Core Set 2020

Core Set 2020

 

Card comparisons

 

Changes

 

Deck Builder's Toolkit

 

Planeswalker decks

 

Spellslinger Starter Kit

 

Welcome decks

 

Core Set 2020
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Core Set 2020.png}}|250px]]
Set Information
Set symbol
Symbol description	"M20"
Design	Yoni Skolnik (lead) Andrew Brown Mclane Crowell Melissa DeTora Peter Lee Max McCall
Development	Same as design
Art direction	Keven Smith
Release date	July 12, 2019
Plane	Multiversal
Themes and mechanics	Chandra Nalaar, Elementals, wedges, color hate, leylines
Keywords/​ability words	Evergreen (including Protection again)
Set size	280 cards (112 commons, 80 uncommons, 53 rares, 15 mythic rares, 20 basic lands) +1 Buy-a-Box promo +20 Planeswalker deck exclusives +43 Welcome deck cards
Expansion code	M20
Core sets
Core Set 2019 Core Set 2020 Core Set 2021
Core Set 2020 Standard
Guilds of Ravnica Ravnica Allegiance War of the Spark
Magic: The Gathering Chronology
Signature Spellbook: Gideon Core Set 2020 Commander 2019

Core Set 2020, also known as Core 2020, is the nineteenth Magic core set. It was released on July 12, 2019.

Set details

Core Set 2020 features a mix of new and reprinted cards. The set contains 280 cards (112 commons, 80 uncommons, 53 rares, 15 mythic rares, 20 basic lands) and includes randomly inserted premium versions of all cards. 1:45 cards are foil, instead of the usual 1:67. A unique Buy-a-Box promotional card numbered #281/280 is also considered to be part of the set. 63 additional cards are found in the set's planeswalker decks (#282/280 to #301/280) and Spellslinger Starter Kit and Welcome decks (#302/280 to #344/280). Core Set 2020 introduced full-art tokens. The Gainlands appear like the taplands in Core 2019 over the basic lands in about 5/12 boosters.

Chandra Nalaar is the face of Core Set 2020 card set, and is represented by three different planeswalker cards in different rarities and depicting several facets in her life. A fourth Chandra planeswalker card is included in the Chandra Planeswalker Deck.

Rules change

Starting with tabletop Core Set 2020 Preleases on July 5, the London mulligan will be used for all play. It became officially reflected in the Comprehensive Rules with the M20 rules updates on July 12. To take this mulligan, a player shuffles the cards in their hand back into their library, draws a new hand of cards equal to their starting hand size, then puts a number of those cards equal to the number of times that player has taken a mulligan on the bottom of their library in any order.

Storyline

Core Set 2020 has a small flavor theme focusing on the life of Chandra Nalaar. There are no Story Spotlights, and there was no story support for the set.

Marketing

Core Set 2020 is sold in 16-card boosters (one card being a marketing card), mono-colored theme boosters, five welcome decks, five planeswalker decks, the Core 2020 bundle, a Deck Builder's Toolkit, a Spellslinger Starter Kit and a Land Station. The bundle for the first time contains a alternate art foil promo card and an oversized spindown life counter. It also contains 20 foil lands. The boosters feature key art of three planeswalkers (Ajani, Mu Yanling and Sorin Markov) that is also featured on the Planeswalker decks and Welcome decks.

Like with its predecessor, the Welcome decks, Planeswalker decks and Deck Builder's Toolkit are strongly integrated, which allows for an easier transition between the products. The Spellslinger Starter Kit is now also part of the line up. Throughout the product line the colors have a central theme: Lifegain, Flying, Vampires, Direct damage and Big Monsters/Pump.

Events

• Magic Open House: June 29–30, 2019
• Prerelease: July 5–7, 2019
  • Magic Arena: July 2, 2019
• Draft Weekend: July 13–14, 2019
• Commander Weekend: August 24–25, 2019. This season's Magic Weekend coincides with the release of Commander 2019. Commander Weekend will feature Commander variants recommended by Magic's design studio, with achievement cards.
• There is no Standard Showdown planned for this set.

