Magic: The Gathering is the world's longest-running trading card game, with 30 years and tens of thousands of cards. It can be a complex game to get in to, but you'll quickly find it's one of the most satisfying and endlessly deep gaming experiences out there.

Fortunately, Magic fans are also really easy to buy gifts for. Throw a few cards at us, and you're golden. But if you're wanting to get the extra distance and get something really special, here are some Magic-themed gifts that are sure to go down just as well as a turn one Sol Ring.

The Best Gifts For Magic: The Gathering Fans

Lord of the Rings: Tales Of Middle-earth was easily the biggest thing to hit Magic: The Gathering this year. A full set based in Tolkien’s world, it was full of notable cards like The One Ring and Orcish Bowmasters, alongside familiar names like Frodo, Gandalf, and Sauron.

The Scene boxes include six cards that can be tiled together to create a gorgeous full-art scene. To make things easier, the box also comes with the textless art card versions of these, and a cardboard easel to display them all on. Throw in three Tales of Middle-earth Set boosters, and you’ve got something both Lord of the Rings and MTG fans will love.

Magic can be an imposing game to learn, but starter kits like this can really help ease you in. The box includes two pre-constructed decks, a guide on how to play, and codes for both players to redeem the decks on MTG Arena.

The cards included in here are great, too. Getting your hands on an Aragorn and Arwen, or a Sauron, The Lidless Eye, is one heck of a way to start your new collection. If you love Lord of the Rings but aren’t sure how to get started with Magic, this is the way to go.

The Lost Caverns Of Ixalan Gift Bundle

The last major release of 2023, The Lost Caverns Of Ixalan was an excellent set full of Dinosaurs, Caves, Gnomes, and, of course, Conquistador Vampires. With gorgeous Mesoamerican-inspired art, interesting mechanics, and even a crossover with Jurassic World, it was a belter of as set to cap the year off.

The Gift Bundle includes eight Set boosters of The Lost Caverns Of Ixalan, and an extra Collector booster full of alt-art treatments. You’ll also get at least one Jurassic World card, a deck of basic lands, an exclusive amber-like spindown counter, a promo version of Hit The Mother Lode, and a fancy storage box to keep them all in.

Magic has a surprising amount of good food, and with this book you can cook the very best, from Zendikar to Eldraine. Each chapter takes place on a different, beloved Magic plan, and includes lore tid-bits to help tie the recipe in with the world.

You can make recipes like Tamiyo’s Stormwatcher’s Delight from Kamigawa, Beleren’s Blend from Ravnica, and the cleverly-named Endless Shanks of the Dead from Innistrad, complete with photos and comprehensive instructions to help guid even the most novice chef. A particular favourite is the From Pachatupa To Ghirapur burritos, which give the wraps an Indian-inspired kick straight from Kaladesh.

Any Magic: The Gathering player likely has more decks than they know what to do with. You can help them do away with the endless turmoil of what to take to their game nights with this deck box that holds not one, but two Commander-sized decks.

The Exo-Tec Game Box 200+ has two compartments that can hold up to 100 double-sleeved cards. This is perfect not just for a Commander deck, but also for any other kind of deck, with room left over for a sideboard and tokens. There’s even a dividing drawer to put counters and dice, making it a fantastic all-in-one deck storage solution.

It wasn’t just Lord of the Rings that crossed over with Magic this year. The long-running BBC show Doctor Who also made its way to the game, with four incredible Commander decks full of characters both new and old from across its 60 years.

The Collector booster packs include exclusive art treatments of the cards found in the decks, making them ideal for die hard Doctor Who fans. Even if you’re not a big fan of The Doctor and the TARDIS, these cards can’t be found anywhere else, and includes some really great pieces anyone will want for their decks.

Ultra Pro is easily the best brand for playmats. Important for protecting your cards from scuffs on a bare table, playmats are also a great way to personalise your table. Ultra Pro is the only one with the official license to use Magic: The Gathering art, though, which means we get utterly gorgeous ones like this.

Based on Quintorius Kand’s alternate art from The Lost Caverns Of Ixalan, this playmat is a feast of colours with the elephantine head of Quint. Loud and vivid, but full of detail to give it a real tactile look, it’s one of my personal favourite playmats Ultra Pro has released in a long time.

Vault X’s second appearance on this list should show how much I rate its stuff, with the Vault X Exact Fit card sleeves being the ones I use almost exclusively for my decks. Exact Fits are ‘inner sleeves’, which provide a snug protection to your cards before they go in the larger deck protector sleeves, like a Dragon Shield or Ultra Pro.

They may not look like the flashiest present for a Magic player ever, but having a stash of these on-hand is always incredibly helpful. Perfect for sleeving your decks or making sure your key collector’s pieces are nice and safe, these are also the most cost-efficient exact fit sleeves on the market.

The final volume Magic: The Gathering comic series by Jed MacKay and Ig Guara brings together issues 21 to 25 to tell the full story of the final act, the War of Fate. Fan-favourite characters from across the multiverse come together to take on villains like Nicol Bolas, Marit Lage, and the comic-exclusive Isona in an all-out war.

While it’s a shame to see the Magic comic finally come to an end, the run was a stellar one that expanded on the world of Magic in really interesting ways. The art is stunning, and if you know a Magic lore-lover, this is a great way to give them more of the multiverse they’ve fallen in love with.

FAQ

Are Magic: The Gathering Cards Worth Collecting?

Of course, everybody has heard about specific MTG cards selling for thousands at auction. The likes of Black Lotus are famous for their worth, and earlier this year we had the One-of-a-kind The One Ring sell to Post Malone for over two million dollars. Magic cards can be worth a lot of money.

However, collecting Magic cards doesn’t have to just be about value. Collecting art you like, or keeping a hold of cards that you’ve had excellent games with is just as much a part of collecting as speculatively accumulating the biggest sellers.

When Did Magic: The Gathering Come Out?

MTG only just finished celebrating its 30th anniversary, having made its debut at Gen Con way back in 1993. It’s been a smash hit from the very beginning, selling out an entire year’s worth of stock in just the first few days.

Can Magic: The Gathering Be Played Solo?

Though mostly a multiplayer game meant for at least two people, there are ways of playing MTG on your own. Lots of people ‘goldfish’ their decks to test them out, and there’s nothing stopping you from playing against yourself with two decks.

The easiest way of playing MTG solo, though, is to play the unofficial Horde ruleset (known as a “format”). With Horde, you’re playing against a deck that takes pre-defined actions every turn, amassing a huge horde of Zombies you have to deal with each turn.