I've been playing Magic: The Gathering ever since my freshman year in high school, back in the fall of 2014. Having previously played Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! in middle school, Magic had always intrigued me. I found out a guy in my class, Kenny, played Magic, and after some Googling I mustered up the strength to ask him, "are you a planeswalker?"

Kenny and I became fast friends and from that point on Magic became one of the most important aspects of my life. In all of my fourteen years of playing, ever since that fall of 2014 I have never seen a change to drastic to the game than the one that was announced at Magic Con Las Vegas this past weekend:

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Yes, you read that right. Starting in 2025, with the summer Universes Beyond set, every tentpole Universes Beyond set will be legal in every format: including Standard.

But that's not all - here's the official schedule of all major Magic set releases of the next year:

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(this doesn't include the release of Innistrad Remastered in January, which will not be Standard legal, but will be draft-able)

If you've been playing Magic for as long as I have, you'll understand how much of a shock and fundamental change to the game this is. Here are the key takeaways:

• 2025 will have six major expansions - they will be legal in every format
• Going forward, each yearly cycle will have an equal balance of Universes Beyond sets to "Magic IP" sets
• Aetherdrift, Tarkir Dragonstorm, and Edge of Eternities are the three Magic IP sets of 2025
• Final Fantasy, Marvel Spider-Man, and an unannounced set are the Universes Beyond sets of 2025

This is a lot to take in on first glance. Let's take a step back for a second and put this calendar side by side with 2024's release calendar:

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This year we got nine major releases (this calendar doesn't include Foundations which releases in November). Four Standard expansions, a Remastered set, a Modern Horizons set, and two smaller Universes Beyond products which were not tentpole sets, like Lord of the Rings.

While on the surface 2024 looks to have fewer products overall, there are some key changes here that make the 2025 schedule and Universes Beyond announcement so groundbreaking. 2024 was exhausting in terms of product releases, as sets seemed to rotate too quickly, barely even having a two-month gap between prereleases. As a Limited player primarily, this led to some major burnout. This new announcement and release calendar presents some key issues and a major impact to Constructed as we know it, and it all focuses on one of Magic's most iconic formats: Standard.

As I wrote about in my last major Standard article, Standard is shaping up to be the major focus of competitive Magic over the next year and to the future. Three of the next four Regional Championship qualifying seasons will be Standard. In addition, Standard will be the focus of the Magic Spotlight series, the 2025 series of Grand Prix-style tournaments that will take place in multiple cities across the globe. With Standard being the format of Store Championship events, there's no doubt in my mind that Standard will be the format to play going forward, and will especially be the Constructed entry point into the game for new players.

However, Standard in 2025 will be unlike anything we've ever seen. Instead of four major set releases we get six. This means that decks change at faster rates and players will have to invest in more cards in products.

Here's one interesting insight into just how monstrous of a change this is to the format in terms of the quantity of cards available:

This math is staggering! pic.twitter.com/CfWBtDH4Il

-- Matej Zatlkaj (@Matej_Zatlkaj) October 27, 2024

Standard's identity as a whole is about to change drastically, and not just in terms of how many cards will be available in the format at a given time. Here are some of the key takeaways of these impacts:

The Financial Impact

The first incredible impact of the 2025 calendar and legalization of UB sets in Standard is the financial constraints on players. While I applaud Wizards for making Standard the primary competitive format of 2025 (and going forward hopefully) Standard is now faced with a release calendar that imports new cards into the format at an alarming rate.

As we jump from four sets to six sets a year, Standard decks will change at a much faster rate. With expansions releasing almost every two months, you'll have to be cognizant of how the format adapts. While I don't think decks will be invalidated by cards in each set release, it is worth noting that three of next year's sets are Universes Beyond products, which leads me to my next point...

While we don't have the MSRP of these new UB sets, it is worrying from a financial standpoint how these sets will impact Standard as a format. Say for example, Lord of the Rings was a Standard-legal expansion. At release, boxes were already priced about $40 higher than normal Standard draft boxes. Also, imagine if Orcish Bowmasters or The One Ring had been Standard-legal. With those cards making such a drastic impact to Modern as a format (The One Ring especially) I could see prices going through the roof on those singles.

Now what if one of these sets next year have similar cards? Is Peter Parker or Sephiroth the next chase mythic? How are players expected to keep pace if every two months they're incentivized to buy into a playset of a $50+ card?

