Want to see the Magic: The Gathering 2023 release schedule? We know just what this year has in store for MTG fans, and the order that it's coming. We started the year with a multiverse-shaking showdown with the Phyrexians. After all that heavy stuff, we got to revisit a couple of the most colourful Magic: The Gathering planes, worlds that definitely deserved another look.
We’ve collected the available MTG release dates for 2023, past and future, just as we've now done for the 2024 MTG release schedule. Below we've provided the most up to date 2023 MTG release schedule you're likely to find, followed by a quick overview of each MTG set.
And once you're clued up on what's coming next for MTG, you can check out some of our other top TCG guides. For example, we can help digital gamers find MTG Arena codes and the best MTG Arena decks.
What is the Magic: The Gathering 2023 release schedule?
- Dominaria Remastered – January 13
- Phyrexia: All Will Be One – February 10
- Shadows over Innistrad Remastered (Arena) – March 21
- March of the Machine – April 21
- March of the Machine: The Aftermath – May 12
- MTG Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle Earth – June 23
- Commander Masters – August 4
- Wilds of Eldraine – September 8
- MTG Doctor Who Commander decks – October 13
- MTG Lord of the Rings holiday release – November 3
- The Lost Caverns of Ixalan – November 17
- Khans of Tarkir (Arena) – December 12
No doubt WotC will have a few more supplemental sets to go alongside these releases, and we’ll fill out the schedule below as and when new products are announced. Now you know what’s on the way, let’s take a closer look at 2023’s MTG sets.
Dominaria Remastered
Event | Date |
Card previews | December 6 -7 |
Pre-release events | January 6 – 12 |
Global tabletop release date | January 13 |
A celebration of cards from MTG’s past and present, Dominaria Remastered is a product that’s full of reprints from multiple sets, much like the similarly named Time Spiral Remastered. Where Dominaria Remastered stands out though, is in the sheer number of sets it incorporates. In total, there are cards from 27 different sets – each based on Magic’s first plane: Dominaria.
Previews for Dominaria Remastered began (and rapidly concluded) in early December. We saw Dominaria Remastered’s storm revival, which brought a super broken mechanic back to Magic. The Dominaria Remastered release date was January 13, 2023. We’re still keeping a close eye on the Dominaria Remastered card prices.
Phyrexia: All Will Be One
Event | Date |
Card previews | January 17 – 25 |
Commander deck previews | January 18 |
Pre-release events | February 3 – 9 |
MTG Arena release date | February 7 |
Global tabletop release date | February 10 |
The first premier MTG set release of 2023, which came in the first quarter of the year, on February 10, is Phyrexia: All Will Be One. Continuing the Phyrexians plotline on from The Brothers’ War, it takes place on the plane of New Phyrexia itself. We saw tons of artwork of Elesh Norn, her Fair Basilica, and many, many metal monstrosities. The set also gave us five compleated planeswalkers!
With the set now out in the world, we’ve already got a few ideas about the best Phyrexia: All Will Be One Commanders and best Phyrexia cards. However, there’s also been some speculation that Phyrexia has a balance problem when it comes to draft, with the oily red/green decks ruling the roost.
Shadows Over Innistrad Remastered
Event | Date |
Card previews | March 7 -15 |
MTG Arena release date | March 21 |
The spooky Shadows Over Innistrad set came to MTG Arena on March 21. Shadows over Innistrad Remastered provides digital players with a selection of reprints from Shadows over Innistrad and Eldritch Moon, with 302 reprints in total and 81 ‘call back’ cards to original Innistrad block.
Among these cards are five planeswalkers – some more surprising to see than others. And the mavericks have even managed to code Emrakul’s weird abilities into the game. An interesting quirk of this set is a ‘living’ MTG draft format, where a new package of Innistrad cards are swapped into the Limited card pool every few weeks.
These cards are legal in the Historic and Explorer formats, but not Standard. Don’t go looking for them in stores either – this is an MTG Arena exclusive release.
