Core Set 2020

Core Set 2020

 

Card comparisons

 

Changes

 

Deck Builder's Toolkit

 

Planeswalker decks

 

Spellslinger Starter Kit

 

Welcome decks

 

Core Set 2020
Set Information
Set symbol
Symbol description	"M20"
Design	Yoni Skolnik (lead) Andrew Brown Mclane Crowell Melissa DeTora Peter Lee Max McCall
Development	Same as design
Art direction	Keven Smith
Release date	July 12, 2019
Themes and mechanics	Chandra Nalaar, Elementals, wedges, color hate, leylines
Keywords/​ability words	Evergreen (including Protection again)
Set size	280 cards (112 Commons, 80 Uncommons, 53 Rares, 15 Mythic Rares, 20 Basic Lands) +1 Buy-a-Box promo +20 Planeswalker deck exclusives +43 introductory product cards
Expansion code	M20
Core sets
[[Core Set 2019]] '''Core Set 2020''' N/A
Magic: The Gathering Chronology
[[Signature Spellbook: Gideon]] Core Set 2020 [[Commander 2019]]

Core Set 2020, also known as Core 2020, is the 19th Magic core set. It was released on July 12, 2019.

Set details

Core Set 2020 features a mix of new and reprinted cards. The set contains 280 cards (20 basic land, 112 common, 80 uncommon, 53 rare, and 15 mythic rare) and includes randomly inserted premium versions of all cards. 1:45 cards are foil, instead of the usual 1:67. A unique Buy-a-Box promotional card numbered #281/280 is also considered to be part of the set. 63 additional cards are found in the set's planeswalker decks (#282/280 to #301/280) and Spellslinger Starter Kit (#302/280 to #344/280). Core Set 2020 introduced full-art tokens.

Chandra Nalaar is the face of Core Set 2020 card set, and is represented by three different planeswalker cards in different rarities and depicting several facets in her life. A fourth planeswalker card is included in the Chandra Planeswalker Deck.

Rules change

Starting with tabletop Core Set 2020 Preleases on July 5, the London mulligan will be used for all play. It will become officially reflected in the Comprehensive Rules with the M20 rules updates on July 12. To take this mulligan, a player shuffles the cards in their hand back into their library, draws a new hand of cards equal to their starting hand size, then puts a number of those cards equal to the number of times that player has taken a mulligan on the bottom of their library in any order.

Storyline

Core Set 2020 has a small flavor theme focusing on the life of Chandra Nalaar. There are no Story Spotlights, and there was no story support for the set.

Marketing

Core Set 2020 is sold in 16-card boosters (one card being a marketing card), mono-colored theme boosters, five welcome decks, five planeswalker decks, the Core 2020 bundle, a Deck Builder's Toolkit, a Spellslinger Starter Kit and a Land Station. The bundle for the first time contains a alternate art foil promo card and an oversized spindown life counter. It also contains 20 foil lands. The boosters feature key art from three planeswalkers (Ajani, Mu Yanling and Sorin Markov that also featured on the Planeswalker decks and Welcome decks.

Like with its predecessor, the Welcome decks, Planeswalker decks and Deck Builder's Toolkit are strongly integrated, which allows for an easier transition between the products. The Spellslinger Starter Kit is now also part of the line up. Throughout the product line the colors have a central theme: Lifegain, Flying, Vampires, Direct damage and Big Monsters/Pump.

Events

• Magic Open House: June 29–30, 2019
• Prerelease: July 5–7, 2019
  • Magic Arena: July 2, 2019
• Draft Weekend: July 13–14, 2019
• Commander Weekend: August 24–25, 2019. This season's Magic Weekend coincides with the release of Commander 2019. Commander Weekend will feature Commander variants recommended by Magic's design studio, with achievement cards.
• There is no Standard Showdown planned for this set.

Promotional cards

Promo pack

Premium promo pack

• Prerelease: a stamped card that can be any rare or mythic rare of Core Set 2020.
• Buy-a-Box: Rienne, Angel of Rebirth
• Core Set 2020 introduces the universal promo pack, the contents of which are distributed at the discretion of the stores. This contains:
  • a promo-stamped rare or mythic rare from Core Set 2020 .
  • a promo-stamped rare or mythic rare from a short, curated list. Standard-legal.
    • Roughly 1:4 of packs contains a Japanese anime-style alternate art War of the Spark planeswalker, instead.
  • an alternate art basic land.
  • One of five special, season-specific cards with FNM alternate card frame: Corpse Knight, Negate, Disfigure, Flame Sweep or Thrashing Brontodon.
  • 1:4 promo packs includes all foil contents (clearly identifiable from the packaging).
• Core Set 2020 Bundle promo: foil alternate art Chandra's Regulator
• Convention promo: full-art Nightpack Ambusher

Tokens and emblems

Core 2020 comes with 10 tokens and 2 emblems. Token and emblems appear in the marketing card slot.

