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It seems like a lifetime ago since August 2021, when Magic: The Gathering revealed the full lineup for the game in 2022. We were stunned by the return of Kamigawa, and the glitz and glamour of New Capenna. Now we're near the end of 2022 and those sets are firmly behind us. We've just had The Brothers' War, and it's time to look forward to what the final releases of the year will offer.
2022 has been a very, very different year for Magic. It'll tackle new genres and plenty of crossovers, while also revisiting some pivotal moments of Magic's history. Here is everything announced for Magic: The Gathering in 2022.
Updated November 15, 2022 by Joe Parlock: We're almost at the end of 2022 now, with the release of the final Standard set of the year, The Brothers' War, just days away. The article has been updated to include the reveal of the Starter Commander decks coming on December 2, as well as a better look back at what we've enjoyed from the game this year.
Innistrad: Double Feature and Commander Collection: Black – January 21, 2022
If you thought we were done with Innistrad, you were wrong. Innistrad: Double Feature is a compilation set that combines Innistrad: Midnight Hunt and Innistrad: Crimson Vow into a single, draftable experience.
The big thing about Double Feature is its new art treatment, which sees every single card in every booster pack given a black-and-white art style inspired by classic monster movies. These are different from the Eternal Night style seen in the two main Innistrad sets, being less harsh in their contrast and more akin to a fuzzy, old TV showing Dracula on a cable channel at 2 AM.
Launching the same day as Innistrad: Double Feature was Commander Collection: Black. This collection featured eight cards (and one token) that best represent Black in the Commander format.
Each printed with new art, the cards are Sol Ring, Command Tower, Liliana Heretical Healer, Reanimate, Toxic Deluge, Ophiomancer, Phyrexian Arena, and Ghoulcaller Gisa. Some of these are staples, some of them are just cool cards. There's even a deathtouch Snake token, something cards like Ophiomancer have produced for years, but never had an official token printed for.
Secret Lair x Street Fighter – February 17, 2022
The first big Secret Lair drop of the year was a crossover with Street Fighter to celebrate its 35th Anniversary.
The drop includes 9 cards, with all but one of them being mechanically unique introductions to the game. If you're not able to buy the Secret Lair, these cards will be reprinted in non-Street Fighter forms about six months later in Set boosters.
The cards are:
- E. Honda, Sumo Champion
- Ryu, World Warrior
- Ken, Burning Brawler
- Blanka, Ferocious Friend
- Chun-Li, Countless Kicks
- Dhalsim, Pliable Pacifist
- Guile, Sonic Soldier
- Zangief, The Red Cyclone
- Hadoken (Lightning Bolt reprint)
Secret Lair x Street Fighter is available through the Secret Lair site until March 18, 2022, after which it will never be put on sale again.
Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty – February 18, 2022
The first set of the year was Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, Magic's first experiments with a sci-fi setting. A gorgeous mashup of traditional Japanese aesthetics and a glowing cyberpunk future, it introduced the new modified and reconfigure mechanics, as well as the first-ever Phyrexian Planeswalker in a gut-wrenching twist that say Kamigawa favourite Tamiyo become compleated.
Neon Dynasty saw the return of three popular mechanics, with ninjutsu allowing you to cheat creatures into play if the thing they replace is unblocked, channel allowing you to discard cards for effects, and enchantment creatures. It also introduced modified, a new catch-all term for creatures with counters or are equipped or enchanted, and reconfigure, Equipment creatures that are able to swap between their two modes.
Neon Dynasty was the strongest start to 2022 we could've hoped for, and was a smashing success in almost every metric. It was later announced that it is the best-selling winter set ever released, beating out 2021's Kaldheim.
2022 Challenger Decks – April 1, 2022
The Challenger Decks are an annual release featuring four decks based on the Standard format's most popular archetypes. They're a great way to boost up your Standard collection, and lots of the cards are viable in other formats like Pioneer and Commander as well.
This year's four decks are:
- Rakdos (black/red) Vampires
- Mono-White Aggro
- Gruul (red/green) Stompy
- Dimir (blue/black) Control
Streets of New Capenna – April 29, 2022
Set in an Art Deco world created by angels, but now run by five Demonic crime families, Streets of New Capenna is Magic's take on gangster, pulp, and noir movies.
