Block Talk

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The other weekend, I was yattering with another Magic player, who, like me had just started playing and had some questions regarding the rotation of blocks out of standard play. With the announcement of the new set of Eventide today on Magic Arcana, I thought this would be an appropriate post.

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Some Basics

A block is a set of three story-based editions, typically beginning with a large expansion and followed by two small expansions. In general, every 12 months a new block is released. This does not hold true for the 'mini-blocks' of Lorwyn and Shadowmoor which contain only two sets of cards each.

My friend's question concern the length of time he would be able to play his new Morningtide cards during our regular Friday Night Magic (FNM) games.

FNM in our neck of the woods is typically Magic games using 'Standard' player-constructed decks. Standard is the format defined by the current block, the last completed block, and the most recent core set. The current Standard card pool consists of Time Spiral block, Coldsnap, the Tenth Edition core set, and "Lorwyn" block. For a list of all the blocks and their respective sets, visit Magic: The Gathering's website.

Sets only rotate out in October. This October (10/01/2008), the two previous blocks of Time Spiral and Cold Snap will rotate out of Standard play.

It is expected that the 'mini-Blocks' of Lorwyn and Shadowmoor will be treated as one large Über-Block for Standard and will not expect to have it rotate out of Standard until October, 2009.

This leads to a controversial point; With an average of three or four new sets being released each year, some players complain that it requires a substantial investment to maintain a current deck for Standard Magic play.

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Provided here is a summary of the recent and soon-to-be releases;

Set Name : Lorwyn
Block : Set 1 of 2 in the Lorwyn Block
Number of Cards : 301 black-bordered cards (80 rare, 80 uncommon, 121 common, 20 basic lands)
Release Date : October 12, 2007
Pre-Release Events : September 29-30, 2007

Set Name : Morningtide
Block : Set 2 of 2 in the Lorwyn Block
Number of Cards : 150 black-bordered cards (50 rare, 40 uncommon, 60 common)
Release Date : February 1, 2008
Pre-ReleaseEvents : January 19-20, 2008

Set Name : Shadowmoor
Block : Set 1 of 2 in the Shadowmoor Block
Number of Cards : 301 black-bordered cards (80 rare, 80 uncommon, 121 common, 20 basic lands)
Release Date : May 2, 2008
Pre-Release Events : April 19-20, 2008

Set Name : Eventide
Block : Set 2 of 2 in the Shadowmoor Block
Number of Cards : 180
Release Date : July 25, 2008
Prerelease Events : July 12-13, 2008

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If I have a date incorrect, please feel free to leave a comment or send me an eMail.