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Magic format guide8 min readUpdated: June 2026

Standard: Magic’s Rotating Format

Standard is 60-card constructed built from the most recent premier sets — and rotation is its defining mechanic. The card pool refreshes every fall, the metagame resets, and the format reinvents itself on a schedule.

How rotation worksWhere to play
Deck size
60 min
Copies
4 max
Card pool
~9–12 sets
Rotation
Every fall
Sideboard
15
In this guide
01What Standard actually is02Rotation, since the 2023 change03Where to play Standard04FAQ05Sources & credits
01

The idea

What Standard actually is

The flagship constructed format: modern Magic only, refreshed on a schedule.

Standard is 60-card-minimum constructed with up to four copies of any card and a 15-card sideboard — using only the most recent premier sets. That last clause is the whole format: while eternal formats accumulate thirty years of cards, Standard’s pool is deliberately small, modern, and temporary.

Rotation is the defining mechanic. Every fall, when the autumn set releases, the oldest four premier sets leave the format at once. Decks die, staples graduate to Pioneer and Modern, and the metagame starts a new chapter — which is precisely why Standard stays the entry point for competitive constructed.

FormatDeck sizeCard poolRotationPlayersGovernance
StandardYou are here60 minRecent premier setsEvery fall2WotC
Limited40 minPacks opened on the spotPer set2–8WotC
Pauper60 minEternal, commons onlyNone2WotC + Format Panel
Commander100 exactlyEternal, singletonNoneUsually 4WotC + Format Panel
Pack Wars15–30One boosterNone2+House rules
Where Standard sits next to the other major formats.
02

The mechanism

Rotation, since the 2023 change

Cards now live in Standard for about three years — a 2023 decision that reshaped the format.

Each fall, the oldest four premier sets fall off the conveyor.

On May 7, 2023, WotC announced rotation was moving from two years to three. 2023 itself had no rotation as a transition year, and the first three-year rotation arrived in July 2024 with Bloomburrow’s release, when Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, Crimson Vow, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, and Streets of New Capenna rotated out together.

ModelLifespan of a fall setLegal sets at peakIn effect
Two-year rotation~2 years~8–9Until 2023
Three-year rotation~3 years~9–12Current
What the 2023 change means for a single card’s Standard lifespan.

Foundations: the evergreen anchor

Foundations (November 2024) is a Standard-legal evergreen set designed to stay in the format long-term — announced as legal through at least 2029, and possibly longer if it keeps doing its job. It gives the rotating format a stable core of staples that survive every fall.

03

Venues

Where to play Standard

Tabletop FNM, MTG Arena, and Magic Online — with one timing quirk worth knowing.

The three homes

  • Tabletop — Friday Night Magic and store events are Standard’s traditional home; rotation hits on the official release Friday.
  • MTG Arena — the format’s biggest digital venue, from casual ladder to qualifier events.
  • Magic Online — the legacy digital client, still home to leagues and competitive queues.

Digital rotates early

Arena and MTGO rotate on the set’s digital patch day, which lands before the tabletop release Friday. For about a week, “Standard-legal” can mean different things online and in paper.

Alchemy is not Standard

Arena’s Alchemy format stayed on the two-year rotation and allows digital-only card changes. If an Arena deck is suddenly illegal, check which format the queue actually is.

FAQ

Common questions

When is the next rotation?
Rotation happens once a year when the fall set releases — the oldest four premier sets leave that day. Our Rotation deep dive tracks what rotates next and when; the official Standard page has the authoritative dates.
Do rotated cards become worthless?
No — they stop being Standard-legal, but they remain playable in Pioneer, Modern, and Commander, and many become Cube staples. Rotation moves cards to bigger formats; it does not delete them.
What is the difference between Standard on Arena and tabletop?
The card pool is the same, but the rotation date differs slightly: digital platforms rotate on patch day, tabletop on the official release Friday. Alchemy, despite living next to Standard on Arena, is a different format.
Is Foundations going to rotate?
Not on the normal schedule — Foundations was designed as an evergreen anchor, announced as Standard-legal until at least 2029. Treat its staples as the stable core of the format.

Sources & credits

The creators who documented these formats

Pack Wars is community-built. These are the writers, wikis, and Wizards of the Coast references that originated and documented the rules summarized here.

  1. 45Revitalizing StandardWizards of the CoastMay 7, 2023: the move from two-year to three-year rotation.
  2. 46StandardMTG WikiFormat definition, Type 2 origins, and rotation mechanics history.
  3. 47MTG Standard Rotation GuideMTG Arena ZoneRotation tables and Arena renewal timing.
  4. 48Metagame Mentor: Winners and Losers from Standard Rotationmagic.gg — Frank KarstenJuly 2024 walkthrough of the first three-year rotation.

Keep going

Related guides and tools

Rotation in depth

How rotation is defined today, the full mechanic history, and what rotates next.

Open

The history of Standard

From Type 2 through Combo Winter, Caw-Blade, the Oko era, and Foundations.

Open

Browse Magic sets

Explore every set — including the ones in Standard right now — in our set database.

Open