Wizards of the Coast has revealed a cycle of five MTG cards that will be available for Local Game Stores to give away during 2024. These are classic cards from Alpha, reprinted with new artwork that shows the creatures attending an LGS event.
For the remainder of 2023 and throughout 2024, these cards will be released at a rate of one a quarter to WPN Premium stores. They’re not connected to a specific event or promotion, which means these stores are free to do whatever they want with them.
A quintuplet of creatures from the first MTG set, Alpha, these promo cards include the umpteenth Serra Angel reprint, a trio of the game’s first ‘lords’ for the Zombie, Merfolk, and Goblin MTG creature types, and the green creature Gaea’s Liege. Each of them has fun new art showing the creature engaging in the hobby of Magic: The Gathering. Zombie Master clutches a tattered card, while Serra Angel is playing a version of herself with the Donato Giancola art.
Notably, this is one of the only times a reference to Magic: The Gathering as a game has appeared on a black-bordered (non-acorn-stamped) card.
The new promo cards will be released to this schedule:
- Q4 2023: Serra Angel
- Q1 2024: Lord of Atlantis
- Q2 2024: Zombie Master
- Q3 2024: Goblin King
- Q4 2024: Gaea’s Liege
It seems they’ll be available in fairly limited numbers; each WPN Premium store gets just 20 copies each, which they receive for sharing Point of Sale data with Wizards of the Coast.
The WPN website says Wizards recommends using “them to build your community, using them as incredible prizes.” However, unlike most LGS promo cards, “if you want to sell them outright you are allowed.”
To see what other Magic cards are coming out soon, check out the MTG release schedule for 2024. And if you mostly keep your TCG habits to the virtual realm, these top MTG Arena decks and comprehensive list of MTG Arena codes may help you out.