Last updated on November 25, 2023
Rin and Seri, Inseparable | Illustration by Leesha Hannigan
Article by Niels van der Vlugt and Ender Orçun Çetiner
Core Set 2021 is the third Core Set released by Wizards since their hiatus after Magic Origins back in 2015. If you’ve been paying attention—and I’m assuming you have—you know that it revolves around Teferi. This continues WotC’s trend after M20’s focus on Chandra.
Let’s start out with the core of the set first.
Core Set 2021 Basic Information
Teferi, Hero of Dominaria | Illustration by Chris Rallis
Set Details
| What | Key Info |
|---|---|
| Official Name | Core Set 2021 |
| Set Symbol |  |
| Set Code | M21 |
| Hashtag | #MTGM21 |
| Number of Cards | 274 |
| Rarities | 15 Mythic Rare / 53 Rare / 80 Uncommon / 111 Common / 15 Basic Land |
| Cards per Pack | 15: 1 rare/mythic rare, 3 uncommons, 10 commons, 1 land |
Important Dates
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Previews start on dailymtg.com | June 5, 2020 (*delayed) |
| Previews start on dailymtg.com | June 16, 2020 |
| Release on MTG Arena | June 25, 2020 |
| Release on MTG Online (Treasure Chests only) | June 25, 2020 (assumed) |
| Available on Arena Tutor | June 25, 2020 (estimated) |
| Paper prerelease | June 26 to July 2, 2020 |
| Paper release | July 3, 2020 |
About the Set
Teferi's Protection | Illustration by Chase Stone
Core Set 2021 is a black border set that was current in the Standard rotation when Zendikar Rising released in Q4 of 2020. Needless to say, this set gave us the tone (the flavor, if you will) for what we can expect to see in the coming Standard landscapes.
In the preview video for the set, Mark Rosewater called it “one of the best core sets of all time.” But I think he might be just a little bit biased.
The Flavor and Story of M21
If you follow Magic passionately, the Throne of Eldraine announcement stream WotC released in September 2019 won’t have escaped your attention. If it did, take the time to watch it:
After you’ve gazed wonderingly at the amazing-looking trailer for ELD, you’re transported to an interview between Jimmy Wong, Mark Rosewater, and Cynthia Sheppard. At around 13:55, the latter introduces Core Set 2021 and gives us a small hint… Teferi! *cue epic music*
Cynthia follows that up with: “If you like Teferi, you will not be disappointed in this set.” If that isn’t something to get excited about, I don’t know what is! It also gave room to speculate on what type of cards to expect other than the usual reprints that are always featured in a Core Set.
The Planeswalkers
Beyond our main headliner Teferi, the other planeswalkers that grace us in the set are:
- Basri Ket
- Chandra Nalaar
- Garruk Wildspeaker
- Liliana Vess
- Ugin
Basri Ket is a brand new character introduced by Core Set 2021. He's a paladin from the plane of Amonkhet and is known for wielding “sand magic.”
Basri completed the Trial of Solidarity and his spark was ignited in a “moment of pure elation.” He was a follower of Oketra and returns to Amonket to find it in ruins after disappearing upon becoming a planeswalker.
His signature weapon is part spear, part javelin, and part battle ax. Quite the implement.
You can find out more about creating Basri from Wizards.
All Hounds are Dogs
People have been clamoring for this one for a while! Now along with their real-world companions, cats, dogs can finally exist on the planes of Magic.
For years we've been fed cards with hounds and all other sorts of canines. But as of Core Set 2021 they have been retroactively changed to be dogs. And you get a new doggo to boot:
Set Mechanics
Phasing
That's right, one of the weirdest and possibly most complex mechanics in Magic is back! It is only printed on one card. But that card is the hallmark planeswalker of the set, Teferi, Master of Time.
It's astounding how the reminder text for phasing has simply been summarized:
Treat it and anything attached to it as though they don't exist until its controller's next turn.
Believe it or not, phasing has actually been cleaned up to become “less complicated.” It shows up sparingly these days and hasn't broken too many things along way.
