The Most Impactful Magic Set (That Technically Doesn't Exist): Spectral Chaos

Back in the early 1990s, while Magic was still being playtested by Richard Garfield and students at the University of Pennsylvania, and before Alpha had even been released, early Magic playtester Barry Reich designed his own set called Spectral Chaos. After trying and failing to get Wizards to print the set multiple times during the 1990s, Barry gave up. To this day, Spectral Chaos has never officially been released, but its story doesn't end there. In 2020, after a Magic collector known as The Misprint Guy bought all of the original Spectral Chaos playtest cards and set notes directly from Barry Reich, a Magic fan going by the name RagingRiverMTG unleashed them to the public through the Spectral Chaos Project. It became clear that even though the set was never printed, it is one of the most impactful and innovative sets in the game's history. Here's the story of Spectral Chaos, a set responsible for many iconic cards and mechanics, some of which are still showing up in sets to this day, and which managed to change the game we all love, even though it technically doesn't even exist!