Tarmogoyf’s $50 price tag came from two major contributing factors – its cross-format viability and its raw power. What was originally assumed to be a 2/3 for 1G ended up being a 5/6 more often than not, and that kind of efficiency appealed to more than just Standard players. The third factor, the fact that was printed in a “third set”, contributes more to its price than most people realize.

The phenomenon of the ‘Third Set’ isn’t altogether foreign to Magic players, but its effect is far more powerful than most people realize. Consider this – When Shards of Alara came out, people drafted three packs of Shards. Then, even when the luster of the new set wore off and people ceased cracking boxes for sport, people still drafted triple Shards. That entails a steady supply of Shards cards to the market.

If you’ve noticed that despite its constant use in Tier 1 decks, Ranger of Eos has yet to reach “elite” rare status, now you know why. Shards was out for long enough to supply the market with more Rangers than it needed. Now, had Ruel’s invitaional card been printed in Alara Reborn, it might not experience the level of resistance that is does right now. Why?

The third set phenomenon is to blame. See, when you have three months of drafting a set alone, then another three months of drafting it with one pack of the first small set, there’s a whole lot of cardboard going around. Finally, when the third set comes out, everyone has everything from the first set they need. They’re well on their way to finishing their playsets of their second set cards, and the third set is only drafted for a few months before the next big set is released. Beginning with M10, the Core set contains new cards and has become a popular draft format, which has interesting implications for Alara Reborn. Released in the late Spring, ACR draft was supplanted mid-summer by M10 draft. Third set drafting time was cut in half, since M10 was drafted until Zendikar’s release.

Baneslayer Angel, Standard’s new record-holder, occupies a very similar space to Tarmogoyf. Her raw power is unquestionable, as shown by Bram Snepvangers in the Worlds quarterfinals. She’s playable in Extended as well as Standard, and so help us all if a Legacy deck ever sleeves up Baneslayers alongside Force of Will. There are two new factors to consider since Tarmogoyf was Standard-relevant. The first was introduced with Shards of Alara – Mythic rarity. Now, they said they’d never make a tournament staple a mythic rare, but it’s clear they either bent the definition of “tournament staple” a little, or just mis-evaluated the card. Be that as it may, Baneslayer is here to stay. It would be a crime not to reprint her in M11, but we might see a touch of mercy from WotC and have her be reprinted as a non-mythic rare. I wouldn’t count on it, but it might not be the worst idea.

The second new factor is the inclusion of new cards in the core set. The core set now functions like a second “third set” in the yearly cycle, being drafted from mid-July until the end of September. As previously mentioned, that’s only half the time a normal third set is drafted. Boxes will be opened with the same frequency, in theory, but losing a huge amount of supply due to a shortened Limited lifespan will have very heavy effects on a card’s price.

Baneslayer Angel is the perfect storm. She’s got raw, format-defining power in spades. She’s got cross-format appeal. She’s a member of the anointed “Angel” tribe, which can usually increase a card’s appeal and value by a significant amount. She’s a Mythic rare, and she’s a Mythic rare from a set that was drafted for 2 months in mid-2009. Most decks would be better if they ran Baneslayer. Many dealers are out of stock. The main issue is that there simply are not enough Baneslayer Angels to fill out decks. That the M10 shortage kept some players from buying as much product as they originally would have. In the simplest terms, Baneslayer Angel’s demand is as high as any card’s can be. The supply? Literally as scarce as a new card can be these days.

All that being said, if you’ve been asking yourself, “Why is Baneslayer so expensive?”, there’s your answer. $55 may not even be the worst of it. Baneslayer Angel is similar to Google stock. It looked expensive at its IPO, and everywhere else along the way, but looking back, it was cheap all along. It’s hard to evaluate this card because we’ve not quite seen this combination of factors before. The closest example is Exalted Angel, which was released in a large set as a rare and had nowhere near the power level that Baneslayer does. It is my personal hope that Baneslayer’s price stops increasing. It’s bad for the game when the consensus best creature in the format can be priced in large fractions of a booster box. In most cases, you can wait out a card’s inflation from hype but in this case, trading for Baneslayer at full price might be necessary if you plan to fill out a playset before States.

Here we see “JBoots” draft a rather astonishing mono-black deck that I know I definitely wouldn’t want to face. He does a great job explaining his picks and his logic behind them, so sit back and watch as he drafts and builds this Magic 2010 draft.

