If you could create your own core set, what cards would you put in?

[Lurker101]

Honestly, if you could create your own Core Set (using only reprints from any set and the Magic2010 cards that have been spoiled) what would you pick and why?
Also, pretend that there is no reserved list (but be reasonable about it, the power 9 would never be reprinted). Also try to avoid cards with Key Words that don't show up often enough to be included in the core set (like Kicker costs, Flanking, Shadow, and Wither but Cycling, Double Strike, Poison, etc can be used). You may also include cards from silver bordered expansions but again nothing too ridiculous.
Some of my picks would be:
Lotus Petal (at uncommon)- It would be interesting to see how this would impact standard and extended.
Mise (at uncommon) - I think at least one card from each set should be tournament legal and this is a good draw spell without any goofy rules. I would love to see how it impacted Vintage and Legacy (it would probably be restricted in Vintage) as well as the other major formats.
Tarmogoyf (at rare or ultra-rare) - It's a simple creature that beats down really well.
Thoughtseize (at rare) - The core set needs duress effects and I think this was actually printed to fill in a space in the next core set.
Bitterblossom (rare) - It's simple enough for the core set and good enough to see play in every format.
Fluctuator (rare) - I would introduce cycling to the core set as it is a simple enough mechanic that has been done before many times.
Stabilizer (rare) - See above
Phyrexian Processor  (rare) - Would be interested in seeing this card be revived in Type 2 and Extended.
Morphling (ultra-rare) - Hasn't seen much constructed play in years. It would be nice to see this in Type 2 back in action.
Mox Diamond (Ultra-rare) - Simple enough and I think the core set could handle having this Mox.
Thornling (rare) - A good green version of morphling.
Null Profusion (rare) - Probably wouldn't see much play but it's a good Johnny card to print again.
Cancel ( common) - this speaks for itself.
Hand of Justice (rare) - a pet card of mine, I would like to see it get some constructed play in Type 2 or extended.
The Ravinca Dual Lands(rare) - I know they are making a new land cycle but since I don't know what it is I will just settle for these.
Silence - A great, simple, and efficient card
The Lorwyn Planeswalkers(ultra-rare) - I thought including them was a good idea but I would print Elspeth Knight Errant over Ajani Goldmane.
Gemstone Mine (rare)- A great 5 color land.
Mine, Mine, Mine!(rare) - The card I would pick from unglued, it's not broken and it's not too silly either (outside of the card name).
UrzaTron(uncommon) - Would like to see this in Type 2 again.
Ghost Quarter (uncommon) - Good land destruction, simple, and not too broken.
Diminishing Returns (rare) - a fair draw 7 that has seen it's place in Sixth Edition before. Would be interested to see how this would play out in standard again.
Birds of Paradise (rare) - A staple.
Serra Avatar (ultra rare) - would definitely see constructed play again. It's also not too broken and a simple card.
I'll finish this list up later but I am excited to hear other people's input and rationales too.
Strategic Planning (uncommon)- a good draw spell more people should have access to.
Grim Tutor (rare) - a good and fair tutor that more people should have access to.

[LotusHead]

Maybe I'm just being selfish, but I've had 3 solid casual decks with these, and an almost unlimited other amount of deck ideas.

To make M.Orb T2 again would be fun casual and sweet.

It's rare that my M. Orb decks don't give a smile to my opponents.

[Thisson]

Maybe I'm just being selfish, but I've had 3 solid casual decks with these, and an almost unlimited other amount of deck ideas.

To make M.Orb T2 again would be fun casual and sweet.

It's rare that my M. Orb decks don't give a smile to my opponents.

I would love to see some decklists using this for multiplayer.  Playing this kind of card would give my friends fits (muah ha ha ha!)

[zeus-online]

Actually, don't play that card, all decks i've seen featuring the orb has been really annoying, to the point where i considered just conceding because it was too annoying (ala stasis).

/Zeus

[LotusHead]

It's rare that my M. Orb decks don't give a smile to my opponents.

[zeus-online]

It's rare that my M. Orb decks don't give a smile to my opponents.

Well, not my experience. All the decks i've seen with it tries to lock the opponent up and make him sit and watch himself die slowly to a soft lock...I've seen many face expressions to this, but no smiles.

