Magic 2010

Magic 2010
Set Information
Set symbol
Set size	249 (20 basic lands, 101 commons, 60 uncommons, 53 rares, 15 mythic rares)
Expansion code	M10

Magic: The Gathering 2010 Core Set (a.k.a. Magic 2010 and M10) is a Core Set that was released on July 17, 2009. The worldwide Prerelease took place July 11-12, and Launch Parties took place July 17-19.

Set details

With Magic 2010 the naming convention for Core Sets was changed. Instead of listing the number of the edition (which wasn't a great marketing tool, anymore), from now on the set were named after years — specifically the year after the product was released. By doing a core set every year precluded Wizards of the Coast from doing other fourth sets, like Eventide, Coldsnap and Unhinged but would provide a much more structured and predictable release schedule of three expert-level expansions and one core set each year. To accommodate this much more rapid core set turnover, the format rotation policy was changed. There would be only one rotation date per year, when the large Fall set was released.

The core set was getting a significant facelift in an attempt to return it to some of its original resonant flavorful glory. Because of this, Magic 2010 was the first core set since Beta to feature new cards, some of which had a top-down design. Some new cards were answers to strong cards in the metagame. Magic 2010 was also the first core set with planeswalkers and mythic rares. There were no legendary cards in the set, unlike the previous core set. Core sets were now equal in size and make up as the first set of a block. Thus, Magic 2010 contained 249 cards (101 Common, 60 Uncommon, 53 Rare, 15 Mythic, 20 Basic Lands ) instead of the approximately 300 cards of previous expansions.

Magic 2010 did not have the added reminder text about flying on those creatures that have the ability that was included in 8th, 9th and 10th Edition.

Marketing

M10 6-card booster

This set is sold in the new 6-card booster packs, as well as the standard 16-card boosters. The cards were also available in 5 different Intro packs and a fat pack . There was no Magic 2010 2-Player Starter Set and there were no tournament packs. The regular boosters featured art from Captain of the Watch (with white background), Sphinx Ambassador (with blue background), Xathrid Demon (with black background), Kindled Fury (with red background) and Cudgel Troll (with green background). The 6-card booster featured Borderland Ranger.

Because the set contained new cards, a prerelease was held for the set, at which a promotional version of Vampire Nocturnus was given out to players. The promotional card for the launch party was Ant Queen, also a new card. The Magic 2010 Game Day was held on August 14-16, 2009. At this event the DCI-Promo-Card was Naya Sojourners and the Top 8 Finish reward was a full-art foil Mycoid Shepherd. Magic 2010 was the first set to feature a Buy-a-Box card, a foil alternate art card given away for purchasing a booster box at certain local stores. This was Honor of the Pure.

The regular boosters of Magic 2010 come with a bonus sixteenth card that is either a "tips & tricks card" or a creature token from Magic 2010. One face of the Magic 2010 bonus card has one of fifteen different rules tips or is one of eight different creature tokens. The other face has one of 13 advertisements for organized play programs, Zendikar, Duels of the Planeswalkers for Xbox Live, Magic Online, fat packs, From the Vault: Exiled and Ultra Pro products for Magic.

Tips & Tricks

The tips & tricks cards are:

1. Assigning Combat Damage
2. Planeswalker Cards
3. Parts of the Turn
4. Battlefield & Exile
5. Damage & Lifelink
6. Deathtouch
7. Mana Pool
8. Tokens & Counters
9. Building a Deck
10. Limited Formats
11. The Stack
12. Two-Card Combos
13. Two-Card Combos
14. Two-Card Combos
15. Two-Card Combos

Tokens

The Magic 2010 tokens are:

• */* Avatar produced by Ajani Goldmane
• 1/1 Soldier produced by Captain of the Watch
• 2/2 Zombie produced by Cemetery Reaper
• 1/1 Goblin produced by Siege-Gang Commander
• 3/3 Beast produced by Garruk Wildspeaker
• 1/1 Insect produced by Ant Queen
• 2/2 Wolf produced by Howl of the Night Pack and Master of the Wild Hunt
• Colorless 3/4 Artifact Gargoyle produced by Gargoyle Castle

Rules changes

Many rule changes are implemented with Magic 2010, the most changes since Sixth Edition core set changes.

