We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website.

-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former MTG world champion says Standard format 'no longer makes sense'\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Times change, and with so many better formats to choose from, there's just no need for Standard anymore.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dot Esports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DOTesports\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-15T11:52:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-15T12:48:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/MTG-Sheoldred.jpg?resize=768,432\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"432\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tom Foley\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@tpefoley\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@DotEsports\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tom Foley\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tom Foley\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0fc899d873ddef0309e5850a7eac1c18\"},\"headline\":\"Former MTG world champion says Standard format ‘no longer makes sense’\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-15T11:52:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-15T12:48:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense\"},\"wordCount\":447,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/MTG-Sheoldred.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"MTG\",\"TCG\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense\",\"name\":\"Former MTG world champion says Standard format 'no longer makes sense'\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/MTG-Sheoldred.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-15T11:52:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-15T12:48:18+00:00\",\"description\":\"Times change, and with so many better formats to choose from, there's just no need for Standard anymore.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/MTG-Sheoldred.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/MTG-Sheoldred.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"Image via Wizards of the Coast\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Former MTG world champion says Standard format ‘no longer makes sense’\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/\",\"name\":\"Dot Esports\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Dot Esports\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/05103313\/logo-dot_esports-mark-black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/05103313\/logo-dot_esports-mark-black.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"Dot Esports\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DOTesports\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/DotEsports\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dotesports\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCckaIn-3KqLYfppkj4DeTAw\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0fc899d873ddef0309e5850a7eac1c18\",\"name\":\"Tom Foley\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/cbf5e9e5c3d7e9f9ef3cb15adb5f6a82\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Tom-Foley-Wordpress-avatar-96x96.png?resize=96%2C96\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Tom-Foley-Wordpress-avatar-96x96.png?resize=96%2C96\",\"caption\":\"Tom Foley\"},\"description\":\"Tom is the UK Associate Editor for Dot Esports. He's the former TCG Editor for CBR and holds a Master's degree in Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh. Tom spent six years as a Science Editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, and AstraZeneca before leaving science to pursue his dream career in games journalism at the start of 2023. He loves MMOs, RPGs, TCGs, and pretty much every game by FromSoftware\u2014especially Dark Souls.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.tpefoley.com\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/tpefoley\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/tpefoley\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/author\/tomfoley\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Former MTG world champion says Standard format 'no longer makes sense'","description":"Times change, and with so many better formats to choose from, there's just no need for Standard anymore.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Former MTG world champion says Standard format 'no longer makes sense'","og_description":"Times change, and with so many better formats to choose from, there's just no need for Standard anymore.","og_url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense","og_site_name":"Dot Esports","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DOTesports\/","article_published_time":"2023-11-15T11:52:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-11-15T12:48:18+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":432,"url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/MTG-Sheoldred.jpg?resize=768,432","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Tom Foley","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@tpefoley","twitter_site":"@DotEsports","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tom Foley","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense"},"author":{"name":"Tom Foley","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0fc899d873ddef0309e5850a7eac1c18"},"headline":"Former MTG world champion says Standard format ‘no longer makes sense’","datePublished":"2023-11-15T11:52:02+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-15T12:48:18+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense"},"wordCount":447,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/MTG-Sheoldred.jpg","articleSection":["MTG","TCG"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense","name":"Former MTG world champion says Standard format 'no longer makes sense'","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/MTG-Sheoldred.jpg","datePublished":"2023-11-15T11:52:02+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-15T12:48:18+00:00","description":"Times change, and with so many better formats to choose from, there's just no need for Standard anymore.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/MTG-Sheoldred.