Reminder about Standard and Extended Set Legalities on M12 Release

Hey all!

For those who are still getting used to how Standard and Extended rotates in and out sets since their changes a year or two ago, I'll remind you about certain sets' legalities as of M12 and when Innistrad releases in the Fall.

M12 Release Set Legalities: Standard
Remember, unlike the pre-M10 Core Sets, the release of a new Core Set does not automatically knock out the previous Core Set.

When M12 officially releases Friday, M11 will still be legal. Yes, for example that gives Goblin decks access to 4x Goblin Guide (from Zendikar), 4x Goblin Grenade (from M12), and 4x Lightning Bolt.

At least, for a little while.

Each Core Set is now tied to the block that immediately preceded it. For example, M11 ties to Zendikar block for rotation purposes, and M12 will tie to Scars of Mirrodin block.

What does this mean for when rotation happens?

Well, remember that Standard is a 2-year format. A block only stays legal for 2 years counting from when the first set in that block released. (So for example, even though we just finished up Scars of Mirrodin block, it rotates out in full in Fall 2012 when the block after Innistrad starts).

SO...all of THAT was to say...M11 will rotate at the same time as Zendikar block. That is, when Innistrad releases on September 24th. So at the same time we lose Goblin Guide, we'll also lose Lightning Bolt (for example).

So here are all the Standard-legal sets as of M12's release Friday (in chronological order):
Zendikar
Worldwake (except for Jace, the Mind Sculptor and 99.999999% of the time Stoneforge Mystic)
Rise of the Eldrazi
M11
Scars of Mirrodin
Mirrodin Beseiged
New Phyrexia
M12


When Innistrad releases on September 30th, though, here's our (much more shortened) list:

Scars of Mirrodin

Mirrodin Beseiged

New Phyrexia

M12

Innistrad

M12 Release Set Legalities: Extended

Extended is like a "double Standard" in that the oldest block is 4 years old instead of Standard's 2. (This took effect a year ago, I believe). So when Innistrad releases in the fall, Lorwyn/Shadowmoor "mega-block" will rotate out of Extended.

What does this mean for the Core Sets, though?

The same rotation plan will happen.

M10 seems to tie to Shards of Alara block, M11 still to Zendikar, and M12 to Scars of Mirrodin.

So what happens when Friday hits? Nothing except for M12 being added to the format, just like Standard. :) Your Extended list will look like this on Friday:

Lorwyn

Morningtide

Shadowmoor

Eventide

Shards of Alara

Conflux

Alara Reborn

M10

Zendikar

Worldwake

Rise of the Eldrazi

M11

Scars of Mirrodin

Mirrodin Beseiged

New Phyrexia

M12

Once Innistrad hits on September 30th, though, Extended will lose its oldest block, in this case Lorwyn/Shadowmoor "mega-block" and Extended will look like this:

Shards of Alara

Conflux

Alara Reborn

M10

Zendikar

Worldwake

Rise of the Eldrazi

M11

Scars of Mirrodin

Mirrodin Beseiged

New Phyrexia

M12

Innistrad

"So when does the next Core Set rotate out, then?" Well, if I'm right, M10 ties to Shards of Alara block, so when the block after Innistrad starts and every year thereafter, the oldest Core Set will rotate out with the oldest block in the format just like it does now with Standard.

...

That is, unless they change format rotation strategies again. :p

M12 Previews 2! Blue Goes Hexproof, Favorite 1-Cost Red Creature Returns

Good morning, Magic nuts! Today I'll be looking at some surprises that came from the posting of the M12 Card Gallery spoiling some already-known cards and, apparently, some Duels of the Planeswalkers new cards meant for dual use in Duels of the Planeswalkers and M12.

(NOTE: All scans/pics come from the DailyMTG website's Card Gallery for M12)

First off, how would you like for a Blue creature to be untargetable instead of "When this is targeted, destroy it"? We have our answer now in a brand-new card, Aven Fleetwing!!

I don't know about you, but I'm kinda happy to finally have a Blue creature in M12 that doesn't die just because it's targeted. ha ha! Instead, this little birdy does quite the opposite: your opponents can't target him! I can see this being a casual favorite and possibly even a Commander near-staple if Hexproof has enough love, but in competitive Magic it may be a toss-up. Hexproof flying is good, but 4 mana for a 2/2? It may be too slow, and there may be better stuff to do at 3 mana (Jace, maybe? ;)  )


Next up is a surprising reprint at Uncommon. I don't know if anyone ever thought about it coming back since it was released in Ravnica, but I guess blue Mill is the flavor of the decade for WotC. Re-introducing Belltower Sphinx!!

I was so unfamiliar with this card, I thought it was new when I first looked at it. For 5 mana you get a 2/5 flier that mills whenever an opponent's source deals damage to it (similar to how Phyrexian Obliterator does for permanents in general). I'd guess mill decks wouldn't mind this for a blocker so when your opponent DOES alpha strike you he can mill a good chunk of cards on the block. Hopefully by then you'll be able to survive and mill out the rest of their deck with no problem. Again, casual ground maybe but I don't see much more than that except as a Limited format good flier.