/Zeus

[bluemage55]

Cards that I would include:

Rare
Chain cycle (Chain of Silence, Chain of Vapor, Chain of Smog, Chain of Plasma, Chain of Acid)
Pitch cycle (Scars of the Veteran, Force of Will, Contagion, Pyrokinesis, Bounty of the Hunt)
Dryad Arbor
Gemstone Mine
Narcomoeba
Oxidize
Standstill
Strategic Planning
Thirst for Knowledge
Tormod's Crypt
Wasteland
Yixlid Jailer

Uncommon
Echoing cycle (Echoing Calm, Echoing Truth, Echoing Decay, Echoing Ruin, Echoing Courage)
Manlands cycle (Forbidding Watchtower, Faerie Conclave, Spawning Pool, Ghitu Encampment, Treetop Village)
Accumulated Knowledge
Blue Elemental Blast
Dance of the Dead
Duress
Elvish Spirit Guide
Gorilla Shaman
Hymn to Tourach
Mishra's Factory
Ponder
Red Elemental Blast
Reverent Silence
Swords to Plowshares

Common
Boons cycle (Healing Salve, Brainstorm, Dark Ritual, Lightning Bolt, Giant Growth)
Circle of Protection cycle (White, Blue, Black, Red, Green)
Agony Warp
Arcane Denial
Blightning
Counterspell
Crookshank Kobolds
Disenchant
Hydroblast
Icatian Javelineers
Incinerate
Lat-Nam's Legacy
Magma Spray
Negate
Peppersmoke
Pyroblast
Shield Sphere
Spellstutter Sprite

[God_Campbell]

Okay, here is a few that should be reprinted:

Red and Blue Elemental Blasts
Accumulated Knowledge
Strategic Planning
Lightning Bolt
Intuition
Grim Tutor
Fetch Lands
Chain of Vapor
Tarmogoyf
Thoughtseize
Wasteland
Force of Will
Counterspell
Damnation
Gorilla Shaman
Morphling
Tolarian Academy
Mox Diamond
Lotus Petal
Mindslaver
Goblin Welder
Ponder

[Anusien]

The power level of any of those sets would be off the charts.  No way Mana Drain or Morphling go into a base set; they restrict design space too much and warp the environment.

[bluemage55]

The power level of any of those sets would be off the charts.  No way Mana Drain or Morphling go into a base set; they restrict design space too much and warp the environment.

Mana Drain isn't unbalanced if other cards in the set include Dark Ritual, Bazaar of Baghdad, and Gush.

[LordHomerCat]

The power level of any of those sets would be off the charts.  No way Mana Drain or Morphling go into a base set; they restrict design space too much and warp the environment.

Mana Drain isn't unbalanced if other cards in the set include Dark Ritual, Bazaar of Baghdad, and Gush.

Then the whole set is unbalanced and it destroys Standard and Extended for the entire length of time that it is legal.

Most or all of these suggestions people are making are completely absurd and unrealistic.  Cards that are good in Vintage are pretty much unreprintable, as they are way too powerful or are gigantic design mistakes.

[zeus-online]

The power level of any of those sets would be off the charts.  No way Mana Drain or Morphling go into a base set; they restrict design space too much and warp the environment.

Do you really think that morphling would be that bad in T2 and Ext?
Creatures has improved ALOT since the printing of morphling.

Mana drain is another issue....Mana drain is freakin' BANNED in legacy...while i do not have much respect for legacy, that format is still miles ahead of T2 and Ext in powerlevel.

/Zeus

[Smmenen]

The power level of any of those sets would be off the charts.  No way Mana Drain or Morphling go into a base set; they restrict design space too much and warp the environment.

Would Morphling even see play in Today's environments?   I'm skeptical. 

[bluemage55]

Then the whole set is unbalanced and it destroys Standard and Extended for the entire length of time that it is legal.

Have you seen Extended lately?  Things like Dredge and now Elf combo have been running around and it was still manageable.

Standard on the other hand is almost entirely ignoring the core set lately (with tribal mechanics dominating), so it'd likely be a refreshing change.

Mana drain is another issue....Mana drain is freakin' BANNED in legacy...while i do not have much respect for legacy, that format is still miles ahead of T2 and Ext in powerlevel.

Ehh, that's a good point.  Guess I'll take down any cards on the Legacy banned list (Drain, Bazaar, Gush).

[Anusien]

The power level of any of those sets would be off the charts.  No way Mana Drain or Morphling go into a base set; they restrict design space too much and warp the environment.

Would Morphling even see play in Today's environments?   I'm skeptical. 

Yes, I think so.  But my question isn't even "Is Morphling too good for Standard" (and I think it is) as much as "Putting Morphling into the Core Set devalues every creature in the Expansion set."

[zeus-online]

Actually i had a change of thought...while i don't think morphling would break anything...i think it would be playable...i just remembered that i actually missed it during time spiral block (to play it alongside teferi) Sudden death was available at that time though...

Also, control decks right now are playing broodmate dragon...i think morphling could be used on more or less equal footing.

But i still don't think morphling would *break* anything.

/Zeus

[bluemage55]

Also, control decks right now are playing broodmate dragon...i think morphling could be used on more or less equal footing.

