Wizards of the Coast announced a big change to the Magic the Gathering Standard Format in a move to revitalize the game!
Obviously, they are doing this for a reason, as even they stated that play has fallen off for Standard games of Magic. This is the first step to revitalizing the format, and Wizards says they will continue to take action to keep Standard in stores and exciting for players.
This also means we won’t see a rotation this year either, but there’s more to all this than just a dwindling player base…
Magic Makes A Big Change To Their Standard Format
After the pandemic ended, Standard never really took off again in stores. One of the main culprits is rumored to be MTG Arena, because, during the pandemic, players invested in decks online with both money and time.
So, when stores opened back up for events, there were fewer Standard players going to them. One reason for this trend could be that players didn’t want to revitalize and rebuy decks that they had already built online. Unfortunately, the pandemic also killed off the Standard Pro Tour, so people didn’t see the decks piloted live.
Lastly, most Standard writers got laid off on sites like Star City. So there were a bunch of factors contributing to why a lot of people stopped playing games of Standard in stores. We’ll see what they can do to revive it, but this is a big first step.
Coming from Wizards, here’s what they have to say about the changes:
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.
This is an interesting change, and we’ll have to see if it actually revives play or not. Either way, it gives players with older collections time to still play for a year and slowly move into getting new cards. This might also let stores offload older products they’ve had since 2021.
Here’s how Wizards thinks this will change the game:
- This will give current Standard cards more longevity. Time and again, we hear that players want to play with cards they love and enjoy longer. Standard is our only rotating format, and while keeping it fresh is important, we also feel that there’s a more effective middle ground.
- It will allow mechanics and archetypes to be more effectively built on over time. As we moved away from the block model, we gained a lot of flexibility but lost some ability to build on mechanics and themes within a set. With a longer window, we can find more opportunities to build up or revitalize archetypes. Coupled with the point above, that can lead to more diversity, longer-lasting archetypes, and enough competitive churn to keep players engaged.
- It also gives us stronger tools to create an environment where decks are more “color(s) and mechanic” (like Green-White Toxic or Blue-White Soldiers) and less midrange. With a larger card pool, the format can handle bigger swings with entire decks seeded at once.
It seems like this could help the format. With a variety of decks (well, hopefully), and more cards in the meta, players will now have more options to make viable yet exciting decks.
Do you think this change will help revitalize the Standard format for Magic the Gathering?
Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group, and make sure you enter the latest monthly giveaway for FREE today!
Get ad-free access to our hobby videos, a monthly crate of miniatures, and support some of the best creators out there for as little as $6 a month on Patreon!
Click Here For All the Hobby Products & Tools We Swear By
About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
