Conflux is the second set in the Alara block and is the forty-eighth Magic expansion. The prerelease events for this set were held January 31-February 1, 2009. Launch parties were held February 6–8, 2009. The set went on sale February 6, 2009.
Conflux was the first small set to be reduced in size and to contain the new mythic rarity The set contains 145 black-bordered cards (60 commons, 40 uncommons, 35 rares, 10 mythic rares). Conflux continues the Shards of Alara 's multicolor theme, expanding on it by introducing five-colored cards. Aside from the multicolor theme the set makes use of the mechanics introduced in the previous set. The set featured the return of Nicol Bolas, via the card Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker. The expansion symbol of the set is a representation of the five converging shards. The set was accompanied by the first Planeswalker novel: Agents of Artifice, written by Ari Marmell.