And finally in the Rare slot we have a true surprise. He's a 1-casting-cost Red creature and iconic in a number of Legacy decks. He's making his Standard return in about little over a month. Please welcome back with open arms GRIM LAVAMANCER!!!

Yes, folks, we have Grim Lavamancer making his Core Set debut and his re-introduction into Standard and Extended since the days Torment was legal. And with Lightning Bolt, Goblin Grenade, and other cheap burn being in Standard for even the smallest of time with him, I feel confident Grim Lavamancer will be a force to be reckoned with as a finisher in Mono-Red.

The Banning Explanation

So you've seen by now that Stoneforge Mystic and Jace, the Mind Sculptor have been banned in Standard. (If you haven't, I suggest reading the post below this one, and pay very careful attention to the 1 circumstance where Stoneforge Mystic is legal to play).

What you may not have read is why they banned these two, along with why the War of Attrition Event Deck decklist was allowed to stay Standard legal (the one exception to Stoneforge Mystic's ban).

Stoneforge Mystic
Stoneforge Mystic was no mistake..at least, not initially. In Worldwake and Zendikar block in general, Equipment played a very small part of the set that Stoneforge Mystic was just a nice Equipment tutor. And, they figured, it'd help the Equipment subtheme in Scars of Mirrodin block.

The problems started in Mirrodin Beseiged. The design and FFL (Future Future League testing) teams didn't realize the impact of Sword of Feast and Famine to be as strong as it ended up being. However, Wizards of the Coast decided to let it go for now and see how people would react to the power level in Standard. Then New Phyrexia came and screwed things up majorly.

The design teams for Scars of Mirrodin block knew they wanted Living Weapon to play an integral part in the Equipments of the block starting in Mirrodin Beseiged. They tried to make stuff like Lashwrithe or Bonehoard that were great to search for but weren't necessarily at their best when cheated into play early from Stoneforge Mystic's second ability.

Unfortunately, they printed Batterskull after a chance in direction from the guys who made the cards. Instead of its last effect being as printed (3: Bounce Batterskull, essentially), they had it as "8: Put a 0/0 Germ token onto the battlefield with Batterskull attached." The bounce effect, while being powerful, has proven too powerful: For 5 total mana, you can block a creature, let damage go through, lose your Germ, then pay 3 to bounce it back to your hand and 2 to replay it thanks to Stoneforge Mystic's second ability.

As the format got more and more Stoneforge Mystic-based, WotC decided that, even with a few months left in Standard, damage was already being done (drops in attendance, general player hate for Mystic-based decks) and a ban was warranted.

Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Jace ended up being a design and development AND R&D AND testing mistake all the way around the table. As they were getting Zendikar off the ground, they realized its Planeswalkers may be too weak in a general sense (and really, aside from Nissa in Elf decks have you seen the Zendikar set's 'walkers anywhere in competitive Magic?).

WotC decided to take a big swing at how Planeswalkers were designed and they needed a big draw for Worldwake, so the basic ideas of Jace, the Mind Sculptor (4-ability Planeswalker, new, super powerful) were born.

At the same time, WotC was trying to give Blue some of its power back. Back in Lorwyn block, Faeries was the dominant deck in the metagame. Most of those Faeries were Blue, leading to a lot of U/x decks (Decks primarily with Blue and some other color). It didn't help that Cryptic command was in the same set as those Faeries, giving Blue a lot of god weapons for a Faerie-based deck.

WotC intentionally cut Blue's power level in Shards of Alara block and Magic 2010. Blue had fallen off, so with Zendikar block they wanted to give Blue some of its power back.

They were going to make its abilities these instead (and I'm shorthanding the abilities):
+2: Mill the top 2 cards of target player's library.
+0: Brainstorm
-1: Unsommon
-8: (the final ability that ended up on the printed card)

Thought to be too powerful, the ultimate ability was raised to -12.
UNFORTUNATELY, they also felt milling 2 cards was too powerful for a +2 ability, so they changed it to "+2: Scry 1 or Fateseal 1" (again, not the exact templating but a shorthand using known mechanics that do the same thing). They didn't realize how powerful it was to keep players off their most needed cards on a regular basis. (Fateseal on a spell is one thing; Fateseal repeatable from a permanent is dangerous)

Wizards of the Coast tried to print answers. Phyrexian Revoker, Despise, Hex Parasite. Unfortunately, the answers were too low on power and didn't matter. Jace, the Mind Sculptor was still Planeswalker #1, and its play amount in Legacy and Vintage has helped cement its popularity and power level.


In their defense, it was only the 14th different Planeswalker to exist and the 2nd to be the headline Planeswalker of a set.


