No More Core Sets

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

Some very big changes are on the horizon for Magic: the Gathering players - first and foremost is that Wizards of the Coast, after much discussion is cancelling core sets.  Love 'em or hate 'em, this will be making room to accommodate two-set blocks moving forward.  The downside may be is increased standard format rotation but let's get into the nitty-gritty now.  We strongly suggest that everyone read Lead Designer Mark Rosewater's article on the mothersite today before we go further.

Here is a quick 'n' dirty summary of the changes to be implemented -  

Change #1: Beginning in the Fall of 2015, Magic Blocks Will Be Two Sets Each

Starting with "Blood" block in September 2015, each block will have one large set that introduces the world and one small set that builds upon it. (I should note that this is the default and we reserve the right to have sets of different sizes if it serves the block.) Blocks will no longer have a third set.

Change #2: Beginning in the Fall of 2015, Magic Will Have Two Blocks Per Year

Here's the typical schedule of the Magic year, with all the usual caveats about how Magic is about change and you should expect us to shake this up a bit over time: There will be a large fall expansion and small winter expansion set in World #1. Then there will be a large spring expansion and a small summer expansion, usually set in World #2. The first two sets will be part of one block and the second two sets will usually be part of a second.

Change #3: Beginning in 2016, the Core Sets Are No More

The summer of 2015 will have the last core set release, and in 2016, the summer set will be the second set of the block that started in spring of 2016.

Change #4: Beginning in 2016, the First Set of Each Block (the Fall and Spring Sets) Will Cause a Rotation

This in some ways isn't a change, but rather an adaptation to match the new Two-Block Paradigm. The first set of a block has always caused a rotation in the past. The Two-Block Paradigm just means that this now happens twice a year (in the fall and in the spring) rather than just in the fall.

Change #5: Beginning in 2016, Standard Will Be Three Blocks Rather Than Two Blocks

To keep the metagame more robust, we are changing the size of Standard. This change is the reason we are telling you this now, because we want you to understand that Khans of Tarkir will only be played in Standard for 18 months. This change should not have any impact on the set's role in other formats.

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Many Magic: the Gathering players are typically ho-hum about the core set and simply considered the summer a bit of a write-off for MTG.  WotC did change things up by providing a number of new never-before printings to spice things up.  Personally, we are liking the new change and the retirement of the core set.  We are a titch unsure as to whether the increased rotation will cost us more - which may be an issue if were not so damn happy about picking up all the latest singles from MTG Mint Card.  Anywhoos, all in all, we might be able to make it out to Friday Night Magic at our local store OMG! Games in Barrie, Ontario more often now during the summer months.  :)

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MTG 2011 Core Set

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G'Day MTG peeps, we suggest you mouse on over to WoTC's Magic Arcana (HERE) when you have a chance to catch the latest announcement regarding the next core set, not surprisinly named 'Magic 2011'.

Check it out - followed by a bit of us ranting about standard rotation . . .

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A set everyone can sink their teeth into.

Walk amongst the elite – The ultimate strategic duelists. The few who can control deadly creatures and wield terrifying sorceries. Battle on countless worlds beyond this one in a quest for supremacy, and know what it means to say, "Here I Rule."

Set Name : Magic 2011
Three-Letter Abbreviation : M11
Number of Cards : 248
Release Date : July 15, 2010

Design Team : Aaron Forsythe (lead), Doug Beyer, Mark Globus, Tom LaPille, Gregory Marques

Development Team : Erik Lauer (lead), Dave Guskin, Tom LaPille, Kenneth Nagle

(did you see this epic art ? - shake 'n' bake Dragon baby ! reason enough to pick up a box of M11 for us)

Standard now rotates only once each year, with the release of the October large set. So Magic 2011 will enter Standard on its release without knocking anything out, then Magic 2010 and Shards of Alara block will leave Standard with the release of "Lights." The Standard format between Magic 2011 and "Lights" will consist of Shards of Alara block, Zendikar block, Magic 2010, and Magic 2011. After the release of "Lights," it will consist of Zendikar Block, Magic 2011, and "Lights."

Extended rotates at the same time, but there's no core set that will rotate out this year. (Eighth Edition went with Onslaught; Ninth Edition will go with Kamigawa block on the release of "Shake.")

