A year ago, Wizards of the Coast released Portal -- a simplified version of Magic aimed at teaching the game to new players without overwhelming them with timing issues. Well, now Wizards has decided to take a different approach. They have now divided Magic into three levels: Starter, Advanced, and Expert. Portal (now called Portal: Second Age) is the Starter Level, the base set (currently 5th Edition) is the Advanced Level, and the regular expansions make up the Expert Level.

So, what's the difference between this setup and what we already had? The main difference is that all three levels are compatible with each other. Previous Portal rules were significantly different from Magic rules, which led to confusion. But now, the two should be able to mix more easily.