If 2009 was any sign of things to come, 2010 is sure to raise the hairs on the back of neck as we begin to tingle with excitement. Perhaps a little bit too much excitement there, but consider the record-setting turnouts of 2009, the record-setting sales for M10 and Zendikar, and the record-setting speed at which the Magic metaverse has expanded online with blogs, new sites and the adoption of social media. With his eyes to the future, Trick conjectures and reveals some details for the upcoming year in Magic. Think of him as the 'Jimmy the Greek' for magic.

Worldwake

This set has many of us excited purely by this fact, that it was done under the lead design of Ken Nagle. Members of Wizards' R&D refer to him as 'Mini-Rosewater.' Why exactly? We're not sure, whether for his creativity, his tenaciousness, or his inability to judge power-levels (we kid MaRo!) But he has been an exciting addition to R&D and while he has contributed for several years, this is his first set as lead.

Almost as importantly, the set will be following Zendikar and carrying forth the exciting setting and abilities. Though it is almost guaranteed the set won't also have the 'treasures' which drove us all bonkers with Zendikar, the set should sell just as well, and based on preorders to online vendors, looks like it certainly will.

Let's look at a few things we can expect.

Kicker Variant - Mark spoke to us and to Evan Erwin that there would be a 'Kicker Variant' in Worldwake which would be 'Kicker without [blank].' As to what [blank] can refer to in this sense, we're not quite sure. But we do expect it to be exciting. The theories being it could be a kicker ability that lacks mana cost and is instead paid in another way, perhaps by returning lands or sacrificing them in some way.

New Land Themed Ability - This was also spoiled by Mark Rosewater to us and it has been called into question by another member of R&D. Not that it is inaccurate as the description may be less than obvious as to what it actually means. Unfortunately this clarification only confuses us further. Is it something on land cards? Or a new ability that allows non-lands to act as lands as had been suggested during the Zendikar design articles MaRo wrote? We don't know yet.

Allies Continued - Allies have proven to be a true force in Zendikar limited and it would be a major blow if they are not seen in Worldwake. We must believe that they are present and will add several new dimensions to the subtype with the release of the set.

Planeswalkers - We're fairly certain that Worldwake will have at least one, possibly two planeswalkers, Jace and the Zendikar Mythic rare, Ob Nixilis. Jace comes from an MTGSalvation forum member reporting that the Wizards booth at a trade show that stated that Worldwake will include a new form for one of Magic's most popular planeswalkers, which is believed to be Jace Beleren. The second, Ob Nixilis, is from a hint from Mark Rosewater in one of his columns, and the fact that the Worldwake expansion symbol appears on his forehead.

Rise of the Elrazi

Rise of the Eldrazi was announced just this week, but that isn't too soon for us to begin making our educated guesses.

Slivers - With the official confirmation that RoE is real, the rumors can begin to flow. As the third set, it is known that this set is designed to stand alone in limited play, though it will be thematically tied to Zendikar and Worldwake (obviously.) The set is under the head design of Matt Place, who was largely responsible for Allies in Zendikar. Though the sets are to be mechanically disconnected we have to believe that there will be some sort of Ally like mechanic in this set. Some on the MTGSalvation forums have suggested that we may see Slivers in this set as story-wise it is known that the Slivers were created by a superior race but not what race that was. It could be a masterstroke if this is true in RoE.

There is also suggestion that the Slivers concept is supported by the recent release of the Premium Deck: Slivers. The product seems suspect as Slivers are apropos of nothing in the current metagame and the deck would be relegated to collectors and casuals since the deck sees very little play in constructed recently. The timing would be that it is early enough to not draw too much suspicion but not too early as to be forgotten by the time the block comes out.

Planeswalker? - It is also possible that the above mentioned Ob Nixilis may appear in this set rather than Worldwake. A small set holding two planeswalkers could prove troublesome for limited play. Conflux only held one Planeswalker, Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker. And in the story it would make sense that Ob Nixilis would become a Planeswalker during the war and chaos that this set promises.

Magic 2011

PureMTGO.com wrote about an interview with Erik Lauer during the Community Cup Challenge and during that discussion Erik unveiled some very choice tidbits about 2011. Wizards will have fewer renamed 'new' cards than 2010 did. Interestingly, 2011 is a return to Magic's original plane "Dominaria" which is where many of the early blocks were set including Ice Age, Alliances, Homelands and others.

We can likely expect the rotation of the Lorwyn planeswalkers along with Magic 2010, to allow them to be fully replaced by their secondary iterations, lending further support to a version of Jace being princed in Worldwake. It does make me question where in the production schedule we'll be seeing a new version of Garruk Wildspeaker and Lilliana Vess.

