When Wizards of the Coast decided to release a new base set for Magic: The Gathering, they decided to take the opportunity to make some much-needed revisions to the game. They removed cards that were too confusing to players or were just too powerful. They also took measures to simplify the rules of Magic. For example, they eliminated the distinction between "mono", "poly", and "continuous" artifacts, created the "Tap Symbol", and re-worded over half of the cards in the set.

Wizards also brought back a lot of the popular cards from Arabian Nights and Antiquities. Although, when they did this, they made no effort to match the rarities. Cards like Dragon Engine (an Antiquities common) became a rare in Revised, and some of the rarest cards were reprinted as uncommons.