Magic 2011 (M11): the core set, its prerelease and drafting basics

Magic 2011, usually shortened to M11, was released on July 16, 2010. It was the twelfth core set for Magic: The Gathering and the successor to Magic 2010. For many players its prerelease was the first chance to try a core set full of new cards in Sealed deck. This page covers what the set contained, how its prerelease worked, and what mattered when drafting it.

Key dates

The set at a glance

M11 has 249 cards: 101 commons, 60 uncommons, 53 rares, 15 mythic rares and 20 basic lands. According to the MTG Wiki, the design team was led by Aaron Forsythe, with Doug Beyer, Mark Rosewater, Mark Globus, Tom LaPille and Greg Marques. Development was led by Erik Lauer. Wikipedia counts 110 new cards, and the MTG Wiki notes that nearly half the set was new.

• Scry. M11 brought scry into a core set. It was the first non-evergreen mechanic from an expert-level set to appear in a core set, and it did not return in Magic 2012.
• Planeswalker signature cards. Two cycles of lower-rarity "signature spells" tied to the five original Lorwyn planeswalkers, such as Ajani's Pridemate and Ajani's Mantra. Because the planeswalkers themselves were mythic rares, these cards gave the characters more presence in an average booster.
• Vampires. The set pushed vampires as black's main tribe and was the first core set with more vampires than zombies.
• The Titans. Sun Titan, Frost Titan, Grave Titan, Inferno Titan and Primeval Titan formed a cycle that saw heavy play in Standard and Modern.

The set also included a rules change: deathtouch began following normal damage assignment rules, so any nonzero damage from a deathtouch source counted as lethal. Other notable cards included Squadron Hawk, Fauna Shaman, Steel Overseer, Serra Ascendant, Leyline of Sanctity and Preordain.

How the prerelease worked

A prerelease is a Sealed deck tournament held about a week before a set's release. Players open booster packs of the new set and build a deck of at least 40 cards from them plus basic lands. Starting with Shards of Alara, local stores could run prereleases, which made them much easier to attend.

Prerelease participants received a promotional version of Sun Titan. Launch parties gave out Ancient Hellkite, and Game Day offered Liliana's Specter, with a full-art foil Mitotic Slime for the Top 8. Regular M11 boosters had 16 cards, with the sixteenth slot holding either a tips-and-tricks card or a creature token.

Drafting and Sealed basics for M11

The following points are general Limited principles applied to what the set actually contained, not a pick order:

• Build at 40 cards. Sealed and draft decks have a 40-card minimum, so extra cards only dilute your best ones.
• Value scry. Because scry is a card-selection mechanic, it helps smooth draws in a format where most cards are simple and deck quality varies a lot.
• Follow the tribes. Black's vampire theme and the planeswalker signature cards reward drafting cards that share a theme, such as several Ajani cards in white.
• Read the bombs. Powerful rares such as the Titans can decide a game on their own, so it pays to know which removal in your colors can answer them.
• Know the new deathtouch rules. Under the M11 change, a deathtouch creature could split its damage among several blockers and kill each of them.

Intro packs

M11 intro packs returned to 60-card decks, up from the 41-card decks used since Shards of Alara, and each came with a 16-card booster. The five decks were Blades of Victory, Power of Prophecy, Reign of Vampirism, Breath of Fire and Stampede of Beasts. Each included a foil rare: Angelic Arbiter, Conundrum Sphinx, Captivating Vampire, Ancient Hellkite and Overwhelming Stampede.

For how premier events were organized a few years later, see the 2013 premier play changes.