• Simultaneous Mulligan - Starting with the player who will take the first turn of the game and proceeding in turn order around the table, each player announces whether he or she will take a mulligan or not. Then everyone who said they would take a mulligan does so at the same time. (If no one's taking a mulligan, the game proceeds onward.) If any players took a mulligan, then just those players repeat the process to see if any of them will take a second mulligan: First they announce yes or no, then all the yeses shuffle and redraw at the same time. This continues among the mulliganers until everyone's satisfied with their starting hands. Once you decide you're not taking a mulligan, your starting hand is locked in. You can't jump back into the mulligan process later.

• Battlefield - The in-play zone is renamed the "battlefield," which brings it in line with other flavorful zone names like "graveyard" and "library." Permanents now "enter the battlefield" or are "put onto the battlefield" as opposed to "come into play" or "put into play."

• Cast, Play, and Activate - "Cast" is being reinstated as the verb used when referring to the act of playing spells or types of spells. "Play" is being kept as the verb associated with lands (and with cards of unspecified types). Activated abilities are also no longer "played" but rather "activated."

• Exile - The phrase "remove from the game" is being changed to "exile", which is shorter, more flavorful, and not at all misleading about actually being in the game. The zone is now called the "exile zone" and cards in it will be referred to as "exiled cards."

• Beginning of the End Step - The "end of turn step" is now called the "end step" and the phrase "at end of turn" will be replaced with "at the beginning of the end step".

• Mana Pools and Mana Burn - Mana pools now empty at the end of each step and phase, which means mana can no longer be floated from the upkeep to the draw step, nor from the declare attackers step to the declare blockers step of combat. Mana burn is eliminated as a game concept. Mana left unspent at the end of steps or phases will simply vanish, with no accompanying loss of life.

• Token Ownership - Now the owner of a token is the player under whose control it entered the battlefield.

• Combat Damage No Longer Uses the Stack - There will no longer be a time-window between the assigning of damage and the damage being dealt in which activated abilities or instants could be played. Instead, damage is dealt as soon as the players have finished assigning it.

• Multiple blockers are assigned damage in succession - If a creature is blocked by multiple creatures, the attacking players numbers the blockers in the order the attacking creature will deal damage to them. A creature can only assign damage to a blocking creature with a higher number if all creatures with numbers below that creatures number have been assigned lethal damage.
  • E.g.: A Trained Armodon (green, 3/3) is blocked by a Grizzly Bears and a Cylian Elf (both 2/2). The attacking player numbers the Bears as "Blocker #1" and the Elf as "Blocker #2". Now the defending player casts Shelter and gives the Bears protection from green. The attacking player now must assign 2 damage to the Bears and can only assign 1 point of damage to the Elf. Both 2/2's survive as the Bears damage is prevented by protection and the Elf is not dealt lethal damage. Meanwhile the Armodon is dealt a total of 4 damage and is destroyed since the damage on it exceeds its toughness.

• Deathtouch - First, deathtouch is becoming a static ability. Creatures dealt damage by a source with deathtouch will be destroyed as a state-based effect at the same time lethal damage would kill them. As a side effect, multiple instances of deathtouch will no longer be cumulative. Second, deathtouch allows a double-blocked creature to ignore the new damage assignment rules and split its damage among any number of creatures it's in combat with however its controller wants to.

• Lifelink - Lifelink, like deathtouch, is turning into a static ability. If a source with lifelink deals damage, its controller gains that much life as that damage is being dealt. This brings the timing much closer to spells like Consume Spirit and Lightning Helix. As a side effect, multiple instances of lifelink are no longer cumulative.

• Bands with Others - Bands with Others was changed to allow more creatures into the bands.

Reasons and reactions

Most of the changes implemented were explained by Wizards of the Coast as simplifying the game, making it easier to learn, and cleaning up some counter-intuitive game states, such as a creature dealing damage when it is no longer on the battlefield. The introduction of new terminology was also meant to lessen confusion and making certain things more explicit.