Welcome back to Magic the Classroom. Summer’s over and students are returning to my classroom for some great after school action. For those who haven’t read my earlier articles I am a math teacher at a small high school in the Midwest. Using my shoebox of cards and the power of proxies, I have built a group of Magic players who come into my room after school to play Magic the Gathering.

Currently the big buzz is M10 draft. I started playing Magic with my students back in Onslaught Block and I have never seen such fervor for drafting in all the time I’ve played with them. We’ve held 4 drafts with a total of 6 pods this week alone. I have personally made top 4 each time and won two of those doing one simple little strategy. It’s so simple and stoppable you will laugh when you hear it. Still, it works and even works when I am away from my students. It has worked well for me at an FNM near my in-laws as well as in the classroom.

I will tell you what it is in a second but first a little review of poetry. The basis that I work from in draft comes from the Poem “Road less Traveled” by Robert Frost. The basic idea is that this man has two choices of paths to his destination one is well traveled and the other seems to be rarely used. In the poem he chooses the path that has less wear and tear and believes his life to be richer from it.

In draft you often want to be the one in your pod who chooses the road least traveled. If you’re drafting Green aggro with a splash color and so are two other players then the cards that you are going to want are spread out among three players’ decks. Making each one weaker by attrition. However if you’re lucky enough to be the only player with a desire to turn fatties sideways then you find cards that you would take as top 5 picks falling your way at pick 10. The method I have been using is apparently seeing very little traffic.

The second thing that I get from the Poem is value of the more common path. By this I mean the value of commons. I really feel that the biggest mistake made by players in draft is their focus on their rare cards. Sure these cards are good and very often they represent bombs that can change the game but I feel the best drafter knows his commons and his opponent’s possible commons. That knowledge makes for at least 60% of the total action from all decks since so many of the cards we can choose from are those little black symbols.

So before I tell you my simple little method I want to show you what I think of the commons in M10 sorted by Color and Converted Mana Cost. If I fail to mention a common that is because I can’t see myself using it (or I possibly just goofed and missed it)

Green

• Fog – There are times that this little trick can win games but I don’t grab it until late.
• Giant Growth – If you’re in a creature heavy deck which is likely if you’re in green this has strong value. Seeing this card doesn’t make me put green in my deck but if I’m already there then this is a good pick.
• Llanowar Elves – A classic that is likely to stay around until the mid picks so don’t grab it to early.
• Deadly Recluse – This may be my favorite Green Common in M10. The deathtouch and reach makes it a good source of creature removal which is hard for green to come by. I wish it had a bigger back side but its lack of punch makes it easy to get two of even three copies in your deck sometimes.
• Elvish Visionary – Chump blocker and deck thinner. Nothing to see here. Late pick, 9 at best.
• Naturalize – Sideboard
• Rampant Growth – Allows for splashing and helps some bigger Green bombs come online. Pick level depends on cards already in your deck. I find it available late very often.
• Runeclaw Bear – The Bear used to be strong in Constructed but now he only shines in Draft. I take this guy about pick 5 or 6 if I know I’m in Green.
• Borderland Ranger – Here we have another splash facilitator. But this time we have decent P/T stats to go with it. Early to midrange pick.
• Centaur Courser – 3/3 for 3 mana works in any curve. Good solid common pick.
• Oakenform – Basically the same as the Centaur since enchantment removal isn’t very often played in draft. You run the risk of being on the wrong end of a 2 for 1 but still it’s cheap. I had a student who rode a Birds of Paradise loaded with Oakenform to victory. He called his Birds the “Wooden Ducks”.
• Entangling Vines – Green Removal. You do have to take one swing from your opponent though.
• Giant Spider – Little brother we saw earlier is significantly better.
• Mist Leopard – The Shroud makes this playable. The lack of Global removal in M10 makes this guy a survivor as long as he doesn’t get into a big fight.
• Bramble Creeper – Make sure you’re the beat down or else this card is weak.

Summary – Green has some strong rares in this set but it’s common category is below normal for Green. The lack of removal is normal but the lack of muscle is almost sad. I personally wouldn’t recommend Green unless you really hit some early bombs.

