This month is a big one for Magic the Gathering. Not only are we heading back to Innistrad with Midnight Hunt, but we'll also be saying goodbye to some of the game's most notorious sets in its premiere format, Standard.

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If you're wanting to refresh your Standard decks, or have wanted to get stuck in but don't know where to start, here is everything you'll need to know about the 2021 Standard Rotation.

Why Does Standard Rotate?

Maddening Cacophony, showing Jace grabbing his head.
Maddening Cacophony by Magali Villeneuve

Magic the Gathering's main format, Standard, is one of only a few that 'rotates'. As new premiere sets are introduced into the game, older ones are pushed out of Standard, and their cards are no longer considered "standard legal".

Cynically, you could say that the reason is to make sure players keep buying new cards to keep their decks up to date, but that isn't quite true. Instead, Standard rotates for balance: if a set is particularly powerful, it won't dominate Standard for more than two years before moving into the vastly higher-powered card pools of other formats like Modern, Legacy, Vintage, and Commander.

On the flip side, weaker sets may struggle to find a place at first, like Adventures in the Forgotten Realms, but will come into their own when older, stronger sets have rotated out.

As Brawl is based on Standard's card pool, it too will rotate.

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When Does Standard Rotate?

Tibalt's Trickery by Anna Podedworna
Tibalt's Trickery by Anna Podedworna

Standard rotates every year with the Autumn (Northern Hemisphere) set. For example, 2020's Standard rotated with the launch of Zendikar Rising in September 2020, while this year it will rotate with Innistrad: Midnight Hunt.

Sets rotate out of Standard in groups of four, and there are almost never more than eight sets in the same Standard rotation at once. This means that when the Autumn set comes in, the four oldest ones all move out together. A set will stay in Standard for, at most, two years, and at the very least for around 14 or 15 months.

What Sets Are Rotating This Year?

A chart showing what sets are rotating in and out of Standard.

With the release of Innistrad: Midnight Hunt this month, the four oldest Standard sets will be rotating out.

Leaving Standard in September 2021

  • Throne of Eldraine
  • Theros: Beyond Death
  • Core Set 2021
  • Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths

The New Standard (September 2021-2022)

  • Zendikar Rising
  • Kaldheim
  • Strixhaven: School of Mages
  • Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms
  • Innistrad: Midnight Hunt
  • Innistrad: Crimson Vow (November 2021)
  • Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty (Q1 2022)
  • Streets of New Capenna (Q2 2022)

In Q3 2022, with the release of Dominaria United, the rotation will happen again. We'll then see Zendikar Rising, Kaldheim, Strixhaven, and Adventures in the Forgotten Realms rotate out, but that is a very long way away right now.

It is also important to note that not every Magic set released in a year is Standard-legal. In the last year, we've had Commander Legends, Time Spiral Remastered, Commander 2021, and Modern Horizons 2, but none of them are considered premiere expansion sets and so are not part of Standard.

What Will the New Standard Look Like?

Questing Beast, a three-headed monster.
Questing Beast by Igor Kieryluk

While it's impossible to tell for sure what the post-rotation Standard will look like until it actually happens, the biggest change by far is the removal of Throne of Eldraine. It was an incredibly high-powered set with cards like Questing Beast, Lovestruck Beast, The Great Henge, and Brazen Borrower, and so the rotation will give room for the more recent, weaker sets to flourish. Expect to see a lot more Forgotten Realms and Strixhaven cards be played.

Are My Cards Useless Once They've Rotated Out?

Ruxa, Patient Professor by Isle Gort
Ruxa, Patient Professor by Isle Gort

Not at all, Standard is only one format for Magic the Gathering. While your Throne of Eldraine-Ikoria cards will no longer be legal in Standard, they'll always be legal in formats like Modern, Pioneer, and Commander.

The only thing to keep in mind is each format has its own ban and restricted lists. Make sure your deck isn't running any banned cards for the new format you want to move to before taking your old Standard deck, or else you might run into issues.

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