The set has a three-colour-matters focus, like Ikoria and the Tarkir before it, which we didn't see a whole lot of in 2021. The set is split between the five families: the green, white, and blue Brokers; the white, blue, and black Obscura; the blue, black and red Maestros; the black, red, and green Riveteers; and the red, green and white Cabaretti. It also introduced five new mechanics: shield counters, connive, casualty, blitz, and alliance. Finally, we saw hideaway make a comeback for the first time in Standard since 2007's Lorwyn.
It also has some huge new story elements, such as the return of the demon tyrant Ob Nixilis and Elspeth, the Planeswalker who managed to escape from the underworld in Theros: Beyond Death. Considering Theros: Beyond Death didn't have any sort of written story published for it, finally knowing what happened to Elspeth is awesome. It developed the ongoing Phyrexian story arc as well, by reintroducing the rebelious Phyrexian Praetor Urabrask, who may serve as a major adversary to the rest of the Phyrexians at this story's culmination.
Interestingly, for Streets of New Capenna, Wizards prioritised the tabletop release over the digital one. While other sets tend to be launched into MTG Arena and MTG Online a week before it launches in stores, New Capenna had its tabletop prerelease a week before the digital release, which only came only a day before the official paper launch. This is a big move to support game stores, who often thrive on these prerelease events, and one that would later be repeated for The Brothers' War and 2023's Phyrexia: All Will Be One and March of the Machine.
Had we not just had Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty release a few months earlier, Streets of New Capenna would have easily been the most modern Magic set ever released. The art is stunning, with sprawling, art deco skyscrapers lining rain-slick streets and lots of gorgeous fashion. It looks moody and atmospheric, and it's one of the most exciting sets to be announced for this year.
Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate – June 10, 2022
Q2 2022 was incredibly busy, thanks in part to the follow-up to one of the best sets in recent memory, Commander Legends.
The second appearance of Dungeons & Dragons in Magic, following 2021's Adventures in the Forgotten Realms, Battle For Baldur's Gate focused on the city and characters of the Baldur's Gate games, with a few more oblique references made for everything up to and including Spelljammer.
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It follows the usual Commander Legends format of being a draftable Commander experience. There are dozens of new legendary creatures to build around (which was also a highlight of Adventures in the Forgotten Realms), as well the new background mechanic that allowed certain enchantments to act as partnered commanders.
One surprising thing about Baldur's Gate was its reprints. Aside from the five allied-colour bond lands, which were absent from the original Commander Legends, and a few staples like Arcane Signet and the Diamonds, there were very few reprints to be found here. It's an overall lower-power set than the original Commander Legends, with only a few cards like the Ancient Metal Dragons and Displacer Kitten to power things up a bit.
Double Masters 2022 – July 8, 2022
Double Masters 2022 is a reprint-focused draft set that, like its 2019 predecessor, has a "more is better" approach. Each pack has two foils, and two rare or mythic rares in every pack, giving it its 'double' theme.
The set proved to be one of the most powerful releases we've seen in a long time, with cards like Force of Negation, Supreme Verdict, and almost the entire Commander 2011 lineup being found in booster packs. It had massive implications for the Pauper format, thanks to a number of great cards being downshifted to common rarity for the first time.
It was also one of the priciest, with Collector's boosters approaching nearly $60, double the price of a normal pack.
Secret Lair x Fortnite – July 21, 2022
Easily the most controversial thing coming for Magic in 2022 is this Secret Lair crossover with the battle royale smash hit and crossover sponge that is Fortnite.
Like The Walking Dead and Stranger Things, Fortnite's two crossover drops will be limited to a certain window of availability direct from Wizards of the Coast, after which they will never be available again. Unlike those, though, this is strictly a reprint-only set, meaning no mechanically unique cards will be coming in it.
The cards on offer aren't amazing, but the new art style is bright and colourful enough to make the drop worthwhile for fans of the game. The first drop includes cards like Wrath of God, Smuggler's Copter, Grim Tutor, and Planar Bridge reimagined with Fortnite art styles, while the second is a series of five basic lands highlighting key locations from the game.