Mill
For the first time ever, “Mill” has been used officially on a Magic card:
Since the beginning of time Magic players have been using this word to mean “put cards from a library into the graveyard” (originally coined because of Millstone), but now that the term is official. To be honest, any entrenched Magic player was just using this term anyway!
If this type of news excites you, we actually have an article about mill decks from Standard in 2021. Maybe there will be more cards for you to squeeze in there?
Prowess
Prowess is back again after a brief hiatus. Prowess states, “Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.”
The keyword is “deciduous,” meaning it shows up occasionally, but not in every set like an evergreen keyword such as flying.
Given the off-the-charts complexity of Ikoria, it makes sense that M21 follows the precedent of core sets having a smaller number of mechanics to keep the mental load easier for new players.
Core Set 2021 Full Gallery
White Cards
Blue Cards
Black Cards
Red Cards
Green Cards
Colorless Cards
Multicolored Cards
Lands
Reprints
As you’re probably well aware if you’ve been addicted to MTG for as long as I have, you’ll know that Core Sets are the perfect place for reprints. Not only do they set the tone for what Wizards wants to be featured going forward after the next rotation, it also emphasizes “the best of” what we’ve seen so far.
Here's a list of the cards that are reprinted in M21:
- Baneslayer Angel
- Grim Tutor
- Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
- Azusa, Lost but Seeking
- Runed Halo
- Fierce Empath
- Tormod's Crypt
- Quirion Dryad
- Rain of Revelation
- Jeskai Elder
- Containment Priest
- Rewind
- Faith's Fetters
- Grasp of Darkness
- Radiant Fountain
- Lorescale Coatl
- Solemn Simulacrum
- Cultivate
- Heroic Intervention
- Massacre Wurm
- Temple of Epiphany, Temple of Triumph,Temple of Malady, Temple of Mystery, Temple of Silence
- Fabled Passage
- Furious Rise
- Riddleform
- Goblin Arsonist
- Vryn Wingmare
- Duress
- Ranger's Guile
- Defiant Strike
- Glorious Anthem
- Battle-Rattle Shaman
- Colossal Dreadmaw
- Scavenging Ooze
- Palladium Myr
- Kitesail Freebooter
- Volcanic Geyser
No Fetch Lands
Yes, I know you're really desperate to get your hands on new fetches, especially with the prices being sky high. But unfortunately, we learned for sure that the fetch lands would not be printed in 2020. You can find them in Modern Horizons 2.
MaRo's M21 Fun Facts
As he did with Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths, Magic's lead designer Mark Rosewater (MaRo) gave us a teaser post on his blog where he revealed a whole bunch of fun information about the set.
Here's what he said:
The new core set has a lot of exciting new cards, including:
• A brand new planeswalker (from a plane we’ve visited)
• A card that lets you draw half of your library.
• A +1/+1 tribal lord for a creature type that’s never had one. (A creature type with over fifty cards already in print.)
• A character with a Vanguard card and a legendary creature card gets a second of the latter.
• A card with thirty-one different options.
• A card that gains all activated abilities of a certain subset of cards in a place it’s never done it before.
• A card that uses a nonevergreen named ability over twenty years old.
• A card with the words “battlefield”, “cast”, “creature”, “converted mana cost”, “end of turn”, “exile”, “graveyard” and “mana cost”.
• An aura inspired from a cycle from Urza’s Saga block
• A non evergreen enchantment subtype returns
Core 2021 also has a number of fun reprints, including:
• A popular character first introduced in flavor text.
• A French Vanilla mythic rare.
• A popular aura that started as part of a cycle.
• A card with a unique protection.
• Two cards played in tournaments that have been reprinted over twenty times with at least five different pieces of art
• A card that’s never previously appeared in a premier set.
• A card that’s never been reprinted before which has a 2, 3, 5 and 6 all appear on the card.
• A Human Monk.
• A card from the Time Spiral timeshifted sheet.
Have at it and let us know what you think any of this means!
More Fun Facts
Temples Are Back!
Core Set 2021's obligatory cycle of dual lands is… temples! The enemy-colored temples make their return in the set, providing much needed fixing to make the Standard environment work.
