September 26 will inevitably be a big day for Magic: The Gathering, regardless of where fans stand when it comes to the reception of the Spider-Man set that will release that day. This is because Wizards of the Coast will hold a panel at MagicCon Atlanta on the same day, revealing its plans for the sets coming out in 2026, both for in-multiverse releases and Universes Beyond. Although only two sets out of six have been officially confirmed so far, three more are extremely likely to have specific themes, locations, and characters accompanying them, including some Magic: The Gathering UB products.
Magic: The Gathering Fans May Be in For a Bittersweet Surprise With the 2026 Release Schedule
Magic: The Gathering's release schedule for 2026 is already partly clear, and not all players may be happy with the result.
January 2026 - Lorwyn Eclipsed
Magic: The Gathering Will Kick 2026 Off With a Bang
The first set to be released in 2026 is Magic: The Gathering's Lorwyn Eclipsed, which is a return to the plane of Lorwyn after nearly 19 years since its debut. Lorwyn Eclipsed is confirmed to launch on January 23, 2026, and it will most likely feature the same tribes as the original plane, with a bunch of new cards to support them and decks themed around them. Based on information from retailers, the set will come with the following products:
- Play Boosters (and display or case)
- Collector Boosters (and display or case)
- Bundle
- Commander decks (two variants)
- Preconstructed decks (60-card decks, possibly based on Lorwyn's tribes)
- Draft Night (mix of boosters and lands for MTG's Pick-Two Draft)
Lorwyn Eclipsed is increasing MTG's price and MSRP of various products, according to the details from retailers, such as Collector Boosters, Bundles, and Commander decks.
Q1-Q2 2026 (February-June) - Secrets of Strixhaven
MTG's Return to Its School of Magic
Lists of Magic: The Gathering's best planes typically include Arcavios and its school of Strixhaven, which is all about the study of magic and discovering the potential of new mages as they explore the art. The original set was very well received, and Secrets of Strixhaven's 2026 release is further proof of that. The set will most likely see the return of the colleges of the original, and it will presumably feature at least one new Planeswalker card in MTG. It's presumably launching between February and June of 2026, though details remain uncertain.
Magic: The Gathering's Ziplining Set Explained
The third and last in-multiverse set for Magic: The Gathering's 2026 release schedule is codenamed "Ziplining," and it's the most obscure of the three so far. However, WotC has confirmed it will be the capstone event set of the Metronome story arc, and as such, it will most likely feature characters and stories told in recent years since MTG's Wilds of Eldraine set. Characters like Jace, Loot, Nicol Bolas, and Chandra are very plausible here, and so is Valgavoth, whose last appearance was in Duskmourn. Since it's a capstone event set like March of the Machine, it may include a big battle or confrontation that determines the future of the multiverse.
MTG's Second Marvel Set is Slated For 2026
As confirmed by Wizards of the Coast's own Mark Rosewater, 2026 will have another Universes Beyond set dedicated to a Marvel property. While this has yet to be revealed, Rosewater also stated that Wizards wanted to reprint the various Marvel cards from last year's Secret Lair drop in 2025, but decided to do so in an upcoming set in 2026. Since they featured Avengers and X-Men, and 2026 will mark the release of Avengers: Doomsday, the most likely candidates for 2026's Marvel set are:
- Avengers
- X-Men
- Avengers vs. X-Men
- Two Marvel sets, one for Avengers and one for X-Men
Magic: The Gathering's Next Nickelodeon Collaboration
Very recently, there was an announcement stating that the next collaboration between Nickelodeon and Magic: The Gathering will be revealed on October 10. Since the upcoming Avatar set for MTG is already public knowledge, and the IP is owned by Nickelodeon (like SpongeBob SquarePants, which also got a Secret Lair drop), it's all but confirmed that this is something else entirely. Since Nickelodeon owns the rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, for which IP several projects are in the works regarding both video games and movies, it's safe to assume that the second UB set of 2026 will indeed be dedicated to TMNT.
A Magic: The Gathering TMNT set was made very likely by 2024's Foundations set, which included a "turtle ninja" creature in its Jumpstart collection.
Magic: The Gathering
- Original Release Date
- August 5, 1993
- Publisher
- Wizards of the Coast
- Designer
- Richard Garfield
- Player Count
- 2+
- Age Recommendation
- 13+