Wizards of the Coast has revealed that Magic’s 2027 release schedule will include multiple sets based on brand new original IP.
The February ‘27 set will be Nauctis: The Sunken Realm a colorful underwater world of merfolk and fish-creatures. October will then see the release of Zhalfir, which focuses on the planeswalker Teferi’s temporally-displaced homeland.
Wizards also revealed a third set, Kamigawa: Titanbreach, slated for release next June. Instead of debuting a new world, Titanbreach will revisit two existing worlds from the Magic canon: a violent struggle between the mecha pilots of Neo Kamigawa and the city-sized monsters of Ikoria.
These big announcements from MagicCon Amsterdam come as a relief to anyone worried that Magic might soon abandon development of its original fantasy worlds and characters.
Once taken for granted as part of Magic’s identity, the 2025 and 2026 announcements only featured six total sets making use of original IP. The other seven slots went to Universes Beyond products based on external media franchises such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Final Fantasy.
Combined with an accelerated release cadence for 2026, the continued growth of Universes Beyond has seen the game introducing new crossovers every two-to-three months. Meanwhile, the most recent set to introduce a completely new plane was 2025’s Edge of Eternities – making this the first time since 2015 that Magic passed a whole calendar year without premiering a new original world!
Being the very first news of these sets, the MagicCon presentation was understandably light on mechanical and story details. But it did include passionate interviews with the design teams who are working to bring these worlds to life, as well as some gorgeous concept artwork to help communicate their creative vision.
Nauctis, the all-underwater world, seems to draw on influences as diverse as Disney films, H.P. Lovecraft and science fiction. Mechanically there seems to be potential for a typal theme: not only for the ever-popular merfolk, but other aquatic types like cephalids, leviathans, sharks and crabs.
It has also been revealed that The Sunken Realm will not feature any cards with flying! Its role will be filled by a brand-new form of evasion, presumably one suited to the lore of a water-filled plane. Mark Rosewater later confirmed that this mechanic was “more than just renamed flying”, hinting that this might be a more complex mechanic that plays a large role in the Limited gameplay and identity of Nauctis.
The Zhalfir reveal also delivered a strong first impression: the concept art teasing more epic landscapes with a combination of natural beauty and remarkable man-made structures.
Originally a single kingdom in Magic’s main original fantasy world of Dominaria, Zhalfir and its people were featured in early sets like Mirage. Unfortunately, the entire kingdom was effectively lost in spacetime due to a tragic mistake by its most powerful mage, Teferi.
But that disastrous fate has finally been redeemed with the ultimate defeat of Phyrexia during March of the Machine. Zhalfir has apparently returned to the timeline by overwriting the world that was one Mirrodin/New Phyrexia – it still basks in the eternal daylight of five colored suns, but they now shine down on a completely different, much less metallic landscape.
With Wizards committing upfront to the premise of a world inspired by African cultures and aesthetics, Zhalfir should provide players a very unique and fresh brand of fantasy compared to any plane that’s come before. Mechanically, we could equally expect any number of callbacks to the themes of Mirage and Visions, Mirrodin block, or the temporal oddity of Time Spiral!
It’s likely to be a few more months before we get any further information on these upcoming sets, with The Hobbit, Reality Fracture and Star Trek all still on the schedule for release before we turn the page to 2027.
The remaining sets scheduled for release next year will presumably be Universes Beyond products. Full details of those sets will most likely be revealed at upcoming MagicCons – stay tuned to Card Kingdom news for the information when it appears.
Tom’s fate was sealed in 7th grade when his friend lent him a pile of commons to play Magic. He quickly picked up Boros and Orzhov decks in Ravnica block and has remained a staunch white magician ever since. A fan of all Constructed formats, he enjoys studying the history of the tournament meta. He specializes in midrange decks, especially Death & Taxes and Martyr Proc. One day, he swears he will win an MCQ with Evershrike. Ask him how at @AWanderingBard, or watch him stream Magic at twitch.tv/TheWanderingBard.