The announcement was met largely with mixed to negative reactions from the competitive player base, which felt that the game was dumbed down due to the removal of damage on the stack and to a lesser extent mana burn. It was also noted that certain cards such as Citadel of Pain became functionally useless due to some of the changes, and that other cards, such as Wishes, lost significant functionality.

Director of Magic R&D Aaron Forsythe admitted that the rules changes to Deathtouch were rushed as no quick solution was apparent to make the ability work after the rules change to the blocker assignment the same way as it did before. This led to another update of the Deathtouch rules with the release of Magic 2011.

Cycles

Magic 2010 has 5 cycles.

• Color Hosers: Each of these uncommon cards is specifically designed to be played against its enemy colors — Celestial Purge, Flashfreeze, Deathmark, Ignite Disorder and Mold Adder (with only the adder having any effect at all - being a 1/1 - against decks without cards of its enemy colors). (Four of these are reprinted from color hoser cycles in other sets: Flashfreeze and Deathmark from Coldsnap, Celestial Purge and Ignite Disorder from Conflux.)
• Check lands: Each of these rare dual lands comes into play tapped unless you control a basic land of one of the appropriate types — Glacial Fortress, Drowned Catacomb, Dragonskull Summit, Rootbound Crag and Sunpetal Grove.
• "Lucky charms" artifacts: Each costing and hosting an ability that allows its controller to gain life whenever a spell of the appropriate color is played — Angel's Feather, Demon's Horn, Dragon's Claw, Kraken's Eye and Wurm's Tooth. (Reprinted from Darksteel.)
• Planeswalkers: The original cycle of Planeswalkers from Lorwyn was reprinted as mythic rares — Ajani Goldmane, Jace Beleren, Liliana Vess, Chandra Nalaar and Garruk Wildspeaker.
• Tribal Lords: Each of these rare creatures gives other creatures of their type +1/+1 and has an additional ability related to them — Captain of the Watch (soldiers), Merfolk Sovereign (merfolk), Cemetery Reaper (zombies), Goblin Chieftain (goblins) and Elvish Archdruid (elves).

Mirrored pairs

Magic 2010 has 4 mirrored pairs.

• Holy Strength and Unholy Strength are both common Auras with enchant creature that give a mirrored bonus to the enchanted creature's power/toughness.
• White Knight and Black Knight are both uncommon Knights with a mana cost of MM, power/toughness of 2/2, first strike and protection from the other's color.
• Mind Spring and Mind Shatter are both rare sorceries with a mana cost of MM which result in a player drawing or discarding X cards.
• Divination and Mind Rot are both common sorceries with a mana cost of M which result in a player drawing or discarding 2 cards.

Magic 2010 also has 1 parallel pair.

• Veteran Armorsmith and Veteran Swordsmith are both common human soldier White creatures that give a bonus to other soldier creatures (+1 to toughness or +1 to power, respectvely). Although their mana costs differ slightly, their stats are parallel: 2/3 and 3/2, respectively.

Functional reprints

Magic 2010 has 20 functional reprints:

• Act of Treason is a functional reprint of Threaten from 10th Edition,
• Blinding Mage is a functional reprint of Master Decoy from 9th Edition and Benalish Trapper from Invasion, save for creature type.
• Borderland Ranger is a functional reprint of Civic Wayfinder from 10th Edition, save for creature type.
• Canyon Minotaur is a functional reprint of Hill Giant from 10th Edition, Wild Jhovall from Mercadian Masques, Tor Giant from Ice Age, Ogre Warrior from Starter 1999 and Barbarian Horde from Portal Three Kingdoms, save for creature type.
• Centaur Courser is a functional reprint of Nessian Courser from Future Sight.
• Disentomb is a functional reprint of Raise Dead from 9th Edition and Return to Battle from Portal Three Kingdoms.
• Divination is a functional reprint of Counsel of the Soratami from 10th Edition.
• Divine Verdict is a functional reprint of Neck Snap from Lorwyn.
• Essence Scatter is a functional reprint of Remove Soul from 10th Edition, False Summoning from Portal Second Age and Preemptive Strike from Portal Three Kingdoms.
• Elite Vanguard is a functional reprint of Savannah Lions from 9th Edition, save for creature type.
• Goblin Artillery is a functional reprint of Orcish Artillery from 10th Edition and Orcish Cannoneers from Ice Age, save for creature type.
• Griffin Sentinel is a functional reprint of Skyhunter Prowler from 10th Edition, save for creature type.
• Kelinore Bat is a functional reprint of Dusk Imp from 10th Edition, Feral Shadow from Starter 1999 and Moaning Spirit from Portal Second Age,save for creature type.
• Mind Control is a functional reprint of Persuasion from 10th Edition.
• Runeclaw Bear is a functional reprint of Cylian Elf from Shards of Alara, Grizzly Bears from 10th Edition, Balduvian Bears from Ice Age, Bear Cub from Portal Second Age, Forest Bear from Portal Three Kingdoms and Barbary Apes from Legends, save for creature type.
• Silvercoat Lion is a functional reprint of Glory Seeker from 9th Edition, Knight Errant from 7th Edition and Fresh Volunteers from Mercadian Masques, save for creature type.
• Stormfront Pegasus is a functional reprint of Mistral Charger from Dissension.
• Vampire Aristocrat is a functional reprint of Nantuko Husk from 10th Edition and Phyrexian Ghoul from Urza's Saga, save for creature type.
• Viashino Spearhunter is a functional reprint of Sabretooth Tiger from 8th Edition, save for creature type.
• Zephyr Sprite is a functional reprint of Flying Men from Time Spiral, save for creature type.
• Zombie Goliath is a functional reprint of Dreg Reaver from Shards of Alara, save for creature type.

Intro packs

For the first time, intro packs in a core set are two colored instead of the usual mono colored decks.

The intro packs are:

Intro pack name	Colors Included					Foil rare
We Are Legion	W			R		Lightwielder Paladin
Presence of Mind		U	B			Djinn of Wishes
Death's Minions			B		G	Nightmare
Firebomber		U		R		Shivan Dragon
Nature's Fury	W				G	Kalonian Behemoth

Cards added to Magic 2010

• Nature's Spiral is a toned down version of Regrowth which was last in the core set Revised.

Changes in rarity

The biggest changes were the moving of the Lorwyn Planeswalkers from rare to mythic rare and the card Righteousness, which had always been rare, was moved to uncommon.

Cards removed from 10th Edition

• The cycle of Manlands, Muses (rare spirit creatures), Pain lands (both allied and enemy colored rare lands) and the Weavers (2/1 Wizard creatures that have abilities that help allied-color creatures) were not included in Magic 2010.
• The 11 legendary cards that were added to 10th Edition were not included in Magic 2010.
• With the removal of Story Circle, there are no white enchantments that grant protection from a color in the core set. Core sets had the Circle of Protection cycle for a long time.
• The instant Windstorm is a uncommon replacement for the rare sorcery Hurricane, the latter damages players also while the former does not.
• There are no cards with the fear keyword ability in the set. The similar keyword Intimidate was introduced into the Comprehensive Rules but was not printed on any cards until Zendikar 's release.
• The rare sorcery Day of Judgment in Zendikar provided a replacement for the rare sorcery Wrath of God, the latter prevented regeneration while the former does not.
• Glorious Anthem was removed in favor of adding Honor of the Pure which for less casting cost gives +1/+1 to white creatures you control instead of to all of your creatures. Honor of the Pure is reminiscent of Crusade which gave +1/+1 to all white creatures in play for a casting cost of .
• With the removal of Overgrowth, Magic 2010 is the first core set without a green "Enchantment - Aura Enchant Land" card that added extra mana when a land was tapped. Overgrowth is also in 9th and 10th edition, Fertile Ground is in 8th Edition, and Wild Growth is in all editions of the core set up to 7th Edition.

External links

• Magic 2010 product information page — Wizards of the Coast
• Magic Arcana (July 07, 2009). "Magic 2010 Videos". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.</ref>