The five temples in M21 are:
Facts About Teferi
Since this set is about Teferi, let's dig a little into the history of this famous planeswalker.
Teferi has been a long-standing pillar in Magic lore, even though a story-arc with him as a central figure has only more recently revived him. He was a big part of the Mirage war and the onset of the Phyrexian invasion, mostly meddling with time. In a process of events, he phases out Jamuraa and parts of Shiv only to discover a lot of time rifts later on. He ends up giving up his spark to mend all these rifts. After that, he chose to not meddle with current events any longer. That is until we returned to Dominaria and found out Jhoira somehow had Teferi’s planeswalker spark, pulling him back into the storylines that followed.
More Teferi facts:
- Teferi is a time-mage, after all.
- He’s known for creating puzzles, like Teferi's Puzzle Box.
- Teferi, Jhoira, and Karn all went to Tolarian Academy together and had a bunch of adventures.
- Teferi started out as a blue mage but shifted to in recent years.
- Dominaria is his plane and homeland.
Core Set 2021 In-Store Prereleases
Illustration by Tyler Jacobson
As with Ikoria, you had the option of doing an “At Home Prerelease” if your LGS was closed or you area was not allowing this type of business to be open. An at home prerelease means that you can have your local game store mail your prerelease kit to you or pick it up from them to take home.
You can find your closest store by going to the Wizards store locator.
Release on MTG Arena and Magic Online
Core Set 2021 was released on MTG Arena on June 25. The Magic Online release was on the same day.
As always, you can practice Core Set 2021 on Draftsim’s draft simulator, both sealed and draft for free.
You should also aim to have Arena Tutor updated for Arena as well.
Promos and Special Cards
Buy a Box Promo
The Core Set 2021 buy a box promo is Rin and Seri, Insparable. This one has an extended art treatment and is foil.
The buy a box promo came through your local game store by pre-ordering a Draft Booster box or Collector Booster box.
Oh and in case you were wondering? Rin is the dog (think Rin Tin Tin) and Seri is the cat.
Showcase and Borderless Cards
Showcase cards can be found in both Draft Boosters and Collector Boosters.
Each planeswalker, alongside six special reprints have special showcase frame treatments. Here they are:
This time around, each basic land also has a Showcase treatment:
Extended Treatments
These are rares and mythic rares from Collector Boosters (only) that don't already have a Showcase or Borderless treatment.
T4feri: Four Versions of Teferi, Master of Time
And if it wasn't clear to you that Teferi was the showcase planeswalker of the set, WotC has decided to make it really clear by having four alternate-art versions of the same card, Teferi, Master of Time.
Believe it or not these all have slightly different art. I know, you might have to stare at them for a while. It reminds me of doing one of these as a kid…
Can you spot all the differences between the two choo choo trains?
Just like the other “Showcase” cards, these Showcase versions of Teferi will be found in Collector Boosters and Draft Boosters.
Products Available and Types of Packs
Now that we’ve seen many sets with multiple types of packs, it makes sense that Wizards continued this with M21.
Draft Boosters
Standard packs made for both collecting and drafting, containing 15 cards. 1 rare/mythic, 3 uncommons, 10 commons, 1 land, and one token. As usual, a booster box will contain 36 booster packs.
Packs have a foil in them about 1/3 of the time (replacing a common). Both Borderless Cards and Showcase Cards can appear in Draft Boosters.
- GROW YOUR COLLECTION. Your Core Set 2021 booster box has 36 Draft Booster Packs to help fill your deck with classic cards from Magic: The Gathering’s Core Set 2021 (M21).
- MAGIC LIKE YOU REMEMBER IT. Core Set 2021 (M21) gathers iconic cards from MTG’s past and combines them with recent favorites. It’s the perfect set to reconnect with Magic: The Gathering.
- PLAY IN STYLE. Core Set 2021 is filled with beautiful cards and special art treatments, including alternate art, thematic showcase frames, and more.
- FILL YOUR BINDER. With 540 cards in every M21 draft booster box, you’re sure to uncover some new gems to add to your collection.
