Magic: The Gatheringis about to shake things up immensely for players of all formats, and that’s starting with November 15’s release of the Foundations set - which is designed to be the backbone ofMTGfor at least the next five years.MTGFoundations will be Standard-legaluntil 2029 at the earliest, but designers would be happy with it becoming something that remains there in the background in semi-perpetuity further beyond. After all, this set is designed to be the foundation ofMagic. While Foundations will launch in November 2024, and a Marvel Secret Lair drop will precede it, WotC is looking to the future with six sets in 2025.
In an online panel comprised of Elizabeth Stewart (Senior Communications Manager), Bryan Hawley (Director, Game Design), Carmen Klomparens (Senior Game Designer), Forrest Schehl (Senior Art Director), Ari Zirulnik (Creative Lead), Mark Rosewater (Head Designer), and Blake Rasmussen (Director of Communications) from Wizards of the Coast, the company discussed what’s next forMagic: The Gathering.MTGFoundations is the last big release of the year, but given its scope and purpose, it’s going to be a huge cornerstone of the game moving forward. With three newMagicMultiverse sets and three Universes Beyond sets, 2025 is also looking strong.
What to Expect From Magic: The Gathering’s Foundations Set
MTGFoundationsis meant to be the easiest way to get intoMagic: The Gatheringyet, which is in and of itself a great purpose - especially with more Universes Beyond sets. According to WotC, Foundations will have lots of good cards for new and old players alike, more streamlined abilities and keywords overall, but still a bunch of cards that can combo to win the game.
An example provided is Demonic Pact + Harmless Offering. The former is a Black enchantment that reads “At the beginning of your upkeep, choose one that hasn’t been chosen - This enchantment deals 4 damage to any target and you gain 4 life; Target opponent discards two cards; Draw two cards; You lose the game,” whereas Harmless Offering makes target opponent gain control of a permanent the user controls. This allowsMTGplayersto use the first three options from Demonic Pact and then pass it over to their opponent with Harmless Offering to make them lose the game at the start of their next turn.
The reason why this matters is that althoughMagic: The Gathering’s Foundations set is meant to be a simpler, more streamlined release to allow anyone to get into the game easily, it is still very muchMTGat its core - andMagicthrives on infinite combosand tricks. Still, in order to teach newcomers the basics, WotC made four different products.
Magic: The Gathering’s Foundations Beginner Box Explained
This is a new type of product toget intoMagic: The Gatheringmore easily. It contains two instant-play decks which are themed decks (Cats and Vampires) for beginners to teach them the basics ofMTGin a gentle way, appealing to various things that newcomers may like, such as pirates, wizards, elves, and so forth. Then, players can expand this with the 8 included themed Jumpstart Decks, all while having various other tools to play and learn the game.
Magic: The Gathering’s Foundations Jumpstart Boosters Explained
This product, unlike the rest ofMTGFoundations, is not Standard-legal.Jumpstart Boostersare intended more as an intermediate product between the Beginner Box and the Starter Collection or even Foundations proper, as they contain more themes, and any two Jumpstart Boosters can be shuffled together and played. Each Jumpstart Booster contains an anime-styleMTGLegendary creature, which can be an interesting option for Commander players as well. The set includes both reprints and new cards.
Magic: The Gathering’s Foundations Starter Collection Explained
The Starter Collection is intended as a bridge to cross before getting into the full extent of whatMagicis and what the game has to offer. It is defined as “the ultimate shoebox,” meaning the collection that really gets players started on the game and deckbuilding, like getting a shoebox full of cards from older siblings. This massive kit contains 350 cards with great staples of anycolor inMagic: The Gathering. It also contains a promo called Gigantosaurus, which is a 10/10 with no abilities or effects that costs 5 Green mana, and this card is not available anywhere else.
Magic: The Gathering’s Foundations Set Explained
The main set includesbasic lands forMagic: The Gatheringthat are, according to designers, the quintessential representation of their respective archetypes. There’s also a cycle of basic lands with art by Rebecca Guay as well as two cycles of full art basic lands, each representing a main character who is set to appear in the next fewMTGreleases. These include Ajani and Giada for White, Zimone and Kaito for Blue, Liliana and Tinybones for Black, Chandra and Kellan for Red, and Loot and Vivien for Green.
The main set also includes someMTGAlpha cards to hearken to its roots, like Savannah Lions, Serra Angel, Shivan Dragon, Giant Growth, and Juggernaut. The set is meant to give players instruments to fabricate their ownstories withinMagic, both with reprints and new cards. New cards are there to represent concepts for which there wasn’t an appropriate card in the series' past, or they’re meant to represent characters and moments in the game’s long history, regardless of the current events. For example, Platinum Angel was the inspiration behind Herald of Eternal Dawn - 4 generic and 3 White, 6/6 with Flash and Flying, with an ability that reads “you may’t lose the game and your opponents can’t win the game.”
