Codename

Throughout Magic's history, expansion sets have been given codenames when under development, well before a set's theme, identity and lore have been solidified. This allows expansion developers and designers to work ahead further than any other section in the company, and still have terminology to refer to the set as a whole. This practice was put into place starting with the Alliances expansion set; codenames for previous sets were simply the name of the set.

The Mercadian Masques block was the first instance of all the codenames of the sets in a block being connected; the Onslaught block was the first to have the codenames be assigned in a order, typically referencing something in popular culture. When it was announced there would be a change in the number of sets per block from three to two starting with "Blood", the codenames that had already been released for the unannounced sets became decoupled from their previous block.

List of codenames

	Expansion Set	Codename	Notes
	Alliances	"Quack"	Reference to Macintosh sound file
	Mirage	"Sosumi"	Reference to Macintosh sound file of the same name. Initial codename was "Menagerie"
	Visions	"Mirage Jr."	Thought of as Mirage's offspring. Real name was established very close to the start of development
	Weatherlight	"Mochalatte"	A favorite type of coffee of a friend of the designers
	Vanguard	"Commando"	Alluding to the concept of heroes joining the battle (the idea for the set at the time)
	Portal	"Harvey"	After the invisible rabbit in the famous play and movie.
	Tempest	"Bogavhati"	After a world from Indian mythology
	Stronghold	"Rachimulot"	Reference to a card in the Dungeons & Dragons Spellfire CCG.
	Exodus	"Gorgonzola"	Favorite cheese of Bill Rose
	Urza's Saga	"Armadillo"
	Urza's Legacy	"Guacamole"
	Urza's Destiny	"Chimichanga"
	Mercadian Masques	"Archimedes"	All three codenames were mostly chosen for their difficulty in spelling
	Nemesis	"Euripides"
	Prophecy	"Dionysius"
	Invasion	"Beijing"
	Planeshift	"Hong Kong"
	Apocalypse	"Shanghai"
	Odyssey	"Argon"	Codenames chosen for the ABC order and ease of spelling in contrast to previous codenames
	Torment	"Boron"
	Judgment	"Carbon"
	Onslaught	"Manny"	First set of codenames to use a known pre-set order, these being the names of the Pep Boys mascots.
	Legions	"Moe"
	Scourge	"Jack"
	Mirrodin	"Bacon"	Key ingredients in the BLT Sandwich. Selected due to the widespread knowledge of the order.
	Darksteel	"Lettuce"
	Fifth Dawn	"Tomato"
	Champions of Kamigawa	"Earth"	American band Earth, Wind & Fire
	Betrayers of Kamigawa	"Wind"
	Saviors of Kamigawa	"Fire"
	Ravnica: City of Guilds	"Control"	Keystroke combination used in Microsoft Windows operating systems.
	Guildpact	"Alt"
	Dissension	"Delete"
	Coldsnap	"Splat"
	Time Spiral	"Snap"	Rice Krispies cereal mascots and slogan from advertising.
	Planar Chaos	"Crackle"
	Future Sight	"Pop"
	Lorwyn	"Peanut"	Reflecting the nature of the two mini-blocks, so too did the codenames overlap in a before & after style.
	Morningtide	"Butter"
	Shadowmoor	"Jelly"
	Eventide	"Doughnut"
	Shards of Alara	"Rock"	Classic hand game of the same name.
	Conflux	"Paper"
	Alara Reborn	"Scissors"
	Zendikar	"Live"	Phrase that normally accompanies the Vulcan salute in the Star Trek franchise.
	Worldwake	"Long"
	Rise of the Eldrazi	"Prosper"
	Scars of Mirrodin	"Lights"	Traditional cue to a film crew at the beginning of a take during a television or movie production.
	Mirrodin Besieged	"Camera"
	New Phyrexia	"Action"
	Innistrad	"Shake"	Popular phrase derived from the 1954 Rock & Roll Song
	Dark Ascension	"Rattle"
	Avacyn Restored	"Roll"
	Return to Ravnica	"Hook"	Popular phrase derived from the three crucial pieces of fishing tackle.
	Gatecrash	"Line"
	Dragon's Maze	"Sinker"
	Theros	"Friends"	Oft-quoted excerpt from Julius Ceasar by William Shakespeare.
	Born of the Gods	"Romans"
	Journey into Nyx	"Countrymen"
	Khans of Tarkir	"Huey"	Popular Disney Characters of the same name.
	Fate Reforged	"Dewey"
	Dragons of Tarkir	"Louie"
	Battle for Zendikar	"Blood"	Popular phrase and 1960's American jazz band. Codenames were released before the change from three sets per block to two was announced, after which the codenames were decoupled from their respective blocks.
	Oath of the Gatewatch	"Sweat"
	Shadows over Innistrad	"Tears"
		"Fears"	With the "Tears" overlap, a reference to the English new wave band of the same name.
		"Lock"	The sets per block change also disrupted this trio of previously announced codenames, a common figure of speech.
		"Stock"
		"Barrel"
		"Laughs"	This used to be "Monkeys", with the "Barrel" overlap a reference to the "barrel of monkeys" idiom. It was changed for an internal reason. Now referencing a "barrel of laughs", something or someone very funny.
		"Ham"	A hearty breakfast
		"Eggs"
		"Soup"	A light lunch
		"Salad"
		"Spaghetti"	A heavy dinner
		"Meatballs"