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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