these special symbols. (I’ve covered only the last three years in Magic, to cover as many “new cards” and “new sets” as possible in a short article.)

Special Collections for New Formats

Set Symbol	Set Name	Release Date
	Archenemy	June 2010
	Commander	June 2011
	Commander’s Arsenal	November 2012

Duel Decks

Set Symbol	Set Name	Release Date
	Phyrexia vs. The Coalition	March 2010
	Elspeth vs. Tezzeret	September 2010
	Knights vs. Dragons	April 2011
	Ajani vs. Nicol Bolas	September 2011
	Venser vs. Koth	March 2012
	Izzet vs. Golgari	September 2012
	Sorin vs. Tibalt	March 2013
	Heroes vs. Monsters	September 2013

Premium Deck Series

Set Symbol	Set Name	Release Date
	Fire & Lightning	November 2010
	Graveborn	November 2011

From the Vault Collections

Set Symbol	Set Name	Release Date
	From the Vault: Relics	August 2010
	From the Vault: Legends	August 2011
	From the Vault: Realms	August 2012
	From the Vault: Twenty	August 2013

Expansion Sets

Set Symbol	Set Name	Release Date
	Scars of Mirrodin	October 2010
	Mirrodin Besieged	February 2011
	New Phyrexia	May 2011
	Innistrad	September 2011
	Dark Ascension	February 2012
	Avacyn Restored	May 2012
	Return to Ravnica	October 2012
	Gatecrash	February 2013
	Dragon’s Maze	May 2013

(All the preceding symbols were retrieved from the MTG Salvation Wiki, an excellent resource for set symbols and tons more M:TG information.)

Return to Ravnica, one of the more recent Magic: the Gathering sets, includes five new keyword abilities printed on the cards, one for each of the five dual-color guilds featured in the set. Let’s take a moment and look at each of these abilities–you might find one you want to incorporate into a deck build of your own!

Ability Keyword	Associated Guild	Rules Text	More Info
Detain	Azorius Senate	701.26a Certain spells and abilities can detain a permanent. Until the next turn of the controller of that spell or ability, that permanent can’t attack or block and its activated abilities can’t be activated.	Detain @ MTGSalvation Wiki
Scavenge	Golgari Swarm	702.95a Scavenge is an activated ability that functions only while the card with scavenge is in a graveyard. “Scavenge [cost]” means “[Cost], Exile this card from your graveyard: Put a number of +1/+1 counter equal to the power of the card you exiled on target creature. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.”	Scavenge @ MTGSalvation Wiki
Overload	Izzet League	702.94a Overload is a keyword that represents two static abilities: one that functions from any zone in which the spell with overload can be cast and another that functions while the card is on the stack. Overload [cost] means “You may choose to pay [cost] rather than pay this spell’s mana cost” and “If you chose to pay this spell’s overload cost, change its text by replacing all instances of the word ‘target’ with the word ‘each.'” Using the overload ability follows the rules for paying alternative costs in rules 601.2b and 601.2e–g. 702.94b If a player chooses to pay the overload cost of a spell, that spell won’t require any targets. It may affect objects that couldn’t be chosen as legal targets if the spell were cast without its overload cost being paid. 702.94c Overload’s second ability creates a text-changing effect. See rule 612, “Text-Changing Effects.”	Overload @ MTGSalvation Wiki
Unleash	Cult of Rakdos	702.96a Unleash is a keyword that represents two static abilities. “Unleash” means “You may have this permanent enter the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 counter on it” and “This permanent can’t block as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.”	Unleash @ MTGSalvation Wiki
Populate	Selesnya Conclave	701.27a To populate means to choose a creature token you control and put a token onto the battlefield that’s a copy of that creature token. 701.27b If you control no creature tokens when instructed to populate, you won’t put a token onto the battlefield.	Populate @ MTGSalvation Wiki

Which Keywords Are Right for You?

If you like to play control, Detain was tailor-made for you. Period. 😀
If you like to swing with big creatures, both Unleash and Scavenge are great mechanics for pumping up creatures’ power and toughness, albeit through very different means.
If you like to amass lots of little creatures very quickly, Populate will serve you well–just make sure you have one token to start off, and then let the Populating mechanic go wild!
If you like to play combos, or if you like big splashy game effects, Overload in all its various forms will give you great options for both early-game and late-game.

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Never Ask “What’s That M:TG Set Symbol?” Again!

New M:TG Abilities, part 1: Return to Ravnica