Red

• Jackal Familiar – Really needs a heavy critter count but can be used in the right scenario.
• Kindled Fury – This is a cute little combat trick. Still it’s a late pick but it will be there if there are not many Red mages in your pod.
• Lightning Bolt – I would grab this over some rares in this set. For a common this is a rock star.
• Raging Goblin – Decent early but really dead in the late game. Mid to late pick.
• Goblin Piker – Strong enough to provide pressure early. Good solid role player.
• Sparkmage Apprentice – I would grab this one around pick 7. While 1 damage may seem small it can be a potential game changer. I found myself playing this one after combat and that extra point made their blocking choices seem like a mistake.
• Fiery Hellhound – A 2/2 for 3 mana is okay with me in draft and the pump gives it more versatility than the Bears in green for only 1 extra mana. The more committed I am to red in my draft the higher this guy will get picked.
• Panic Attack – Can be a deal breaker but I’m not in love with it. Middle pick at best.
• Seismic Strike – Removal is always valuable. Removal that grows over time is even better. Top 5 type of pick.
• Viashino Spearhunter – First Strike is a very powerful mechanic. If this was teamed with Green it gets better. I personally try to stay mono colored so I normally let it pass.
• Canyon Minotaur – In draft this is muscle and it only cost 4cc. Very pickable though it falls behind some other red cards.
• Lightning Elemental – I love this card in the common slot. The best part is when you are the aggressor or your exchanging hits back and forth. This guy turns the tide.
• Beserkers of Blood Ridge – I like the cost to power for a common but the must attack clause bothers me. I don’t like my hands being tied. However if you are in a deck that can either remove or keep their critters occupied it can be a game ender.
• Lava Axe – This is a true game ender. I have seen many a draft end when cards like these hit the table.

Summary – I really like Red common slot for draft. The problem is that Red is always usable and often splashed for its easy access to removal. This makes it the Road that sees more travel so you card choices will be thinned.

Black

• Disentomb – A chance to replay certain critters is very strong. Especially if you’re able to draft a potential bomb like Cemetery Reaper, Hypnotic Specter, or Vampire Nocturnus.
• Duress – Weaker in limited because of the fact that most decks get it done in the red zone so many hands will be full of creatures and lands only. Still a solid early pick.
• Weakness – Early removal and can slow down the big beatdown you may get later. I really feel that this card is underrated.
• Child of Night – While not a big thumper this little tramp of a Vamp may be a game swinger. Even on a trade for their 2 toughness guy she goes one for one with a life pump. Unblocked she makes a 4 point swing (-2 them, +2 you)
• Consume Spirit – While VERY mana hungry this is a strong finisher. I’ve seen the non-block because I’ll still be at 8 after damage, Oops I lose played out to often to not respect this card.
• Doom Blade – Top pick. Grab it quickly. Enough said.
• Drudge Skeletons – Many ground games in limited become stalled. Some decks like that. If that’s your deck this guy helps your cause.
• Sign in Blood – Rarely does black gain cards. Early to middle pick. I would suggest that it’s stronger in mono colored than splashed so it may slip all the way around. Once again it depends if black is the path less traveled.
• Assassinate – Quality removal is always good. Sure you have to handle one swing from the opposing force but it plays out good.
• Dread Warlock – No stall in the ground game for this guy.
• Kelinore Bat – The evasion makes this guy playable but not an early pick. Good filler creature.
• Looming Shade – While I think this guy can do some cool tricks I always hate leaving mana untapped in limited just so I can have a bigger dude IF the situation calls for it.
• Mind Rot – Classic Black. Plays well but doesn’t win games alone. Will slip back to you are truly on the right path.
• Vampire Aristocrat – I loved Husk when it was first printed and I love him in new form. Vampires are cooler than insects in my opinion.
• Warpath Ghoul – Vanilla 3/2 for 3 mana is solid for black. I am actually surprised there isn’t a drawback attached.
• Gravedigger – I told you earlier how good Disentomb is now put it on a stick and it’s better. I would only pass this card if there was a black bomb in the pack.
• Tendrils of Corruption – Solid Instant removal and Life gain that is even stronger when your mono black. If you pass this card you better have a solid reason otherwise you wish it was in your hand at least 5 times that night.

Summary – While Black is lacking in the muscle department it has the slow win going for it. In a format that is so bomb dependent black gives you the best chance of reusing that bomb after they have worked so hard to remove it. In my experience though Black is a common choice for many a mage so it won’t be the path less travel. I will say that I think black is the best color to have in a two color deck so starting off black and then shifting gears is totally playable.

