Magic: The Gathering stormed into Minnesota for MagicCon: Minneapolis and showcased cards, art, and details about upcoming sets for the most popular tabletop card game in the world.
The three-day event at the Minneapolis Convention Center drew thousands of fans and players of Magic. While having the opportunity to play the game, they also gathered to hear from Wizards of the Coast experts and from community members about soon-to-be released Universes Beyond sets – The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth™ and Doctor Who – as well as a first look at the Commander Masters set, and a glimpse into the future of the upcoming premier release – Wilds of Eldraine.
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth (release 23 June)
The Ring Tempts You
Much like in the Tolkien stories, the Ring will call out to players, and several cards in the set will have abilities that say, "the Ring tempts you."
The first time the Ring tempts you during a game, you get an emblem named The Ring. There's a printed helper card you can keep in your command zone to remind you that you have The Ring and what it does.
Each time the Ring tempts you, two things happen. First, you choose a creature you control to become your Ring-bearer. Second, The Ring gains its next ability if it can. Once The Ring has all four of its abilities, it has reached its full power.
Being a Ring-bearer provides specific abilities for some cards, like Sauron, the Necromancer. If Sauron is your Ring-bearer, tokens created by the card will not have to be exiled.
Bilbo’s Birthday Party
Part of the overall exciting set release will be special cards that, when placed together, depict a key scene or action from the books. At MagicCon: Minneapolis, fans were able to get a glimpse of one of those scenes – Bilbo’s Birthday Party.
The scene is made up of six cards, each with their own powers and abilities. When placed together, the artwork shows the fireworks that excited the hobbits for Bilbo’s “eleventy-first” birthday. The scene cards are Bilbo, Retired Burglar; Frodo Baggins; Gandalf, Friend of the Shire; Wizard’s Rockets; Delighted Halfling; and Lobelia Sackville-Baggins. They will be available individually in the prerelease kit and Collector Booster packs.
Doctor Who (release 13 October)
Grab your companions and get ready to experience the Doctor’s adventures with Magic: The Gathering – Doctor Who!
In partnership with BBC Studios, Magic: The Gathering is excited to celebrate 60 years of Doctor Who in four ready-to-play Commander decks, allowing you to recreate your favourite Doctor Who moments on tabletop. Just like the Doctor, you’ll get the opportunity to outwit your opponents and encounter familiar characters, villains, settings, and events from throughout the history of Doctor Who. Whether you’re a Magic fan, Whovian, or both, this set has plenty to love.
The decks are built around the Classic Doctors, the Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Doctors, the Twelfth and Thirteenth Doctors, and the villains of Doctor Who. Each deck will have 50 new cards, plus a new set of Planechase cards featuring famous locations from the Whoverse, so you can travel the universe with your favourite Doctor and companions.
Basic Land cards in this set will have a visual treat, as the TARDIS makes its way across all five land types.
Commander Masters (release 4 August)
Packed with fan favourites and fantastic new treatments, Commander Masters will create fun play while supercharging Commander decks. Four decks will have 10 new-to-Magic cards in each 100-card Commander pack, including new Commanders for colorless, white-black-green, white-blue-red, and white-blue-black-red-green play.
Wilds of Eldraine (release 8 September)
Three years ago, Magic visited the realm of knights and fairy-tale characters with Throne of Eldraine. But like any good fairy tale, there is always more to the story.
On 8 September, we are going beyond the castle walls and into the fantasy wilderness with Wilds of Eldraine, a new adventure that will explore the mystery and expanse of that plane. It will also be the first chance to get a look at the Multiverse after the Phyrexian invasion. New and familiar faces will be included in the set and still dealing with their aftermath from the conflict.
Secret Lair x From Cute to Brute (available for order now)
Secret Lair returns to the Commander format with the From Cute to Brute deck that doubles down on the flipping fun of double-faced cards including the commander.
From Cute to Brute is a complete, 100-card Commander deck ready to play with friends and includes five traditional foil double-faced cards featuring front-face artwork by Nana Qi and back-face artwork by GODMACHINE.
- Archangel Avacyn // Avacyn, the Purifier
- Bloodline Keeper // Lord of Lineage
- Esika, God of the Tree // The Prismatic Bridge
- Nicol Bolas, the Ravager // Nicol Bolas, the Arisen
- Westvale Abbey // Ormendahl, Profane Prince
From Cute to Brute is a limited print run product and only available while supplies last.
For more information please contact Wizards@Bastion.co.uk .