It’s been over a week since GenCon, and we’re still digesting everything that was announced, previewed and released at the event. For Magic: the Gathering players, the biggest news was the announcement of the game’s upcoming 2024 set releases. It’s probably a tie, actually, between the release announcements and the brazen theft of an entire pallet of Magic cards – but that is a different story for a different day. I already took a look at some of what we can expect from Wilds of Eldraine. Now it’s time to look into our crystal ball towards next year.
Return to Return to Return to Ravnica?
Magic’s first 2024 release will be a return to the plane of Ravnica for WotC’s third Remastered set. Guilds of Ravnica was the first prerelease event I ever played in, and I am excited to be going back. War of the Spark, Ravnica Allegiance, and Guilds of Ravnica were awesome sets for sealed and draft play. You can be sure that Ravnica Remastered will pack tons of power and unique deckbuilding challenges for limited formats. On top of that, Pioneer and Commander players can look forward to almost guaranteed reprints of Ravnica’s shock lands. You know, the ones that are slowly creeping up past fetchlands in price? While they were just reprinted in Unfinity, players are desperate for a wider re-release of the shocks.
Beyond just having a killer rare land cycle, Ravnica sets have also been notable for powerful planeswalkers. That’s because the city of Ravnica is home to the Gatewatch, an alliance of planeswalkers dedicated to fighting major threats across the multiverse. First it was the Eldrazi, then the armies of Nicol Bolas, and most recently the Phyrexians. You can bet we’ll see reprints of heroes like Jace, Teferi, Chandra and Liliana. Remember 3feri from War of the Spark? He’s coming for you. Hide while you can.
A Ravnica without its protectors
Many of the multiverse’s planeswalkers were de-sparked in the Great Pruning at the end of the Phyrexian story arc. In 2024, we’ll get to see what that means for the city the Gatewatch called home. According to Wizards, Murders at Karlov Manor is a murder mystery that will show off Ravnica as seen by its greatest detectives. I’m no Magic lore connoisseur, but I’m struggling to see how Rakdos and Gruul could possibly fit into a premise like that. We shall see!
Cowboys and Critters and Monsters, oh my!
WotC didn’t give much by way of details about the rest of the standard 2024 Magic releases. We know that Outlaws of Thunder Junction has a “Western” theme, for instance. And the third 2024 set, Bloomburrow, features fuzzy woodland creatures and art reminiscent of Watership Down or Redwall. How those two things fit into the wider Magic multiverse is beyond me, but then… I was also skeptical about the Gilded Age and cyberpunk ninjas, but loved Streets of New Capenna and Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty. Sadly, given that he lost his spark in the Pruning, it’s unlikely that I will get to see Teferi in a ten gallon hat. Then again, in Magic, anything is possible.
Magic’s 2024 sets close out with Duskmourn, House of Horror, a haunted house theme that I really hope doesn’t come with some sort of Ghost Adventures Secret Lair crossover.
Modern Horizons 3
For Modern and Commander players, probably the most exciting announcement was that we’re getting a third Modern Horizons set in 2024. Both previous Modern Horizons sets brought not only valuable reprints and amazing alternate art treatments, but they also introduced powerful new cards unique to the older Magic formats. MH1 gave us The First Sliver, and Wrenn and Six, while MH2 brought in Ragavan, Urza’s Saga and the incarnation cycle. Among other things. Modern Horizons sets have created interesting draft and sealed environments which, though pricey, are always a good time.
Long story short, we’ve got a lot to look forward to as we move into the next year of Magic: the Gathering. Subscribe to our MTG Rundown channel on YouTube and keep checking back here for more!