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/MTG-Sheoldred.jpg","width":1200,"height":675,"caption":"Image via Wizards of the Coast"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Former MTG world champion says Standard format ‘no longer makes sense’"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/","name":"Dot Esports","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization","name":"Dot Esports","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/05103313\/logo-dot_esports-mark-black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/05103313\/logo-dot_esports-mark-black.png","width":300,"height":300,"caption":"Dot Esports"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DOTesports\/","https:\/\/x.com\/DotEsports","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dotesports\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCckaIn-3KqLYfppkj4DeTAw"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0fc899d873ddef0309e5850a7eac1c18","name":"Tom Foley","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/cbf5e9e5c3d7e9f9ef3cb15adb5f6a82","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Tom-Foley-Wordpress-avatar-96x96.png?resize=96%2C96","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Tom-Foley-Wordpress-avatar-96x96.png?resize=96%2C96","caption":"Tom Foley"},"description":"Tom is the UK Associate Editor for Dot Esports. He's the former TCG Editor for CBR and holds a Master's degree in Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh. Tom spent six years as a Science Editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, and AstraZeneca before leaving science to pursue his dream career in games journalism at the start of 2023. He loves MMOs, RPGs, TCGs, and pretty much every game by FromSoftware\u2014especially Dark Souls.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.tpefoley.com\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/tpefoley\/","https:\/\/x.com\/tpefoley"],"url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/author\/tomfoley"}]}},"raw_content":"Magic: The Gathering used to be all about its Standard format, with cards rotating out every two years (now three) to make room for newer releases. The system worked well for decades, but over the years, things changed, and now Standard is all but eclipsed by everything else on offer. In a blog post on Nov. 13, former MTG world champion Sam Black lamented about Standard's dwindling role in the MTG ecosystem. \"Standard is no longer essential to Magic\u2019s business model,\" he wrote, explaining that a \"huge portion\" of new cards aren't playable in the format. Standard was the most popular format for competitive players and casuals alike and a great entry point for newcomers, but that's far from the case nowadays. Wizards of the Coast regularly releases Commander pre-cons, Secret Lair drops, Universes Beyond sets, and direct-to-Modern sets, and none of these are Standard-legal. Black explains that most new players are introduced to MTG through Commander, which offers better value for newcomers looking to build a playable collection. Even if beginners do buy Booster packs, they often contain cards not playable in Standard, and Black rightly points out how unintuitive this is. \"Even if a player were trying to play Standard by buying packs of the appropriate set, they still couldn\u2019t just build a deck out of cards they own and know that they could bring it to a Standard tournament,\" Black explained. Standard's biggest appeal was supposed to be that every new card was legal, but today, believe it or not, more new cards are playable in Modern than Standard. \"I want to reiterate how insane it is that Modern allows players to play with more new cards,\" Black wrote. All the quirky cards released in Secret Lair drops and Universes Beyond sets are Modern-legal, on top of the fact that players don't need to keep up Standard rotations. It's a popular competitive format, too, and most players will tell you that Modern is a better way to experience MTG than Standard. With so many better-value, more popular, and more accessible formats available, where does Standard fit into the equation? It's not fit for purpose anymore, and given Wizards of the Coast recently extended Standard rotations to three years rather than two, the designers clearly know something's wrong. Black argues the simplest option at this point would be to retire the Standard format, and we agree. It's no longer popular enough to bring value to the franchise, it's needlessly splitting the playerbase, and there are already too many formats to keep up with.","apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/MTG-Sheoldred.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1031741"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2277"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1031741"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1031741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1031939,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1031741\/revisions\/1031939"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1031745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1031741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1031741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1031741"},{"taxonomy":"invoiceable_action","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/invoiceable_action?post=1031741"},{"taxonomy":"internal-label","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-label?post=1031741"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=1031741"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1031741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

“Even if a player were trying to play Standard by buying packs of the appropriate set, they still couldn\u2019t just build a deck out of cards they own and know that they could bring it to a Standard tournament,” Black explained. Standard’s biggest appeal was supposed to be that every new card was legal, but today, believe it or not, more new cards are playable in Modern than Standard. “I want to reiterate how insane it is that Modern allows players to play with more new cards,” Black wrote. All the quirky cards released in Secret Lair drops and Universes Beyond sets are Modern-legal, on top of the fact that players don’t need to keep up Standard rotations. It’s a popular competitive format, too, and most players will tell you that Modern is a better way to experience MTG<\/em> than Standard.<\/p> <\/div>

With so many better-value, more popular, and more accessible formats available, where does Standard fit into the equation? It’s not fit for purpose anymore, and given Wizards of the Coast recently extended Standard rotations to three years rather than two, the designers clearly know something’s wrong. <\/p>