- THE BEST BOOSTER FOR DRAFTING. Open a box and draft with up to 12 friends for an unforgettable game night. (Note: Booster Drafts require more land cards than are included in a booster box.)
Collector Boosters
15 “exciting cards” from Core Set 2021. A Collector Booster box comes with 12 booster packs.
- UPGRADE YOUR COLLECTION. Collector Boosters are supercharged booster packs, loaded with nothing but the best. Each pack includes 15 of the most desirable cards from Core Set 2021.
- TREAT YOURSELF. The perfect pack for collectors—you’ll find more rare cards than appear in Draft Boosters, with at least 4 rare or mythic rare cards in every pack.
- PLAY IN STYLE. Each pack includes 11 foils and at least 7 cards with special art treatments, including extended-art cards found only in Collector Boosters.
- MAGIC LIKE YOU REMEMBER IT. Core Set 2021 (M21) gathers iconic cards from MTG’s past and combines them with recent favorites. It’s the perfect set to reconnect with Magic: The Gathering.
- Contents: 12 Collector Boosters. Each includes: 4 foil commons, common dual lands, or basic lands; 2 foil uncommons; 1 foil showcase basic land; 1 extended-art rare or mythic rare; 2 foil rares or mythic rares, or foil extended-art rares or mythic rares; 2 showcase commons or uncommons, or a borderless card; 1 showcase or borderless rare or mythic rare; 1 foil showcase common or uncommon, or a borderless card; 1 foil showcase or borderless card, any rarity; 1 foil token
For M21, the contents of the Collector Booster are as follows:
- 2 Foil uncommons
- 1 Foil showcase basic land
- 1 Extended-art rare or mythic rare (45 rares, 8 mythic rares)
- 2 Foil rares or mythic rares, or foil extended-art rares or mythic rares
- 2 Showcase commons or uncommons, or a borderless card being previewed by Martin Juza on June 8 (5 commons, 6 uncommons)
- 1 Showcase or borderless rare or mythic rare (8 rares, 17 mythic rares including 5 versions of mythic rare Teferi)
- 1 Foil showcase common or uncommon, or a borderless card being previewed by Martin Juza on June 8 (5 commons, 6 uncommons)
- 1 Foil showcase or borderless card, any rarity (5 commons, 6 uncommons, 8 rares, 17 mythic rares including 5 versions of mythic rare Teferi)
- 1 Foil token
- UPGRADE YOUR COLLECTION. Collector Boosters are supercharged booster packs, loaded with nothing but the best. Each pack includes 15 of the most desirable cards from Core Set 2021.
- TREAT YOURSELF. The perfect pack for collectors—you’ll find more rare cards than appear in Draft Boosters, with at least 4 rare or mythic rare cards in every pack.
- PLAY IN STYLE. Each pack includes 11 foils and at least 7 cards with special art treatments, including extended-art cards found only in Collector Boosters.
- MAGIC LIKE YOU REMEMBER IT. Core Set 2021 (M21) gathers iconic cards from MTG’s past and combines them with recent favorites. It’s the perfect set to reconnect with Magic: The Gathering.
- Contents: 4 foil commons, common dual lands, or basic lands; 2 foil uncommons; 1 foil showcase basic land; 1 extended-art rare or mythic rare; 2 foil rares or mythic rares, or foil extended-art rares or mythic rares; 2 showcase commons or uncommons, or a borderless card; 1 showcase or borderless rare or mythic rare; 1 foil showcase common or uncommon, or a borderless card; 1 foil showcase or borderless card, any rarity; 1 foil token
Prerelease Packs
These will contain:
- 6 draft boosters for M21
- 1 foil stamped promo rare or mythic from the set
- A spindown die/life tracker
- A MTG Arena code card (these typically will give you free packs on MTGA)
- Contents: 6 Core Set 2021 Draft Boosters Packs, 1 foil promo-stamped rare or mythic rare from Core Set 2021, 1 Spindown life counter, 1 MTG Arena code card
Bundles
These contain a motherlode of goodies for the set and make great gifts. Inside there are:
- 10 draft boosters
- 20 foil lands
- 20 regular lands
- 1 foil promo
- 1 oversized spin down life tracker
- 2 reference cards
- 1 storage box
- KICKSTART YOUR COLLECTION. Your Bundle has 10 Draft Booster Packs to help fill your deck with timeless favorites from Magic: The Gathering’s Core Set 2021 (M21).