Blue

• Ponder – Good deck digger. Very playable.
• Tome Scour – In limited this card gets rid of 1/8th of their deck. You won’t see 8 copies though. If you’re into Blue then it will be there on pick 13 don’t worry.
• Unsummon – While this card represents removal (kinda sorta) it doesn’t really get the job done.
• Zephyr Sprite – The early cheap evasion makes it playable.
• Coral Merfolk – This is Blue’s early muscle. Sad isn’t it.
• Essence Scatter – Blue is best at counters and there are plenty in the common slot of M10. This is one of them and it does beat Baneslayer Angel with the added bonus that you are more likely to have it in hand on turn 5.
• Ice Cage – It’s no Pacifism but it does also Kinda sorta remove a threat.
• Merfolk Looter – Worth every penny. While draft games do go a lot of turns and burning your deck faster can be a scary thing building a custom hand far exceeds the risk.
• Negate – Can be a life saver but also can be worthless. Depends on the opponents deck. Is great protection for any bomb you may have played and they’re trying to remove.
• Sage Owl – Once again the deck manipulation is nice (like Ponder) and the evasion is cool (like the Sprite). Together they are better but still not great. This card doesn’t make me go blue but if I’m already there I’ll use it.
• Cancel – Counter anything. Works for me.
• Divination – I like Blacks better but 2 cards for 3 mana is just about right. If it was an instant it would be a very early pick as a sorcery it’s a mid rounder.
• Horned Turtle – Helps stall the ground so you tiny fliers can win the game.
• Illusionary Servant – The drawback isn’t as bad in draft and the flying muscle plays well in Blue.
• Wind Drake – If I had to chose only from blue commons this would be one of my top picks. The 2/2 flier for just 3 mana is very workable.
• Snapping Drake – This goes along with Wind Drake in pick order. Still not enough to make me go blue.

Summary – Blues flying arsenal is pretty good even for blue. If you love evasion Blue is for you. The biggest problem with Blue is the bombs it has available just aren’t as strong as the other colors. I would not suggest trying to go mono blue. Though it probably is a very untraveled road.

White

• Lifelink and Holy Strength – really aren’t worth the two for one risk.
• Soul Warden –The itsy bitsy points this card creates for us are often a deciding factor by games end.
• Blinding Mage – Basically this is removal until they find their removal. Very early pick. I know he’s a little boring but I’m willing to be boring for the win.
• Pacifism – one of the best common removals in M10.
• Silvercoat Lion – For some reason I like the Lion better than the Bear. I wonder why? Could it be because the supporting cast is so much better?
• Stormfront Pegasus – White’s 2/1 for 2 mana can fly. Nice bonus.
• Veteran Armorsmith – All by himself I would say pretty good. The 3 toughness for 2 mana plays very well. The added fact of how many soldiers there are in M10 this guy is even better.
• Excommunicate – This is another Sorta Kinda removal good late pick though and it’s a good indicator if anyone else is playing white.
• Griffin Sentinel – I would pass the guy if he didn’t have Vigilance. With that bonus he become very pickable.
• Palace Guard – Late pick but it does go well with a soldier theme.
• Safe Passage – Strong pick for white as well. I lost a game to this card and my poor play. I had made a great 2 for 1 on his turn and thought that I had lethal if I blitzed him since he couldn’t block everyone. He Safe Passaged and hit me for lethal with all my tapped dudes…
• Veteran Swordsmith – Same deal as the Armorsmith. 3 mana for 3/2 is very playable. Mix some extra soldiers in and we have ourselves a game winner. Early pick.
• Angels Mercy – Basically give you an extra turn. I find Whites speed doesn’t need the extra turn and spending for is basically wasting a turn.
• Divine Verdict – Great trick. Especially win you opponent is in Beatdown mode.
• Razorfoot Griffin – The first strike makes this draftable but I would still wait till the middle to late picks when you compare to the other white choices.
• Siege Mastodon – Late pick. It’s slow for white.

Summary – I love the White commons. I am so happy white has some footing. It seems like forever since white was draftable. Because of this delay in gratification white is also very often overlooked so it’s path is very “wanting of wear.”

That’s my secret. I’ve drafted white and often ended up with a Mono colored deck that curved out well and maxed at 4 or 5cc so I was able to go land light. It’s pretty simple huh? How do you stop it? Draft White also. So far nobody has.

Can you please introduce yourself and your role with Magic the Gathering, for those who may not know who you are?
Hi, I’m Aaron Forsythe, Director of Magic R&D. I was a pro player for a few years (two PT Top 8’s) before coming to Wizards to run magicthegathering.com in 2001. I now head the R&D department, overseeing design, development, creative, and editing.

What part have you played in the development of Magic 2010 as well as the changes coming with the set?
I was the lead designer on the Magic 2010 set, and was the catalyst and point man for the rules changes. (I had little to do with the changes to the tournament rules, although I am a fan of them.)