1. 2/2 Cat Soldier creature named Ajani's Pridemate with "Whenever you gain life, put a +1/+1 counter on Ajani's Pridemate," for Ajani, Strength of the Pride.
2. 1/1 Soldier creature, for Ancestral Blade, Ironroot Warlord, Raise the Alarm, and Skyknight Vanguard.
3. 1/1 Spirit creature with flying, for Bishop of Wings, Hanged Executioner, and Kykar, Wind's Fury.
4. 4/4 Elemental Bird creature with flying, for Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer.
5. 5/5 Demon creature with flying, for Bloodsoaked Altar.
6. 2/2 Zombie creature, for Boneclad Necromancer, Field of the Dead, and Undead Servant.
7. 1/1 Elemental creature, for Chandra, Acolyte of Flame, Mask of Immolation and Scampering Scorcher.
8. 2/2 Wolf creature, for Ferocious Pup, Howling Giant, Nightpack Ambusher, Wolfkin Bond, and Wolfrider's Saddle.
9. 3/3 Golem artifact creature, for Cavalier of Dawn, Master Splicer, and Masterful Replication.
10. Treasure, for Rapacious Dragon.
11. Emblem for Chandra, Awakened Inferno
12. Emblem for Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer

Themes and mechanics

To improve draft, Core Set 2020 is build around three-color "wedges" (a color and its two enemies).

The set features the following limited archetypes, which focus on the ally-colored pairs within each wedge:

• : Go Wide
  • : Ironroot Warlord
• : Flying Creatures
  • : Empyrean Eagle
• : Control with "Enters-the-Battlefield" Effects
  • : Tomebound Lich
• : Aggro
  • : Ogre Siegebreaker
• : Elemental Creatures
  • : Creeping Trailblazer

The enemy colored signposts connecting the two archetypes which they are part of:

• : Corpse Knight (Going Wide does Aggro damage)
• : Lightning Stormkin (Flying Elemental)
• : Moldervine Reclamation (Going Wide enables Control)
• : Skyknight Vanguard (Flying Aggro)
• : Risen Reef (Elemental with "Enters-the-Battlefield" Effect)

There are also mono-colored signposts, which connect the three archetypes they are part of:

• : Herald of the Sun (Go wide, Flying, and Aggro)
• : Waterkin Shaman (Flying, Enters-the-Battlefield Effects, and Elementals)
• : Gruesome Scourger (Go Wide, Enters-the-Battlefield Effects, and Aggro)
• : Chandra's spitfire (Flying, Aggro, and Elementals)
• : Overgrowth Elemental (Go Wide, Enters-the-Battlefield Effects, and Elementals)

There are no new, or non-evergreen returning, mechanics in the set. Protection returns back to evergreen on a probationary status.

Ancestral Blade, Mask of Immolation and Wolfrider's Saddle are Equipment that create a token upon entering the battlefield and attach directly to it, in an implementation of the Living weapon mechanic.

Cycles

Core Set 2020 has twenty cycles, including one double cycle and one vertical cycle.

Cycle name	Description and notes
Core set planeswalkers	Five mythic monocolor planeswalkers.	Ajani, Strength of the Pride	Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer	Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord	Chandra, Awakened Inferno	Vivien, Arkbow Ranger
Cavaliers	Five mythic Elemental Knight creatures, each costing MMM. Each has a powerful enters the battlefield and leaves the battlefield trigger, as well as another ability.	Cavalier of Dawn	Cavalier of Gales	Cavalier of Night	Cavalier of Flame	Cavalier of Thorns
Iconic legends	Five rare monocolored iconic legendary creatures, each costing at least MMM.	Sephara, Sky's Blade	Atemsis, All-Seeing	Vilis, Broker of Blood	Drakuseth, Maw of Flames	Gargos, Vicious Watcher
Leylines	Five rare enchantments, each of which cost MM, and can start the game on the battlefield if they are in a player's opening hand.	Leyline of Sanctity	Leyline of Anticipation	Leyline of the Void	Leyline of Combustion	Leyline of Abundance
Double spells	Five rare instants and sorceries, each of which have an effect that happens twice and have an alliterative name.	Brought Back	Drawn from Dreams	Scheming Symmetry	Repeated Reverberation	Shared Summons
Enemy color hosers	Five uncommon instants and sorceries, each of which punish an opponent for playing their enemy colors.	Devout Decree ()	Aether Gust ()	Noxious Grasp ()	Fry ()	Veil of Summer ()
Protection creatures	Five creatures, each of which have protection from one of their enemy colors. Four are uncommon and one is rare.	Apostle of Purifying Light ()	Cerulean Drake ()	Blightbeetle ()	Unchained Berserker ()	Shifting Ceratops ()
Colored artifacts	Five uncommon monocolored artifacts.	Ancestral Blade	Portal of Sanctuary	Bloodsoaked Altar	Mask of Immolation	Wolfrider's Saddle
"Care about" spells	Five common spells that get more powerful when played with multiple copies of the same card. Two are reprints from Magic Origins.	Battalion Foot Soldier	Faerie Miscreant	Undead Servant	Pack Mastiff	Growth Cycle
Cycle name	Description and notes
Allied signposts	Five uncommon allied color spells, each of which supports one wedge draft archetype.	Empyrean Eagle	Tomebound Lich	Ogre Siegebreaker	Creeping Trailblazer	Ironroot Warlord
Cycle name	Description and notes
Crossover signposts	Five uncommon enemy colored spells, each of which supports two wedge draft archetypes.	Corpse Knight	Lightning Stormkin	Moldervine Reclamation	Skyknight Vanguard	Risen Reef
Temples	Five rare enemy colored scry lands, reprinted from the Theros block.	Temple of Silence	Temple of Epiphany	Temple of Malady	Temple of Triumph	Temple of Mystery
Cycle name	Description and notes
Wedge legends	Five mythic rare wedge colored legendary creatures, each supporting a draft theme.	Kethis, the Hidden Hand	Kykar, Wind's Fury	Yarok, the Desecrated	Kaalia, Zenith Seeker	Omnath, Locus of the Roil

