MagicCon Minneapolis is underway this weekend, featuring a convention, Pro Tour March of the Machine…and panels! Panels mean previews—and boy were there previews!
Don’t miss our coverage of the weekend’s other news: “From Cute to Brute” is the next Secret Lair Commander deck (and is available on Monday, 5/8), plus Doctor Who, Lord of the Rings, Commander Masters, and Wilds of Eldraine previews!
Wizards of the Coast took the opportunity to cover four of Magic: The Gathering’s next releases: Doctor Who, Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth, Commander Masters, and Wilds of Eldraine. Let’s dig in!
Magic: The Gathering — Doctor Who
Doctor Who is the latest entry into the Universes Beyond product line, which features third-party IPs on Magic cards. The collaboration was originally announced last August but today was the first time we got a sense of what would be in the product.
Magic: The Gathering — Doctor Who will be made up of four new Commanders decks., each featuring 50 new cards, 19 of which will be Sagas that tell the story of iconic episodes from the series, and 10 new Planechase cards that represent famous locations from the Doctor Who universe. Check out The Lux Foundation Library!
Three of the four decks will feature various Doctors from the show’s history—as well as their companions. Wizards even designed a new partner-like mechanic, called “Doctor’s Companion,” which will allow you to partner the Doctor of your choice and their companion in the Command Zone. The fourth deck, of course, is reserved for the villains!
The first Commander deck, “Blast from the Past,” is a Blue/White/Green deck that will contain the first eight Doctors and their companions.
The second deck, “Timey-Whimey,” is a White/Red/Blue deck that will feature Doctors nine, 10, and 11, plus their companions.
The third deck, “Paradox Power,” is a Red/Blue/Green deck that will contain Doctors 12 and 13, as well as their companions.
The fourth deck, “Masters of Evil,” is a Red/Black/Blue deck that will feature the villains of the Doctor Who universe, including Davros and the Daleks.
The decks will include Doctor Who-inspired basics as well. Wizards only showed of one cycle but revealed that there is a second cycle, as well!
Finally, the Doctor Who Commander decks will be accompanied by Collector Boosters that will contain different variants of the cards found in the Commander decks.
More previews for Magic: The Gathering — Doctor Who will shown on July 28, 2023 at MagicCon Barcelona. Its debut will be on October 3, followed by its full release on October 13.
While we didn’t get to see any other previews, we did get to see six new pieces of art for The Fourth Doctor, The Tenth Doctor, The Thirteenth Doctor (plus a Collector Booster variant), Davros, Dalek Creator, and The Parting of the Ways:
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth
While Doctor Who is still a ways off in October, there is another Universes Beyond product coming in June: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth. It will be a far more expansive release than Doctor Who, though, including a full booster set release, as well as four Commander decks, Collector Boosters, and a Starter Kit. It also takes the place of Magic’s traditional Summer set.
We got a sneak peak of a few of the cards and the product lineup last month and were treated with more previews today—as well as a thorough explanation of how being tempted by the Ring will work.
Call of the Ring is one of several cards with an ability that says that “the Ring tempts you.” The first time that the Ring tempts you, you will get an emblem called The Ring.
Every time you are tempted, you must choose one of your creatures (if you have one) to be your Ring-bearer until that creature is no longer under your control (or you are tempted again, allowing you to change Ring-bearers). The Ring emblem starts at its first ability and will gain its additional abilities every additional time you are tempted by the Ring.
Some spells even refer to the fact that you may have a Ring-bearer, some abilities my trigger when you are tempted by the Ring, and some creatures can benefit from being the Ring-bearer. Sauron, the Necromancer, for example, becomes significantly more powerful if you choose him to be your Ring-bearer.
There will also be a mythic version of Sauron in the set, but it wasn’t shown off today.
EDIT: There appear to be additional preview cards being shown inside of MagicCon Minneapolis! Via @PGDHanson, here is Gandalf, Friend of the Shire:
and Delighted Halfling:
More previews from The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth will arrive on May 30, 2023 with a debut stream. Previews will continue until June 9, after which the set will release on June 23.
Commander Masters
After The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth, the Magic release schedule will turn its attention to Commander Masters.
Commander Masters was revealed in February and is a Commander-focused booster product. It will have Draft, Set, and Collector boosters, which will contain both reprints and brand new cards specific to the set. At the time we learned about the themes of the four accompanying pre-constructed Commander decks but didn’t get to see the Commander cards themselves—that changes today!
Zhulodrok, Void Gorger is the face of the “Eldrazi Unbound” Commander deck that will give your giant Eldrazi spells double cascade. It is the first Eldrazi-focused Commander deck and is all colorless.
Anikthea, Hand of Erebos is an Enchantress Demigod of Theros that is the face of the “Enduring Enchantments” deck. The White/Green/Black deck will focus on enchantments—surprise, surprise—and Anikthea will reanimate your enchantments into Zombie creatures!
Commodore Guff finally gets a card all his own as the leader of the “Planeswalker Party” deck. The Blue/Red/White deck focuses on the Planeswalkers matter theme, which can be seen on Guff’s +1, which creates Wizard tokens that can help you cast more Planeswalkers, as well as his -3 ability, which deals damage based on the number of Planeswalkers you control.
Sliver Gravemother leads the five-color “Sliver Swarm” deck and will give all of your Slivers encore. Scary!!
In addition to the Commander deck face cards, Wizards also revealed two reprints that will be in the set.
Personal Tutor will be reprinted in Commander Masters for the first time since its original printing in 1999’s Portal: Three Kingdoms.
Selvala, Heart of the Wilds is a reprint from Conspiracy: Take the Crown that shows off Commander Masters’s new Profile showcase treatment.
Commander Masters debuts on July 11, 2023, Previews will continue through July 21 and the set will officially release on August 4.
Wilds of Eldraine
Magic resumes its Standard release schedule after Commander Masters with Wilds of Eldraine in the Fall.
We will return to Eldraine after the conclusion of the Phyrexian invasion only to find that the Wicked Slumber Eldraine used to defeat the Phyrexians has failed to dissipate and is now starting to impact the denizens of Eldraine themselves.
Eriette of the Charmed Apple will be the face of the set and help us discover a darker side of Eldraine—three powerful witches! She also happens to be responsible for the sleeping curse that is impacting the plane.
Will and Rowan have been de-sparked in the aftermath of March of the Machine and are having differing reactions to the death of their parents (The Kenriths’ Royal Funeral).
Will, Scion of Peace returned from Strixhaven (Will, Scholar of Frost) to take on the role of King in place of his father and is seeking unity and peace to heal Eldraine.
Rowan, Scion of War, on the other hand, returned from her studies at Strixhaven (Rowan, Scholar of Sparks) in search of enough magical power to set Eldraine back to the way she wants.
Ashiok, Wicked Manipulator retains its spark and has resurfaced on Eldraine to feast on the sleeping spell that is affecting the plane.
More cards from Wilds of Eldraine will be revealed during its First Look on July 27, 2023 and officially debut on August 15. The set will then release on September 8.