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For information on what is currently in standard, click HERE. In summary, basically this -
Shards of Alara (ALA), Conflux (CON), Alara Reborn (ARB), Magic 2010 (M10), Zendikar (ZEN), Worldwake (WWK - effective February 5, 2010), Rise of the Eldrazi (ROE - effective April 23, 2010)

Generally speaking, there will be 4 sets (1 Block and 1 Core) which will rotate out at any one time and the max number of sets will always be 8. There will only be 4 large sets at any one time (ROE is an exception being a large third set in a block) with the 2 core sets sharing cards.

For detailed rules of what blocks and sets are in standard, extended, etc, click HERE.

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Nyth from the forums had this very easy table to demonstrate how each set rotates in and out together in standard . . .

* Now : [ALA, CON, ARB], [M10], [ZEN]

* Feb. 2010 : [ALA, CON, ARB], [M10], [ZEN, WWK]

* Apr. 2010 : [ALA, CON, ARB], [M10], [ZEN, WWK, ROE]

* Jul. 2010 : [ALA, CON, ARB], [M10], [ZEN, WWK, ROE], [M11]

* Oct. 2010 : [ZEN, WWK, ROE], [M11], [Lights]

* [ZEN, WWK, ROE], [M11], [Lights, Camera]

* [ZEN, WWK, ROE], [M11], [Lights, Camera, Action]

* [ZEN, WWK, ROE], [M11], [Lights, Camera, Action], [M12]

* [Lights, Camera, Action], [M12], [Shake]

* [Lights, Camera, Action], [M12], [Shake, Rattle]

* [Lights, Camera, Action], [M12], [Shake, Rattle, Roll]

* Lights, Camera, Action, M12, Shake, Rattle, Roll, M13

* etc

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In our previous post (HERE) on rotation and the cost of the average casual is still valid. We still are somewhat on the fence however - altough we LOVE what Wizards had done with new core sets (a bunch of new cards - not just reprints) we do still long for the old two year core set rotation - it was just simply easier on the wallet - Anywhoos - enuff whining - we still intend to pick up a booster box of M11.

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Sit and Rotate

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Wizards of the Coast is a business. Their goal is to sell cards. Our part as players are to buy said cards and if said cards fit well with our games then everyone is happy. Yesterday's news from WoTC has me in for a rant so you might as well buckle up and I will take you to a place of bitter resentment.

Ever feel that you have no mouth, no voice in which to express your opinion ? The new Magic 2010 card, Silence, sums up my feelings at the moment.
As I am certain any eMail with a hint of dissention directed to Wizards will go unanswered, I turn to my blog. Here is a few opinions right off the top :

* Standard Players are going to get hit hard unless they have the opportunity to be able to play two Core Edition sets.

* The young kid who just got a Magic 2010 set in the summer of 2010 (birthday, graduation, whatever), is sure to cry when he / she is told that half their cards cannot be played at Friday Night Magic after the fall rotation.

* As one forum member summed up "MoneyGrubbing scheme sure is MoneyGrubbing".

I have a love / hate releationship with new set releases . . . I really do get very excited about all the new card goodness and cannot wait to get the grey matter working on combos and synergies for a new deck. At the same time, I realise that an older very loved deck is just another step closer to the grave. To this end, I may simply move to extended if all the players there had not left already in disgust.

Well . . . I was going to drop my cash on a Magic 2010 core set in July but now I am having second thoughts. As I am not a tournament or extended player and only head out to Friday Night Magic, the thought of annual core set rotations is most un-inviting. The plan this year (as it stood last week) was to purchase a booster box of the core set along with a fat-pack from "Live". After this, I would then dip into the singles market and through trades, would hope to reach the finish line in October, 2010 with a Standard Constructed deck which did not totally suck.

I now think that perhaps I will stick to Intro Packs (or less) with each new Core Edition Set as well as each new Expansion Set. I fully expect mushrooming prices on the singles market as players are forced to keep up with four new sets each year which translates directly into fewer packs being ripped open. I guess that one can argue that there is only 3.5 new sets each year as one can expect approximately 50 % reprints from the new Core Edition but this argument is null / void as players still need to purchase it.

Please do not get me wrong . . . Core Edition Sets were on the whole pretty bad. These cards did not have much appeal to either the advanced or the new player and needed to be fixed. New cards not limited by the flavour of a storyline is a definite improvement and jank reprints of vinilla cr@p like Grizzly Bears (or the obvious plant of Cylian Elf) were not welcome visitors in any booster pack. I am OK with Mythic Rares and Planeswalkers in the new Core Set Edition as well although I as sure some more vetran players are not estatic about this.

