With Core Set 2021 finally out, we are ever closer to that special time of year. Rotation is fast approaching, and that means that soon a whole bunch of very powerful and popular cards will soon be leaving Standard. Some of them I will be sad to see go, while others I can’t wait to see the back of. So today I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the most impactful cards that we will soon be saying goodbye to (in Standard of course). Now this will not be a comprehensive list, but rather a collection of the cards I feel have had the biggest impact on the Standard meta game. So, if your favourite isn’t on the list, please let us know about it in the comments below. Ok? Then let’s begin.
Shock lands
Its no secret that the cycle of shock lands are some of the best mana fixing we have had in Standard for quite a while. Duel lands that can come into play untapped if your willing to pay two life have led to some great two, three and four colour decks over the last two years. Sure, we have the tricycle lands and scry lands currently in Standard, but shock lands ability to come into play untapped when needed allowed players to consistently hit every stage of their mana curve with very little drawback.
We will have to wait and see what the future will hold for multi coloured decks now they are on their way out but my bet is that without a decent replacement in Zendikar, we might be seeing a lot more mono and two colour strategies coming to the fore. Still, shock lands are super popular in enteral formats. So, if you’re not quite ready to say goodbye to them I’m sure you will be able to find them a home in your next Modern or Pioneer brew.
Wilderness Reclamation
I have a love hate relationship with this card. I love that I got to play with something that was quite clearly so broken at uncommon, and I hate that I lost so many games to decks that ran this enchantment. Wilderness Reclamation was a card that allowed instant speed control decks to go wild, and always have mana to disrupt your plans no matter what they played during their own turn.
Combined with mana accelerators like Growth Spiral and Circuitous Route, it was quite possible that any deck with access to Wilderness Reclamation could easily run away with the game after only a few turns if left unchecked. Its combo with Expansion // Explosion in Temur decks is almost legendary now, and it far to say that this four-mana enchantment has definitely left its mark on the world of competitive Magic as a result.
Teferi, Time Raveler
What can be said about Teferi, Time Raveler? It has seen play in multiple decks, and has become one of the most infamous three mana walkers to ever see play on the tabletop. Whether it was spotting other control decks playing at instant speed, allowing you to wrath the board on your opponents turn or bouncing threats back to hand and drawing a card. Well I thought about it long and hard, and I think I have the perfect words to send this card off. GOOD RIDDANCE!
Seriously, words can’t describe how much I hate this card. Its static ability alone is responsible for shutting down so many potential strategies and allowing control decks to play sorceries at instant speed with no drawback could be just crippling. It wasn’t even that I could stand playing against this card, I also felt horrible playing with it myself. I’m all for good control cards in a format, but Teferi, Time Raveler was simply too good.
Cavalcade of Calamity
Do you like swinging in with 1/1’s, then you like me will probably be quite sad to see Cavalcade of Calamity go. A card that really helped push aggressive red creature decks up in competitive play, Cavalcade of Calamity was so good it became to focus of one of this year’s Challenger Decks.
A great card all on its own, it reached new heights with the release of Torbran, Thane of Red Fell. It was completely possible for a red deck to consistently win on turn four or five in the right builds. Even though these decks have fallen out of favour in the last few months of the Standard season, Cavalcade of Calamity has worked its way into my heart as one of the finest red card in recent memory.
And they are only a few of the cards that will be leaving the format in the next couple of months. There are many more that I didn’t touch upon in todays article. As I said at the start, if you have a card you will miss when it rotates out, I would love to hear about it. If we get enough of a response, I might do a part two, so please let me know in the comments below, and while you’re there you could like and subscribe to keep up to date with all we do here at Master of Magics.
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