Quick Links
It’s almost time to learn what the next year of Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons has in store for us. This week marks Wizards Presents, the first ever digital showcase for all things Wizards of the Coast.
While we don’t know exactly what will be revealed yet, with Magic’s 30th anniversary being kicked off by Dominaria United, a D&D movie mere months away, and multiple video game projects in development, Wizards Presents is going to be one to watch. Here is everything you need to know about the show.
What Is Wizards Presents?
Wizards Presents is a showcase dedicated to Wizards of the Coast, the developer of games like Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons. While this isn’t the first showcase Wizards has done for either D&D or MTG, it is the first that combines the two into a company-wide presentation.
If you’ve ever seen a Summer Games Fest or E3 presentation, you’ll be familiar with the format Wizards Presents will take. A mixture of reveals and trailers, the event is expected to cover MTG, D&D, and any other surprise projects Wizards has been working on.
What Magic: The Gathering Things Will Be Revealed At Wizards Presents?
While the showcase will be feature both Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons, it is more likely that Magic: The Gathering will be the key focus of the show.
One thing that we're expecting to show up in Wizards Presents is the full Magic: The Gathering line-up for 2023. If last year’s Magic Showcase 2021 is anything to go by, we should hear about all four of the premiere Standard-legal sets, as well as some either most or all the supplemental sets releasing around it – with five sets being revealed as a conservative estimate.
Secret Lair has become a big part of Magic, so it’ll be a shock if we don’t have news of at least one new Universes Beyond crossover coming in 2023. We already know one of next year’s supplementary sets will be the crossover Lord Of The Ring: Tales Of Middle-Earth, but guessing what else could be coming is all but impossible. After all, nobody saw Fortnite coming until it was already revealed at last year’s showcase.
Magic: The Gathering Arena will likely see some kind of new announcement. While we learned at a recent Hasbro earnings call that Arena is coming to Steam and consoles, Wizards of the Coast itself has yet to give the ports a release date or even acknowledged their existence. Release dates for them might be too optimistic, but at least a reference to them being in the works is possible.
Finally, we might get more information on the Magic Netflix show, which was re-revealed in last year’s Magic Showcase. Considering we’ve not heard anything of this in the year since, and it didn’t appear during Netflix’s Geeked Week, there is a chance the project has quietly died, and we’ll hear nothing of it. However, if it is still making progress, Wizards Presents is the most likely place we’ll hear about it.
The Dominaria United Debut Event
One thing we know is included in Wizards Presents is the formal unveiling of Magic: The Gathering’s next set, Dominaria United.
Typically, Magic sets receive a preview season ahead of launch that is kicked off with a debut stream. This stream shows off the main mechanics and story beats of the set, alongside a lot of new cards. Following the stream, community members take over the proceedings, with a week-long drip feed of new cards from the set.
Note that the Dominaria United debut is not part of the Wizards Presents stream itself. It will be following the conference afterwards, to ensure it has the usuall length and content we expect from a debut.
What Dungeons & Dragons Things Will Be Revealed At Wizards Presents?
For Dungeons & Dragons, it is much less clear-cut what will be shown off. Dungeons & Dragons had its own D&D Direct showcase earlier this year, which revealed Spelljammer: Adventures In Space (launching a couple of days before Wizards Presents) and the upcoming Dragonlance book, Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen.
Whereas Magic likes to reveal things months or even years in advance, Dungeons & Dragons is generally a bit more hush-hush on its projects. We’ll likely get some confirmation of releases in the first half of 2023, but anything after that will be much more hazy.
.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=740&dpr=1.5)
It’s almost guaranteed that Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves will make an appearance as the movie, starring Chris Pine and Regé-Jean Page, is due for release in March. We just saw our first full-length trailer for the movie at San Diego Comic Con, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we won’t get another one during Wizards Presents.
Video games are also an increasing part of D&D, which means we could see announcements for the MMO Neverwinter (like we did at D&D Direct), or even something from the numerous development studios Wizards has been establishing in recent years.
What Time Is Wizards Presents, And Where Can I Watch It?
Wizards Presents starts at 12:00 PST (16:00 UTC) on Thursday, August 18.
While the event is pre-recorded, it will debut live on both the the Magic: The Gathering Twitch and YouTube channels and the Dungeons & Dragons Twitch and YouTube channels. The showcase will be released onto official channels shortly after airing for those who miss being able to watch it live.