March of the Machine
Event | Date |
Card previews | March 29 – April 4 |
Commander deck previews | April 4 |
Pre-release events | April 14 – 20 |
MTG Arena release date | April 18 |
Global tabletop release date | April 21 |
March of the Machine was the second premier set of 2023, and it released on April 21. This set tells the tale of the climactic final showdown with the Phyrexians, where the whole multiverse is invaded at once.
March of the Machine introduced a new Battle card type, and had team-up cards showing unlikely allies forced together by the invasion. It’s a real whistle stop tour of the multiverse, with cards showing off virtually every plane, and characters from all over the place chipping in to defeat the Phyrexian menace.
Head designer Mark Rosewater has hinted that this may be the most ambitious set he’s worked on, and that it’ll have major mechanical and story implications for the game. The set’s story concludes with some MTG planeswalkers (and many praetors) dead, but we’ll have to wait a little longer to see the full impact of the war.
Our March of the Machine release date guide is kept up to date with all the latest details on this set.
March of the Machine: The Aftermath
Event | Date |
Card previews | May 2 – 3 |
MTG Arena release date | May 4 |
Global tabletop release date | May 12 |
Now this is something strange. Less than a month after the main March of the Machine set came March of the Machine: The Aftermath, on May 12. A set of 50 cards with no commons, Wizards told us Aftermath would “tie up loose ends from March of the Machine and explore the fundamental changes that have taken place in Magic’s Multiverse.”
The Phyrexian threat seems to have changed the way the very multiverse works, and there was an entire MTG supplemental product just to cover its consequences. The main things that happened? Portals have opened up between planes, and loads of planeswalkers have lost their sparks, becoming just regular folk. Your favourite planeswalker can lead an MTG Commander deck now!
Weirdly, this micro set was sold in teeny tiny boosters of just five cards – which is why the set had no commons.
MTG Lord of The Rings: Tales of Middle Earth
Event | Date |
Card previews | May 30 – June 9 |
Commander deck previews | June 8 |
Pre-release events | June 16 – 22 |
MTG Arena release date | June 20 |
Global tabletop release date | June 23 |
Stepping away from the Magic multiverse into MTG Universes Beyond, we’ve got the MTG Lord of the Rings crossover set named Tales of Middle Earth. Released on June 23, this set follows the story we all know from the main trilogy, showing Frodo’s journey to destroy the One Ring, along with a few battles and balrogs along the way.
As well as an enormous physical release, containing everything from starter decks to gift bundles, the Lord of the Rings set also made its way to MTG Arena where all the cards are legal in Historic and Alchemy.
Commander Masters
Event | Date |
Card previews | July 11 -18 |
Commander deck previews | July 17 – 20 |
Pre-release events | July 28 -30 |
Global tabletop release date | August 4 |
A compilation set aimed at Commander players, Commander Masters promised reprints galore. And while the exorbitant prices may have put some players off, Commander Masters did feature new versions of loads of iconic cards that play well in the EDH format – from Ur-Dragon to Jewelled Lotus.
While no new MTG cards (only reprints) are found in the set itself, there were a grand total of 40 new Commander cards released alongside Commander Masters. These are found in the accompanying precon decks, which have interesting themes like planeswalkers, slivers, and eldrazi.
Wilds of Eldraine
Event | Date |
Card previews | August 15 – 23 |
Commander previews | August 22 – 23 |
Pre-release events | September 1 – 7 |
MTG Arena release date | September 5 |
Global tabletop release date | September 8 |
After the main Phyrexian story was done and dusted, we hopped over to the plane of Eldraine, starting September 8, 2023, for a premier set called Wilds of Eldraine. Full of witches, whimsy, and fairy-tale fun, this set focused more on the fairy-tale, non-human side of the setting rather than the Arthurian-inspired knights and nobles we saw in Throne.
