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Magic 2011
 
 
 
 

Magic 2011
M11 logo
Set Information
Set symbol
Symbol description “M11”
Design Aaron Forsythe (lead),
Doug Beyer,
Mark Rosewater,
Mark Globus,
Tom LaPille,
Greg Marques
Development Erik Lauer (lead),
Dave Guskin,
Tom LaPille,
Ken Nagle
Art direction Jeremy Jarvis
Release date July 16, 2010
Plane Multiverse
Keywords/​ability words Scry
Set size 249 cards
(101 commons, 60 uncommons, 53 rares, 15 mythic rares, 20 basic lands)
Expansion code M11[1]
Core sets
Magic 2010 Magic 2011 Magic 2012
Magic: The Gathering Chronology
Archenemy Magic 2011 From the Vault: Relics

Magic: The Gathering 2011 Core Set (a.k.a Magic 2011 and M11) is the Core Set that was released on July 16, 2010. The worldwide Prerelease took place July 10–11,[2] and Launch Parties took place July 16–18.

Set details[ | ]

Magic 2011 contained 249 cards (101 Common, 60 Uncommon, 53 Rare, 15 Mythic, 20 Basic Lands). Like its predecessor Magic 2010, nearly half of the cards in Magic 2011 were new.[3]

Marketing[ | ]

M11 6-card booster

Spanish M11 6-card booster

Magic 2011 was is sold in 16-card and 6-card booster packs, 5 Intro packs,[4] a fat pack [5] and a Land Station. The regular boosters featured art from Sun Titan (with white background), Maritime Guard (with blue background), Phylactery Lich (with black background), Hoarding Dragon (with red background) and Obstinate Baloth (with green background).[6] The 6-card booster featured War Priest of Thune.

Magic2011Booster

M11 regular booster

A promotional version of the new card Sun Titan was given out to players at the Prerelease event. The promotional card for the launch party was the new card Ancient Hellkite.[7] The Buy-a-Box promo was Birds of Paradise. The Magic 2011 Game Day was held on August 14–15, 2010. At this event the DCI-Promo-Card was Liliana's Specter and the Top 8 Finish reward was a full-art foil Mitotic Slime.

Regular boosters of Magic 2011 come with a bonus sixteenth card that is either a "tips & tricks card" or a creature token from Magic 2011. One face of the Magic 2011 bonus card has one of nine different rules tips or is one of six different creature tokens. The other face has one of 13 advertisements for organized play programs, Scars of Mirrodin, Duels of the Planeswalkers for Xbox Live, Magic Online, fat packs, the Planewalker Novel - Test of Metal, the movie The Sorcerer's Apprentice and Ultra Pro products for Magic. The advertised movie had a Magic tie-in.[8]

Tips & Tricks[ | ]

The tips & tricks cards are:

  1. Planeswalker Cards
  2. Parts of the Turn
  3. Deathtouch
  4. Tokens & Counters
  5. Building a Deck
  6. Limited Play
  7. The Stack
  8. Gatherer Card Database
  9. Leylines

Tokens[ | ]

The Magic 2011 tokens are:[9]

  1. {W} */* Avatar produced by Ajani Goldmane
  2. {W} 3/3 Bird with flying produced by Roc Egg
  3. {B} 2/2 Zombie produced by Grave Titan
  4. {G} 3/3 Beast produced by Garruk Wildspeaker
  5. {G} 2/2 Ooze produced by Mitotic Slime
  6. {G} 1/1 Ooze produced by Mitotic Slime

Sample decks[ | ]

Like Tenth Edition, Magic 2011 came with free sample decks made from 30 commons and uncommons.[10]

Rule change[ | ]

  • Deathtouch was changed so that it followed the normal damage assignment rules, instead of ignoring them. Instead, any non-zero amount of damage dealt by a source with deathtouch would now be considered lethal damage. This is a more elegant solution that still allows a creature with deathtouch to kill multiple blockers.[3]

Mechanics and themes[ | ]

Magic 2011 uses all the evergreen mechanics except for double strike and intimidate. The mechanics flash, regeneration and shroud each appear on only one card, either an uncommon or rare. Magic 2011 is the first core set to use a non-evergreen mechanic, scry, which would not appear in the next core set Magic 2012.[3][11][12][13]

Magic 2011 attempts to give planeswalkers more of a presence, by printing two cycles of "signature spells".[14] Because planeswalkers have to be mythic rare, many players do not see the planeswalker characters very often. The names and artwork of these common and uncommon spells each feature one of the five planeswalkers originally printed in Lorwyn, meaning that players will now see the planeswalker characters a lot more often.[15]

Magic 2011 continues to push vampires as a major black tribe. It contains more vampires than Magic 2010, and is the first core set to contain more vampires than zombies.