In summary . . .

> A Standard player who goes out once a week to FNM just got hit hard below the belt.

>The Core Set Edition problems are fixed . . . sort of and with the increased rotation tempo are not.

>Message to Wizards : Sit and Rotate ! ! I want a two-year rotation back !

>By-the-way - Silence is awesome and I want to forgive you.

Release Dates
(Please correct me if I err)

Shards of Alara : October 3, 2008
Conflux : February 6, 2009
Alara Reborn : April 30, 2009
Magic 2010 : July 17, 2009

"Live" : October 2009 (Lorwyn, Morningtide, Shadowmoor, & Eventide rotate out of Standard)
"Long" : February 2010
"Prosper" : May 2010

Magic 2011 : October 2010
"Lights" : October 2010 (Shards of Alara & Magic 2010 rotate out of Standard)
"Camera" : February 2011
"Action" : May 2011

Magic 2012 : October 2012
"Shake" : October 2011 ("Live", "Long", "Prosper" & Magic 2011 rotate out of Standard)
"Rattle" : February 2012
"Roll" : May 2012

Magic 2010

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So if have not heard, Eleventh Core Edition, is to be named Magic 2010. With this new Core Set to be released 17th July, 2009 comes several new changes to core set releases for Magic the Gathering. Beginning with the Magic 2010 core set, each core set will be legal in Standard until October of the following year. This means the now annual release of each Magic core set will be legal in the Standard format for approximately 15 months with an overlap with the previous core set (with the exception of this new set) and will be named after the year they come out (kind of / sort of).

Here are the details

Magic: The Gathering 2010 Core Set
Prerelease date: July 11-12, 2009
Release date: July 17, 2009

Set size: 249 cards (Thhis includes 101 Commons, 60 Uncommons, 53 Rares, 15 Mythic Rares, and 20 Lands)

The Design Team for Magic 2010 was Aaron Forsythe, Bill Rose, Mark Rosewater, Devin Low, Brady Dommermuth, and Brian Tinsman
The Development Team included Erik Lauer, Mike Turian, Tom LaPille, and Greg Marques.

These will now have pre-releases and release parties just like expansions whereas previously core sets were limited to just release parties. The new Core Sets no longer bump the previous core set out of Standard. Now there is only one “rotation” day for the format, and that is with the release of the first set of a new block. So when ‘Lights’ comes out (the first set of the block) knocks out Live Long Prosper and Magic 2010 leaving only Magic 2011 legal. (Magic 2010 will bump 10th Edition immediately though.)

A great piece of news we did get was that the Lorwyn planeswalkers will be rotated into Magic 2010 but as Mythic rares. There will also be Dual Lands provided. Of the fifteen mythic rares in the set, nine are reprints and six are brand new. The new the core sets will consist of half reprints and half NEW cards of the 229 cards in the set that are not basic lands. No painlands or fetchlands apparently are expected.

Of the 16 cards which have appeared in every set, only 8 cards will remain due to the "influx of new designs". You might as well leave a comment here as to which ones you speculate will be in or out:

Air Elemental, Bog Wraith, Drudge Skeletons, Fear, Giant Growth, Giant Spider, Goblin King, Grizzly Bears, Howling Mine, Nightmare, Orcish Artillery, Regeneration, Rod of Ruin, Samite Healer, Scathe Zombies, and Wrath of God.

The only concern I have at the moment is the more rapid turnover rate for standard format as it stands now. This is an expensive hobby and now promises to just a bit more expensive.

Some of the visual spoilers have already been provided in Aaron Forsythe's (bless his soul) article today at Wizards. These included

Silence (W)
Instant, Rare
Your opponents can’t cast spells this turn. Your opponents can't cast spells this turn.

Wall of Frost (1)(U)(U)
Creature - Wall, Uncommon
Defender
Whenever Wall of Frost blocks a creature, that creature doesn’t untap during its controller’s next untap step.
0 / 7

Capricious Efreet (4)(R)(R)
Creature - Efreet, Rare
At the beginning of your upkeep, choose target nonland permanent you control and up two target nonland premanents you don’t control. Destroy one of them at random.
6 / 4

Returning are the following . . .
Black Knight, Uncommon
Serra Angel, Uncommon
Birds of Paradise, Rare
Jace Beleren, Mythic Rare