I think WotC is gearing up to transition from 4 standard set releases per year to 6. This occurred to me when I was thinking about why they shifted the release dates of the upcoming Innistrad sets. This would result in a new rotation model, and here's how I think it'll work:
1. Standard sets will release every two months rather than every three.
2. As a result, rotation will happen every 8 months rather than every 12. This is to maintain the size of the standard card pool (5-8 sets at all times). This means that rotations would happen in September, then May, then January, then September again, and repeat.
Here are the reasons I believe they're doing this. Note that I'm not saying this is why they SHOULD transition to this model, only why I think they WOULD. This is a prediction, not a wish.
1. More products = More $. WotC is a business, and has demonstrated that they are willing to ignore player frustration if what they're doing makes them more money. Increasing from 4 set releases to 6 would pressure standard players to buy new cards more often.
2. Faster rotations is an answer to player frustration. I know this contradicts my last statement, but hear me out. WotC is undoubtedly aware that players are frustrated with standard stagnating because of sets like Throne of Eldraine. Players want to start playing the next standard last month, not next month. WotC's two options to combat this are to either try to design standard sets more carefully, which they've been trying to do with very mixed results; or to decrease the amount of time sets like this remain in standard. Faster rotation allows them a safety net in case they fail on the first option. Again, WotC has demonstrated that they're willing to ignore this kind of frustration in the past, but as I explained in my first reason above, 6 sets a year can potentially make them more money, so their interests and player interests happen to align.
3. This could succeed where the 2 block paradigm failed. The first change in standard rotation caused a lot of player frustration because their cards were suddenly in standard for 6 fewer months, meaning that they got a lot less out of their investment. Oddly enough, a 6-set year is both a little better and a little worse than that, because a given standard set would remain in standard for up to 16 months rather than 18 (even shorter than with the 2 block paradigm), yet rotations would happen every 8 months rather than every 6 (less frequent than the 2 block paradigm). This means that individual cards would, in fact, rotate out quicker, but the standard format as a whole would be a bit more static. I have no idea whether that would increase or reduce frustration on this point, but it at least accomplishes one of the goals that the 2 block paradigm tried to accomplish in an arguably better way: making standard less stagnant by making the format harder to solve. There are also a number of notable differences between the metagame and the state of MTG as a whole between 2016 and now. SaffronOlive wrote a pretty in-depth article detailing these differences (take a look), but it essentially comes down to the difference in the average cost of a standard deck and how that's affected by Project Booster Fun and the presence of MTG Arena. Tl;dr: Players are in a much better position to be able to accept faster rotations now than in 2016.
There are, of course, potential issues with this model. For example, players are already getting worn out with the increasing number of product releases in a single year, and adding two extra standard sets into the mix would not help on that front unless WotC reduces the number of supplemental product releases to compensate, which I'm skeptical of them doing. Still, even on that front, MTG has a lot of different player bases, and we've already seen frustration with the speed of standard rotation that seems to contradict the product exhaustion. I think it's entirely possible that the standard player base will be much more willing to forgive the increased frequency of set releases in exchange for a more exciting format. I think that the MTG playerbase as a whole is in a sort of transition period between a state where most players can comfortably buy a bit of every product and a state where players' interests are more focused and segregated between the different kinds of products. Basically, I have a feeling that product overload fatigue is eventually going to wear off as players get more used to the increased number of products per year, whereas frustration toward stagnating formats is the kind of thing that only ever gets worse.
There's also the question of how this will effect the development of these sets. Right now, standard sets average between 2 and 3 worlds per year, plus a core set. Upping the number of sets from 4 to 6 complicates that a bit. They can still maintain that average of 2 to 3 worlds per year by staying on more worlds for multiple sets in a row (like Innistrad), and even adding a second core set per year or something like that. Still, this is more about speculating what kind of sets we'll see under this model rather than the pros and cons of the model itself.
I personally would be interested in trying a model like this. What do yall think?
I think WotC is gearing up to transition from 4 standard set releases per year to 6. This occurred to me when I was thinking about why they shifted the release dates of the upcoming Innistrad sets. This would result in a new rotation model, and here's how I think it'll work:
1. Standard sets will release every two months rather than every three.
2. As a result, rotation will happen every 8 months rather than every 12. This is to maintain the size of the standard card pool (5-8 sets at all times). This means that rotations would happen in September, then May, then January, then September again, and repeat.
Here are the reasons I believe they're doing this. Note that I'm not saying this is why they SHOULD transition to this model, only why I think they WOULD. This is a prediction, not a wish.
1. More products = More $. WotC is a business, and has demonstrated that they are willing to ignore player frustration if what they're doing makes them more money. Increasing from 4 set releases to 6 would pressure standard players to buy new cards more often.
