After attending the Seattle pre-release for Magic 2011 a few things became very apparent.  First, M11 is a solid, if not outstanding core set.  A fairly surprising conclusion reached only after much play testing (albeit only Limited).  Second, there are quite a few cards that graced M10 that we will sorely miss in the coming months.  This is not to lament the rotation of Alara, and the changes to competitive Standard tournaments, but more to highlight the cards we enjoyed finding in boosters, playing in Limited events, and rolling in the MTGO casual room.

With the purpose of making this less muddled, these not-long-for-this-earth favorites have been separated into three categories:

Our first group includes some of the most core spells of any core set, cards like Overrun, Earthquake, and Mind Spring.  For each color these cards are staples, and while not as likely to show up in an expansion, they fit too well into the WotC flavor-pie to ride the pine for long.  Earthquake in particular will be missed, as there is not a replacement effect as of yet.  There are better Overruns in Green, and the best-Overrun effect ever in Eldrazi Monument.  Mind spring is simply a draw card, a good draw card, with simple flavor and great design.  While unlikely to be replaced by Jaces Ingenuity forever, players seem content with the switch for now.  Earthquake, however, leaves Red with much to be desired.  Because Chain Reaction has never made any impact as a red-sweep (I’m feeling worse about its #1 ranking in the Gathering Magic Worldwake preview every day) the call is still out.  Perhaps this tells us something of Scars of Mirrodin, or maybe we’ll just have to wait a year for Magic 2012.

The second group consists of favorites that may never see the light of play-testing again.  First and foremost, Vampire Nocturnus, or the Black wizard’s Baneslayer Angel.  Nocturnus was one for the most loved cards in M10, even if that love wasn’t fully realized until three months later when Zendikar hit.  It struck all the right flavor notes, and maintained a competitive presence most of its lifespan.  Too bad in Magic 2011, WotC was more concerned with finding a proper replacement for Xathrid Demon in Black’s lone free Mythic slot.  At least we have Captivating Vampire now.  Err….. never mind.  Next, a worthy peer to VN, Master of the Wild Hunt, may also have seen his last days.  MOTWH is another card with great color-pie flavor, and a tournament pedigree to boot, that couldn’t squeeze itself into M11.  As one of the best Limited Green cards in years, we hope to see a return soon, but the Mythic status makes that a definite question mark.  Finally, Captain of the Watch leaves us as well.  A solid token generator that doubled as a lord, Captain will be missed as well.

Let’s be honest with ourselves as Magic fans, we have our guilty pleasures.  Cards we loathe for what they bring to the game, but secretly love to spring on our opponents.  To that end, WotC did us all an unintentional favor by dropping these cards in favor of some more fan-friendly choices.  Perhaps the most common offender of truly tragic games in the MTGO casual room this past year was Warp World.  The center piece of a fairly easy Red/Green build that has been net-decked to the point where, for about three months,  you had a better chance to see some version of it, that you did of seeing any Blue card at all.  Magic 2011 did us another solid by saving Standard from the heir to the MTGO casual throne – Polymorph.  Polymorph is versatile and fun, but everyone now realizes you can throw out a turn four Emrakul the Aeons Torn using this spell and that 0/1 plant token sitting conspicuously alone on the battlefield.  Some time away from this most simple, yet powerful combo is certainly in order.  Definitely not as prevalent (at least not on MTGO), but equally annoying in its effectiveness is Manabarbs.  It maybe great for Red wizards from every corner of the planet, but hell for the rest of us.  Again, as popular as they might be, maybe this trio is due for a time out.

There you have it, a few of the top cards we won’t see in an M11 booster.  For better or for worse.  Disagree with these choices? Then feel free to post your own list of the cards you’ll miss most from Magic 2010.

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