Garfield Kept Arabian Nights’ Familiar Card Back

Arabian Nights was the set originally planned with a different card back, Mark Rosewater said on Blogatog. A fan had asked whether Ice Age was meant to be a standalone game release; Rosewater instead pointed to Richard Garfield, who decided at the last minute not to give Arabian Nights a different back. From then on, the decision was to keep the same back, establishing the practice for later sets.

Rosewater’s answer explains the card-back precedent, but not why Ice Age was released as an expansion mixable with older cards. He did not give a reason for Garfield’s change of plan, either.