
Magic the Gathering Rotation and Beyond....
As we all know it is that time of year again when we all prepare for Standard Rotation in Magic the Gathering. We are only a few weeks away from the launch of the latest set to be released and that means loosing some of the older sets from Standard play. On 24th September, Innistrad Midnight Hunt officially releases triggering the rotation of the 4 oldest sets in Magic the Gathering Standard. We then have Crimson Vow releases November 19th. There is also going to be a Double Feature with Midnight Hunt and Crimson Vow.
The sets we are going to be saying goodbye to are Throne of Eldraine, Theros Beyond Death, Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths and Core Set 2021. Sadly for most of these sets they were released during one of the worlds worst pandemics of modern times and they didn't get the play they deserved. We have some boxes left over for one last hurrah before leaving Standard play forever. Why not get some friends around for a chaos draft of what is rotating out? That is what our plan is.
Now we are saying goodbye to those sets, it has freed up some space for the next set of 4 standard releases (however for this year it is 5). But before we get onto what the Standard sets are going to look like, let's have a look at what else Wizards of the Coast have in store for us with the Magic the Gathering sets that will not be in standard....
Firstly we have a brand new 'Un' set coming out - 'Un-finity' comes out 2nd Quarter 2022. This is the next instalment of the ‘out of this world’ sets from the creative mind of Mark Rosewater. This is an out of the box product that is not legal in any other format but creates for fun and exciting game play. This latest is a carnival set in space. From the concept art you can see there is going to be a lot of vibrant colours and everything you can expect from another Un set.
Commander Legends - Battle for Baldur's Gate - 1st Half 2022. After the massive success of the Commander Legends set released in 2020 we are looking at the next instalment of this product. There will be the same 20 card booster packs containing 2 legendary creatures each. However this set will be based all around the Dungeons and Dragons city of Baldur’s Gate. Carrying on from the Adventures in the Forgotten Realms set release this year it is the perfect companion to the D&D releases.

JumpStart 2022 - 2nd Half 2022. Another set that missed out on more success was JumpStart as that hit the market in 2020 right in the middle of the pandemic. It hit the market at such a bad time there are people that are still not aware that this set was released. The aim for JumpStart is to make it as easy as possible to play a game of Magic the Gathering. The idea of JumpStart is to take two booster packs and shuffle them together. There is your deck. It is as easy as that. Each booster pack contains both lands and playable cards. Each of the boosters have a theme that can vary from creature tribal, certain mechanics or colours.
Double Masters 2022 - Summer 2022. Double Masters was yet another 2020 pandemic release set so this again struggled to reach it’s maximum potential. What is better than one rare card in a pack? How about two rares? What is better than one foil card in a pack? Two foils in a pack. Double masters is one of our favourite Magic the Gathering Masters set. Some of the older sets did have some good cards but they didn’t have 2 rares and 2 foils in each pack. With this being a masters set we can see these having a higher than average price but will this premium match the quality inside the packs?
Warhammer 40,000 Commander Set and bonus Secret Lairs - Hopefully in 2020. On a personal level I have a very big soft spot for Warhammer 40,000. I played Warhammer 40,000 before I even knew what Magic the Gathering was. I spent my early teen years in local game shops playing the fantastically immersive table top game. Now a lot of years later I get to see Warhammer 40,000 and Magic the Gathering combine into one release. The only thing I wish would happen would be a full set release rather than just a Commander set and a couple of Secret Lair releases. I am and will be overly favourable towards this release as these are two of my favourite games as a child and teenager.
Lord of the Rings Full set release - 2023. The second of the big Universe Beyond announcements for the next couple of years is a Lord of the Rings collaboration. With Amazon announcing and promoting their upcoming Lord of the Rings tv series that is due for release next year on their streaming platform. This is the perfect time for Magic the Gathering to release their cross over set. You heard it right, there is going to be a full set release for Lord of the Rings, including set and draft boosters as well as collector boosters and even Commander decks.
Fortnight and Street Fighter Secret Lairs. There are a couple of other collaborations that should get a mention but these are only being release as Secret Lair products. These other sets are Fortnight and Street Fighter. These are both highly popular games in their respective fields and this should wider spread the reach of Magic the Gathering to other gamers. Street Fighter has been an iconic arcade game for as long as I can remember and I have a feeling it is probably older than Magic the Gathering itself. Fortnight is a much more recent game which appeals to the console video gaming generation.
And Now…. We are on to the Main Event… This is the Release Schedule for Magic the Gathering for 2022.

Kamigawa Neon Dynasty - Jan.
We return to Kamigawa, many many years into the future. Kamigawa has moved on from where it was and it is now set in the future. With the return of some familiar faces, there might also be the introduction of some new ones. The new Emperor of Kamigawa has been hinted to be a very familiar face which should be recognisable to a lot of players.
Streets of New Capenna - April.
This is the first time we will be visiting the city of New Capenna. This is a futuristic city where organised criminal groups run the city. We are thinking something similar to prohibition New York meets Judge Dredd. This is not how Wizards of the Coast have described it but this is our interpretation of it. It is going to be something we are wanting to look at but we are also apprehensive of this as it feels like it could be moving away from the fantasy of Magic the Gathering and into something else. This set is going to be based around the three colour combinations, each combination representing one of the five controlling families of New Capenna.
Dominaria United - July.
We return to Dominaria once again. Coming up to the 30th Anniversary of the game there is no other plane best suited for such a milestone. Dominaria has come a long way since the last time we were on the plane. This is set to go back to the fantasy foots of the game similar to the last time we visited Dominaria in 2018. We have been told that players can expect to see some very familiar faces some of them being friendly and some being not so friendly.
The Brothers War - September.
This set continues with the 30th Anniversary celebratory year with another trip to Dominaria. The plane where it all began. The two brothers where the story all began. The one war that changed it all. This set shows the history of the great rivalry that formed between Urza and Mishra. This story was first told in 1994 in Antiquities and this will show what Dominaria was like before anything in Magic the Gathering happened. After 30 years we are back to where it all began.