This week I’m going to be talking about Standard. Before I dive in let me answer the following for you: Yes you’re still reading Hope Eternal, no this isn’t a permanent change and no I normally don’t write about or play Standard. Now back to the topic!
Wednesday Wizards announced a new rotation schedule, or at least an old rotation schedule. They are doing away with the twice yearly Standard rotation and changing it back to once a year, the way it was up until Khans of Tarkir dropped. At the time the logic made sense. They started printing two blocks a year instead of just one so they also started rotating cards twice a year instead of once. While they’ll be keeping the two blocks a year they are going back to the once yearly rotation which has left me seriously curious about Standard and how it might now be a reasonable interest for more eternal players.
In their announcement Wizards outlined some pretty good (and player-oriented reasons) for changing back to once a year. Their main point was that it was harder for people to keep up if they took a few months off for any reason. This, in my opinion, is a great reason to change the rotation schedule and I’m pretty happy with this announcement. I don’t see much of a downside. Cards will now be Standard legal for two years before rotating out, that’s a pretty long time. While the same deck won’t be good the entire time since new sets will be coming in at the same pace, decks should still be better for longer. You won’t be building a deck in May that will be rotating out in September which I think is great.
It should also help keep the prices down since cards won’t be extremely popular for only five minutes before they are tossed to the wayside. In reality it will slow Standard down to a pace that us Eternal players can stand. Modern will now getting bannings at around the same rate that things rotate out of Standard, at least when your Standard deck is no longer playable it’s expected and cost you way less money. Plus playing Standard opens up the option to be playing at a higher level with more skilled players due to the tournament support it receives.
Playing Standard isn’t quite the same as playing Modern, Legacy, Vintage or even Pauper but some days it feels like a real option and this is one more reason to consider it. If you’re a Modern player this seems especially appealing with Modern having been receiving less and less support and seeming less and less stable as time goes on. Standard receives so much more support than any other format and makes it much easier to play the game on a regular basis, especially if you aren’t as fortunate as me with the ability to play Legacy more days a week than Standard. It definitely has me considering playing Standard on MTGO, what about you?
Kate hails from Worcester MA and also does a bit of Card Altering. Check her Stuff out on Facebook! She mainly plays legacy and modern though will occasionally find herself playing EDH.