- GET MORE THAN PACKS. Full of cards and accessories, this Bundle is the perfect gift for a Magic player to get started or upgrade their collection with cards from the Core 2021 set.
- MAGIC LIKE YOU REMEMBER IT. Core Set 2021 (M21) gathers iconic cards from MTG’s past and combines them with recent favorites. It’s the perfect set to reconnect with Magic: The Gathering.
- PLAY IN STYLE. Core Set 2021 is filled with beautiful cards and special art treatments, including alternate art, thematic showcase frames, and more.
- Each Core Set 2021 Bundle includes: 10 Booster Packs, 40 lands (20 foil, 20 regular), a foil promo card, 1 oversized spindown life counter, 2 reference cards, and 1 reusable storage box.
Planeswalker Decks
Yes, planeswalker decks are back! Though Ikoria had Commander 2020 as its preconstructed deck of choice, it looks like Core Set 2021 will be bringing back these staple precons.
Good news – they will continue to have free redeemable codes for decks in MTGA inside as well. The deck boxes contain:
- A 60-card deck with a foil planeswalker
- A bonus draft booster
- A strategy guide
- A card with an MTGA code on it
There are five Planeswalker Decks for Core Set 2021, each based around one of the monocolored planeswalkers:
- Basri, Devoted Paladin
- Chandra, Flame's Catalyst
- Garruk, Savage Herald
- Liliana, Death Mage
- Teferi, Timeless Voyager
Note that these are the nerfed/neutered versions of the planeswalkers found in the set's booster packs, but they are still Standard-legal and still pretty darn fun. Plus they're ready to go right out of the box.
Welcome Boosters
Now this is new. You might be familiar with the very simplistic monocolored precons (“Welcome Decks”) that are typically handed out to new/learning players at your store. Those have now been replaced with Welcome Boosters.
Welcome Boosters are free at stores, have identical contents, and contain legendaries, planeswalkers, and Showcase Cards.
Where to Buy: Deals
Temporal Machinations | Illustration by Zack Stella
This set will be available through the usual channels, both online and offline. Here are some suggestions to check out and place your orders, pre-orders, and get gifts for this set.
As always, if you can support your local game store, please do that!
Otherwise here's some places I've looked into with deals for you:
Amazon
Amazon is looking a little pricey right now. Above the typical price for a booster box, but I suspect this will fluctuate as time goes on.
Collector Booster boxes are also available on Amazon.
eBay
eBay has a variety of products from singles to complete sets and the sealed products in between.
TCGPlayer
Prices on TCGPlayer can be a bit higher than eBay but it is a great place to check if you're looking to get singles at a competitive price as well.
Of course, if you have your own preferred place that you always get your MTG products from, feel free to support them.
Wrap Up
Teferi's Time Twist | Illustration by Ralph Horsley
With that, I’ve given you all the information on Core Set 2021! I hope you’re enjoying this set as much as I am. I’m a big fan of Wizards telling us more about our favorite characters in Magic using a Core Set. It’s something they’ve started doing since Magic Origins and I’m happy to see them continue this line with M21.
If Teferi isn’t your favorite character, though, not to worry! The set has plenty more to offer than just the time wizard. Core Sets are always a great way to get a little peek into the future of where WotC wants to go after rotation happens. The roads aren’t always as clear and the hints can be buried pretty deep, but discussing with your friends on what they might be is one of the joys of Magic; the interaction between human beings.
As always, feel free to head on over to our blog if you want to read more articles. If you like our thorough and meticulous approach to Magic, then you'll love our MTGA draft assistant and and tracker, Arena Tutor. We greatly appreciate all of your support and thank you for it. That’s all for now. Stay safe, stay healthy, and I’ll see you in the next one.
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1 Comment
Well, now I’m not as excited about little teferi rotating out, I hate that guy.
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