New Sorin? - It is known that Sorin is a planeswalker from somewhere other than Zendikar, and given his possible ties to the Sengir family, he could be from Dominaria. This would be a quick turn around for a new planeswalker, but not impossible.

Miscellaneous Products

From the Vault: Relics - Following on 2009's must-have collector 'From the Vaults Exiled.' It was discovered from a US Patent & Trademark registration it will be the sequal to be released next year. It is still yet to be announced but we can expect it to mirror this year's timing as a release around August of 2009.

Phyrexia vs the Coalition - The first rumbles of this deck series began when Mark Purvis, at Wizards, hinted that the next deck series (after Garruk vs Lilliana) would feature a very famous battle in Magic's history. It was announced by Wizards to be released in March of 2010. Akin to the belief that Slivers is hinting at Rise of the Eldrazi, many feel this duel deck is meant to integrate and connect with 'Lights, Camera, Action' the next block which we discuss below.

Deckbuilder's Toolkit - A surprise announcement made quite recently by Wizards, they announced this product without any artwork to go along with it. It should prove a very popular item for casual players.

Dark Ascension - We have no idea what this is, and it may not even be a Magic product, but the trademark was registered with text similar to those they use for a Magic the Gathering product so we are led to believe it is... something. We have no idea what.

Lights, Camera, Action

The next block, "Lights, Camera, Action" was discovered by another trademark watcher and it is a return to artifact themed block. It's been seven years since Mirrodin struck fear in our hearts with Affinity. To give you an idea how scary it is, since that time we've had two Gold themed blocks, a Legend block, a temporal themed block, Tribal and most recently lands. Thousands of cards and 7 years. When this block comes in Mirrodin will rotate out of Extended, meaning we won't have to fear it fueling Affinity during the 2011 Extended season. However, in a ManaNation exclusive, we believe we know not only the names of the blocks but also the order of their release!

The set names, 'New Phyrexia,' 'Scars of Mirrodin' and 'Mirrodin Pure' are believed to be the names of the sets in the next block. Also those being the order of the sets, meaning the block will likely be called 'New Phyrexia.' The support for our belief is that we have discovered all three sets' domain names (NewPhyrexia.com, ScarsOfMirrodin.com, MirrodinPure.com) are all registered to Wizards of the Coast. We are 90% sure the block name is 'New Phyrexia' due to the fact that domain was registered first on July 14th, 2009. Then the second two being registered together on August 28th, 2009. This means their order is less certain, but that we believe it to be Scars of Mirrodin which will then lead into Mirrodin Pure. This order is supported by the Alara block being about a plane under turmoil (as most blocks are) but that it stabilizes in the final block. The domains we spoke of are currently not being used but should become active in the near future as the sets become officially revealed.

New Tezzeret - Tezzeret seemed rather out of place in Alara block. A gold themed block having an artifact hungry Planeswalker, though fed by the colored artifacts, provides a good timed entry for a new form of Tezzeret in this block. Tezzeret's location is unknown after departing Alara, and it could prove fortuitious for him to reappear in this block.

New Garruk - Green has become the enemy of artifacts. Where as Disenchant began it all in white, it was replaced by Naturalize and a number of other artifact destruction spells. Green will probably prove to be the foil of the artifacts and so it would be logical to believe we could see a new Garruk in this block. Some may say why not a new Nissa but aside from Ajani in Alara block, we have good evidence that Wizards prefers to put some time between the original planeswalker and their new form.

Urza as a Planeswalker? - If there is one mythical character from Magic's history it is Urza. The protagonist of the 'Brother's War' who fought his brother Mishra. When Planeswalkers were revealed it immediately caused us to ask, would we ever see Urza as a planeswalker? Could we call him to our side during battle? Many feel not as it would be nearly impossible to satisfy players with a Planeswalker whom was anything less than unbeatable. But if there were a block he would fit in, this would be it. Perhaps he will be printed as a planeswalker, personally I hope not, but if he is, I'm sure he will be played.

Dominaria vs Phyrexia vs Mirrodin - The stories of Magic are not my strong point, but it seems quite interesting that Magic 2011 is returning to be anchored in Dominaria, just before the duel deck and the next block. It could hint that we'll see ties of Tolarian Academy or other Tolaria inspired artifacts coming into question during this block.

And though it won't be legal during Standard, you may consider picking up your Tezzeret the Seekers and Mishra, Artificer Prodigys in case they become abusable next year. Obviously, lots is still unknown and many of these are pure educated guesses, but take it as you will, Magic's in an exciting time and looking to continue on its upward trend.