What do you think of these changes?
I think they were painful but necessary, and will end up mattering less and being easier to adapt to than most players imagine. Magic is too hard to learn, plain and simple, and we have to take steps to make that less true, even if that means upsetting a few apple carts along the way. We would do nothing to hurt the game intentionally; every decision we make is done so with the long-term health and growth of the game and its community in mind. Everyone here lives, eats, and breathes Magic.

Were there any you were not in favor of initially?
I was uncertain about mana burn leaving, but I’ve since become convinced of just how extraneous it was. The new combat rules were a tough nut to crack; once we agreed to take damage off the stack, coming up with a system that let damage prevention and regeneration work intuitively in multi-blocking scenarios was tough, which is where the ordered blocking thing came from. My only regret there is that it is way harder to explain than it is to play with that particular rule.

Obviously Wizards has tested and explored these changes in depth before announcing them, can you give us an idea of what sort of testing happened and how long you all worked on them?
The combat changes were being worked out during Shards of Alara design and development; you can see that cards like Carrion Thrash and Bloodpyre Elemental were worded such that the transition would have no effect on how they played. The rest of the changes were added sometime between Shards and M10 development. So the combat system in particular got almost a year of testing in our FFL [Ed. Note: FFL is the Future Future League, the internal league used for playtesting by Wizards] and limited playtests, with a variety of players from Pro Tour winners to beginners.

Combat is drawing a great deal of the attention in terms of changes seen to be negative. While the use of the stack in combat was counter-intuitive it was still inline with the way the rest of the game worked. This is seen as an illogical change as it trades one counter-intuitive issue for another. Why make the change?
People get hung up on the “other forms of damage use the stack so should combat” thing, when that’s the wrong way to look at it. Untapping your permanents at the beginning of your turn doesn’t use the stack and can’t be responded to. Drawing your card for the turn doesn’t use the stack and can’t be responded to. Same for the act of declaring attackers and declaring blockers, and the same for all the stuff that goes on during the end step (like discarding down to seven and damage clearing). The only part of the game that used the stack other than spells and abilities from cards was combat damage. Players just didn’t get that; we saw it time and time again. That might be hard to believe if you are surrounded by knowledgeable players or play online, but it is very, very true. There was this big inconsistency in the rules and it tripped up players over and over, so we removed it.

Some players fear that Wizards is making these sort of changes out of a desire to draw in new players without regard for current players, do you have any comment on this? Obviously the game is meant to grow.
If we wanted new players without regard for older players, we could have done something really radical like change the cardback and make everyone start over. In no way is that the case. Yes, these changes were made to get new players. The gaming environment has changed in the past decade. Video games have all these great learning tools and systems that we do not, which makes the barrier to learn a complex “paper” game like Magic even higher. We have to be willing to adapt. If we just kept catering to the same crowd, it would shrink over time just by natural attrition, eventually making this whole thing not viable. No one wants that. We need to stay ahead of any negative trends and not wait until something horrible actually goes wrong to try and fix things. And the enfranchised player has to understand that we do tons and tons of stuff for him all the time, like offer a robust prize-laden organized play system, a website brimming with content every day, complex new sets and card mechanics and limited environments, the list goes on. It’s easy to latch on to something you don’t like and think you’re being forgotten, but we know who’s out there buying boxes… we just want to make sure there’s more of them.

These changes are being compared to the major changes which came out with Sixth edition, how do you compare these rules changes in terms of effect on the game?
These changes are far less severe, but at the same time they are also less clearly necessary to the enfranchised player. These changes are meant to fix problems that are below the surface of what most people see or read about on major websites or at big events–they’re targeted at players that many of your readers don’t interact with, so it may be hard to understand our motives.

Tell us the truth, did Gleemax make you all put these changes into place so that he could squash his rival Mogg Fanatic once and for all?
Look, I love Mogg Fanatic. My original screen name after Tempest came out was “moggfanatic”. I put Mogg Fanatic in Tenth Edition. These were hard changes to make, but people just have to trust us that they’re for the best.

Thanks for your time. ManaNation and its fans appreciate you answering our questions concerning these rules changes in Magic 2010. Do you have anything you’d like to add?
To people that still don’t like these rules, the best analogy I can make for you is that they’re like an immunization shot or a tax increase — things you don’t particulatly want to be subjected to in the short term but that have a long-lasting positive effect elsewhere, often in ways you can’t notice. You have to put some amount of faith in us that it will all work out in the end.

Indeed. We truly do appreciate Aaron taking time to answer our questions!

