Each shard has its own keyword mechanic or strong overarching theme, and its own creature types.

The first multicolored planeswalker to be revealed publicly was the red and green Sarkhan Vol.

Each of the shards lacks two of the five colors of mana, which influenced their development and created different environments.

The storyline focuses on the chaos which results from the Shards being forced together in a ring, constantly raking against one another.

Aside from the multicolored theme, the set makes use of the mechanics introduced in Shards of Alara, Exalted, Unearth, and Devour.

[12] It expands on the mechanics, themes and flavor established in Shards of Alara and Conflux, but creates new combinations of creatures under the influence of more than one shard, such as coloured artifact creatures from Esper that have the Bant ability Exalted.

It has also brought about the new mechanic called Cascade, which reflects the chaotic, magical nature of the Maelstrom(a huge mana-storm that has gathered about the centre of the now-reborn Alara) in altering the nature of otherwise normal spells.

Shards of Alara won the 2009 Origins Award as "Best Collectible Card Game or Expansion".