Magic: The Gathering

Magic: The Gathering (MTG) is the original trading card game (TCG) designed by legendary game designer Richard Garlfield. Here at Gathering Games, we stock all of the latest sets, booster packs, and Commander decks. Browse the latest ‘Standard’ sets featuring sets of brand new cards and  ‘Masters’ sets featuring reprints of some of the most powerful cards in the game.

Top Picks for 2024

Outlaws Of Thunder Junction: MTG enters a brand new spaghetti western inspired plane in the latest ‘Standard’ set, releasing 12th April 2024. Oko, Jace, and Rakdos are among the returning characters, each featuring a brand new card for the set. Outlaws Of Thunder Junction (OTJ) introduces new mechanics and keywords, including ‘crime’, ‘plot’, ‘saddle’, and ‘spree’. While most of the cards in this set are new, there are some ‘special guest cards’ featuring, including a much needed reprint of Mana Drain, one of the strongest counterspells in MTG. The full range of products are also returning: play booster, collector booster, and 4 brand new Commander decks.

Modern Horizons 3: Modern Horizons 3 is the first ‘Masters’ set of 2024 for MTG, featuring reprints and brand new cards for play in the ‘Modern’ and ‘Commander’ formats for Magic. Expect high value reprints and powerful staple cards in this set. ‘Masters’ sets are designed for veteran players and collectors as the complexity and value of the set is higher compared to most ‘Standard’ sets. Modern Horizons 3 (MH3) is also expected to shake up the ‘Modern’ metagame, which is Magic’s most popular 60 card constructed format. The fetch land cycle started in Modern Horizons 2 will be completed as Polluted Delta (UB), Bloodstained Mire (BR), Flooded Strand (UW), Windswept Heath (GW), and Wooded Foothills (RG) are all included in the set. The set won’t only be reprints of old cards, as a brand new version of Emrakul has also been announced! Expect it to be as broken as the previous iterations of the card.

Bloomburrow: Magic takes a turn towards nature and furry animals in the upcoming all-animal set, Bloomburrow (BLB), releasing on 26th July 2024. A glooming threat has appeared over Valley, the location of the new set, which the animals of Bloomburrow must work together to overcome. While the new set mechanics haven’t been announced yet, the new art variants have been shown off with special anime-style cards from artist Mitsuhiro Arita (known for his previous work on Pokemon cards). Pre-order, play boosters, collector boosters, and Commander decks today from Gathering Games.

Magic The Gathering Buying Guide

With every new set release for Magic: The Gathering comes a wide selection of products to choose from. It can be easy to become overwhelmed with choices, so here is our guide on what to pick up.

The Play boosters (which replaced Set and Draft boosters of the past) are the go-to booster pack for most MTG players and collectors. They feature most of the cards of the main set at an affordable price. They can also be used for booster draft or sealed, which are the ‘Limited’ formats of Magic where packs are opened and decks are built on the fly. With every booster pack, you’ll get a chance to open one of the most valuable cards in the set. But, if it’s the most valuable cards in the set you're chasing, then consider picking up a Collector booster.

Collector boosters are the premium booster pack for MTG. They include all of the most valuable cards in the set with the most exclusive art variants, including borderless art, extended art, and special foil treatments. Collector boosters often include the most precious, serialised cards. These cards are the ultimate chase cards and usually have only 250-500 of them printed in the whole world. Be warned, though: Serialised cards are indeed rare, but they hold a price tag to reflect this.

Most MTG set releases include Commander decks, which are a great jumping on point for both new and veteran players. They are perfect if you find deckbuilding intimidating or too time consuming, as they come as a ready-to-play deck with a guaranteed deck list (you can see the list printed on the back of the box). The only randomisation you’ll get in this is from the ‘Sample Collector booster’ found with each commander deck, which are Collector boosters from the set with a reduced number of cards. Each Commander deck covers a different theme or archetype in Magic, hence giving a unique experience not found in any other deck. 

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Magic Sets

Magic Product Types

Why Choose Magic: The Gathering

With over 30 years of history, Magic: The Gathering has inspired countless TCGs after it, such as Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh, but still stands as one of the single most popular card games on the planet. You will easily find local game stores like Gathering Games, which will run regular MTG game nights, dubbed ‘Friday Night Magic’.

Not only has Magic led the way for competitive card games, but has also been the pioneer for casual formats, most notably with the ‘Commander’ format. Commander is now the most popular format for MTG and is typically played with 4 players, which drastically changes the flow of the game compared to most TCGs, which are usually 2 players. This allows for politics at the table - help an opponent on one round to agree on a temporary truce. But remember, there’s only ever one winner in MTG. Commander also uses different deck building rules compared to MTGs’ other formats, as you can only play one copy of a non-basic land card. This encourages much more experimental deck building, hence two games of Commander will never play out the same.

If casual formats are not your favourite way to play, then MTG also has the largest variety of supported 2 player competitive formats, including ‘Standard’, 'Pioneer’, ‘Modern’, ‘Legacy’, ‘Vintage’, and ‘Pauper’. Each has its own rules on card legality, so be sure to check out which cards you can play in your format of choice over at the official Magic: The Gathering website or at our favourite Magic card database, Scryfall.

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Frequently Asked Questions

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