What Is Standard in MTG? Legal Sets and Rotation Explained

Standard is the Magic: The Gathering format that uses only the most recent sets. Decks need at least 60 cards, with up to four copies of any card except basic lands, and games are one-on-one. Once a year the six oldest sets rotate out. On Wizards’ list, Standard runs from Wilds of Eldraine to Reality Fracture.

The Standard deck building rules

The Standard deck building rules are the same as for other 60-card Constructed formats. Your main deck needs at least 60 cards, and you may have a sideboard of up to 15 cards to swap in between games. The four-copy limit counts the deck and sideboard together, and basic lands have no limit.

Wizards’ format page describes Standard as one-on-one games, decided by best of one or best of three, that last about 20 minutes each.

Which sets are legal in Standard

The sets legal in Standard are listed on Wizards of the Coast’s Standard format page. Reading it on October 5, 2026, the list runs from Wilds of Eldraine (September 2023) to Reality Fracture (October 2026):

Wizards’ list also includes Through the Omenpaths, marked digital only. Sets based on other franchises, such as Final Fantasy and Marvel’s Spider-Man, are on the list alongside Magic’s own worlds.

How Standard rotation works

Standard rotation is how old sets leave the format. Wizards’ rule is: “Once per year, after the first premier set Prerelease of the year, the six oldest sets in Standard rotate out.” Cards from those sets stay legal in older formats such as Pioneer and Modern.

Rotation means you only need cards from recent sets, and it also means a Standard deck changes every year. Check the format page before buying cards from the oldest legal sets, since those leave first.

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The easiest way into Standard

The easiest way into Standard is a ready-made deck. Wizards launched 60-Card Theme Decks in January 2026 for exactly this: each is Standard legal, plays against other Theme Decks, and includes 15 to 20 rare cards. The first two, Angels and Pirates, came with Lorwyn Eclipsed. A Wizards designer said “the vast majority are legal for at least one year.”

Online, MTG Arena offers Standard for free, and Wizards calls it “perfect for new players.” Arena follows the same rules as the paper game, so it is a cheap way to try decks before buying cards.

60-Card Theme Decks and starter products

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Banned cards in Standard

Standard has its own banned list, kept on Wizards’ Banned and Restricted page. A banned card may not be in your deck or sideboard. On October 5, 2026, the Standard list named 14 cards, one of them banned only in MTG Arena’s best-of-one games. Wizards says cards are usually banned when they “heavily skew the play environment,” and the lists apply only to Constructed formats, not to drafts or sealed play.

Standard compared with other Magic formats

Standard is the smallest Constructed card pool in Magic. Pioneer starts from Return to Ravnica in 2012 and does not rotate; Modern reaches back about two decades. Both are compared in Modern vs Pioneer, and every format is in Magic formats explained. If you are building your first 60-card deck, how many lands a deck needs gives the starting numbers.