Black argues the simplest option at this point would be to retire the Standard format, and we agree. It’s no longer popular enough to bring value to the franchise, it’s needlessly splitting the playerbase, and there are already too many formats to keep up with.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Times change, and with so many better formats to choose from, there’s just no need for Standard anymore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2277,"featured_media":1031745,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"gamurs_wordpress_blocks_hide_tags":true,"_is_affiliated":false,"dotesports_deal_href":"","dotesports_featured_video":"","_notify_users":2,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-11-15T11:52:18Z","apple_news_api_id":"a074be1a-3770-4a59-872b-0e38153a8e2a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-11-15T11:53:02Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AoHS-GjdwSlmHKw44FTqOKg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3318,47069],"tags":[],"invoiceable_action":[46995],"internal-label":[46551],"article_type":[44125],"coauthors":[{"id":2277,"display_name":"Tom Foley","user_login":"tomfoley","user_nicename":"tomfoley"}],"class_list":["post-1031741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mtg","category-tcg","internal-label-gaming","article_type-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFormer MTG world champion says Standard format 'no longer makes sense'<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Times change, and with so many better formats to choose from, there's just no need for Standard anymore.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former MTG world champion says Standard format 'no longer makes sense'\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Times change, and with so many better formats to choose from, there's just no need for Standard anymore.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dot Esports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DOTesports\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-15T11:52:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-15T12:48:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/MTG-Sheoldred.jpg?resize=768,432\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"432\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tom Foley\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@tpefoley\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@DotEsports\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tom Foley\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tom Foley\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0fc899d873ddef0309e5850a7eac1c18\"},\"headline\":\"Former MTG world champion says Standard format ‘no longer makes sense’\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-15T11:52:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-15T12:48:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense\"},\"wordCount\":447,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/MTG-Sheoldred.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"MTG\",\"TCG\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense\",\"name\":\"Former MTG world champion says Standard format 'no longer makes sense'\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/MTG-Sheoldred.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-15T11:52:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-15T12:48:18+00:00\",\"description\":\"Times change, and with so many better formats to choose from, there's just no need for Standard anymore.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/MTG-Sheoldred.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/MTG-Sheoldred.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"Image via Wizards of the Coast\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Former MTG world champion says Standard format ‘no longer makes sense’\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/\",\"name\":\"Dot Esports\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Dot Esports\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/05103313\/logo-dot_esports-mark-black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/05103313\/logo-dot_esports-mark-black.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"Dot Esports\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DOTesports\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/DotEsports\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dotesports\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCckaIn-3KqLYfppkj4DeTAw\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0fc899d873ddef0309e5850a7eac1c18\",\"name\":\"Tom Foley\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/cbf5e9e5c3d7e9f9ef3cb15adb5f6a82\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Tom-Foley-Wordpress-avatar-96x96.png?resize=96%2C96\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Tom-Foley-Wordpress-avatar-96x96.png?resize=96%2C96\",\"caption\":\"Tom Foley\"},\"description\":\"Tom is the UK Associate Editor for Dot Esports. He's the former TCG Editor for CBR and holds a Master's degree in Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh. Tom spent six years as a Science Editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, and AstraZeneca before leaving science to pursue his dream career in games journalism at the start of 2023. He loves MMOs, RPGs, TCGs, and pretty much every game by FromSoftware\u2014especially Dark Souls.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.tpefoley.com\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/tpefoley\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/tpefoley\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/author\/tomfoley\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Former MTG world champion says Standard format 'no longer makes sense'","description":"Times change, and with so many better formats to choose from, there's just no need for Standard anymore.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Former MTG world champion says Standard format 'no longer makes sense'","og_description":"Times change, and with so many better formats to choose from, there's just no need for Standard anymore.","og_url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense","og_site_name":"Dot Esports","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DOTesports\/","article_published_time":"2023-11-15T11:52:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-11-15T12:48:18+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":432,"url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/MTG-Sheoldred.jpg?resize=768,432","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Tom Foley","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@tpefoley","twitter_site":"@DotEsports","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tom Foley","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense"},"author":{"name":"Tom Foley","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0fc899d873ddef0309e5850a7eac1c18"},"headline":"Former MTG world champion says Standard format ‘no longer makes sense’","datePublished":"2023-11-15T11:52:02+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-15T12:48:18+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense"},"wordCount":447,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/MTG-Sheoldred.jpg","articleSection":["MTG","TCG"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense","name":"Former MTG world champion says Standard format 'no longer makes sense'","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/MTG-Sheoldred.jpg","datePublished":"2023-11-15T11:52:02+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-15T12:48:18+00:00","description":"Times change, and with so many better formats to choose from, there's just no need for Standard anymore.