Dual cycle

Cycle name
Life-gain taplands	Tranquil Cove	Dismal Backwater	Bloodfell Caves	Rugged Highlands	Blossoming Sands	Scoured Barrens	Swiftwater Cliffs	Jungle Hollow	Wind-Scarred Crag	Thornwood Falls
Description and notes: Ten common lands that enter the battlefield tapped, gain the controller one life, and can tap for 2 different colors of mana. Reprinted from Khans of Tarkir and Fate Reforged.

Vertical cycle

Cycle name	Description and notes
Chandra	Depicting Chandra Nalaar in various stages of her life.	Chandra, Novice Pyromancer	Chandra, Acolyte of Flame	Chandra, Awakened Inferno

Precon only

Cycle name	Description and notes
Planeswalkers	Five planeswalker variants with simpler abilities, each of which cost MM and is included in the Planeswalker decks for M20.	Ajani, Inspiring Leader	Mu Yanling, Celestial Wind	Sorin, Vampire Lord	Chandra, Flame's Fury	Vivien, Nature's Avenger
Planeswalkers' Tutor	Five rare Spells, each of which cost MM,everyone of those has an effect and also tutors for the specific planeswalker.	Goldmane Griffin	Yanling's Harbinger	Sorin's Guide	Chandra's Flame Wave	Ethereal Elk
"3 off" creatures	Five uncommon creatures that appear in 3 copies in the Planeswalker deck.	Twinblade Paladin	Waterkin Shaman	Thirsting Bloodlord	Pyroclastic Elemental	Gnarlback Rhino
"4 off" creatures	Five common creature that appear in 4 copies in the Planeswalker deck.	Savannah Sage	Celestial Messenger	Savage Gorger	Wildfire Elemental	Vivien's Crocodile
Welcome Deck Rares	Five rare creatures that are only included in the Welcome Decks and Planeswalker Decks.	Serra's Guardian	Riddlemaster Sphinx	Gravewaker	Shivan Dragon	Aggressive Mammoth

Notable cards

• Bag of Holding is a Dungeons & Dragons crossover.
• Ripscale Predator is printed as a Dinosaur for the first time after being originally printed as a Lizard in Gatecrash, and the oracle change in the Ixalan update.

Misprint

Some copies of Corpse Knight are printed as 2/3 instead of 2/2.

Preconstructed decks

Welcome decks

Core Set 2020 features five Welcome Decks.

Welcome deck name	Colors Included					Iconic card
White deck	W					Serra's Guardian
Blue deck		U				Riddlemaster Sphinx
Black deck			B			Gravewaker
Red deck				R		Shivan Dragon
Green deck					G	Aggressive Mammoth

Spellslinger Starter Kit

The Spellslinger Starter Kit comes with two Standard-legal 60-card decks, designed to create an interactive learning experience for two.

Planeswalker decks

Core 2020 features five planeswalker decks, that come with only one booster and are designed to integrate with the welcome decks.

Planeswalker deck name	Colors Included					Planeswalker
Ajani	W					Ajani, Inspiring Leader
Yanling		U				Mu Yanling, Celestial Wind
Sorin			B			Sorin, Vampire Lord
Chandra				R		Chandra, Flame's Fury
Vivien					G	Vivien, Nature's Avenger

External links

• Mark Rosewater (July 1, 2019). "What Core Can I Say? - Part 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
• Mark Rosewater (July 8, 2019). "What Core Can I Say? - Part 2". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.