How many Standard Rotations per year would you like to see?

mouser

For any not aware, MtG paper has changed their set/block release strategy.  Going forward there will be no more Block releases with multiple Sets.  For much of MtG's history they released one big Block of 3 Sets each year.  Then in 2015 they switched to 2 Blocks of 2 Sets each per year--starting with Battle for Zendikar, which happens to be the first PQ set after Origins.  Now beginning with Dominaria they've changed once again to 3 independent Sets per year plus a Core set.

So Dominaria is not a block--there will not be a Dominaria part 2.  The next set scheduled for release in Core Set 2019 in July.  then another independent stand-alone set in the Fall.

In paper MtG Standard rotation takes place once per year.  At which time the oldest 4 sets are removed.  So going forward paper MtG Standard will consist of 5 to 8 sets at any given time.  Paper MtG had originally planned to move to a twice per year Standard Rotation when they did the 2x2 Blocks, however player feedback caused them to change their minds and stick with a once per year rotation.

In MtG Puzzle Quest Standard seems to be defined as the most recent 4 sets + Origins.  With some tweaks as to whether to split up a block or not, meaning there could be 4-5 Sets + Origins at any given time.

Concerning in the recent dev Q&A is that it seems to suggest the Devs are planning to do 4 Standard rotations per year in PQ. The new paper release structure with no more Blocks could make this approach even more likely.

What will Standard block look like after Rivals of Ixalan’s release?
Kaladesh and Aether Revolt will be rotating out of Standard. Since Aether Revolt was a significantly smaller set than Kaladesh as well as dependent on it, removing Kaladesh once Ixalan released would had had a negative impact on the environment. As such we decided to wait until Ixalan’s smaller set is released to remove Kaladesh block as a whole.

So, paper MtG is still at one rotation per year after feedback from their players that two per year was too often.  How many Standard Rotations per year do you think is ideal for MtGPQ?

Mainloop25

Even if it might not follow their plans, I would like to see only one rotation per year. That should  give us time to collect what we need and give us a chance to play with them while they are still viable in meaningful competition. 2 is ok, but any more than that  and sets go obsolete too quickly.

Laeuftbeidir

I voted two.
One rotation would also be fine for me- but we really need some time to get enough cards of the last sets to be competitive.
If the devs are intending to do more rotations, I really hope they will give us more opportunities to earn the latest boosters.. And far more important : spam origins boosters for bronze and silver tier, or there will be no way for them to somehow catch up

ard021

Two rotations is 4-5 sets in Standard under the current rotation model, right? That seems about right to me. The size of the sets isn't going to increase that much to compensate for blocks going from 2 to 1 set.  However, the more valid question would be "how many sets remain in standard?" rather than "how often will they rotate sets in standard?" If they fix standard at 4 sets, and rotate one set out when a new one comes in, each set is still in Standard for a year. If they fix it at 2 sets, each set is only in Standard for 6 months, and the format has a very small cardpool.

Brakkis

I voted for two, though I'd be okay with one as well. More than two rotations is too often.

Sirchombli

Set size probably won't increase, there just won't be small sets . I like 1 rotation per year . Especially with the current lack of ways to earn cards . 2 would be fine if we ever got anything resembling a normal release schedule. That feels like a big if, though. Less rotations means less pressure to pay to win. 2 would be fine , but more than that and I'm out .

Quantius

One. I like my cards to be usable as long as possible and I like bigger cardpools for variety.

Gilesclone

I voted 2 but 1 would be fine.  Any more is too much.

wereotter

mouser said:

So Dominaria is not a block--there will not be a Dominaria part 2.  The next set scheduled for release in Core Set 2019 in July.  then another independent stand-alone set in the Fall.

This isn’t nessicarily accurate. The official statement is they’re not always going to spend two sets on a plane, and they will let the story dictate how long they stay. For some planes that will mean they’re there multiple sets, and for others, only for one. They haven’t said anything at all about what’s following the core set, so for all we know it may be more Dominaria, and it could just as easily be a different plane.