Promotional cards

Promo pack

Premium promo pack

• Prerelease: a stamped card that can be any rare or mythic rare of Core Set 2020.
• Buy-a-Box: Rienne, Angel of Rebirth
• Core Set 2020 introduces the universal promo pack, the contents of which are distributed at the discretion of the stores. This contains:
  • a promo-stamped rare or mythic rare from Core Set 2020 .
  • a promo-stamped rare or mythic rare from a short, curated list. Standard-legal.
    • Roughly 1:4 of packs contains a Japanese anime-style alternate art War of the Spark planeswalker, instead.
  • an alternate art basic land.
  • One of five special, season-specific cards with FNM alternate card frame: Corpse Knight, Negate, Disfigure, Flame Sweep or Thrashing Brontodon.
  • 1:4 promo packs includes all foil contents (clearly identifiable from the packaging).
• Core Set 2020 Bundle promo: foil alternate art Chandra's Regulator
• Convention promo: full-art Nightpack Ambusher

Tokens and emblems

Core 2020 comes with 10 tokens and 2 emblems. Token and emblems appear in the marketing card slot.

1. 2/2 Cat Soldier creature named Ajani's Pridemate with "Whenever you gain life, put a +1/+1 counter on Ajani's Pridemate," for Ajani, Strength of the Pride.
2. 1/1 Soldier creature, for Ancestral Blade, Ironroot Warlord, Raise the Alarm, and Skyknight Vanguard.
3. 1/1 Spirit creature with flying, for Bishop of Wings, Hanged Executioner, and Kykar, Wind's Fury.
4. 4/4 Elemental Bird creature with flying, for Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer.
5. 5/5 Demon creature with flying, for Bloodsoaked Altar.
6. 2/2 Zombie creature, for Boneclad Necromancer, Field of the Dead, and Undead Servant.
7. 1/1 Elemental creature, for Chandra, Acolyte of Flame, Mask of Immolation and Scampering Scorcher.
8. 2/2 Wolf creature, for Ferocious Pup, Howling Giant, Nightpack Ambusher, Wolfkin Bond, and Wolfrider's Saddle.
9. 3/3 Golem artifact creature, for Cavalier of Dawn, Master Splicer, and Masterful Replication.
10. Treasure, for Rapacious Dragon.
11. Emblem for Chandra, Awakened Inferno
12. Emblem for Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer

Themes and mechanics

To improve draft, Core Set 2020 is built around three-color "wedges" (a color and its two enemies).

The set features the following limited archetypes, which focus on the ally-colored pairs within each wedge:

• : Go Wide
  • : Ironroot Warlord
• : Flying Creatures
  • : Empyrean Eagle
• : Control with "Enters-the-Battlefield" Effects
  • : Tomebound Lich
• : Aggro
  • : Ogre Siegebreaker
• : Elemental Creatures
  • : Creeping Trailblazer

The enemy colored signposts connecting the two archetypes which they are part of:

• : Corpse Knight (Going Wide Aggro)
• : Lightning Stormkin (Flying Elementals)
• : Moldervine Reclamation (Going Wide recursive midrange value)
• : Skyknight Vanguard (Flying Aggro)
• : Risen Reef (Elemental with "Enters-the-Battlefield" Effect)

There are no new, or non-evergreen returning, mechanics in the set. Protection returns back to evergreen on a probationary status.

Cycles

Core Set 2020 has twenty cycles, including one double cycle and one vertical cycle.