They're also playing Oona and Cloudgoat Ranger.  So yeah, Morphling wouldn't be gamebreaking.

[Matt]

Morphling would DEFINITELY be played in 5cControl, but not gamebreaking. Broodmate Dragon is played over other choices mainly because it does a fair impression of a Morphling, being resistant or immune to all the removal in the format except Wrath of God, being good on both offense and defense (at the same time!), etc.

[Anusien]

Creatures that good shouldn't be in the base set.

[Matt]

Creatures that good shouldn't be in the base set.

Why? Kird Ape was in the base set. Mogg Fanatic was in the base set. Birds of Paradise is in the base set. Hypnotic Specter, Platinum Angel, Quirion Dryad, Siege-Gang Commander, Squee Goblin Nabob, Paladin en-Vec, and Savannah Lions were all in the base set and arguably on par or better than Morphling, and that's only looking at 9th and 10th editions.

[TopSecret]

Wall of Blossoms (uncommon) - (Who doesn't like awesome walls? Also, it teaches that card draw is awesome.)

Tangle (uncommon) - (Holy crap, this card was so tight, back in the day. It's like a super Fog. Strong, interactive, flavorful, and so, so satisfying to cast.)

Rancor (uncommon) - (I'm pretty sure that this card is safe, and not too complicated. Most importantly, it kicks ass, and you can stick it on your guys. Regeneration can go to hell.)

Wall of Nets (Rare) - (Sweet Jesus, was this guy impressive when I first started playing. It has so much flavor and it creates a sense of awe when you drop it against a new player.)

Control Magic (Rare) - (Powerful, iconic, and flavorful.)

Lightning Helix (uncommon) - (Gold cards come up so often in sets now, so I think having some would be good. This one is simple, strong, and flavorful.)

Armadillo Cloak (uncommon) - (Another flashy Gold card. This card used to wreak so much havoc, but always in a fun way.)

Stasis (common) - (New players lack discipline. They must learn that there is no free lunch: Nothing is without pain, not even their recreational card games.)

[orgcandman]

Since the whole point of the core set is to get players excited about the game, here are a few that I think would really give the wow factor

Creatures:

Beaters / Finishers / Whatever:
White: Serra Angel
Black:   Sanguine Praetor
Blue:    Morphling
Green: Tarmogoyf
Red:    Stalking Vengeance

Board Controllers:
White:  Master Decoy
Black:   Royal Assassin
Blue:    Old man of the sea
Green: Taunting Elf
Red:    Grim Lavamancer

Rember me's:
White:  Northern Paladin
Black:   Sengir Vampire (with the old art, obv)
Blue:    Vesuvan Doppelganger (umm...ya!?)
Green:  Force of Nature
Red:     Shivan Dragon

Artifacts:

The Rack
Thumbscrews
Draco
Icy Manipulator

Those are pretty much requisite for the best core set evar.

[jro]

My goal would be to try to recreate the flavor and feel of Limited (the first Magic set, not the format), but with modern design and development principles.  For instance, we now know that scarcity is not a means to control power level.  The cards should cleanly demonstrate colors strengths and weaknesses, and provide "basic" versions of things that might appear in more advanced form in Expert expansions.  I kind of get the sense that this is exactly what Wizards is doing with Magic 2010.

I suppose if I had one pet card that I'd really like to see come back it would be Time Warp.  The effect is so clean and simple, I think it's absurd they reprinted Time Stop instead.

Stasis (common) - (New players lack discipline. They must learn that there is no free lunch: Nothing is without pain, not even their recreational card games.)

I agree wholeheartedly with no reservations.

[Matt]

I suppose if I had one pet card that I'd really like to see come back it would be Time Warp.  The effect is so clean and simple, I think it's absurd they reprinted Time Stop instead.

Agreed.

Keldon Warlord is always a crowd-pleaser.

[Dr. Sylvan]

The number of people suggesting Tarmogoyf for a base set in this thread is distressing. What part of "horrible, metagame-warping mistake" is so hard to understand? And sweet jeebus, Mana Drain? Damnation? Is this a hypothetical base set, or a Want List of money rares? (And Swords to Plowshares? Hymn to Tourach?)

TopSecret has much better suggestions... except Stasis, which I assume was brought up in jest, and Rancor, which is amazing.

Don't underestimate Anusien's point that whatever is put into the base set affects how good you can make the expansions for as long as that base set is legal. As Vintage players, any TMDer has a whacked-out sense of appropriate power level. Rancor seems innocuous until you remember that in balanced formats, Mirage/Tempest Type 2 is considered to be breaking the speed limits of aggro by 1-3 turns. Empyrial Armor, Carnophage/Sarcomancy, Fireblast/Jackal Pup, and Rogue Elephant are all too fast, and so is Rancor.

