The Lost Caverns of Ixalan will be the fourth and final premier MTG set of 2023, coming out at the end of this year. It’ll be our second trip to Ixalan, a world that was loved from the jump for its themes and creativity, despite its sets being lacklustre in both Standard and Draft. MTG Lost Caverns of Ixalan looks to continue the adventurous vibes of this world, as we go spelunking for buried treasure. Indeed, this set takes place underground, in caverns filled with traps and wonders.
We’re pretty amped to return to this colourful setting (particularly for the dinos) and according to a poll by Mark Rosewater, only March of the Machine has more fans drooling for it. Here we’ll cover everything we know about Lost Caverns of Ixalan, from release dates to mechanics. With this MTG set still some months away, there’s not loads of concrete details, but that’s not going to stop us speculating and sharing what we do know.
Check out our MTG 2023 release schedule to see what’s coming up next for Magic. We also have guides to Wilds of Eldraine, MTG Lord of the Rings, and all the other sets that are releasing this year.
MTG Lost Caverns of Ixalan release date
Lost Caverns of Ixalan is coming out on November 17, 2023. That’s its global release date, when it’ll be available everywhere, but whether you’re an Arena or paper player, you should be able to get your hands on the new cards slightly earlier than this.
As always, we can expect a couple weeks of card spoilers leading up to The Lost Caverns of Ixalan’s release date. There’ll be a prerelease in stores the week before – your first chance to get hold of Lost Caverns of Ixalan cards. And we can expect the set to drop on MTG Arena a little before its global release date, but just after the prerelease.
MTG Lost Caverns of Ixalan mechanics
Although no The Lost Caverns of Ixalan mechanics have been confirmed, we have got a confirmed card name that gives us a strong clue about one of them. The artwork above is from a card called ‘Spider Trap’. Trap is a card type from the original Zendikar – instants that you can play for a very cheap cost in response to your opponents taking specific actions. Ixalan seems to be sort of inheriting Zendikar’s title of the adventure set, so we bet you $5 there’ll be Trap cards in the set. We’re coming for you, Yugioh!
MTG head designer Mark Rosewater has called The Lost Caverns of Ixalan “not a traditional return set”, so we can expect less continuity in terms of mechanics. For instance, it seems unlikely it’ll have the same emphasis on creature tribes, as Wizards has shied away from this for recent MTG draft environments. That said, we’ve already seen art featuring the merfolk and vamps, dinosaurs were promised in the Wizards Presents video – and it’d be odd to leave out pirates in a set all about searching for underground treasures.
MTG Lost Caverns of Ixalan story
Ixalan’s The Immortal Sun chapter is closed, and who knows what lurks in the depths below. That said, dinosaurs don’t typically live underground, so either there’ll be some topside adventuring, or this set is going for an underground paradise, journey to the centre of the earth kinda vibe.
One thing we think is a shoe-in for Lost Cavern of Ixalan are demons. The demons in Ixalan have appeared in card art (see above) but not had much focus before – not a single creature to show them off. They’re apparently created by the bat god Aclazotz, and have a very bat-like appearance, perfect for underground living. Plus, there’s some obvious fun interaction to be had with the conquistador vampires that already star on the plane.
Artwork of gods and angels from MagicCon Barcelona shed a little more light on the characters and setting for this set. We’ve got angels protecting a magical underground core, butterfly gods, and a civilization that ride atop giant bats. Something called Cosmium seems to be at the center of things – perhaps a heavily protected resource for the vampires, angels, demons, and dinosaurs to squabble over?
Source: Wargamer
