It may still be the peak of summer, but it's never too early to start thinking about fall for Magic: The Gathering fans. The contemporary era of Standard is built around a fall rotation, which means that players are only a few short months away from a huge chunk of the current legal cards rotating out of legal play for the format.

The Standard rotation in Magic: The Gathering can be a little confusing not just to new players, but also to veterans who are used to the old Standard rotations (which happened every time a new block kicked off). When the rotation arrives four sets are going to shift out of Standard play to make room for the fall set and the sets that will arrive throughout 2022.

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The idea of losing access to cards in the format can be a little scary, but luckily there are always plenty of new cards on the horizon. The rotation is straightforward once it's broken down into simple terms. That said, it does represent a significant metagame shift and a ton of cards will be left to the legacy formats. With that in mind, here are all of the key points that players need to know heading into the coming months and the launch of the two-part Innistrad set...

Magic Innistrad 2021

What is leaving Standard in fall 2021?

There are a massive number of cards leaving Standard, which will completely change the current metagame and make room for new decks to take over the top spots. The following four sets are all heading out and will no longer be Standard legal once the September set officially releases:

Throne of Eldraine (ELD)

Theros Beyond Death (THB)

Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths (IKO)

Core Set 2021 (M21)

What is staying in Standard?

These sets are here to stay for now and will shift out of the Standard lineup when fall 2022 arrives. That means there's still plenty of time to use these cards and build decks around them:

Zendikar Rising

Kaldheim

Strixhaven: School of Mages

Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms

What is going to be new to Standard in the coming year?

In the next year or so Magic: The Gathering players are in for a return to one of the game's most popular horror settings - Innistrad. After that, there is still a lot of mystery surrounding the sets that will come next. Lots of information about that should arrive this fall. Here's a quick recap of what comes throughout the end of 2021 and into 2022:

Innistrad: Midnight Hunt

Innistrad: Crimson Vow

Unknown Set Name

Unknown Set Name

What will rotate out in fall 2022?

Zendikar Rising

Kaldheim

Strixhaven: School of Mages

Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms

Be sure to check back throughout the rest of 2021 for more strategy guides, updates, and news about the first ever Dungeons and Dragons-themed Magic: The Gathering set and the sets that follow later this year.

Magic: The Gathering is available now and the Adventures in the Forgotten Realms set releases on July 8 for Arena and in paper on July 23, 2021.

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