Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Core Sets, Expansions and Blocks

a booster pack from Alpha, the first Magic set
Magic's first set (now referred to as 'Alpha') had 295 different cards (you can see them all here).  This first release was enjoyable enough, and provided thousands of card combination possibilities for deck building. But Magic is a collectible game: always expanding and giving new options. With that in mind, new Magic sets are released frequently.  Some are called 'core' sets, and others 'expansions.'  (They're functionally the same, but have slightly different purposes, as we'll discuss below.)  Either way, each set adds hundreds of cards to the pool of possibilities.  About 3-4 sets are released every year; as of this writing, Magic has over 100 sets.  Wow.

Today we're focusing on the 'normal' sets, as they're the mainstay of the game.  Supplemental products (and there are many) will be explained another time.

The Initial Sets (1993-6)

The first three years of Magic were hectic.  The game was insanely popular, and Wizards of the Coast had trouble keeping up with demand.  I don't know if there was a overarching plan, but sets were unrelated in theme and pumped out regularly.  Below is each release; click on the expansion name to see that set's card gallery.

1993 saw 4 sets:
  • Alpha (core set, 295 cards).
  • Beta (core set, 302 cards, a second printing of Alpha with a few more cards)
  • Unlimited (core set, 302 cards, now also called 2nd edition. This was effectively a reprint of Beta, with minor wording changes)
  • Arabian Nights (expansion, 78 new cards based on the famous stories of Aladdin and company)
1994 saw 5 sets:
  • Antiquities (expansion, 100 new cards, focused on artifacts)
  • Revised (core set, 306 cards, now also called 3rd edition. No new cards; 271 cards (89%) were reprints from Unlimited, 18 from Arabian Nights, and 17 from Antiquities)
  • Legends (expansion, 310 new cards, introduced legendary and multicolored cards)
  • The Dark (expansion, 119 new cards, expanded the concept of 'tribal' cards)
  • Fallen Empires (expansion, 187 new cards, introduced creature tokens and more tribal themes)
1995 saw 4 sets:
  • Fourth Edition (core set, 378 cards.  No new cards; 256 cards (68%) were reprints from Revised, 2 from Unlimited, 10 from Arabian Nights, 23 from Antiquities, 55 from Legends, and 32 from The Dark )
  • Ice Age (expansion, 383 cards, introduced snow lands and themes.  First expansion to include basic lands (making it 'stand-alone' playable) and reprints (21 cards from 4th Edition, 1 card from Unlimited))
  • Chronicles (compilation set, 125 cards, select reprints from Arabian Nights, Antiquities, Legends, and The Dark)
  • Homelands (expansion, 140 new cards, story-driven, used mechanics from Ice Age)
1996 saw 1 set before the block era began:
  • Alliances (expansion, 144 new cards, introduced alternate costs)
We can learn a few things from the initial years. First, note the differences between core sets and expansions:
  • The core sets were reprints (after Alpha), mostly from previous core sets, but with some extras from expansions thrown in.  The expansions, on the other hand, featured entirely new cards (until Ice Age), and often centered around a theme.  
  • Initially, the core sets had no set symbol or specific theme. Expansions, though, had a set symbol to help players identify their origin, and an accompanying story arc (more on this another time).  See the below examples: Animate Wall (from a core set) lacks a set symbol; Akron Legionnaire has the Legends set symbol (on the right side, in the center).

Second, note the difference in set sizes.  Sets could be anywhere from 78 cards (Arabian Nights) to 383 (Ice Age).  Generally, core sets were bigger.

After this, we moved into the 'block' era.

Blocks (1996-2018)

The MTG Wiki explains the concept of blocks well:
A block is a group of sequential expansion sets with shared mechanics, flavor, and rotation schedule. Blocks have ranged in size from two to four sets, and were usually named for the first set they contain. A large expansion led off each block to establish its world and mechanical themes, which were explored further in the block's remaining set or sets, which have varied in size.
For 22 years, the block format would dominate the game: Wizards would release three expansions in block format interspersed with a mix of other sets.  The 'block' years were broken down as follows:

The first 11 years (1996-2007) saw 11 blocks, all with three sets apiece:
(Between Ravnica and Time Spiral was a one-off set, Cold Snap, that was retroactively included with Ice Age and Alliances to make the first-ever block.)
Two smaller blocks (2007-8) with only two sets each temporarily broke the pattern:
Then it was back to three-set blocks (2008-2015):
Then back to two-set blocks for a short time (2015-2018):
During these years, new core sets (now with set symbols) would be released regularly, but at varying frequencies. Core sets initially contained nothing but reprints from earlier sets and were tailored towards beginners. Fifth Edition through Tenth Edition came every two years:
Then, Wizards changed it up.  They started producing core sets annually, naming them for the year after they'd be released, and including many brand new cards:
Then another change: they dropped the core sets altogether . . . at least, for a few years.

Current Pattern (2018-present)

Wizards went away from three-set blocks and dropped the core sets in 2015 (explaining why here), then went away from two-set blocks and brought back core sets in 2018 (discussed here). In a nutshell, they made the changes (and then changed again) because they were having problems keeping things fresh and designing exciting possibilities.  Today, they do only large sets (similar in size to the first set in the old three-set block paradigm), with core sets (now so named) annually:

2018:
2019:
2020:
In the current pattern, the sets can be stand-alone or linked.  Guilds of Ravnica, Ravnica Allegiance, and War of the Spark are linked, and considered by some to be an unofficial block.  But Dominaria, Throne of Eldraine, and Theros: Beyond Death are not.  The freedom allows Wizards to continue exploring a theme or abandon it after one set, based on any number of factors.

Reflections

New sets keep Magic fresh and healthy. And expensive . . . but there's no need to buy every one.  I've dipped in and out of the game as sets catch my fancy.  In the last few years, for example, I ignored War of the Spark (I didn't like the focus on planeswalkers) and Theros: Beyond Death but went all in with Throne of Eldraine and the Core Sets.  That's one thing so great about Magic: you can enjoy or ignore the sets as you please.

Just because a set is new doesn't mean the cards it contains are all original.  From the above, we see that Magic was reprinting cards in new sets from the very early days, and that trend continues to present.  Nowadays, all sets (core sets, expansions, etc.) will have reprints.  How many and from which sets will vary, of course, but it's now expected and accepted.  Sometimes, the same card even shows up in consecutive sets!  This is because Magic is catering to different audiences- ones who like to draft, ones who like new cards, and more.  Basically, sets need to accommodate multiple layers of game experience.  More on this in a future post.

Expect Magic to keep changing its release patterns.  As lead designer Mark Rosewater says in one of the above articles,
Magic is, at its core, a game about change. I believe the reason that Magic is as healthy as it is (and has lasted as long as it has) stems from the fact that R&D accepts that Magic is an ever-evolving system. We don't fight change but rather allow it to be a tool that lets the game constantly reinvent itself. We use this as an opportunity to keep making Magic better and better.
And I think they do a good job of it.

For more information on sets, the MTG Wiki lists all sets with expansion symbol.  Regular Wikipedia shows the number of cards per set and other information.
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