2. Faster rotations is an answer to player frustration. I know this contradicts my last statement, but hear me out. WotC is undoubtedly aware that players are frustrated with standard stagnating because of sets like Throne of Eldraine. Players want to start playing the next standard last month, not next month. WotC's two options to combat this are to either try to design standard sets more carefully, which they've been trying to do with very mixed results; or to decrease the amount of time sets like this remain in standard. Faster rotation allows them a safety net in case they fail on the first option. Again, WotC has demonstrated that they're willing to ignore this kind of frustration in the past, but as I explained in my first reason above, 6 sets a year can potentially make them more money, so their interests and player interests happen to align.
3. This could succeed where the 2 block paradigm failed. The first change in standard rotation caused a lot of player frustration because their cards were suddenly in standard for 6 fewer months, meaning that they got a lot less out of their investment. Oddly enough, a 6-set year is both a little better and a little worse than that, because a given standard set would remain in standard for up to 16 months rather than 18 (even shorter than with the 2 block paradigm), yet rotations would happen every 8 months rather than every 6 (less frequent than the 2 block paradigm). This means that individual cards would, in fact, rotate out quicker, but the standard format as a whole would be a bit more static. I have no idea whether that would increase or reduce frustration on this point, but it at least accomplishes one of the goals that the 2 block paradigm tried to accomplish in an arguably better way: making standard less stagnant by making the format harder to solve. There are also a number of notable differences between the metagame and the state of MTG as a whole between 2016 and now. SaffronOlive wrote a pretty in-depth article detailing these differences (take a look), but it essentially comes down to the difference in the average cost of a standard deck and how that's affected by Project Booster Fun and the presence of MTG Arena. Tl;dr: Players are in a much better position to be able to accept faster rotations now than in 2016.
There are, of course, potential issues with this model. For example, players are already getting worn out with the increasing number of product releases in a single year, and adding two extra standard sets into the mix would not help on that front unless WotC reduces the number of supplemental product releases to compensate, which I'm skeptical of them doing. Still, even on that front, MTG has a lot of different player bases, and we've already seen frustration with the speed of standard rotation that seems to contradict the product exhaustion. I think it's entirely possible that the standard player base will be much more willing to forgive the increased frequency of set releases in exchange for a more exciting format. I think that the MTG playerbase as a whole is in a sort of transition period between a state where most players can comfortably buy a bit of every product and a state where players' interests are more focused and segregated between the different kinds of products. Basically, I have a feeling that product overload fatigue is eventually going to wear off as players get more used to the increased number of products per year, whereas frustration toward stagnating formats is the kind of thing that only ever gets worse.
There's also the question of how this will effect the development of these sets. Right now, standard sets average between 2 and 3 worlds per year, plus a core set. Upping the number of sets from 4 to 6 complicates that a bit. They can still maintain that average of 2 to 3 worlds per year by staying on more worlds for multiple sets in a row (like Innistrad), and even adding a second core set per year or something like that. Still, this is more about speculating what kind of sets we'll see under this model rather than the pros and cons of the model itself.
I personally would be interested in trying a model like this. What do yall think?
I think that the two Innistrad sets together is a special thing. It might sound silly but the fact that they’re doing two horror sets during the Halloween season makes me very happy. I think the problem with quicker rotation is you are basing it off of your gut reaction to eldraine. Not every set is going to be as strong. I love saffron olive but I think his viewpoint is skewed in the fact that he’s a content creator. I won’t have a problem if this does happen because I mostly play commander in paper and janky historic decks on arena, but from what I’ve seen standard is in a fragile place right now. It could also create more power swing issues. Hypothetically let’s say standard is not firing as well as they’d like in order to drive sells they would need to print cards that are powerful in eternal formats to compensate which to an extent they already are. When they tried quicker rotation during khans block fans were very unhappy. I think the real solution is they just have to find a balance in power. Too much power and people will want the sets to be gone like poor eldraine, too little power and people will focus more on older formats.
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Embrace the dark you call a home,
Gaze upon an empty, white throne
A legacy of lies,
A familiar disguise
Sing with me a song of conquest and fate
The black pillar cracks beneath its weight
Night breaks through the day, hard as a stone
Lost in thoughts all alone
I think the 'your cards won't be in standard for as long' frustration is still a big hurdle for this idea, and more importantly, doing extra sets each year might provide sales opportunities for WotC but it would also majorly increase development costs and WotC has already been increasing the number of supplemental products each year. If WotC were going to do 6 sets a year, it would likely mean less supplemental products to make room, and WotC's recent activities show supplemental products like commander decks and the Secret lairs are only growing.
1. Standard sets will release every two months rather than every three.
2. As a result, rotation will happen every 8 months rather than every 12. This is to maintain the size of the standard card pool (5-8 sets at all times). This means that rotations would happen in September, then May, then January, then September again, and repeat.