We will have to see what happens in the story, but both considering Dominaria is a lot to cover, and the story of this set ends when Jace arrives from Ixalan, there’s reason to believe there may still be more from that world coming in the fall just as there is reason to believe they will be moving on.

Bil

   I voted 1, i prefer collecting a card that can be used in standard for one year than 6 month ... Particularly if i pay for it.
  Besides, if MTGPQ is going to follow paper release schedule, i can't see any good reason not to follow the paper rotation schedule. (The only reason i could see is a very sneaky one actually)

UweTellkampf

One rotation, if they can resolve the bugs and create new content, instead of the second.

Two, if they don't resolve the bugs a leave the content as it is, so that we can at least play around with a (possible) new meta.

ard021

wereotter said:

mouser said:

So Dominaria is not a block--there will not be a Dominaria part 2.  The next set scheduled for release in Core Set 2019 in July.  then another independent stand-alone set in the Fall.

This isn’t nessicarily accurate. The official statement is they’re not always going to spend two sets on a plane, and they will let the story dictate how long they stay. For some planes that will mean they’re there multiple sets, and for others, only for one. They haven’t said anything at all about what’s following the core set, so for all we know it may be more Dominaria, and it could just as easily be a different plane.

We will have to see what happens in the story, but both considering Dominaria is a lot to cover, and the story of this set ends when Jace arrives from Ixalan, there’s reason to believe there may still be more from that world coming in the fall just as there is reason to believe they will be moving on.

http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/172630262313/if-the-dominaria-story-was-originall-planned-to

http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/172608705023/its-my-birthday-today-so-could-i-get-some-trivia

He's actually answered a few questions on this, these are just the first two I found. Dominaria specifically is a single set.  (For anyone unaware, Mark Rosewater is the head designer of MtG, and that is his personal blog, where he answers questions from Magic fans.)



EDIT:

Bil said:

   I voted 1, i prefer collecting a card that can be used in standard for one year than 6 month ... Particularly if i pay for it.
  Besides, if MTGPQ is going to follow paper release schedule, i can't see any good reason not to follow the paper rotation schedule. (The only reason i could see is a very sneaky one actually)

Two rotations per year SHOULD keep cards in Standard for at least a year.  When the rotation occurs in paper Magic later this year, Kaladesh will have been in Standard for about two years.  I'd rather see the environment turn over a bit more quickly than that and keep the Standard pool more restricted, and have them run more regular Legacy events (like they used to up until a couple months ago.)  I also hated Kaladesh, and really hope they never design another block like that again, so maybe I'll feel differently when Amonkhet rotates out.

Also, I think some people are misunderstanding the definition of the word "sneaky".  Yes, rotating cards out of Standard is in part designed to motivate people to buy more cards.  I don't think that's ever been any sort of secret.  The alternative is just continuous power creep, which... personally speaking, that's never been fun in any game I've ever played.

Bil

   I think the standard rotation is actually a positive thing because it brings some fresh strategies. But to be honest, when i pay for something (or when i had to grind for it)  i want to have a decent amount of time to enjoy it.
   When a block rotates out in paper version, it still has quite a future in modern. But legacy in mtgpq isn't very appealing in term of events/rewards.

   I might have misunderstood something about the standard rotation ... But its looks kinda odd to me to follow the paper blocks release schedule while not following the rotate out schedule. Does it mean MTGPQ blocks rotate out before paper blocks ... Does it really make sense?
  If the word sneaky looks inapropriate ... lets just say that forcing the early rotation of a block wouldn't be the most transparent way to lead players to spend money in the game (and not the wisest neither).  

wereotter

Also since I didn’t vote before, a floating window seems best to me once they’ve established how many sets they want in the standard pool. One set in, one set out.

This will keep things fresh while also not dropping half or more of your collection when they do rotate. 

FindingHeart8

I'm a bit salty about how wizards is doing that.  I liked the multiple sets released in the same black, get invested in a storyline and see how it unfolds over the sets (like the Scars of Mirrodin and Kamigawa blocks, so much fun!)


for standard: I agree with the mass here, anymore than 2 would feel like a moneygrab

NinjaE

Less rotations is better - it gives us time to collect and use our cards. Too many would feel rushed.

