Magic 101: What is Standard?
Boston Magic the Gathering Examiner
Standard is currently the most popular Constructed Magic: the Gathering format. Constructed means that each player brings his or her own deck to play with. The player's deck must contain at least 60 cards and may have an optional sideboard of exactly fifteen cards. Additionally, there may only be up to four of any given card between the player's deck and sideboard, other than the five basic lands: Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest.
Standard is a "Rotating" format that typically consists of the current "Core Set" and the two latest "Blocks". As such, Standard allows players to play games with the newest printed cards, and is ever-changing as new sets are released. This creates variety as new decks must be continuously built, updated, and play tested against other new decks within the format.
The current standard set list includes:
Core Set
Magic 2010 (M10)
Shards of Alara Block
Shards of Alara
Conflux
Alara Reborn
Zendikar Block
Zendikar
For more information on Standard: Visit the official Standard webforums
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Published by David Leavitt
David has been playing video games since he jumped on his first Koopa at the age of five. He is a Featured Writer on Examiner.com and enjoys writing on a variety of topics from advice to reviews of consumer... View profile
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