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/MTG-Sheoldred.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/MTG-Sheoldred.jpg","width":1200,"height":675,"caption":"Image via Wizards of the Coast"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/mtg\/news\/former-mtg-world-champion-says-standard-format-no-longer-makes-sense#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Former MTG world champion says Standard format ‘no longer makes sense’"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/","name":"Dot Esports","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization","name":"Dot Esports","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/05103313\/logo-dot_esports-mark-black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/05103313\/logo-dot_esports-mark-black.png","width":300,"height":300,"caption":"Dot Esports"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DOTesports\/","https:\/\/x.com\/DotEsports","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dotesports\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCckaIn-3KqLYfppkj4DeTAw"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0fc899d873ddef0309e5850a7eac1c18","name":"Tom Foley","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/cbf5e9e5c3d7e9f9ef3cb15adb5f6a82","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Tom-Foley-Wordpress-avatar-96x96.png?resize=96%2C96","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Tom-Foley-Wordpress-avatar-96x96.png?resize=96%2C96","caption":"Tom Foley"},"description":"Tom is the UK Associate Editor for Dot Esports. He's the former TCG Editor for CBR and holds a Master's degree in Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh. Tom spent six years as a Science Editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, and AstraZeneca before leaving science to pursue his dream career in games journalism at the start of 2023. He loves MMOs, RPGs, TCGs, and pretty much every game by FromSoftware\u2014especially Dark Souls.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.tpefoley.com\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/tpefoley\/","https:\/\/x.com\/tpefoley"],"url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/author\/tomfoley"}]}},"raw_content":"Magic: The Gathering used to be all about its Standard format, with cards rotating out every two years (now three) to make room for newer releases. The system worked well for decades, but over the years, things changed, and now Standard is all but eclipsed by everything else on offer. In a blog post on Nov. 13, former MTG world champion Sam Black lamented about Standard's dwindling role in the MTG ecosystem. \"Standard is no longer essential to Magic\u2019s business model,\" he wrote, explaining that a \"huge portion\" of new cards aren't playable in the format. Standard was the most popular format for competitive players and casuals alike and a great entry point for newcomers, but that's far from the case nowadays. Wizards of the Coast regularly releases Commander pre-cons, Secret Lair drops, Universes Beyond sets, and direct-to-Modern sets, and none of these are Standard-legal. Black explains that most new players are introduced to MTG through Commander, which offers better value for newcomers looking to build a playable collection. Even if beginners do buy Booster packs, they often contain cards not playable in Standard, and Black rightly points out how unintuitive this is. \"Even if a player were trying to play Standard by buying packs of the appropriate set, they still couldn\u2019t just build a deck out of cards they own and know that they could bring it to a Standard tournament,\" Black explained. Standard's biggest appeal was supposed to be that every new card was legal, but today, believe it or not, more new cards are playable in Modern than Standard. \"I want to reiterate how insane it is that Modern allows players to play with more new cards,\" Black wrote. All the quirky cards released in Secret Lair drops and Universes Beyond sets are Modern-legal, on top of the fact that players don't need to keep up Standard rotations. It's a popular competitive format, too, and most players will tell you that Modern is a better way to experience MTG than Standard. With so many better-value, more popular, and more accessible formats available, where does Standard fit into the equation? It's not fit for purpose anymore, and given Wizards of the Coast recently extended Standard rotations to three years rather than two, the designers clearly know something's wrong. Black argues the simplest option at this point would be to retire the Standard format, and we agree. It's no longer popular enough to bring value to the franchise, it's needlessly splitting the playerbase, and there are already too many formats to keep up with.","apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/MTG-Sheoldred.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1031741"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2277"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1031741"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1031741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1031939,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1031741\/revisions\/1031939"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1031745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1031741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1031741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1031741"},{"taxonomy":"invoiceable_action","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/invoiceable_action?post=1031741"},{"taxonomy":"internal-label","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-label?post=1031741"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=1031741"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1031741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Also Read