The webpage for MagicCon Amsterdam 2026 just went up, and it contains a new piece of art featuring Garruk, a Magic: The Gathering character who hasn't had a fresh card since 2019 (not counting reprints).
As one of the first few MTG planeswalkers ever created, a member of the famous 'Lorwyn Five', Garruk's shying from the limelight compared to his four colleagues (Jace, Chandra, Liliana, and Ajani) has become a bit of a meme in the Magic community.
Garruk Wildspeaker's previous appearance was just a small teaser in Aetherdrift, one we hoped would result in a new card, but never did. There we only saw his silhouette - cloaked by green slime - in March of the World Ooze, so it's nice to see the big axe-wielding warrior-druid in the flesh again, and in such a bombastic illustration.
The question is, what is the significance of this piece of key art? MagicCon Amsterdam runs July 17 - 19, so falls between two Universes Beyond sets on the MTG release schedule: Marvel Superheroes and The Hobbit. This makes it tricky to imagine how Wizards would theme the Amsterdam con. Perhaps there'll be some more nods to characters and worlds that haven't had much focus of late.
What I think we shouldn't assume, especially as I got burned with Aetherdrift, is that this heralds a new Garruk card. The planeswalker is unlikely to show up in the worlds of Marvel or Middle Earth (unless Wizards' UB strategy has changed dramatically and quite alarmingly), so the only upcoming set he'd really make sense for is Reality Fracture.
In which case, I'd expect to see some kind of alternate universe Garruk - perhaps a blue version who is more brains than brawn - like the white-aligned Liliana that was teased in the Lorwyn Eclipsed webfiction.
Garruk looks pretty classic in this art, which could well take place on the wild world of Muraganda where he was last seen. So this could well just be the playmat for the event, unrelated to any new developments in MTG lore.
Check out our previous article on the life and times of Big G here, for more details on what's kept him from taking center stage like other top planeswalkers. And don't forget to share your thoughts over in the Wargamer Discord.