Cycle name
Core set planeswalkers	Ajani, Strength of the Pride	Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer	Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord	Chandra, Awakened Inferno	Vivien, Arkbow Ranger
	Five mythic monocolor planeswalkers.
Cavaliers	Cavalier of Dawn	Cavalier of Gales	Cavalier of Night	Cavalier of Flame	Cavalier of Thorns
	Five mythic Elemental Knight creatures, each costing MMM. Each has a powerful enters the battlefield, a synergistic dies trigger, and a keyword (or can gain a keyword) ability.
Iconic legends	Sephara, Sky's Blade	Atemsis, All-Seeing	Vilis, Broker of Blood	Drakuseth, Maw of Flames	Gargos, Vicious Watcher
	Five rare monocolored iconic legendary creatures, each costing at least MMM.
Leylines	Leyline of Sanctity	Leyline of Anticipation	Leyline of the Void	Leyline of Combustion	Leyline of Abundance
	Five rare enchantments, each of which cost MM, and can start the game on the battlefield if they are in a player's opening hand.
Double spells	Brought Back	Drawn from Dreams	Scheming Symmetry	Repeated Reverberation	Shared Summons
	Five rare instants and sorceries, each of which have an effect that happens twice and have an alliterative name.
Enemy color hosers	Devout Decree ()	Aether Gust ()	Noxious Grasp ()	Fry ()	Veil of Summer ()
	Five uncommon instants and sorceries, each of which punish an opponent for playing their enemy colors.
Protection creatures	Apostle of Purifying Light ()	Cerulean Drake ()	Blightbeetle ()	Unchained Berserker ()	Shifting Ceratops ()
	Five creatures, each of which have protection from one of their enemy colors. Four are uncommon and one is rare.
Colored artifacts	Ancestral Blade	Portal of Sanctuary	Bloodsoaked Altar	Mask of Immolation	Wolfrider's Saddle
	Five uncommon monocolored artifacts.
"Care about" spells	Battalion Foot Soldier	Faerie Miscreant	Undead Servant	Pack Mastiff	Growth Cycle
	Five common spells that get more powerful when played with multiple copies of the same card. Two are reprints from Magic Origins.
Cycle name
Allied signposts	Empyrean Eagle	Tomebound Lich	Ogre Siegebreaker	Creeping Trailblazer	Ironroot Warlord
	Five uncommon allied color spells, each of which supports one wedge draft archetype.
Cycle name
Crossover signposts	Corpse Knight	Lightning Stormkin	Moldervine Reclamation	Skyknight Vanguard	Risen Reef
	Five uncommon enemy colored spells, each of which supports two wedge draft archetypes.
Temples	Temple of Silence	Temple of Epiphany	Temple of Malady	Temple of Triumph	Temple of Mystery
	Five rare enemy colored scry lands, reprinted from the Theros block.
Cycle name
Wedge legends	Kethis, the Hidden Hand	Kykar, Wind's Fury	Yarok, the Desecrated	Kaalia, Zenith Seeker	Omnath, Locus of the Roil
	Five mythic rare wedge colored legendary creatures, some supporting a draft theme.

Dual cycle

Cycle name
Life-gain taplands	Tranquil Cove	Dismal Backwater	Bloodfell Caves	Rugged Highlands	Blossoming Sands	Scoured Barrens	Swiftwater Cliffs	Jungle Hollow	Wind-Scarred Crag	Thornwood Falls
	Ten common lands that enter the battlefield tapped, gain the controller one life, and can tap for 2 different colors of mana. Reprinted from Khans of Tarkir and Fate Reforged.

Vertical cycle

Cycle name
Chandra	Chandra, Novice Pyromancer	Chandra, Acolyte of Flame	Chandra, Awakened Inferno
	Depicting Chandra Nalaar in various stages of her life.

Precon only

Cycle name
Planeswalkers	Ajani, Inspiring Leader	Mu Yanling, Celestial Wind	Sorin, Vampire Lord	Chandra, Flame's Fury	Vivien, Nature's Avenger
	Five planeswalker variants with simpler abilities, each of which cost MM and is included in the Planeswalker decks for M20.
Planeswalkers' Tutor	Goldmane Griffin	Yanling's Harbinger	Sorin's Guide	Chandra's Flame Wave	Ethereal Elk
	Five rare Spells, each of which cost MM,everyone of those has an effect and also tutors for the specific planeswalker.
3-of creatures	Twinblade Paladin	Waterkin Shaman	Thirsting Bloodlord	Pyroclastic Elemental	Gnarlback Rhino
	Five uncommon creatures that appear in three copies in the Planeswalker deck.
4-of creatures	Savannah Sage	Celestial Messenger	Savage Gorger	Wildfire Elemental	Vivien's Crocodile
	Five common creature that appear in four copies in the Planeswalker deck.
Welcome Deck Rares	Serra's Guardian	Riddlemaster Sphinx	Gravewaker	Shivan Dragon	Aggressive Mammoth
	Five rare creatures that are only included in the Welcome Decks and Planeswalker Decks.

Notable cards

• Bag of Holding is a Dungeons & Dragons crossover.
• Ripscale Predator is printed as a Dinosaur for the first time after being originally printed as a Lizard in Gatecrash, and the oracle change in the Ixalan update.

