Hello everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week we’re going to take a good, hard look at the upcoming core set changes that is Magic 2010 Hyper Fighting Edition, one of the most significant play shifts in this game we love since the release of Planeswalkers in Lorwyn. You ready to learn about the new core set, the new cards found within it and how your zones are getting renamed? Let’s go!
Magic 2010: The Next Generation
So this past Monday Aaron Forsythe dropped a bomb on the Magic populous: There would be no more “Nth” editions in Magic. Yes, that 15-year tradition of having a core set every two years that you never bought a pack from is soon to change. Before we get into my thoughts on it, let’s lay out exactly what they’re talking about:
Firstly, the Magic core set is going to be delineated by years. Just like cars and Madden games, the set that comes out this year will be named for the upcoming year. So in 2009 we have Magic 2010. In 2010 we’ll have Magic 2011, and so on. They assure us this won’t be jarring, and I’m guessing smart peeps like us can figure it out.
The second major change is that there will be new cards in the core set. I repeat: New Cards In The Core Set! That is awesome! I mean, let’s face it, I haven’t purchased Core Set packs since 4th Edition, and the majority of long-term players haven’t either. Why? Because we had all of those cards already, and there was no need to buy white or even black-bordered reprints of the classics. Once you have your set of Wrath of God and Birds of Paradise and things, those packs lose their luster quickly. However, that will all be changing as almost half of the 229 cards in the Magic 2010 set will be brand new cards! Take a look at the three cards spoiled in Aaron’s article:
Silence
W
Instant (Rare)
Your opponent can’t cast spells this turn
Wall of Frost
UU1
Creature – Wall (Uncommon)
Defender
When Wall of Frost blocks a creature, that creature doesn’t untap during its controller’s next untap step
0/7
Capricious Efreet
4RR
Creature – Efreet (Rare)
At the beginning of your upkeep, choose target nonland permanent you control and up two target nonland permanents you don’t control. Destroy one of those at random.
6/4
Now these cards are great and all, but the card I want you to pay the most attention to is Silence. First of all it’s what Abeyance should’ve been. Secondly it’s going to be ridiculously sick on an Isochron Scepter and could spawn a whole new archetype in Extended. But thirdly and most importantly, pay close attention to its wording. Did you notice it doesn’t say “Your opponent can’t play spells this turn”? Nope, it says “Your opponent can’t cast spells this turn.” That’s right baby, Wizards of the Coast has finally decided to give in to their inner Vorthos and embrace the flavor of Magic. This means you don’t “play” spells, you “cast” them, like any self-respecting mage would.
But that’s not all. The latest rumor rumblings foresee a whole lot more flavor coming back into the game. Particularly it will be arriving for two different areas: The area we know as “in play” and the area we know as “removed from the game.” Brace yourselves, because the “in play” area is now rumored to be called the Battlefield, and the “removed from game” zone is rumored to be called Exile or the Void. This means that there will be no more “When Shriekmaw comes into play…”, rather it will now be worded as “When Shriekmaw enters the battlefield…”. Yes, I know it’s quite the change. It will cause many long-time players to scratch their head and others to scrunch their nose like they just smelled something nasty. But the fact is, when you give you this area a name, it does improve the wording on cards and the ability for players to grok exactly what it is they do.
The other major change is that the Removed From Game zone will be called either the Void or Exile or some other word not yet discovered. This, again, is a necessary move for a zone of play that has continually been referenced more and more often. When Magic first began, Swords to Plowshares made perfect sense, as removing target creature from the game really removed it from the game, never to return ever. But as we have mechanics like Suspend or cards like Galepowder Mage, you notice that the RFG zone really could use a better name. Imagine Aeon Chronicler’s wording if it said “If Aeon Chronicer is in the void…” or “If Aeon Chronicler is exiled…” you can then move forward with more mechanics and cards that reference this “Removed from game” zone. Not to mention it’s much easier to refer to that zone with one word instead of four.
If we take a look back at magicthegathering.com I think you’ll find a very interesting article by Doug Beyer posted last December entitled “The Flavor of Zones.” In it he details the issues and problems associated with the “in play” zone and the “removed from the game” zone. Here’s a choice quote on the “in play” zone:
“The in-play zone represents the field of battle between you and your adversary. It’s the physical space where all the real brawlin’ happens.”
Sounds like a battlefield, doesn’t it? While it will be a bit funny at first for cards like Enchantments, I don’t see battlefield being that difficult to discern.
Here’s what he said about the Removed From The Game zone:
“…remov[ed] from the game has been used as a more distant zone to which to exile cards.”
He continues:
“Some spells can even retrieve cards from their deathless exile.”
Now if you take into consideration these quotes, and the latest incredible remove-from-the-game spell, Path to Exile, it would kinda make sense if the RFG zone was named Exile, now wouldn’t it?
