Get ready for new planes, new releases for favorite formats, and new additions to online play!
Magic: The Gathering is gathering even more planes to add to its huge collection of settings. The new “The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth” set is coming this June 23, and will feature favorite characters from and mechanics inspired by the iconic fantasy tale. The new set has two release windows, one this June and another this November. “The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth” drops will include Draft, Set, Collector, and Jumpstart Boosters, as well as four Commander Decks, a Starter Kit, and even some Secret Lair releases!
The new set is the first full release in the Universes Beyond Magic sets, which feature IPs outside of those owned by Wizards of the Coast. The sets aren’t legal in the Standard format, but are in others such as Modern. The cards include a special stamp to indicate their status as non-canon in Magic lore. This means players can enjoy collecting their favorite Lord of the Rings characters without feeling that the Magic setting has lost its originality to licensed brands.
Commander is also getting some love this year. The “Commander Masters” set is the first Masters set designed for the Commander format and will be dropping on Aug. 4. Like other Masters sets, it includes reprints as well as new cards. There will be four pre-constructed decks within the set release: Eldrazi Unbound (Colorless), Enduring Enchantments (White, Black, Green), Planeswalker Party (White, Blue, Red), and Sliver Swarm (White, Blue, Black, Red, Green). In addition to these, you can grab Set, Draft, and Collector Boosters.
The Commander format is a popular spin on the traditional Magic card game rules, with a focus on a chosen legendary creature card, the Commander. The format was originally created by fans and has been embraced by Wizards of the Coast since. This new set marks Wizards’ continued support for the format.
Online players can also get excited for some nice quality-of-life features added to Magic: The Gathering Arena. The preferred printing feature will allow players to choose their favorite basic land as the default. They can also choose a favorite for any card in the application that has multiple artwork versions. Additionally, the update includes a collection view that collapses multiple versions of the same card into one place, allowing for simpler scrolling through your virtual card collection.
Planeswalkers can preorder these new sets online or at their local gaming store. While you wait for these exciting new releases, make sure to check out the most recent Standard set, “Phyrexia: All Will Be One” which just dropped on Feb. 10 and is already shaking up the Standard meta.