Banned and restricted cards

• Mystic Forge is a Future Sight-inspired card that worked only with artifacts and colorless spells. Naturally, the artifact-heavy Vintage format found this to be extremely powerful, giving the Stax decks a card advantage engine that competes with the other decks in the format. It was subsequently restricted in August 2019.
• Field of the Dead was initially one of three cards believed to be a "last hurrah" type card (for Scapeshift in particular), alongside Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord for tribal Vampires and Marauding Raptor for tribal Dinosaurs, before Scapeshift rotated out. After Scapeshift rotated, the deck would fetch additional copies of Field of the Dead with Golos, Tireless Pilgrim and use Circuitous Route to locate specifically named lands. However, rotation also caused the cards that kept Field in check to leave Standard, which allowed Field decks to dominate due to their incredible consistency. Field of the Dead was later banned for being too powerful after the release of Throne of Eldraine. Its power level as an inevitability engine permeated through Pioneer, where it was banned in the first cycle in December 2019; Historic, which banned it August 2020; Modern, where it was banned February 2021; and Historic Brawl, where it was banned December 2021.
• Leyline of Abundance is a combo-centric Leyline that encouraged using mana dorks to get ahead rather than land-based options, ostensibly as it would be weaker to disruption. However, the first Pioneer bannings included this card as mono-Green ramp was dominant. R&D intended for aggressive bannings early on in the format, and while Leyline was not outside the realm of the format's power level, it has yet to be revisited.
• Veil of Summer is a boosted version of Autumn's Veil, a previous colour hate card that was not effective as a sideboard card as the counter-reactive one-for-one played poorly against the card-advantage blue and black decks. However, the extra card draw counteracted this, and being in the format with so many three-mana planeswalkers from War of the Spark meant answers to any form of green deck were at an all-time low. It was later banned in Historic, Pioneer, and Standard, as the potential to counter-play was almost impossible and made blue and black reactive decks unplayable.
• Golos, Tireless Pilgrim was the cornerstone of Field of the Dead decks and has continued to be a playmaker in Modern, but it was banned in Brawl and Commander. As a commander it entails no specific deck design due to its five-color identity, effectively negates commander tax with its ETB ability, and is also a value engine.
• Agent of Treachery is the latest in a long string of Confiscate-type designs, stretched up to seven mana to "compensate" for the fact that the ability is otherwise permanent. The fact that it was on a creature's triggered ability made it far too easy to trigger the ability outside of casting it, notably in the format with Winota, Joiner of Forces, Lukka, Coppercoat Outcast, Elspeth Conquers Death and Yorion, Sky Nomad. Fires of Invention also made it so that several of these options could be done at once, and especially when assisted with Teferi, Time Raveler. The deck borne of this strategy was banned in June 2020 in three ways — Agent, Fires and the companion rules change all took out an axis of the deck. Both Agent and Fires were banned out of Historic a month later.
• Kethis, the Hidden Hand is the namesake engine behind the 4C Legendary Kethis combo deck, utilising Mox Amber as a free, legendary mana source alongside graveyard fuel generated by Emry, Lurker of the Loch or Diligent Excavator. While the deck in Standard rotated when Mox Amber did, and the Historic version was allowed to continue, it was banned in Pioneer rather pre-emptively to show that those sorts of combo decks were not welcome in the format.

Misprints

• Some copies of Corpse Knight are printed as 2/3 instead of 2/2.

Preconstructed decks

Welcome decks

Core Set 2020 features five Welcome Decks.

Welcome deck name	Colors Included					Iconic card
White deck	W					Serra's Guardian
Blue deck		U				Riddlemaster Sphinx
Black deck			B			Gravewaker
Red deck				R		Shivan Dragon
Green deck					G	Aggressive Mammoth

Spellslinger Starter Kit

The Spellslinger Starter Kit comes with two Standard-legal 60-card decks, designed to create an interactive learning experience for two.

Planeswalker decks

Core 2020 features five planeswalker decks, that come with only one booster and are designed to integrate with the welcome decks.

Planeswalker deck name	Colors Included					Planeswalker
Ajani	W					Ajani, Inspiring Leader
Yanling		U				Mu Yanling, Celestial Wind
Sorin			B			Sorin, Vampire Lord
Chandra				R		Chandra, Flame's Fury
Vivien					G	Vivien, Nature's Avenger

Gallery

• 

  Booster pack

• 

  Bundle

• 

  Land Station

External links

• Mark Rosewater (July 1, 2019). "What Core Can I Say? - Part 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
• Mark Rosewater (July 8, 2019). "What Core Can I Say? - Part 2". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.