Cycles[ | ]

Magic 2011 has 9 horizontal cycles and a four-card cycle.

Cycle name {W} {U} {B} {R} {G}
Lucky charms Angel's Feather Kraken's Eye Demon's Horn Dragon's Claw Wurm's Tooth
Each artifact costing {2} and hosting an ability that allows its controller to gain life whenever a spell of the appropriate color is played. (Reprinted from Darksteel) [10][16]
Enemy-color hosers Celestial Purge Flashfreeze Deathmark Combust Autumn's Veil
Each of these uncommon spells hampers both of their enemy colors at a low mana cost. (The first three are reprints from Magic 2010.)
Planeswalkers Ajani Goldmane Jace Beleren Liliana Vess Chandra Nalaar Garruk Wildspeaker
A cycle of mythic rare planeswalkers. (Reprinted from Magic 2010 and Lorwyn.)
Uncommon Signature Spells Ajani's Pridemate Jace's Ingenuity Liliana's Caress Chandra's Spitfire Garruk's Packleader
Each of these uncommon spells contains the name of one of the five original planeswalkers from Lorwyn, and is meant to replicate and/or benefit from that planeswalker's abilities.
Common Signature Spells Ajani's Mantra Jace's Erasure Liliana's Specter Chandra's Outrage Garruk's Companion
Each of these common spells contains the name of one of the five original planeswalkers from Lorwyn, and is meant to replicate and/or benefit from that planeswalker's abilities.
Tribal Lords Knight Exemplar
(Knights)
Merfolk Sovereign
(Merfolk)
Captivating Vampire
(Vampires)
Goblin Chieftain
(Goblins)
Elvish Archdruid
(Elves)
Each of these rare creatures gives other creatures of their type +1/+1 and has an additional ability related to them. (The last three are reprints from Magic 2010.)
Leylines Leyline of Sanctity Leyline of Anticipation Leyline of the Void Leyline of Punishment Leyline of Vitality
Each of these rare enchantments costs {2} plus 2 mana of the appropriate color. Each can start the game in play if it is in a player's opening hand. (Leyline of the Void reprinted from Guildpact)
Mythic Titans Sun Titan Frost Titan Grave Titan Inferno Titan Primeval Titan
Each of these mythic rare giants are 6/6, cost 4MM, have a color-themed ability (Vigilance, firebreathing, etc.), and have a powerful ability that is triggered by them entering the battlefield or attacking. [17][18]
Cycle name {W}{U} {U}{B} {B}{R} {R}{G} {G}{W}
Allied color check lands Glacial Fortress Drowned Catacomb Dragonskull Summit Rootbound Crag Sunpetal Grove
Each of these rare dual lands come into play tapped unless you control land with one of the appropriate types. (Reprinted from Magic 2010.) [19]

Four-card cycles[ | ]

Cycle name {U} {R}
Elemental Servants Air Servant Water Servant Fire Servant Earth Servant
These four uncommon Elemental creatures are instead based on the traditional four Elements. These four are added to the core set as Air Elemental was removed, the last Elemental of four Elementals that were in Alpha.

Pairs[ | ]

Magic 2011 has two mirrored pairs.

Mirrored Pairs Description
Holy Strength
({W})
Unholy Strength
({B})
Common Auras with enchant creature that give a mirrored bonus to the enchanted creature's power/toughness.
White Knight
({W})
Black Knight
({B})
Uncommon Knights with a mana cost of MM, power/toughness of 2/2, first strike and protection from the other's color.

Hosers[ | ]

Magic 2011 reprinted the white, blue, and black members of the hoser cycle from Magic 2010, as they were widely used as sideboard cards.[19] Red and green get new, more powerful hoser cards to deal with their enemy colors. Green also gets Plummet, one of the most efficient anti-flying hosers ever printed.

Plummet, along with red's hoser Combust, appear to be directed specifically at combating the powerful Baneslayer Angel - though they do serve other functions as well.

Notable cards[ | ]

