Okay so normally when I make an article about a new format (Reliquary, Baroque, etc) I’m being completely serious in my endorsement. I try to introduce formats that I can see people going to a Magicfest and sitting down to play. Today however, that’s only sort of true. Today I have for your enjoyment a format created by accident that I think will be incredible fun. It’s called Super Standard and honestly, I’m really excited to play a few matches.
So first off, let me tell you how this format was accidentally invented. At my college a couple friends decided to let me teach them how to play Magic. It’s been great, they’ve gotten into it, we’ve done some Theros sealed. The point, though, is that one of them asked me about Standard and I explained it as “Using the most recent sets.” What came back to me was that they thought I met all recent sets. This meant that they thought that, alongside Eldraine, Commander 2019 was legal in Standard. Thus a new format was born.
You may now be asking, “Well okay but what sets would be legal right now?” A valid question so let’s get into that. Super Standard is a format that allows all recent sets -- defined as all products released in physical form during any standard season. So current legality would be the following: Theros Beyond Death, Magic Game Night 2019, Throne of Eldraine, Commander 2019, Core Set 2020, Modern Horizons, War of the Spark, Ravnica Allegiance, Ultimate Masters, Magic Game Night, and Guilds of Ravnica. The full list of available cards can be found here.
Super Standard is also a rotating format with what I’ve decided to call a Sandwich Rotation. So let’s look at these sets chronologically to explain what that is. Next time Standard is going to rotate is with the release of Zendikar Rising, this means that everything released before War of the Spark will rotate out of Standard, the same is true for Super Standard. For something to be legal in Super Standard there must be a Standard Legal set released before it, once that set rotates out of Super Standard, so does that set. Make sense? Cool, let’s get to the fun bits.
First, a Ban List must, of course, be made. Since there is little to no data on this format that was created last week, the ban list is going to start pretty small. All cards currently banned in Standard are also considered to be banned in Super Standard. The only current additions I’m adding are Sol Ring. Otherwise go nuts. This banned list will be expanded upon if people actually end up playing this format and things start to get broken and abused. If you see something that’s obviously a problem let me know in the comments below.
To round out this article, I’ll share with you guys two brews for the format to get your gears turning.
I’m not really going to explain either deck here since I think the strategies of both are fairly clear. Overall, I think Super Standard is something kind of fun that you and a friend could throw together. I even encourage you guys to proxy these decks since some of the cards can be pretty expensive.
Anyway, that's all for this month, let me know if you have any sweet brews in the comments below. You can find me on twitter @East2Westmtg or email me at East2westmtg@gmail.com. As always this has been East2west with CCC, I'll see you guys on the battlefield.