Check it out: Official Rules Changes

“In Play” is now “the battlefield” and “Out of Play” is “Exile” and “playing” is “casting”
Lending to better theming, Wizards in its infinite wisdom is changing some terms to be more thematic. Here’s the deal, I’m not a fan. It seems like change for change’s sake, but also I recognize that people do love the theme of the game and this enhances the theme.

Are people going to gripe? Yes. But really folks, what does it matter? This is nowhere near the Sixth edition rule change shake-up (we lost Interrupts, Enchant Worlds and turn phases changed among other things.)

To competitive play, this will change almost nothing. There’s not going to be any penalty for calling it ‘in play.’ It’s got no impact on gameplay, except that it makes rules text longer. People who don’t want to recognize the new text will just keep calling it the old names and life will go on.

Of these term changes, I think the one which makes the most sense is “Removed from game.” It makes more sense how things can now return from “RFG.” However the problem I foresee is why your sideboard is considered “Exiled.”

Some cards we know to expect in Magic 2010:

• Nightmare – Nothing special here. A very fun creature and one of my favorites from the Timmy inside me, but it’s been around for a while.
• Serra Angel – Always a welcome icon of the game, however she’s not looking quite as good as she used to, her flying 4/4 for 5 is a bit like your grandma’s caddy. A good comfortable ride but not exactly what you want to drive when you go to pick up your date.
• Black Knight – Though they still haven’t pictured Martin Lawrence on the card, it’s a good strong card and it will always have a place in aggro I think.
• Shivan Dragon – While it takes a great mind like Zvi Mowshowitz to return it to competitive play (albeit he ran it in the sideboard) BUT the card is another icon from the age of yore (means: the good old days.)
• Birds of Paradise – This is one of the true staples. It’s needed.

M10 + 10th edition for a year:
What does this mean? Well honestly I don’t think it will mean much. It means that the loss of cards in M10 is going to be hardly felt since they will still be in 10th edition for now. For those unclear, M10 is not knocking 10th edition out. We will have access to both 10th edition and M10 until next year when Magic 2011 (M11) knocks 10th edition out. Only then will the rotated cards really be felt.

Update: 10th edition leaves when M10 enters
It was pointed out to me on the forums that I had misread the rotation policy for the new core sets. The confusion arose over the fact that M11 doesn’t knock M10 out, M10 leaves with the old core set with the introduction of the new core set for the year. My apologies for the confusion. However, 10th edition doesn’t leave when Zendikar enters, it leaves when M10 becomes legal to play.

Possibly losing Mana Burn
This is still rumor as far as I can find, I haven’t found anything to confirm it, but it is a rumor that is hanging around so I figured I would address it. So what’s the big deal? It removes the danger of spells which enhance the amount of mana produced, such as Mana Flare or other spells. The benefit is that (new) players don’t have to deal with the penalties of too much mana. Aside from the possible acceleration, I don’t really see that making too much of an impact. It’s just another change that people are against.

I find this resistance to change to be a very funny point in stark contrast to our love for a game that, you know, is built on constant change with new cards being introduced regularly.

Magic 2010

Prerelease date: July 11-12, 2009
Release date: July 17, 2009
Set size: 249 cards

Aaron Forsythe discussed the new core set Magic 2010 and what changes are being made. There are some VERY big changes coming down the line!

To read the full article by Aaron follow this link.

But here are the highlights:

1. Core sets will now be annually released.
2. Will now be named after the year they come out (sort of.) Rather than increment the set number, they will be Magic 2010, Magic 2011, Magic 2012, etc.
3. The core sets will now contain new cards in addition to the old favorites and the known cards from other sets.
4. The Lorwyn planeswalkers will be rotated into Magic 2010 but as Mythic rares.
5. These will now have pre-releases and release parties just like expansions. Previously core sets just had release parties.
6. Core sets no longer bump the previous core set out of Standard. Now there is only one “rotation” day for the format, and that is with the release of the first set of a new block. So when ‘Lights’ comes out (the first set of the block) knocks out Live Long Prosper and Magic2010 leaving only Magic2011 legal. (Magic 2010 will bump 10th Edition immediately though.)
7. There will only be 8 cards which have existed in every core set, where there had been 16 in 10th edition. What will they be?
8. Dual lands in 2010! And they’re not shock or pain lands, they’re new!
9. There are 15 mythic rares in the set, 9 are reprints (of which 5 are newly Mythic-ed Lorwyn Planeswalkers) so we have six new Mythic rares to look forward to.