Here are the reasons I believe they're doing this. Note that I'm not saying this is why they SHOULD transition to this model, only why I think they WOULD. This is a prediction, not a wish.
1. More products = More $. WotC is a business, and has demonstrated that they are willing to ignore player frustration if what they're doing makes them more money. Increasing from 4 set releases to 6 would pressure standard players to buy new cards more often.
2. Faster rotations is an answer to player frustration. I know this contradicts my last statement, but hear me out. WotC is undoubtedly aware that players are frustrated with standard stagnating because of sets like Throne of Eldraine. Players want to start playing the next standard last month, not next month. WotC's two options to combat this are to either try to design standard sets more carefully, which they've been trying to do with very mixed results; or to decrease the amount of time sets like this remain in standard. Faster rotation allows them a safety net in case they fail on the first option. Again, WotC has demonstrated that they're willing to ignore this kind of frustration in the past, but as I explained in my first reason above, 6 sets a year can potentially make them more money, so their interests and player interests happen to align.
3. This could succeed where the 2 block paradigm failed. The first change in standard rotation caused a lot of player frustration because their cards were suddenly in standard for 6 fewer months, meaning that they got a lot less out of their investment. Oddly enough, a 6-set year is both a little better and a little worse than that, because a given standard set would remain in standard for up to 16 months rather than 18 (even shorter than with the 2 block paradigm), yet rotations would happen every 8 months rather than every 6 (less frequent than the 2 block paradigm). This means that individual cards would, in fact, rotate out quicker, but the standard format as a whole would be a bit more static. I have no idea whether that would increase or reduce frustration on this point, but it at least accomplishes one of the goals that the 2 block paradigm tried to accomplish in an arguably better way: making standard less stagnant by making the format harder to solve. There are also a number of notable differences between the metagame and the state of MTG as a whole between 2016 and now. SaffronOlive wrote a pretty in-depth article detailing these differences (take a look), but it essentially comes down to the difference in the average cost of a standard deck and how that's affected by Project Booster Fun and the presence of MTG Arena. Tl;dr: Players are in a much better position to be able to accept faster rotations now than in 2016.
There are, of course, potential issues with this model. For example, players are already getting worn out with the increasing number of product releases in a single year, and adding two extra standard sets into the mix would not help on that front unless WotC reduces the number of supplemental product releases to compensate, which I'm skeptical of them doing. Still, even on that front, MTG has a lot of different player bases, and we've already seen frustration with the speed of standard rotation that seems to contradict the product exhaustion. I think it's entirely possible that the standard player base will be much more willing to forgive the increased frequency of set releases in exchange for a more exciting format. I think that the MTG playerbase as a whole is in a sort of transition period between a state where most players can comfortably buy a bit of every product and a state where players' interests are more focused and segregated between the different kinds of products. Basically, I have a feeling that product overload fatigue is eventually going to wear off as players get more used to the increased number of products per year, whereas frustration toward stagnating formats is the kind of thing that only ever gets worse.
There's also the question of how this will effect the development of these sets. Right now, standard sets average between 2 and 3 worlds per year, plus a core set. Upping the number of sets from 4 to 6 complicates that a bit. They can still maintain that average of 2 to 3 worlds per year by staying on more worlds for multiple sets in a row (like Innistrad), and even adding a second core set per year or something like that. Still, this is more about speculating what kind of sets we'll see under this model rather than the pros and cons of the model itself.
I personally would be interested in trying a model like this. What do yall think?
I think that the two Innistrad sets together is a special thing. It might sound silly but the fact that they’re doing two horror sets during the Halloween season makes me very happy. I think the problem with quicker rotation is you are basing it off of your gut reaction to eldraine. Not every set is going to be as strong. I love saffron olive but I think his viewpoint is skewed in the fact that he’s a content creator. I won’t have a problem if this does happen because I mostly play commander in paper and janky historic decks on arena, but from what I’ve seen standard is in a fragile place right now. It could also create more power swing issues. Hypothetically let’s say standard is not firing as well as they’d like in order to drive sells they would need to print cards that are powerful in eternal formats to compensate which to an extent they already are. When they tried quicker rotation during khans block fans were very unhappy. I think the real solution is they just have to find a balance in power. Too much power and people will want the sets to be gone like poor eldraine, too little power and people will focus more on older formats.
Gaze upon an empty, white throne
A legacy of lies,
A familiar disguise
Sing with me a song of conquest and fate
The black pillar cracks beneath its weight
Night breaks through the day, hard as a stone
Lost in thoughts all alone
RUNIN: Norse mythology set (awaiting further playtesting)
FATE of ALARA: Multicolour factions (currently on hiatus)
Contibutor to the Pyrulea community set
I'm here to tell you that all your set mechanics are bad
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