But now they'll be judged based on their admitted mistakes. They no longer have an excuse to make a super-powerful Planeswalker. And now they have no excuse for making Tinker-like effects on cheap creatures.

Why Is Stoneforge Mystic Banned Except for 1 VERY SPECIFIC Deck?
This is fairly easy. Wizards of the Coast had Stoneforge Mystic penned for the War of Attrition deck while it was still a relatively meaningless $6 card. They had no idea at the time how powerful it'd be. Seeing as the Event Decks are meant to be FNM-legal, the best way to satiate both concerns (it's too powerful, but it's in a product intended for use at FNM), they allowed the exact War of Attrition decklist to be legal so players can play War of Attrition straight out of the box.


Hopefully that goes a ways to explaining the reasons for banning. What are your opinions? Did WotC need to do anything? Could they have done anything differently?

It's Official: Stoneforge Mystic AND Jace, the Mind Sculptor BANNED IN STANDARD!!!

Say goodbye to your Jace, the Mind Sculptors and Stoneforge Mystics (well...mostly on Stoneforge Mystic) in Standard.

Wizards of the Coast announced today the next set of Banned/Restricted List changes.

No formats had changes, as was expected...except Standard.

EFFECTIVE JULY 1st, THE FOLLOWING BANNINGS TAKE PLACE IN STANDARD:
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Stoneforge Mystic*

*The problem with banning Stoneforge Mystic is that there's an otherwise-Standard legal preconstructed deck with her in it, War of Attrition (scroll down a little bit on that link to see the decklist). To keep her FNM legal (because the Event Decks are meant to be bought at FNM and played straight out of the box), Stoneforge Mystic is allowed as long as the contents match exactly to the War of Attrition event deck decklist. ANY deviation (even as minor as adding an additional Puresteel Paladin or replacing Sword of Vengeance with Sword of War and Peace or changing out the Side Deck) will force you to take out both Stoneforge Mystics.


I'll post WotC's explanations later, but for now you're on notice that 11 days from now you can no longer use Jace, the Mind Sculptor and can very rarely use Stoneforge Mystic in Standard.

An Idea: Charity Tournament for Japan in Two Weeks?

I was perusing Twitter one day this week and saw that, in place of Grand Prix - Kobe (I think it's Kobe, but it doesn't matter. It's a Grand Prix that should have been in Japan) this weekend some tournament organizers in Japan are holding charity tournament to help raise money for the Japanese relief efforts.

So I was wondering...Why don't we do something?

I'm going to see what I can get for prize support, but I want to do a constructed event with proxies allowed (especially if we do Legacy or Vintage). Specific proxy rules and formats would follow, but the basic idea is here.

Entry fee would be $6: $3 would go toward any prizes I may have to pay for, and $3 would go toward the charity part.

My idea is if we could get people to RSVP, I could get a base prize based on the number of entrants and the format we do.

For example...

4-6 people (the minimum I'd do): $12 for prizes, so maybe a Metalworker for Legacy, Cryptic Command for Extended, or an Elspeth Tirel for Standard (depending on which format we choose). The rest would go toward charity.

7-9 people: $21 for prizes, so maybe an Intuition for Legacy or Sword of Feast or Famine for Standard (again, format-dependent). The rest toward charity.

10+ people: $30 minimum available for prizes, so possibly a Rishadan Port for Legacy or, with enough people, a Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas for Standard (again, format-dependent). The rest to charity.


NOTE: I'm definitely not tied to anything right now, but you get the general idea. If I can get prize donations, I'll add those to the prize pool and they won't count toward the "prize payback" I'm doing with the RSVP example (so I won't take money away from the charity to "pay" for your contributions).

Just keep in mind: This isn't done for the prizes (they're an incentive to participate, NOT the focus) and there's no ranking of any kind on the line.

If you've got ideas or prize donations you want to add in, feel free to chip in. Again, nothing's set in stone. I just want to get feedback and additional ideas and/or fixes to my proposal.


EDIT: I just wanted to clarify...the $3 per person that I'd use for prizes is to get a prize that's desireable and worth peoples' time to attend. Also note that if I'm doing an RSVP type idea I'd only use the lower number's $3 piece to pay for the card. For example, at the 4-6 bracket, I'd only use upwards of $12 to get a card. If I get 4 people, that's $12 for prize and $12 for charity. If I get 5 people, that's still $12 for a prize and that 5th person's whole $6 would go toward charity for $18 going to charity. 6 people would then be $12 for prize and $24 for charity. At 7 people, the next level, $21 goes toward prizes and $21 goes to charity. At 8 people, that's $21 to prize and $27 to charity, and so on. As I said, though, this is only an idea and is NOT set in stone. Feedback and prize donations are welcome.


EDIT 2: We have a bite on prize donations! We're getting a free Cryptic Command to throw into the prize pool! :) Let's hope to keep the donations rolling. :)