  • The Titan cycle of cards (such as Inferno Titan) have all seen substantial amounts of play in Standard and Modern, providing large amounts of value for a single card even considering the mana investment. They particularly dominated in Standard, where they were at the top end of nearly every midrange and control deck while they were legal.
  • Serra Ascendant is a potentially extremely efficient creature, but is notable due to automatically gaining its bonus in formats such as Commander where players start with more than 30 life, causing it to be one of the strongest creatures in that format.
  • Viscera Seer is a strong, free sacrifice outlet that has powered numerous "aristocrats" decks like Vampires in Standard and creature toolbox and Collected Company decks in Modern, where it can be part of numerous infinite loops while also providing value against targeted removal.
  • Fauna Shaman is like a creature version of Survival of the Fittest that has been used in numerous creature toolbox decks in Standard and Modern to find creatures with niche abilities for the current situation
  • Steel Overseer is a powerful artifact creature playoff and a crucial part of MUD aggro decks in Legacy and Vintage, Affinity and Hardened Scales based decks in Modern, and Tempered Steel based artifact creature aggro decks in Standard.
  • Pyretic Ritual is one of the few red rituals legal in Modern, leading to its use in several combo decks like Landless Belcher, Storm, and Mono-Red Prison.
  • Ajani's Pridemate is one of the most iconic life gain payoffs and has seen many reprints in future sets
  • Leyline of Sanctity is a powerful sideboard card that has been played in every format from Modern to Vintage to prevent against targeted spells, primarily discard spells like Thoughtseize and direct damage burn spells.
  • Squadron Hawk was part of the notoriously powerful Caw-blade deck that used the hawk in numerous ways. The flying creatures were great at using the powerful Equipment fetched by Stoneforge Mystic, and its ability paired particularly well with Jace the Mind Sculptor's ability to Brainstorm, as the additional copies of the hawk could be put back into the deck and then fetched again afterward to generate significant card advantage. It now sees minor play in Modern decks like Death and Taxes and Martyr Proc, as well as white-based aggro decks in Pauper.

Banned and restricted cards[ | ]

  • Preordain is one of the strong cantrip cards in the game, offering an impressive card selection for a minimal cost. It has seen heavy play in Standard, Modern, Legacy, and Pauper, and was so strong in Modern that it was banned between 2011 and 2023 to reduce the consistency of blue decks.
  • Primeval Titan is easily the strongest of the already strong Titan cycle, providing both substantial ramp and the ability to search for any land, including nonbasics. This ability has led to entire decks based around casting it as early as possible and abusing its ability, such as the Amulet Titan ramp deck that has existed in Modern for nearly as long as the format has existed. It is so strong as to be banned in the casual format Commander.

Core set changes and reprints[ | ]

Main article: Magic 2011/Changes

As a Core Set, Magic 2011 has a higher ratio of reprints than usual. 93 out of 229 cards found in Magic 2011 appeared in Magic 2010, either as original printings or reprints from earlier sets.

Notable changes
  • With the removal of Mesa Enchantress, Magic 2011 is the first core set to not have an Enchantress. Mesa Enchantress replaced Verduran Enchantress in Magic 2010. Both have been used in Enchantress decks. Magic 2011 is also the first core set to contain no Auras that enchant lands.

Intro packs[ | ]

As of Magic 2011, intro packs would again be sixty card decks, rather than the 41 card decks they had been since Shards of Alara. They still came with a 16-card booster enclosed.

The intro packs are:[4]

Intro pack name Colors Included Foil rare
{W} {U} {B} {R} {G}
Blades of Victory W B Angelic Arbiter
Power of Prophecy W U Conundrum Sphinx
Reign of Vampirism B G Captivating Vampire
Breath of Fire U R Ancient Hellkite
Stampede of Beasts R G Overwhelming Stampede

Trivia[ | ]

The card Ancient Hellkite was the promotional card given out at release events; it is also available as a foil in the theme deck Breath of Fire.

Apart from the two cycles of planeswalker's spells, Magic 2011 contains several new cards that pay homage to Magic's past:

References[ | ]

  1. Product info
  2. Tim Willoughby (July 05, 2010). "M11 Prerelease Primer — Putting the Fun in Fundamentals". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  3. a b c Aaron Forsythe (June 28, 2010). "Magic 2011 Has Big Shoes to Fill". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  4. a b Monty Ashley (May 25, 2010). "Magic 2011 Intro Packs". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  5. Monty Ashley (May 26, 2010). "Magic 2011 Fat Pack". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  6. Monty Ashley (May 24, 2010). "Magic 2011 Boosters". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  7. Monty Ashley (June 14, 2010). "Magic 2011 Prerelease and Launch Party Cards". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  8. Monty Ashley (July 12, 2010). "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  9. Monty Ashley (July 01, 2010). "Magic 2011 Tokens". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  10. a b Tom LaPille (July 09, 2010). "My Favorite Things About Magic 2011". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  11. Mark Rosewater (June 28, 2010). "Magic Goes To Eleven". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  12. Tom LaPille (July 02, 2010). "Scry Havoc". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  13. Tom LaPille (July 16, 2010). "More than Meets the Eye". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  14. Doug Beyer (July 14, 2010). "Planeswalkers' Signature Spells". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  15. Mark Rosewater (July 5, 2010). "Eleven Sent". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  16. Doug Beyer (July 07, 2010). "Target: Face". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  17. Tom LaPille (July 30, 2010). "Titanic Trouble". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  18. Monty Ashley (June 30, 2010). "The Titans of M11". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  19. a b Tom LaPille (June 04, 2010). "Core Samples". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.

External links[ | ]

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