The other thing is that the core set is supposed to be draft-compatible. The draft + teachable goals lock in a lot of the commons and uncommons. I'll be interested to see what they print new in Magic 2010 given these constraints.

Here are cards I'd bring in or revive that aren't staples, or are staples but I want to emphasize:

W Mythic: Soulscour
W Rare: Wrath of God, Voice of All, Mesa Enchantress, Purity, Rule of Law
W Unc: Rebuff the Wicked, Aura of Silence, Serra Angel
W Com: Order of the White Shield

OotWS with Ice Age art, obviously. Voice of All is there because protection is pretty important, if complicated.

U Mythic: Time Warp
U Rare: Morphling, Persuasion
U Unc: Strategic Planning
U Com: ?

Morphling is not too good. Creatures have had substantial power-level inflation in the last ten years---it'd still be good, but not format-defining. Control Magic, though, is too good. I put Time Warp at mythic rare because I think Mythics should primarily be either planeswalkers or large, not-too-playable spells that have some specialness. I think of a new player opening up Time Warp and going, "Wow!"

B Mythic: ?
B Rare: Grim Tutor, Pox
B Unc: Sengir Vampire
B Com: Skittering Horror, Expunge, Night's Whisper

I agree that cycling belongs in the base set. Expunge, as a common, ensures that players will see it, but if they're, for instance, nine years old and don't understand it, they aren't confused by large numbers of cards.

R Mythic: Apocalypse
R Rare: Shivan Dragon, Ball Lightning
R Unc: Goblin Lore
R Com: Spark Elemental

Ball Lightning is not overpowered, and I like how it feels so red.

G Mythic: ?
G Rare: Force of Nature, Glimpse of Nature, Mirri's Guile, Endless Wurm, Birds of Paradise
G Unc: Ravenous Baloth
G Com: Commune With Nature, Farseek

Endless Wurm is the perfect Johnny rare for the core set.

Land Rare: Onslaught fetchlands (5)
Land Unc: Urza's Legacy man-lands (5)
Land Com: Rupture Spire

There should be no more than a single common land in the base set, because players, especially new ones, are disappointed and confused by nonbasic land more often than not.

Artifact Rare: Mesmeric Orb
Artifact Unc: Steel Golem
Artifact Com: Myr Servitor

Multi-color Rare: Meddling Mage, Glimpse the Unthinkable, Blazing Specter, Stormbind, Eladamri's Call
Multi-color Unc: none
Multi-color Com: none

I like including gold cards in the core set, but putting it below rare constitutes a reduction in how special gold is. They have already thrown caution to the wind on the reusability of the multi-color theme. (Ravnica, Shadowmoor, AND Alara? It's like they're trying to make everyone think they're out of ideas, which we know they aren't!) If they wanted to put it at common, I'd nominate Recoil, Armadillo Cloak, Hull Breach, Blightning, and Overrule in that order.

[LordHomerCat]

Strat Planning would be a great core set card.  It is completely fair, very simple, and ridiculously hard to get otherwise (Goblin Lore reprint has not been a problem).  I fully support this.

[Matt]

G Unc: Ravenous Baloth

Oh my god would that be unbalancing for draft.

G Com: Farseek

Eh, I prefer Rampant Growth, since new players tend to build mono-colored decks.

I think you could successfully make a core set that encouraged multicolor play, though. Things like Bloodhall Ooze (although possibly not that card specifically).

[Dr. Sylvan]

Is Baloth that much better than, say, uncommon Serra Angel? I'd be open to both of those going back to rare if it'd be that bad for Limited, but I was pushing both down with the dual motive of putting them in new players' hands and spreading the best cards across rarities.

I added Farseek thinking I might pick the Ravnica duals for my rare lands, but upon further consideration, as much as I love (and want more of) those lands, they posed two problems: (1) The limits they put on how good expansion fixers can be, and (2) The lack of distinction between enemy and friendly colors. The Onslaught fetchlands are powerful, take up half as much space, and keep the focus on allied colors.

[wiley]

What about the idea of introducing small samples of old mechanics that have a chance of coming back in the future?  For instance use Far Wanderings instead of Farseek/Rampant Growth or including the affinity golems (spire, oxiddia etc)?

[Dr. Sylvan]

The problem with that is the same one Time Spiral block had: Keywords are easy for people who've been able to learn them a few at a time over a decade. They are an impenetrable morass of jargon to someone hitting them all at once.

The core set, even with new cards being printed in M2010, will remain the flagship introductory product. Cycling has only recently been established as a standard, recurring keyword that we can expect to see on a constant basis, which is why I picked it.