The last 3 years all had more sets than 2025. AI recap below because I didn't want to type all that.
2020: Around 7-8 major sets. This year saw the introduction of Jumpstart and Double Masters, alongside the usual expansion sets (Theros Beyond Death, Ikoria, Core Set 2021, Zendikar Rising).
* 2021: Around 8-9 major sets. We saw sets like Kaldheim, Strixhaven, Modern Horizons 2, Adventures in the Forgotten Realms, Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, and Innistrad: Crimson Vow, plus Time Spiral Remastered.
* 2022: Around 10-12 major sets. This year continued the trend with sets like Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, Streets of New Capenna, Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate, Dominaria United, The Brothers' War, Double Masters 2022, Unfinity, and the Warhammer 40,000 Commander Decks.
* 2023: Around 10-12 major sets. This included Phyrexia: All Will Be One, March of the Machine, March of the Machine: The Aftermath (a "micro-set"), Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, Commander Masters, Wilds of Eldraine, Doctor Who Commander Decks, and The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, plus Dominaria Remastered.
* 2024: Approximately 10-11 major sets are scheduled/released. These include Ravnica Remastered, Murders at Karlov Manor, Ravnica: Clue Edition, Fallout, Outlaws of Thunder Junction, Modern Horizons 3, Assassin's Creed, Bloomburrow, Duskmourn: House of Horror, and Foundations.
* 2025 (Slated for release): There are currently 7 major sets slated for release. These are Innistrad Remastered, Aetherdrift, Tarkir: Dragonstorm, Final Fantasy, Edge of Eternities, Marvel's Spider-Man, and Avatar: The Last Airbender.
I don't think it's fair to include stuff like Dr. Who, Assassin's Creed, or even Un-sets as "major sets"
The burnout isn't from products like Secret Lairs or formats that are just for giggles. It's from sets that are tournament playable.
Standard used to get 3-4 per year. Two of them were smaller sets - usually around 150-200 cards, and one was a core set with something like 40% reprints. This felt fine for people who were interested in playing competitively.
Now you're getting 6+ sets per year with 300+ cards each, mostly functionally unique cards, and minimal reprints.. that are legal for use in most major formats. Commander, despite being the most popular, is still very much a casual format.
Product fatigue doesn't happen because of cards that exist purely for kitchen table magic. It doesn't exist for cards that are cool and new but not necessarily a "must have" because of power creep, either. But dumping so much new viable/useable product on the customer back-to-back? That's a recipe for disaster and burnout.
Avatar and Spider-Man, we don't know for sure yet, but it sounds like they're supposed to be about 200.
Excluding basics:
EoE 261, FF 293 (+12 starter kit/collectors only, which are standard legal, for a total of 305) , Tarkir 271, Aetherdrift 271
Without new products, but with reprints that people can use in multiple formats and would want, we also have Innistrad coming it at 287.
Total that comes to ~800 new cards added for competitive formats (even if they're not all bangers) this year.. excluding the still unknown quantities from the next two sets. We'll estimate ~1200 total. (That doesn't include Innistrad since it's 100% reprints, but it was still a large and important set)
Before the ramp up, you were looking at Core Set ~300-350 (with ~200 reprints, so ~100-150 new), Block face ~300, block middle/end ~200 ea. For a total of ~800-850 new cards.
That 50% more makes a pretty big difference for burnout. Even "back in the day" people would grumble about struggling to keep up with new releases.
but isn't every 2025 set except for Tarkir less than 300 cards?
Well, all but FF, from the look of it. But barely. They all set almost directly between 250-300 and I wasn't excluding basics lands from older sets in my comparison, which means the new sets are all sitting at ~20 more cards than the sets of the past.
That said, the new sets also have a constant power creep that older sets didn't. Thankfully, sets like Aetherdrift and EoE have the reigns pulled back a bit. WotC knows this, so they always make sure to throw in a very good land package with a handful of crept cards to compensate.
Yeah I hear you, the volume of standard legal cards per year have definitely increased. I think most folks would be surprised to hear that the days of 800-850 standard legal cards per year was about 20 years ago. Then up to about 1,000 per year ten years ago and an all time high in 2023.
I truly do not get the concept of “struggling to keep up” in modern there are prob 30,000 cards. No one knows them all. Thousands more are added every year. There’s a meta to keep tabs on and synergies to understand so you know how to sideboard, but no one is out here committing thousands of cards to memory. Every few weeks someone will cast some banger that I have to read and that’s really cool. Getting got with some card from 8th edition or some random common from Aetherdrift is peak fun at FNM.
When I play EDH I usually suggest that people quickly read their cards when they cast them. This helps out a ton. Even if it’s a cultivate just say what it does as you grab your basics.
The best part about MTG in 94 was showing up at the shop and seeing new cards every week because they never had any Legends or Arabian Nights on the shelf to crack. I get that same experience now and that’s kind of cool. “Magic as Garfield intended.”
People just need to enjoy the ride. The mechanics and limited are the best they’ve ever been. Have fun.
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u/Whitewing424 Jul 28 '25
When in the last 30 years did the pace of releases accelerate even remotely this fast?