Hey everybody! This morning Mark Rosewater dropped a pretty big bomb on us and I want to talk about these changes and what they might mean for players and shop owners.
First off, starting in Fall of 2015, blocks will no longer consist of 3 sets. Instead we will get a Fall set like normal, and a Winter set that belongs to that block... and that's it. No 3rd spring set anymore. Where the Spring set would normally be in the same block for the year, instead we're getting a completely new Block with it's second set replacing the usual Summer Core Set.
That's huge right?!?!
No more Core sets! Not sure if that's completely a good thing or bad thing, but it's interesting at the least. This might mean that newer players will have to jump in the deep end, so to speak, while there is no 'simple' set to help them understand the basics of the game. However, this greatly caters to the already advanced level of competitive and casual players alike as we get more mechanics throughout the year on top of a higher power level of cards being released. Core Sets generally tend to have weaker cards on average than a regular block would, so this is great for those craving stronger cards(like myself).
So we're getting 2 blocks a year, each including two sets(most likely a Large-Small format), and cutting the Summer Core Set. So what else does that affect? Well...
The rotation structure is getting quite the makeover as well. As it is now, Every Fall set that comes out, pushes out the Fall block of two years ago and the previous year's Summer Core Set from the Standard format. Starting with the Fall expansion of 2015, standard rotation will only keep the newest 3 Blocks in standard at all times. Since we'll be getting 2 blocks a year, with sets releasing approximately every three months, each block will only be standard legal for 18 months. The biggest problem this might incur is that players will have to purchase new cards to continue playing Standard, knowing that they don't get as much time with those cards. For players, I don't think this really changes how much money/resources you'll need to spend on getting new cards to keep up with Standard, since the same amount of sets are still coming out each year. The only big difference is the amount of time you get to use those cards in standard.
Block formats will still follow the same rules as they do today except that you obviously only get 1 or 2 sets for each block instead of a potential 3.
What this means for shops.
I think this will help a lot of shops combat the dreaded 'Core Set Blues' where most shops complain about poor sales between the Summer Core Set release and the next Fall expansion. With every set being part of a block and important to Standard, sales should be more consistent throughout the year! This also looks to improve the interest in drafts, as we'll often have more popular sets to draft with and that should help shops as well seeing as more events will most likely occur.
For players, I think the biggest change to need to get used to, is speculation on card prices. Since new blocks always offer new mechanics, and we get a new block twice a year, it'll be a little more difficult to predict which cards will hold value better. The fact that the new blocks, and with it the new mechanics, come out much quicker than normal, means that players will need to act much faster on their predictions than before. Not very often does a second or third set of a block come out with cards that completely change the format. It's usually the Fall set that ushers the biggest changes, obviously because of rotating cards/mechanics. Archetypes in the Standard format will be changing heavily every 6 months with each new Block and players will need to be much more careful with their speculations, if they wish to stay ahead of the meta once the new system takes effect.
All in all, I'm pretty excited for this. I don't yet see a real negative from the new system. The most exciting thing for me, is that because we're getting a new block every 6 months, spoiler season will be much more exciting all year long! I also appreciate the idea of a format that changes much more often, giving players a lot more creative space throughout the year for deck design, while keeping the format from going stale while waiting for the next Fall set to come out and bring in something fresh.
Let me know what you guys think of the changes for next Fall in the comments below!
DannyO
WizardDen.com
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