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Posted by Raine Hutchens on Jul 9, 2012

Magic: The Gathering 2013 Core Set Releases This Friday, In Time For Gen Con [Gen Con 2012]

Seasoned Magic: The Gathering players have seen many Core Sets come and go over the years. Some of them (or at least most of them to me) have been drab and lacking. I usually don’t take the time to mess with Core Sets, but this year’s may just break that habit of mine. I’ve gotten to see a preview of the upcoming Magic 2013 Core Set and it looks to be about the best I’ve seen yet.

The new set releases this Friday, July 13th which means it’s just in time for Gen Con next month. Magic 2013 will feature 249 total new cards (101 common, 60 uncommon, 53 rare, 15 mythic rare, and 20 basic land) and will see the return of a few mechanics we’ve not seen in a while. One of those mechanics is Exalted, which means when a creature you control attacks alone it gets +1/+1 until the end of turn. Players back in the Lorwyn block would put tons of creatures with this ability in their decks and have them stack, for each creature with Exalted pumps up the lone attacker.

Something new we’ll be seeing in this Core Set is a cycle of equipment called “The Rings of Shandalar.” These rings give the creatures they’re equipped to a, but they also offer another cumulative +1/+1 each turn bonus depending on the creature’s color. The rings are low-cost, and they become great tools to use when playing an aggressive deck.

Creatures in the new set will also go back to gaining bonuses for controlling a certain type of basic land. For instance, the Crimson Muckwader gets +1/+1 as long as you control a Swamp. Now we’ll see the return of dual-lands, though they will be referred to as simply lands. For example, Dragonskull Summit allows players to tap it as either a Swamp or a Mountain, but its type is land and not a Swamp Mountain or vice versa.

Something else that really caught me in the set was that Wizards looks to really have put some work into Magic 2013 to make it a valuable Core Set. All of the cards will play a key role in all of the standard-legal sets that are out, so you’re bound to pick up something you can use when you grab some of the new set. Some of the older Planeswalkers are coming back, such as Jace, Chandra, and Ajani, and they’re bringing with them a vengeance. Usually it seems as if Wizards is stuffing cards into Core Sets just to fill them up, but with Magic 2013 it looks like they took their time. I know I’m excited about it, and I can’t wait to draft it when it releases. There will be tournaments and more happening at Gen Con 2012 this year and the release of this new Core Set will undoubtedly change the tides.

If you’re interested in a preview/FAQ of some cards in the new set, head over to Wizards of the Coast’s official page.

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