The set is defined as timeline-agnostic and features old and new cards from across the multiverse. All mythics and rares have alternate art versions of them and there are 70 borderless cards in Foundations.MTGFoundations also introduces “mana foil” cards and brings back Japan Showcase foils and fractured foils, all of which can be found in theCollector’s Boosters. Finally, Foundations also includes Special Guest cards, though they are not Standard-legal, and they appear in both Play Boosters and Collector Boosters.
What to Expect From Magic: The Gathering in 2025
Starting with Foundations and immediately after in 2025, there will be major changes coming toMagic: The Gathering. This is intended as a new era for the game, with changes to the ecosystem and the cycling of products. 2027 will be the first year to break away from the big tradition of new Standard cycles starting in the fall, whereas now sets will be standardized to begin a new cycle with the first release of the calendar year over the fall year. This makes things easier to remember and more streamlined, but it also affects whenMTG’s Bloomburrow and Duskmournwill stop being Standard-legal. In 2027, when the first Standard-legal set is released, the cycle will include all sets that were released in 2025, 2026, and 2027. Starting with foundations and moving forward,MTGwill also have MSRP (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price).
There will be changes to legalities as well as release schedules and what type of sets will drop. As for legalities, the new system will mostly have two types of legalities, though WotC reserves the right to make exceptions - the first is all-formats-legal (all sets that go through Standard) and the second is eternal-legal (like Commander products). More importantly, this change allows forMTGUniverses Beyond to be legal in all formats starting in 2025. As for releases,MTGwill have threeMagicMultiverse setsin 2025 as well as three UB sets.
Magic: The Gathering’s 2025 Roadmap Explained
This roadmap doesn’t include Innistrad Remastered since it’s not a Standard-legal set, and it was already announced.
Aetherdrift - July 19, 2025
Aetherdrift is a death race across three different planes of the multiverse, launching in February of 2025. It will include lots of vehicle cards, and the main race will happen between 10 teams, each with its own identity made of two different colors. The main story involvesMagic: The Gathering’s Chandraas she takes part in the race to win the ultimate prize, the Aetherspark, which she wants to use on Nissa to give her the Spark she lost back.
Tarkir Dragonstorms - July 28, 2025
This set is the covetedreturn to Tarkirafter 10 years, but it’s in a timeline altered by Sarkhan Vol, who went back in time to prevent the Khans and their clans from wiping out the dragons of this world, which instead dominate it in Tarkir Dragonstorms. However, clans are forming again, and so the set will be a combination of what fans loved in Khans of Tarkir (including three-color cards) and dragons, which are one of the most liked creature types.
Final Fantasy Universes Beyond - June 18, 2025
Much like fans would expect, thisFinal Fantasy-themed setfeatures characters, locations, monsters, weapons, and more from all games fromFF1toFinal Fantasy 16, including Chocobos and Behemoths. Art from bothFFartists andMTGartists who worked specifically on this set will be included, though the set won’t include characters, items, or locations from spin-off games in the crossover.
Edge of Eternities - May 28, 2025
This set is different from the usualMagicMultiverse releasebecause it takes place in space. Most likely a set tied toMTG’s Blind Eternities, the game still hasMagicelements in its design, but there are also tropes and new inspirations coming from the space fantasy genre as a whole, like planets, aliens, space battles, and more. Tezzeret returns in Edge of Eternities, and he is going to be the main villain of the story.
Spider-Man Universes Beyond - TBA, 2025
This is kind of a personal project for Mark Rosewater, as he told the story of how he got aSpider-Mancomic as a kid, and he’s happy with the product being the perfect combination between Marvel andMTG. The set is going to be a tentpole release, much likeMagic’sLord of the Ringsin the past andFinal Fantasy’sMTGcrossover in 2025.
Unannounced Universes Beyond - TBA, 2025
Finally, there is going to be a third UB set coming in 2025, though nothing is confirmed at the moment. Mark Rosewater stated that he has played with the set and he likes it a lot, but nothing else is currently known.
Magic The Gathering
Magic the Gathering is a tabletop and digital collectable card game created by Richard Garfield and released in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Players take on the role of a Planeswalker and use various cards to battle other players by casting spells, summoning creatures, or utilizing artifacts. It features two main rule categories, constructed or limited, and can be played by two or more players at a time.