MTG_Mage

1 rotation per year at the same time as paper.
They only rotated out KLD block since it had a ton of powercreep and outpaced IXL block. However IXL block has since been balanced, but I am fine with standard being what it currently is since KLD block had over 1 year of play in standard. 
As long as every set gets a full year in standard then players will get value out of their cards. Any more often than that is too much and the cards are valued less.

ard021

MTG_Mage said:

1 rotation per year at the same time as paper.
They only rotated out KLD block since it had a ton of powercreep and outpaced IXL block. However IXL block has since been balanced, but I am fine with standard being what it currently is since KLD block had over 1 year of play in standard. 
As long as every set gets a full year in standard then players will get value out of their cards. Any more often than that is too much and the cards are valued less.

Let's map it out with a 4x/year rotation, assuming sets will come out at a quarterly pace (if they don't, then all of this speculation is meaningless anyway):

Standard is sets A, B, C, D (A has been in standard for a year, B for 9 months, C for 6 months, D for 3 months.)

Set E comes out.  ROTATION.  Standard is B,C,D,E

Set F comes out 3 months later.  ROTATION.  Standard is C,D,E,F

Set G comes out 3 months later.  ROTATION.  Standard is D,E,F,G

Set H comes out 3 months later.  ROTATION.  Standard is E,F,G,H

Each set is guaranteed a full year in Standard.


If we do it with a 2x/year rotation (the current system), it looks like this:

Standard is sets A, B, C, D

Set E comes out.  Standard is A, B, C, D, E

Set F comes out 3 months later. ROTATION.  Standard is C, D, E, F

Set G comes out 3 months later.  Standard is C, D, E, F, G

Set H comes out 3 months later.  ROTATION.  Standard is E, F, G, H

Half the sets get a year in Standard, the other half get 15 months.


1x/year

Standard is sets A, B, C, D

Set E comes out.  Standard is A, B, C, D, E

Set F comes out 3 months later.  Standard is A, B, C, D, E, F

Set G comes out 3 months later.  Standard is A, B, C, D, E, F, G

Set H comes out 3 months later. ROTATION.  Standard is E, F, G, H

(This isn't perfectly in line with the current paper rotation, which is 8 sets going to 5 at the rotation, but it's close enough for demonstration purposes, and they're already off the paper rotation anyways.)  Set D gets 15 months.  Set A is in Standard for two years.



So yeah, any way you cut it, the cards are in Standard for at least a year. 

ninjark

With 4 rotations a year, we'd end up working with 1/2 blocks such as Hour of Devastation without Amonkhet, and Rivals without Ixalan (at least until the last dual set block set rotates out).

I voted for 2 rotations per year (rotating out dual set blocks together).

With 2 rotations per year & a maximum of Origins + 5 other sets:

Odd Sets would be in standard for 15-16 months; Even Sets for a full year (slightly less than a year for the delayed Ixalan block).

Here's what that would look like going forward, using MTG paper release months:

Apr 2017- Amonkhet

Jul 2017- Hour of Devastation

Sep 2017- Ixalan *Mid-February 2018 release in MTGPQ

Jan 2018- Rivals *Mid-March 2018 release in MTGPQ

Apr 2018- Dominaria 

Jul 2018- Core Set 2019 (Amonkhet & HOU rotate)

Sep 2018- "Spaghetti" 

Jan 2019- "Meatballs" (Ixalan & Rivals rotate) 

Apr 2019- "Milk" 

Jul 2019- ? Core Set 2020 ? (Dominaria & Core19 rotate)
Sep 2019- "Archery"

With only 1 rotation per year & ensuring each set is in Standard for at least a year...

Amonkhet, Hour, Ixalan, & Rivals would all rotate out after 4 additional sets are released (Dom, Core2019, "Spaghetti" & "Meatballs").  

The Ixalan block sets would again be Standard slightly less than a year.

And we'd have cycling for another 9 or 10 months.