It’s been a while since Magic: The Gathering last visited Ixalan, and a lot has changed on the Meso-American inspired plane. Let’s jump in and take a look at everything we know about the upcoming set, The Lost Caverns of Ixalan!
The Story
A year has passed since the Phyrexian invasion of the Multiverse and Ixalan is healing its wounds from the massive conflict. But those injuries have opened up new possibilities for exploration, adventure and power — but they also unearthed ancient mysteries and the awakening of old gods.
We’ll delve into the heart of the plane alongside Huatli, Saheeli, Quintorius and Kellen (fresh from the Omenpath at the end of his quest during Wilds of Eldraine) as they race to Chimli, the hidden inner sun of Lxalan!
Timeline
- Card Kingdom Presale Begins: Oct. 18
- Complete Story Drop: Oct. 20
- Debut and Previews Begin: Oct. 24
- MTG Arena Streamer Event: Nov. 9
- Prerelease In-Store Play Events: Nov. 10
- MTG Arena Release: Nov. 14
- Global Release: Nov. 17
The Set
The Lost Caverns of Ixalan will be available in the usual Draft, Set and Collector Boosters and Booster Displays:
There will also be Bundles, Gift Edition Bundles and Prerelease packs up for grabs:
Additionally, there will be four Commander decks released along with the set, each featuring one of the iconic factions of the plane.
First, Ahoy Mateys is a Blue-Black-Red Pirate themed deck. Next, vampires rise in the Black-White Blood Rites deck: Then Merfolk come from the depths in the Blue-Green Explorers of the Deep. And last, but certainly not least, get ready for some dinosaur carnage in the white/red/green Veloci-Ramp-Tor deck:
Booster Fun and Promos
Beautiful, full-art basic lands showing off the Core of Paradise in the heart of Ixalan are just scratching the surface of what can be found in Lost Cavers of Ixalan Boosters.
Legends of Ixalan return from March of the Machine, along with the new Gods of Ixalan treatment and the Borderless Oltec treatment paying homage to the plane’s Meso-American inspirations.
Normal Borderless treatments return as well, as shown on the new Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant.
The Cosmium Neon Ink treatment is also back after a first run in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty — as seen on the welcome reprint, Cavern of Souls.
Powerful artifacts are featured in the Treasure Trove Box Toppers, which appear in non-foil on Draft and Set Booster Displays and Traditional Foil on Collector Booster Displays. We don’t know which powerful artifacts will be in the Treasure Trove, but we do know one.
In addition, Set and Collector boosters will feature the premiere of Special Guests, Masters-level reprints featuring art in the style of the plane. Planned to continue on in future sets, non-foil Special guests can be found randomly in Set Boosters, with foil version found in Collector Boosters. We don’t know the full lineup of guests, but here’s a couple we do know.
Mana Crypt in particular is an extra Special Guest, as it will be getting the same Cosmium Neon Ink treatment as Cavern of Souls above.
Universes Beyond
Otherwise, found randomly in Set Boosters and in every Collector Booster, the Jurassic World Collection will be the next addition to the Universes Beyond catalog! There will be 26 cards featuring fan-favorite characters, dinosaurs, locations and events from the Jurassic World series in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, and here’s a few we know of already:
With a Secret Lair drop expanding upon the Jurassic World Collection sometime soon, there will be plenty of Dinosaurs to go around… which is a vaguely terrifying thought.
End Step
Get ready for adventure, excitement and, of course, dinosaurs in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan! Card Kingdom’s presale starts on the 10/18, with the story kickoff for the set coming on 10/20 and previews beginning on 10/24.
Chris is the Associate Media Producer at Card Kingdom. He would like to apologize to his son for not holding onto more cards from when he first started playing, as that likely would have paid for college. He enjoys pretty much all formats of Magic, but usually ends up playing decks that make other people dislike playing those formats with him.