Lorwyn Eclipsed, Secrets of Strixhaven, and more were brought out during the MagicCon Atlanta 2025 Preview Panel.
WATCH: THE PREVIEW PANEL PRESS CONFERENCE - MAGICCON ATLANTA 2025
The Preview Panel at the MagicCon Atlanta 2025 brought out many surprises , fleshing out much of what Wizards of the Coast has planned for Magic: The Gathering for much of 2026.
2026 is set to kick off with Lorwyn Eclipsed, revisiting the Lorwyn plane for the first time in nearly two decades. The first totally non-human expansion since Bloomburrow, Lorwyn Eclipsed returns to the Celtic mythology-inspired plane. Last time in 2007 and 2008, the Lorwyn/Shadowmoor block of four expansions had a split with two expansions exploring the light aspect of the pane and two expansions exploring the dark aspect of the plane.
However, Lorwyn Eclipsed changes the general passing of light/dark aura, with creatures now being allowed to go between the worlds, with light/dark and day/night pushing up against each other. Storywise, some students from Strixhaven visit the 'twilighted' plane to see just what this new travelling between light and dark is all about.
As such, this light and dark aspects become a unique part of the game now, as seen with some preview cards:
As Mark Rosewater explained, Lorwyn is now mixed together in a form of twilight, with creatures changing as they go between the light and dark:
Typals can now change with the light/dark change mechanic in place. And not only type - characters can also change color when these changes come into effect too. Also coming back from Lorwyn are certain mechanics brought in to bring back nostalgia. Hybrid mana from Shadowmoor and Evoke from Lorwyn are both coming back, as are commands
Continuing on from Edge of Eternities are shock lands, which come into play with Lorwyn Eclipsed. And, when it comes to products, the expansion will bring back not only multiple artwork booster packs, but will premiere a new "Draft Night" bundle as a way to improve the draft experience.
Many original Lorwyn artists also are making a return, with many revisiting characters from the original block. This includes Rebecca Guay, who had been hinted at the Las Vegas MagicCon at coming back for the set.
Next up in the panel was Secrets of Strixhaven, slated for an April 2026 release:
This time around, the story will go beyond the school and further into the Arcavios plane. And while the panel didn't give too much away, it was later noted in the Everything Announced article that several Strixhaven students from this expansion will have gone through a "stroll" in Lorwyn in Lorwyn Eclipsed. This also hints at yet another "Kind of a new style of block but also not" sort of set up as seen in previous closely tied expansion. In addition, there will be an entire published novel taking place there in addition to the usual Magic story - "Strixhaven: Omens of Chaos", authored by Seanan McGuire.
And, harkening back to decades before, there will even be a book promo card:
Both Lorwyn Eclipsed and Secrets of Strixhaven were also noted to be continuing the 'Metronome' arc started with Outlaws of Thunder Junction,
Other announcements include a Universes Beyond set coming in March that will be announced at the October 2025 New York Comic-Con and Marvel Super Heroes coming in June 2026:
Oh, and in August, a sequel to the Lord of the Rings set, The Hobbit, is to come out as well.
Finally, 2026 is to end with both a Star Trek set:
And, in October, with another traditional Magic expansion known simply as Reality Fracture:
A first look of upcoming art for the expansion was also briefly shown in everything announced:
On the more up and coming product front, Final Fantasy continued to be a juggernaut. Four distinct boxes with scenes from four of the games are to come out with play boosters, scene cards, and art cards, with the unique cards in each box being able to be put together to show a larger scene, like this one from FF1:
A new commander bundle is to come out as well, 'Limit Break'
And this is along with a special 'Chocobo Bundle' that comes with 10 boosters, a special counter, and an exclusive Birds of Paradise 'Paradise Chocobo' card:
While a possible holiday 2026 expansion could still to be announced past the November 2026 Star Trek release, along with the March 2026 UB announcement, 2026 is now pretty much set, with an expected mix of original Magic planes and properties, and new IP Universes Beyond offerings, mirroring 2025. Beyond that, the next big expansion announcement isn't likely to come until May 2026's MagicCon in Las Vegas, which will likely show the wrap up of 2026 and a few hints into 2027.
