Magic 2015: Something Borrowed

Ever since the reboot of the Core sets with Magic 2010, these sets have been an interesting marriage between the old and the new. You see, prior to this, Core sets were always composed entirely of reprints. Now, although these sets always include a large number of reprints, they also include a reasonable number of new cards as well, albeit at lower complexity than those found in the Expert sets.

But as with any good marriage, Wizards of the Coast decided to include something borrowed. So with Magic 2015, they published this article on their website detailing the Sample Decks that they send to retailers to demo the game. This time around, these Sample Decks include cards at three different rarities that are NOT otherwise available in the set. In other words, even though these cards are not going to be included in any boosters, they are officially part of the set and legal for Constructed play.

These reprints included six Commons; one of each color, plus one extra for White:

Fortunately, none of these cards are format defining, although at least three of them have seen regular play in Standard Pauper when they have been in print. Cancel is an important inclusion, as otherwise once Return to Ravnica block rotates the format would lack a 3 mana Blue all-purpose counterspell. Centaur Courser has also seen play in some mono-Green builds, although it is current upstaged by the significantly better Centaur Healer. But it is Inspired Charge that is the most relevant of these six. This is a powerful effect for White Weenie, and one that was a cornerstone of that particular archetype back when it was in Standard with Magic 2011.

While White certainly doesn't need any more advantages, overall I am pleased to get six additional cards into the Standard Pauper pool. They will be invaluable post-rotation when the cardpool loses all of the cards from Magic 2014 and Return to Ravnica block. And hopefully they won't cause any issues regarding their legality in the format.

Thanks for reading. See you next time.