If you love Fortnite and want to bling your deck out with some staples, this will be a great way to go.
Dominaria United – September 9, 2022
After the notably modern Neon Dynasty and Streets of New Capenna, Magic's third premiere set of the year is much more in line with what we know and love about Magic.
To celebrate the game's 30th anniversary, Dominaria United takes us back to the closest thing Magic has to a home plane, where the story started and spent most of its early life. We were last there in 2018's Dominaria set, which fans loved for its attention to detail and long-absent returning characters. Considering 2018's Dominaria is perhaps best known for introducing Sagas, there may be a chance we get more of them on our return visit.
One thing that is debuting alongside Dominaria United are brand-new Jumpstart boosters. Borrowing from Jumpstart and Magic: The Gathering Arena's Jump In! format, Jumpstart boosters contain half of a deck based on Dominaria United, and tasks you to shuffle two packs together to make a fully-playable limited deck. Jumpstart is hugely popular, which could make this new kind of booster pack very exciting indeed.
Dominaria United was an interesting set, as it challenged you to make decks of three, four, or maybe even five colours with its returning domain mechanic. It also gave sagas a hefty upgrade with read ahead to skip to the good bits, or let you buff up creatures with enlist. It even saw the return of one of Magic's most popular mechanics, with kicker letting you pay more mana for bigger effec
Wizards is leaning heavily into the legends theme of Dominaria, by including not just reimagined takes on characters from 1994's Legends set, but also actual cards from Legends booster packs in Collector's boosters. These aren't reprints – Wizards alleges it found a stockpile of cards in a warehouse in central Washington, and is redistributing the cards through Dominaria United.
Unfinity – October 7, 2022
After a few years away, we finally got a new parody set, with Unfinity.
Unfinity follows in the footsteps of sets like Unglued, Unhinged, and Unstable and features cards that would never fly in the official game, such as Assembled Ensemble caring about spells you cast with artifact creatures in their art. However, Unfinity is also breaking the trend of the previous Un-sets and featuring cards that are legal in Commander, Legacy, and Vintage.
To do this, the set does away with the traditional silver-border frames and introduced Acorn- and Non-Acorn-cards. Acorn cards are the true parody cards that would have been silver-bordered in previous sets, while those without the acorn stamp are legal elsewhere. It's an interesting way to make Unfinity relevant for longer, as otherwise the only time it would be played is in a draft environment.
The theme of Unfinity is one of the coolest things about it. It's full of retrofuturistic aesthetics inspired by things like The Jetsons or Lost In Space, as well as a circus or canirval theme mixed in. This fits the two key mechanics of the set: stickers, which are drafted and peeled from a sheet and placed onto your cards to change their properties, and attractions, artifacts that give you rewards if you successfully roll the correct number on a dice.
Un-sets are also known for their gorgeous full-art lands, and Unfinity will have them in the form of two kinds of 'Spasic Lands' – one showing the view from an alien planet's surface, and the other showing that planet in orbit – and even space-themed Shock Lands as well.
Universes Beyond: Warhammer 40,000 – October 7, 2022
2022 was a year of crossovers, with six different Universes Beyond releases this year. The most substantial of these by far was the crossover with Games Workshop's popular wargaming series Warhammer 40,000.
These will be a collection of four preconstructed Commander decks using characters and art from the series, which takes place in a future completely consumed by war. These are mechanically unique and black-bordered, meaning cards from them can be used in any Commander deck.
The four decks are the mono-black Necron Dynasties, the white/blue/black Forces of the Imperium, the green/blue/red Tyrannid Swarm, and the blue/black/red Ruinous Powers. Each deck features almost 40 brand-new cards, far more than any Commander decks released before it.
Alongside new mechanics like squad – which allows you to pay an additional cost to make a limitless number of token copies – the decks will be introducing a new foiling style known as 'surge foil'. For the first time, these Commander decks will have a Collector's variant, that prints every card in it in this new surge foiling style.
Game Night: Free-For-All – October 14, 2022
Launching exactly one week later, Game Nights is a series of boxes that aim to take Magic and turn it into a more traditional, play-from-the-box tabletop experience. Why faff with all the usual deckbuilding and opening booster packs when you could just shuffle up one of Game Nights' five preconstructed decks and play straight away?