The story this time follows the heroes efforts to break a magical sleep that has grown out of control. Nightmare beast Ashiok is revelling in it, there’s an apple-wielding witch on the loose, and siblings Will and Rowan are on opposite sides of a conflict.
Wilds of Eldraine features the return of Adventure cards to Standard, some classic fairy tales like Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk. There’s also a load of classic Enchantment cards from across Magic’s history, reprinted in the Enchanting Tales bonus sheet.
Check out our Wilds of Eldraine release date guide for a more detailed look at this set, complete with key card spoilers.
MTG Doctor Who Commander decks
Event | Date |
First look | July 28 |
Card previews | October 3 – October 6 |
Global tabletop release date | October 13 |
Drawing close to the end of the release year for MTG we come to the Universes Beyond Doctor Who Commander decks, dropping on October 13. We’re expecting four pre-constructed MTG Commander decks, each with 100 cards that are a mix of new and reprinted Magic cards. A Secret Lair and Universes Beyond collector boosters will also be released.
The success of last year’s Warhammer 40k Commander decks has us feeling optimistic about the Doctor Who crossover. All-in-all, Universes Beyond appears to be doing great, despite mixed reactions to the glut of third-party IPs on the horizon.
For more details on all things timey-wimey, keep an eye on our MTG Doctor Who release date guide.
MTG Lord of the Rings holiday release
Event | Date |
Release Date | November 3 |
Apparently 281 Lord of the Rings cards wasn’t enough, because Wizards of the Coast is releasing another batch this winter. Technically the MTG Lord of the Rings holiday release is considered a part of Tales of Middle Earth, but it comes with another 24 unique cards. These will be sold in four scene boxes (six cards each) that form neat collages of the Witch King, Aragorn, Gandalf, and Galadriel.
Along with this, there’s reprints of the last lot of Middle Earth cards in a new style. Several have been reimagined as rock band posters, while a load more have a new ‘scroll’ style frame.
The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
Event | Date |
Card previews | October 24 – November 2 |
Commander previews | November 1 -2 |
Pre-release events | November 10, |
MTG Arena release date | November 14 |
Global tabletop release date | November 17 |
In the final main set release of the year, in November 17, 2023, we go back to Ixalan, a plane with some absolutely fabulous flavour, thanks to its colourful and well-defined factions of merfolk, dinosaurs, pirates, and vampire conquistadors.
Judging from what we’ve seen so far, it seems the Lost Caverns of Ixalan will step out of the bright, hot Ixalan jungles into treasure-filled tombs and caverns. It looks to lean more heavily into the Mesoamerican theme, with new gods based on mythology, and a new underground civilisation – an offshoot of last set’s Sun Empire.
This set seems to be a ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’ adventure, revealing Ixalan as a hollow plane with a magical core. Different factions are racing again, not for The Immortal Sun, but this time to dig deep and find a new magic resource.
As we learn more, our full MTG Lost Caverns of Ixalan release date guide can keep you up to speed with this mysterious MTG set.
Khans of Tarkir (MTG Arena)
Event | Date |
Card previews | ??? |
MTG Arena release date | December 12 |
The last MTG product we know about is Khans of Tarkir. This isn’t a physical set, however. Like Shadows over Innistrad earlier in the year, it’s a digital remastered set that’s coming only to MTG Arena.
Originally from 2014, Khans of Tarkir is a fan-favorite set thanks to its cultural influences drawn from various parts of Asia, and its well developed factions. A subsect of fans were pretty pissed when the world’s history was rewritten and it was overrun with dragons in the subsequent set; now we can relive the plane’s heyday.
The cards from Khans of Tarkir will only be available in the Historic or Explorer MTG formats – you won’t be able to use them in Standard. Interestingly, Wizards has made some changes to Khans of Tarkir, which are also going to apply to the paper cards from this set.
For more great content, check out our favorite MTG combos, or our picks for the best MTG cards of all time.