MTG: WotC Changes Standard – Sets Rotate Out Every Three Years Now
In an effort to “revitalize Standard” Wizards of the Coast announced that Magic sets would rotate out of Standard every three years.
The players might still be the same, but the game has changed. At least a little. Earlier, Wizards of the Coast announced a change to the way Standard sets rotate as part of an ongoing effort to revitalize the format. Of course, it remains to be seen if it’ll actually work. But it might at least let some folks get a bit more play time in before their cards become Commander fodder.
But that assumes that you weren’t just playing Commander in the first place. At any rate, here’s a look at the announcement from WotC.
Magic Changes Standard – Sets Rotate Every Three Years
Standard is, and has long been, vital to thriving local game stores. Regular play, a robust competitive tabletop scene, local metagames, and that cheeky, friendly competitive edge is infused into so many local game stores that when Standard struggles, stores take note.
Even in the context of Magic growing leaps and bounds over the past few years, tabletop Standard hasn’t kept pace. Commander has grown tremendously. More and more players enjoy Pioneer and Modern. And Standard sees more play on Magic: The Gathering Arena every day than individual games in any other format.
Even Wizards knows that Commander is taking off. And that Arena is where Magic is really coming to life. Because MTG Arena changes the whole game. Suddenly it’s easy to play a dozen games or more. Sure it’s rage-quittingly frustrating to lose a game by turn three six times in a row, but unlike in real life, it’s quite hard to tear up digital cards and throw them in your opponent’s face.
So players can keep coming back. WotC hopes to keep players coming back for IRL games of standard as well. And to that end, they’ve made a “public commitment” to the format:
Today is step one.
That step is that we’re going to extend the lifecycle of all cards in Standard by one year: starting with the current Standard environment, sets will rotate out every three years rather than every two years.
This means that with the release of Wilds of Eldraine, there will be no Standard rotation for this year only. The following year in 2024, Innistrad: Crimson Vow, Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, and Streets of New Capenna will rotate out of Standard.
Of course, this is just the first step in their “multiphase plan.” But will Standard claw its way back into meat space? Or has the hundred card format dethroned the once and (potentially) future king?