As this is meant to allow you to play Magic straight from the box, each of the five decks are balanced against each other, with an emphasis on being beginner-friendly and accessible.
This year's Game Night box takes inspiration from the Commander format. On top of being designed with multiplayer play in mind, each deck includes one brand new card; a legendary creature that the deck is lightly built around. Of course, these will also be legal in Commander proper, meaning there's nothing stopping you from pulling this box apart and making your own decks.
Pioneer Challenger Decks – November 4, 2022
If beginner-friendly products aren't for you, this year's collection of Pioneer Challenger decks offer some power.
Challenger decks are preconstructed decks inspired by the top archetypes of the current metagame. While they don't include all of the most valuable cards, they offer a great introductory look at higher-end play with reasonably tuned decks and an assortment of great reprints.
This year's decks include the blue/black Dimir Control, the white/black Orzhov Humans, the blue/red Izzet Phoenix, and the red/green Gruul Stompy. If you were hoping for a way to break in to the Pioneer format, one of the most popular and inventive formats in Magic right now, picking up a couple of these is hardly the worst way to go about it.
The Brothers War – November 18, 2022
The last premiere set of the year is one for the deep lore fans who've been heavily invested in Magic's ongoing story for years. It's a 'flashback' set that will finally show us exactly what happened during one of the most important moments of the game's early story, The Brothers' War of Dominaria.
While we've had the odd reference here and there to the Brothers War, we've never had a set go this in-depth into what happened. The war is notable as it's the event that triggered the spark of the multiverse's most powerful Planeswalker, Urza. It was also one of the earliest appearances of the Phyrexians in the Magic story. With the Phyrexians really ramping up their assault on the multiverse in Dominaria United, seeing how they were defeated the last time is a big part of the set.
The Brothers' War has a heavy artifact focus, with lots of cards producing Powerstone tokens to help cast artifacts more easily, and the prototype mechanic to bring large artifact creatures out into play. It also saw the return of meld and unearth – two popular mechanics that haven't been seen in Standard for years.
This set is also notable for how many subsets it included. Alongside the main set and the Commander decks (which are completely retro-framed), we also got retro frame artifact reprints of some of the game's biggest cards, such as Smokestack, Aetherflux Reservoir, and Swiftfoot Boots. It also featured the Universes Beyond crossover with Transformers, which includes 15 cards based on the Transformers, found in both Set and Collector's boosters.
Jumpstart 2022 - December 2, 2022
It was a complete tragedy that Jumpstart launched during the height of the pandemic. What would have been the most innovative new take on drafting ever made was just sort of… pushed out into a world that couldn't actually play it. They've tried a few times to get it off the ground in Arena, but it never hit the highs that the few who got to experience paper Jumpstart felt.
Fortunately, Wizards is trying again with Jumpstart 2022. It'll follow the exact same idea as its predecessor: each booster pack is half of a deck based on a random theme, and players each open two booster packs and smash them together to make themes like Artifacts and Spirits, Card Draw and Dragons, or even rarer packs like Milling and Basri.
Unlike Jumpstart, Jumpstart 2022 will include more 'booster fun' stuff. Specifically, every pack will include one anime-inspired card, much like the ones we saw in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty.
Starter Commander Decks – December 2, 2022
While Jumpstart 2022 isn't including preconstructed decks of its own, the same day will also see the launch of five Commander decks, aimed at players new to the format.
Each of these decks includes 100 cards, all reprints. While they are aimed at beginners and come in at a much lower price point than normal Commander decks, they still include some decent cards and brand-new art, which could make these prove popular with veteran Commander players as well.
|
Name |
Commander |
Colours |
|---|---|---|
|
First Flight |
Isperia, Supreme Judge |
White/Blue |
|
Grave Danger |
Gisa and Geralf |
Blue/Black |
|
Chaos Incarnate |
Kardur, Doomscourge |
Black/Red |
|
Draconic Destruction |
Atarka, World Render |
Red/Green |
|
Token Triumph |
Emmara, Soul of the Accord |
Green/White |