But we’re not done yet. In addition to the zone name changes and we players back to casting spells instead of playing them, there’s also the announcement that all of the Lorwyn Planeswalkers will be returning in Magic 2010 and that there will be no existing dual lands, shock lands, sac lands, or other variant reprinted. Instead, they will reprint brand new dual lands of some sort, and here is my guess: These lands will be both basic types, saying “Land – Forest Plains” and simply come into play tapped. This is the cleanest, simplest, and easiest way to provide the land types that cards like Kird Ape, Wild Nacatl and Domain cards are looking for, still work with sac lands in Extended, and still be playable cards in Standard. Now that’s just a guess of course, but hearing that Wizards is dedicated to bringing us new dual lands is a definite plus.
Other notable changes are the inclusion of 15 mythic rares in Magic 2010, five of which are the Lorwyn Planeswalkers, Serra Angel now becoming an uncommon, Magic 2010 being used as the limited set in Grand Prixs Boston, Niigata and Prague, and the rotation of Standard and Extended suddenly changed quite a bit.
Let’s see if we can figure out the rotation now.
Magic 2010 will be released in July 2009. This will force 10th Edition into the land of Extended. However, when Magic 2011 is released, it will not force Magic 2010 into Extended. Rather, for three months of next year, during July to October, there will be two core sets in Standard for the first time ever. Once the new large fall set is released, the core set that precedes it will rotate. Meaning when “Lights” of “Lights, Camera, Action” is released in the fall of 2010, it will then remove the Magic 2010 set from Standard, leaving only Magic 2011.
Extended will act much the same way. When a block rotates each year, it will remove the core set that preceded it. So when Onslaught leaves Extended this fall, Eighth Edition will be regulated to the Legacy and Vintage format alongside it. I’m sure as the years go forward this will seem much less confusing that it is now.
Lastly, Aaron made a point of noting that half of the sixteen cards reprinted in every Core Set in the history of the game will not be reprinted. Let’s take a look at that list of sixteen:
– 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
– Wrath of God
Now this is a list of some classic Magic monsters. The first two cards I see leaving are Samite Healer and Bog Wraith. Both are underpowered, boring, and seem to be in the core set because of their history with the game and nothing else. The second set of cards I see leaving are Scathe Zombies and Grizzly Bears. Quite simply, Gray Ogres are cute and all, but there are more flavorful Black vanilla creatures, such as the already-in-Tenth Mass of Ghouls. Shards of Alara gave us the Elf bear, Cylian Elf, which replaces Grizzly Bears easily and is a far more popular tribe.
The next card I’d guess is leaving is Fear. Mark Rosewater has talked often of how he wishes Fear hadn’t been designated to Black creatures and Artifact creatures only, and he tried to spread those wings a bit in Planar Chaos with “Red Fear” using Skirk Shaman. The last three cards I’m thinking are leaving include Regeneration, Rod of Ruin, and either Giant Spider or Orcish Artillery. My guess on the latter is Orcish Artillary, as it’s not as flavorful as a big spider that can block flying things, is much less swingy in limited, and is a very, um, “Green” monster. Rod of Ruin is just way too much mana for a paltry effect and has been outclassed a thousand times over by “Tims” and “Toms” of all varieties. Regeneration is a bit rules intensive, but mainly I think it would be dropped because Regeneration seems like an effect that just isn’t worth committing a card for.
If Wizards really wanted to shock the playerbase, and not necessarily in a good way, we could watch Wrath of God leave Standard for the first time ever. Now that would truly freak out the playing populous at large, call for mass hysteria and reams upon reams of digital bits proclaiming their denouncement of this decision and leaving those players with no choice but to quit the game forever. That said, I don’t think Wrath of God is going anywhere, and that’s just how I like it.
So what do I think of all this? I think it’s fantastic. I am a huge fan of actually “casting” spells, considering we are in the wizard role in this game and all, and calling “in play” a “battlefield” may be awkward now but will be a much easier to explain the “in play” zone to new players. I’m also a fan of “Exile” being the official term for the Removed From Game zone, and look forward to seeing what Rosewater and crew can do with the new design space they’ve carved out with such a move.
With that said, this is the biggest shift in the game since the introduction of Planeswalkers, so let your feelings be heard. What do you think about Magic 2010: The Next Generation, and how will affect your decision to pick up or play with a Core Set again? I know for the first time since I was 15 or so I’m excited about the release of an upcoming Core Set and for those who care, I’m currently 28 years old. That is telling you something.
Next week we’ll take a look at Legacy as we prepare to embark for Grand Prix: Chicago, and what wild and wacky decks prevailed at Pro Tour: Kyoto. Until next time Magic players, this is Evan Erwin. Tapping the cards…so you don’t have to.
Evan “misterorange” Erwin
eerwin -at- gmail -dot- com
dubs dubs dubs dot themagicshow dot teevee
Written while wondering what happened to the P. Chapin at the Pro Tour. Frown on the stack. Frown resolves.