Standard

Standard
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Standard.png}}|250px]]
DCI Sanctioned
Paper
Magic Online
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Rules
Type	Constructed
Multiplayer
Add. rules	Best-of-three
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format:"Standard"

Standard, formerly known as Type 2, is a rotating constructed format that was created on January 10, 1995. It is the most widely sanctioned constructed format at all levels of organized play. As it is Bo3, this format is called Traditional Standard on MTG Arena.

Deck construction

Standard decks must contain a minimum of sixty cards. There is no maximum deck size; however, one must be able to shuffle one's deck without assistance.

Sideboards are optional and may contain up to fifteen cards. With the exception of basic land cards, a player's combined deck and sideboard may not contain more than four copies of any individual card, counted by the card's English title equivalent.

Set legality

Cards from the following sets are currently legal in Standard, with the exception of banned cards:

Sets	Legal until
Throne of Eldraine	Autumn 2021
Theros Beyond Death
Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths
Core Set 2021
Zendikar Rising	Autumn 2022
Kaldheim
Strixhaven: School of Mages
Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms

^* Not released yet.

Banned list

The following cards are banned in Standard tournaments.

• Cauldron Familiar
• Escape to the Wilds
• Fires of Invention
• Lucky Clover
• Oko, Thief of Crowns
• Omnath, Locus of Creation
• Once Upon a Time
• Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath

Previously banned cards

See also: Banned and restricted cards/Timeline.

The following is a list of cards that have been banned at one point during their stay in the Standard environment.

Should a banned card which rotated out of standard be later reintroduced into Standard, the ban will not carry over to that set. (The only example up to date is Darksteel Citadel, which was banned in Mirrodin Standard, but was later reprinted in Magic 2015).

• Aetherworks Marvel
• Agent of Treachery
• Amulet of Quoz
• Ancient Den
• Arcbound Ravager
• Attune with Aether
• Balance
• Black Vise
• Channel
• Darksteel Citadel
• Disciple of the Vault
• Dream Halls
• Earthcraft
• Emrakul, the Promised End
• Felidar Guardian
• Field of the Dead
• Fluctuator
• Great Furnace
• Growth Spiral
• Ivory Tower
• Jace, the Mind Sculptor
• Jeweled Bird
• Land Tax
• Lotus Petal
• Memory Jar
• Mind Over Matter
• Mind Twist
• Rampaging Ferocidon
• Ramunap Ruins
• Rebirth
• Recurring Nightmare
• Reflector Mage
• Rogue Refiner
• Seat of the Synod
• Smuggler's Copter
• Skullclamp
• Stoneforge Mystic
• Strip Mine
• Teferi, Time Raveler
• Tempest Efreet
• Time Spiral
• Timmerian Fiends
• Tolarian Academy
• Tree of Tales
• Wilderness Reclamation
• Windfall
• Vault of Whispers
• Veil of Summer
• Zuran Orb

Rotation

Since the introduction of Three-and-One Model in 2019 (or effectively in 2018), once a year with the release of a new fall set the four oldest expansion/core sets in Standard, as well as any other Standard-legal set released during that period will rotate out. For example, fall 2019 rotation caused Ixalan, Rivals of Ixalan, Dominaria, and Core 2019 (as well as regional exclusive set Global Series: Jiang Yanggu & Mu Yanling) to leave Standard.

Prior to the Three-and-One Model, the two oldest blocks still legal in Standard would rotate out of the format. For example, When Ixalan set released in fall 2017, Battle for Zendikar, Oath of the Gatewatch, Shadows over Innistrad, Eldritch Moon, and Welcome Deck 2016 (which counted as a part Shadows over Innistrad in rotation) rotated out of Standard.

Because of this, no set is Standard-legal for more than two years.

History

When Standard (then called "Type 2") was created on January 10, 1995, it inherited the banned and restricted lists from Vintage (then "Type 1"). Legal were then the most current basic set (Revised Edition) and the latest two Magic expansions only (The Dark and Fallen Empires).

The original Standard format allowed the recent two blocks, plus the most recent core set (two core sets between the last release and the actual rotation). After Magic Origins, core sets were discontinued and blocks only contained two sets, usually one large and one small. A Standard with three blocks and two rotations (Spring and Autumn) was adopted between 2015 and 2016 (Khans of Tarkir and Fate Reforged, Dragons of Tarkir and Magic Origins counted as separated blocks in a transitional period). In this system, the number of legal sets would vary less (always five or six, compared to the current five to eight). As the system received heavy criticism among players, Spring rotation was dropped in 2017 and reverted to format which the oldest 4 sets will be rotated out in each rotation in Autumn.

The current Standard allows all cards in the newest three to four story-based blocks (including the Welcome Deck and all exclusive cards Planeswalkers Decks/Deck Builder's Kit released in this period), save for cards on the Standard banned list. The release of the first expansion in Autumn will trigger a rotation, rotating out the oldest two blocks.

Since Kaladesh, the Standard Showdown is also introduced as a root-level competitive tournament, awarding special prize packs (notably foil rare cards from standard sets) to participants.

Former popular Standard decks

• Chilenito / Captain America
• Angelfire
• Black Swarm
• Jaba Sligh
• Mind over Monolith
• Orbosition
• Standard Boros Deck Wins
• Standard Doran Rock deck
• Standard Elves deck
• Standard Mana Ramp deck
• Standard Red Deck Wins deck
• Standard Zoo Deck (RGW Aggro)
• Superweenie
• Abzan Aggro
• Hardened Scales

External links

• Sam Stoddard (October 16, 2015). "Puzzling Environments". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
• Sam Stoddard (February 5, 2016). "A Standard Power Level". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
• Diego Fumagalli (May 12, 2016). "How to Standard—in Graphics". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
• Gavin Verhey (December 1, 2016). "Standard Operating Procedure". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.