Over the past few weeks, we have been inundated with so many announcements it has been a little difficult to not be overwhelmed. Fear not, this is not the end of Magic, and it is not meant to break your wallet—all will persist, and in a year, it will be business as usual.

With all of these announcements in recent weeks, the Internet has lit up as usual—what was a talk about the price of Legacy last week is now the ringing complaints of so many concerned with all of the product releases so quickly. I have spoken on this subject before, but I feel the need again to attempt to be the voice of reason in all of this online turmoil: The Magic world is not ending.

This is a plan years in the making on Wizards’s part, and though you may feel overwhelmed, there is a simple concept people do not seem to understand: Not every product is for you. That’s right, I said it, not every Magic release comes out with your demographic in mind. Magic is a game in which you can now pick from a diverse number of ways to play, most popular of which is still Standard, also arguably the most accessible outside of casual or maybe Pauper.

I have seen all of the arguments—“Legacy and Vintage are too expensive,” “Commander always persists,” and, “Modern is now broken”—but that is a topic that could make a whole article in and of itself. This week, I have a few more important topics to hit.

As Usual, the Sky Is Still Intact

Is it difficult to keep up with every format in Magic? Of course it is, but that can be true for any hobby. Typically, you find the niche you are comfortable with and look to excel in that area. Magic is defining that mentality a little more this year, and there is nothing wrong with that. Bear with me as I explain this, but I want people to grasp that this change and addition of products is actually a huge positive no matter who you are.

Let us take the production of the second Conspiracy and the fall set since they will be two of the closest printings to each other. Conspiracy 2 is aimed toward the casual and Commander crowd in much the same way the fall set is aimed toward the competitive player. For the average Standard or Modern player, you will probably draft the set a few times, if at all, pass on the purchase of a box, and perhaps have a few wonky stories with friends. The overall cost for this experience is relatively cheap and can be scaled down to nearly nothing without a real loss of playable cards to your collection. There will probably be a few Modern reprints available in the set, and for players interested in picking up cheaper singles, this will be a good chance if you need any of them to get in on the bottom. Much like what we have seen for the eternal-playable cards from Conspiracy, most of these cards will most likely recover to a healthy price over the course of a few months, and anything casual or Commander will take most of the price hit—not that those players are typically complaining about cheaper cards.

So, while you may want to have easy access to every format but also don't want to see so many supplemental products, it really begs the question: What are you truly looking for? Wizards has been doing a much better job announcing sets well in advance to allow people to preempt their purchases, and all we can see is the sky falling. This new schedule allows for an aggressive number of reprints to be done each year while each product will not sell so quickly that the cards are worthless. Even more so now, I expect card values to rebound more quickly as competing product lines will keep anyone from crashing the market. This gives people who are looking to get into cards a window in which they are more available and cheaper, and those players who already have them should see a rebound quickly enough that, by time they are looking to sell, there would be virtually no negative change.

Overall, this game has had a huge demand for card availability, and I for one am sick of reading about how Wizards is this automated factory of cardboard looking to steal your wallet. Yes, cards cost money, and the point is, in the end, to sell cards, but so many people who have put their hearts and souls into this game are behind many of these decisions. The key is to plan out what you really want out of Magic and keep within your budget. Does this mean you may not have a full set of every card coming out? Sure, but realistically, if you are attempting to play every format, I don't know how you find enough time in the day. Magic has continued to grow in depth and diversity, and this is but the next step.

I am not saying everything is perfect, but consider how far this game has come, and put that into perspective for what this world has to offer now: hundreds of articles, podcasts daily, and more peripheral content than any one person could read in a day. Perhaps it is time to accept that this game is a little more diverse than just you.

Standard

While Standard has had a relatively quiet week, we do still have some decks I have not covered yet as they rotate in and out of recent Top 8s. I imagine until after the triple-GP weekend, Standard will see relatively little change, as Modern and the Eldrazi menace are still taking the forefront along with all of these recent announcements. Mardu Green is not a new deck, though this list certainly has some interesting cards and numbers to fill out the seventy-five.

Mardu Green ? Oath of the Gatewatch Standard | Patrick Narsavage, Star City Games Classic, 6th Place, February 21

• Creatures (14)
• 2 Den Protector
• 3 Goblin Dark-Dwellers
• 3 Soulfire Grand Master
• 4 Siege Rhino
• 2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Chandra, Flamecaller

• Spells (19)
• 1 Murderous Cut
• 2 Abzan Charm
• 2 Kolaghan's Command
• 3 Fiery Impulse
• 4 Crackling Doom
• 1 Painful Truths
• 1 Read the Bones
• 1 Ruinous Path
• 2 Duress
• 2 Roast

• Lands (26)
• 1 Forest
• 1 Mountain
• 1 Plains
• 2 Swamp
• 1 Canopy Vista
• 1 Cinder Glade
• 2 Nomad Outpost
• 2 Smoldering Marsh
• 3 Shambling Vent
• 4 Bloodstained Mire
• 4 Windswept Heath
• 4 Wooded Foothills

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Kozilek's Return
• 1 Pulse of Murasa
• 2 Transgress the Mind
• 1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
• 3 Hallowed Moonlight
• 1 Roast
• 1 Utter End
• 3 Anafenza, the Foremost
• 1 Duress

Buy This Deck

One other card to note that I have played a few times now in random sideboards is Pulse of Murasa. While this card is just beginning to be explored, it has already proven to be a huge boon in many midrange and aggro matchups. Though not necessarily a contender for main-deck spots yet, it may shove its way into the first sixty over the coming month to combat some of the more aggressive one-for-one decks like Jeskai or Mardu. If you are a fan of Pulse no matter the format, you may also want to check out Alex Ulman’s article this week on Pauper. He goes into detail about exactly what Pulse may be able to do in that format and how it can be made use of by Tron variants in particular.

I would love to see Pulse break into Standard a little further, as the card is certainly a valuable resource against the right subset of decks. I don't see it fitting into any of the Collected Company decks currently, but there are a few midrange lists that could make use of the card to allow for a weaker, more utility, early game, which can quickly be made up with the life-gain and gaining a land back to make sure you never fall behind curve.

R/G Eldrazi ? Oath of the Gatewatch Standard | Ryan Bushard

• Creatures (15)
• 3 Elvish Visionary
• 4 Rattleclaw Mystic
• 4 World Breaker
• 2 Dragonlord Atarka
• 2 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 2 Chandra, Flamecaller
• 2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

• Spells (16)
• 2 Pulse of Murasa
• 3 Oath of Nissa
• 4 Explosive Vegetation
• 4 Nissa's Pilgrimage
• 3 Hedron Archive

• Lands (25)
• 2 Mountain
• 7 Forest
• 2 Cinder Glade
• 3 Shrine of the Forsaken Gods
• 3 Windswept Heath
• 4 Sanctum of Ugin
• 4 Wooded Foothills

Buy This Deck

Decks like R/G Eldrazi can struggle against some of the quicker decks, and the addition of Pulse allows you to either make your critical land drops that you certainly cannot afford to miss or bring back an Elvish Mystic to block again if needed. Pulse can also be fine against control to either bring back a threat in the form of Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger or Dragonlord Atarka or else getting a Sanctum of Ugin to find a threat if your previous ones have been exiled. Any number of threats you can add to the deck while also providing early-game utility should be considered, and Pulse seems great at filling both roles.

Next week, we should see a few larger tournaments feeding us some results, and it will be interesting to see if Eldrazi looks the same as it did this week and last. The metagame is still in flux even though there is little in the way of innovation right now, but with every change comes the chance of something new emerging. Check in next week, and see what the world of Standard has in store.