In General: The Metamorphosis Update

Hello and welcome back to In General. I am Grandpa Growth and this week the Magic community was rocked by a huge announcement from Wizards of the Coast. I would like to delve deep into some of the changes and share my thoughts on what is to come.

On Monday, Magic's lead designer Mark Rosewater dropped a big old truth bomb on us. You can read the official announcement article HERE. And I absolutely demand that you do because this dramatically alters the way that the game is produced, consumed, and played. That article is a long one, and my response will be as well, but rest assured: your patience will be rewarded. Probably with candy.

Discontinuing Core Sets

A little over a month ago I penned an article that posted many of the same complaints about core set. You can read it HERE. For the TLDR crowd the short version goes: core set didn't achieve its goals. It was too complex for use in teaching the game to newcomers, but it wasn't interesting enough to entice experienced tournament players to buy it. The core set was always trading on nostalgia and tradition. For the last five years, the only relevant cards featured in the core sets were recycled dual lands and power curve busting rares that were planted specifically to sell the set. Remember these guys:



In my article, A New Paradigm for Core Set, I outlined all the the same problems that Maro addressed and essentially presented the same solution that the design team came up with. This isn't a fanfare for my clarevoyance, but rather an acknowledgment that the wind was blowing a certain direction and we couldn't ignore it forever.

So the gist of the deal is that the core set is going away. A new product will be coming in the future that will be more directly marketed to new players and won't try to feature prominently in tournament play.

I think that this a fantastic idea and I can't wait to see this new product. If you spent as much time as I do trying to teach the game to new friends, you would understand my longing for a better set of tools.

More Smaller Blocks

So if the Core set dies, what will take its place in the hearts of experienced players? Well, there will still be four major set releases every year. Instead of (generally) releasing a core set, a large set, and two smaller sets. We will now get two large sets and two small sets. These will replace the current block structure with more compact two set blocks.

I agree completely with the logic behind these changes as well. Draft environments are meticulously designed. Adding pieces to a perfect machine is difficult and unnecessary. Intentionally leaving working parts out of a machine with the idea of adding them later is kind of a waste of the current product; you should strive to make it as good as it can be.

This problem led to many awkward decisions by the design team. For the most part, they handled what Maro calls "the third set problem" very elegantly. Rise of the Eldrazi was awesome. Return to Ravnica block's innovative draft structure was very intriguing. Scars block draft was completely scrambled every time a new set was added. Theros block was by far the worst full-block limited experience thus far under New World Order, but it was still very good. The mechanics were tight and flavorful. The power level was high; games were exciting, and the more skilled player usually won.

There are only so many ways to skin a cat, though. Wizards had been dancing around the idea of a change for a long time. Experimenting with different block structures was just practice for the things to come. Eventually, it seems that they decided to go with the formula from Lorwyn block and I think that is a good decision.

So What Happens To Standard?

Well, quite a bit actually. Standard is the most popular and most played tournament format. It is also the ONLY one affected by this change, so Wizards had to be careful. Khans of Tarkir is still a 'normal' block and it will be played the same way. However, it and all future blocks will stay in Standard for eighteen months instead of two years.

Standard will now consist of the three most recent blocks and every time a new large set is released, the oldest block in Standard will rotate out. That means that standard will undergo multiple rotations ever year, keeping the format fresh as a daisy. It is important to note that all three sets of Khans block will rotate out as one unit.

The Good Shepherd

Maro stressed in the announcement article that they wanted to get this message out before Khans dropped. That way people would understand the impact of this change before they invested heavily into Khans, since it will have a shorter impact on Standard than any previous three-set block.

I agree with the timing of this statement and I think it was wise and thoughtful. I don't expect this to cut into the sales figures of Khans. In fact, I expect Khans to be among the top 10 best sellers, simply because the 'wedge block' has been highly anticipated for years. It also occurs to me, based on the timing of this announcement, that Wizards has been planning this move for some time.

Blocks are conceived several years in advance and are designed at least a full two years ahead of their release. Changes are still made after that of course, but development signs off on the set well before it gets printed. Based on that, we can reconstruct the timeline and safely assume that the genesis of this change can be traced back to sometime during 2012. Many in the Magic community have been expecting this change for some time, but I wasn't standing in Redmond with a pickett sign during the Dark Ascension prerelease weekend, that is for sure.

What does this mean to players? The admins have made a positive change. Moreover, they are collecting feedback and responding to it. It means that we are in good hands. I have always been a critic of the design team and things like this just warm my heart. I look ahead with renewed faith knowing that the game is in a good place, but on its way to an even better one. Wizards righted the ship BEFORE the storm hit. It makes an old sailor proud.

What do you think of the big changes? I am excited. If you haven't already, take to the comments, facebooks, tweeters, and blogospheres to share your comments and support for this brave new direction. Till next week Zoners.

-GG