Card Availability

The next issue I foresee for this change is the availability of cards. I'm very stoked for the return of Grand Prix-style events next year in the form of the Magic Spotlight series. Heck, I'm just happy that three of the next four Regional Championships are Standard. I've really disliked Modern since the induction of Horizons sets, and Pioneer and I never really clicked. While I'm happy Standard is back on the menu, I worry about card availability. With sets coming out at a much faster rate than ever before are vendors for these events expected to be fully stocked with chase rares and mythics from all of the sets in Standard?

What about commons and uncommons? I'd be very wary of trying to build a deck last-minute or searching for a playset of whatever the best Doomblade is in the format the night before an event. This puts pressure on players to constantly be adding to their collection. Even on MTG Arena I'm cautious how players and even myself will keep up with crafting Rare and Mythic cards, when there's no "dusting" system on the platform or easy way to stock up on wildcards.

Putting Time Constraints on Players

Overall, I think what bothers me most about this change to Standard is that it incentivizes players to be in a constant relationship with Magic. One of the best things about the original design of Modern as a format was that your decks stayed intact longer, meaning that if you skipped a Standard set or two, the changes to your Modern deck wouldn't be that gradual.

Now, in the era of Horizons sets that's not the case at all, as many Modern players realize, with decks and the format revolving around the release of new cards specialized for the format. Horizons sets simply existing make it so Modern players can't ignore them, and have to engage with them in order to keep their decks competitively viable in the format. The same is true for these changes to Standard. With sets coming out so fast you'll have to be constantly aware of changes in the metagame, card prices, and deck design.

When talking to Mike Flores about this he made an interesting point. If you're someone with a full-time job, a partner, or even kids, how the hell are you going to be able to master more than a deck or two in Standard, or any other format for that matter? Luckily Standard seems to be taking up most of the competitive space for Magic next year (although this comes at the sacrifice of one Modern season and practically no Pioneer events). However, I think WotC will have to lean into Standard more heavily going forward, as it's completely unrealistic to have players invested in three different Constructed formats and having more than one viable competitive deck on-hand.

Re-Evaluating Your Relationship with Magic

Looking past the financial constraints of this drastic change to Magic, we haven't even touched the topic of Magic's identity going into the Foundations era. While I'm personally stoked for Final Fantasy I honestly couldn't care less about Spider-Man, and there's a reason why I play Magic over games like Lorcana or Marvel Snap. I play Magic not just for the intensive gameplay and friends, but for the unique lore and fantasy setting that Magic offers.

In the last few years I've grown a bit frustrated with Magic, as sets have come across as more campy and one-off gimmicks rather than the previous focus on building up a plane and finding interesting and unique ways to return to it. While I love Innistrad and each iteration of its return in Standard sets (Shadows Over Innistrad being one of my favorite sets of all-time) Duskmourn fell flat for me, as the introduction of cheerleaders, VCRs, and 80s-clothed teens fighting masked slashers.

Universes Beyond taking up so much of the release calendar feels like a deviation away from Magic's unique IP and world. The multiverse is incredibly rich with story and immense fantasy settings, and only using half of the year to focus on this while making one-off gimmick sets of other IPs feels incredibly lazy and insulting to the multiverse the game has spent so many years building. And if you're playing Standard, you absolutely will have to interact with Final Fantasy and Spider-Man, even if you have no interest in those IPs whatsoever.

Look if you're stoked for this new era of IP crossovers, go nuts, I'm happy for you. If you're considering selling out and packing it up, I wouldn't fault you either. Even I'm conflicted on where my relationship with Magic stands. On one hand - I love Magic. I really, really love Magic. Magic has helped me make countless friends and has presented me with so many valuable opportunities over the years. I love drafting. I love Standard. I love brewing Control decks and going to FNM or team drafting with my local Los Angeles crowd.

My team winning the Los Angeles Team Draft League Bloomburrow season

This change doesn't feel like the Magic I know and love. It's heartbreaking, and again the greatest change I've seen to the game in all my years of playing.

I'm going to give it one more shot, though. As I continue to reevaluate my relationship with the game, I can't feel at least a little excited about the next year of Magic. Whether that's a cautious or optimistic feeling, I can't say. I know that I just re-organized all my Standard cards and ordered a bunch of staples after watching the 30th World Championship. I'm also gearing up for a team draft match this Wednesday. So that's something.

Magic isn't dead, and hopefully never will be. It's just changing, at a rate that longtime players have never encountered in their lifetime of playing. Does it suck? Yeah, it does. What's important is that you make holistic choices that will make your relationship with the game an overall net positive.

At the end of the day, it's just a game. Keep up with your friends, talk amongst yourselves. Regardless of what changes in this game, keep your fellow planeswalkers close.

LOVE

ROMAN