Wizards announces Core Set changes

Wizards of the Coast is making some changes to the core sets for Magic: The Gathering, beginning with the set scheduled for release July 17, 2009. Unlike the previous core set, 10th Edition, the set released in July will use a year designator: Magic: The Gathering 2010, to reflect the upcoming year.

Beginning with Magic 2010, core set will be released on an annual schedule, each July, instead of

every two years. In additional, Magic 2010 will be black-bordered and include approximately 50 percent new cards, instead of being all reprints. Magic 2010 will contain 249 cards, including 15 mythic rares. And since core sets will now contain new cards, WotC’s Organized Play program will include prerelease events and launch parties for core sets as well as expansions. The Magic 2010 core set will be used in Limited-format Grand Prix events this year.

The Magic 2010 core set will become legal in Standard format immediately on release. At that time, 10th Edition will rotate out of Standard. Beginning with the Magic 2010 core set, each core set will be legal in Standard until October of the following year (each Magic core set will be legal in the Standard format for approximately 15 months), meaning that Standard rotates only once each year.

The changes were announced in a post on WotC’s Magic Web site. You can read the full article here: http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/27

More information about the changes is available in Aaron Forsythe’s feature article here: http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/27a