Set Design ends roughly eight months before a set releases. Under the system in place since 2018, sets are no longer designed in blocks. A large expansion established each block's setting and key mechanics, followed by small expansion(s) that developed on the block's themes and added complementary mechanics.

Standard annually rotates out older sets in favor of newer ones, putting less emphasis on older cards.įor over 20 years, Magic expansions were grouped into blocks, which carried an overarching theme across two or three sets. Until 2018, expansions were organized into blocks according to their theme and release date.Įxpansions are the focal point of Magic, especially its primary gameplay format, Standard. Each expansion has a theme running through the gameplay and flavor of its cards. The most recently released expansions form a large part of the game's Constructed and Limited environments. Expert-level sets were all expansion sets.Įxpansions are sets that feature the latest Standard-legal cards and mechanics. They had a medium level of complexity and tended to include what are today known as evergreen mechanics.Įxpert-level sets were sets that were generally of the highest level of Magic thematic and mechanical complexity. They were discontinued as they did not fulfill this purpose, but similar products have been printed in the form of 2-Player Starter Sets, and more recently as Spellslinger Starter Kits.Īdvanced-level sets were the core sets of the game. They were meant to introduce and teach the game to prospective and newer players. Starter-level sets were sets designed to have the lowest possible level of Magic complexity.

These ratings stopped appearing on packaging with the release of Lorwyn (2007). The most recent released set is Outlaws of Thunder Junction.Ī rating system for complexity in the line of sets was introduced with Fifth Edition, Tempest, and Portal Second Age, (1997–1998). An expansion symbol and, more recently, a three-character abbreviation is printed on each card to identify the set it belongs to. Cards in a set can be obtained either randomly through booster packs, or in box sets that have a fixed selection of cards. 2.5 Faction sets, nostalgia sets and backdrop setsĪ set in Magic: The Gathering is a pool of cards released together and designed for the same play environment.

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