Looking Ahead

Arcane Teachings card art

Happy New Year! What will 2026 bring in Magic, both corporately and personally?

Corporately

Wizards intends to continue its release pace, with seven sets in 2026. 

The total list is:

- Lorwyn Eclipsed (in-world set)

- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (universes beyond set)

- Secrets of Strixhaven (in-world set)

- Marvel Superheroes (universes beyond set)

- The Hobbit (universes beyond set)

- Reality Fracture (in-world set)

- Star Trek (universes beyond set)

Four universes beyond sets (in red above) to three in-world. Wizards continues to focus on other intellectual properties (IPs). I reflected on some ramifications last year, and those still hold. The bottom line: the game feels less like traditional Magic all the time (even as I acknowledge some IPs work very well in this game engine).

A new product I am excited about: a draft night box. This comes with 12 play boosters (suitable for a four-person draft), lands, and a collector booster (for the draft winner). I may get one of these per set and have some fun with friends.

Reminder: Standard rotation (which happened last summer) will not happen in 2026 as Wizards aligns it to the new year (1 January 2027). This, combined with the mix of in-world and UB sets, makes for some very strange possibilities (from a thematic perspective).

Personally

Collecting:

I don't see myself collecting a lot of new cards this year except for the TMNT and Hobbit sets. I am intrigued by Lorwin Eclipsed—I loved Lorwyn the first time around—but we'll see as they set gets previews. As always, I have a goal to minimize my collection more. I get rid of a bunch each year, honing down what I have to the things I enjoy and play the most. 

Building:

I want to build more Commander decks and cubes this year. I have two cubes now and want two more (Innistrad- and Lorwyn-themed). For Commander, I'd like a 'viable' but thematic and fun deck in each of the one-, two-, and three-color combinations.

Playing:

I'd love to play more across all formats (casual, standard, Commander, cube, sealed, draft, pauper, etc.), but especially Commander and cube.

To 2026!