It’s spoiler time once again! On Tuesday, October 24th, 2023 at 9:00 am PT, the official previews for The Lost Caverns of Ixalan will begin, due for release to MTG Arena on November 14th, 2023!
This is the 10th expansion to be introduced to Standard since the change to its rotation cycle. With some cards already revealed on its first look preview, you can also check out some of the cards below in our article below if you cannot wait!
As is the ritual before the beginning of the preview season for each set, MTG’s head designer Mark Rosewater (often shortened to MaRo) gives us a bit of a teaser about what we can expect from the set over on his Tumblr, Blogatog. It usually includes abilities, creature types, and other unusual or noteworthy text that will appear on cards from the set, along with some clues about returning characters and more.
This morning, MaRo published the teaser for The Lost Caverns of Ixalan if you are still following along:
Maro’s Teaser for The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
Before previews for The Lost Caverns of Ixalan officially begin, I thought it would be fun to do another of my Duelist-style teasers where I give tiny hints of things to come. Note that I’m only giving you partial information.
First up, here are some things you can expect:
a new card with the word “three times” in its rules text
a new land subtype
an aura card we’ve reprinted numerous times over twenty years appears with a new name and is one mana cheaper
a redone version of a popular mechanic that first premiered in 2009
a new mechanic representing crafting
a card capable of animating both artifacts and enchantments
a popular Tempest sorcery returns as an “enter the battlefield” effect
a new ability word that cares about what is in your graveyard
some counters in the set: bore, chorus, dread, finality, landmark, lore, net, point, stun, and time; one of which is a new deciduous counter
some creature tokens: 0/1 green Dinosaur Eggs, 1/1 colorless Gnomes, 1/1 white Vampire, 1/1 blue Merfolk, 1/1 black Bat, 1/1 black Fungus, 2/2 black Skeleton Pirate, 3/1 red Dinosaur, 3/2 red and white Spirit, 3/3 green Dinosaur, 4/3 black Vampire Demon, 4/4 white Angel, 4/4 white and blue Golem (note that some of these tokens have additional abilities)
Next, here are some rules text that will be showing up on cards:
“As an additional cost to cast this spell, tap four untapped artifacts, creatures, and/or land you control.”
“Until end of turn, target artifact or creature becomes a Dinosaur”
“Then destroy all other creatures if its power is exactly 20.”
“When you <new keyword>, <new keyword> again for the same value.”
“Whenever you’re dealt combat damage, the attacking player gains control of CARDNAME and untaps it.”
“Equip – Pay {3} or discard a card.”
“Whenever you cast a permanent spell using mana produced by CARDNAME, up to one other target permanent you control becomes a copy of that spell until end of turn.”
“Skeletons you control get +1/+0 and have haste.”
“If a triggered ability of another creature you control of the chosen type triggers, it triggers an additional time.”
“When there are 1,000 or more time counters on CARDNAME, sacrifice it and each opponent loses 1,000 life.”
Here are some creature type lines from the set:
Artifact Creature – Dinosaur Gnome
Creature – Salamander Wurm
Creature – Merfolk Warrior Scout
Legendary Creature – Bat God
Creature – Capybara
Legendary Creature – Skeleton Spirit Pirate
Artifact Creature – Nautilus
Creature – Beast Horror Spirit
Creature – Fungus Snail
Creature – Dinosaur Skeleton Horror
Finally, here are some names in the set:
Braided Quipu
Calamitous Cave-In
Careening Mine Cart
Chupacabra Echo
Diamond Pick-Axe
Eaten by Piranhas
Out of Air
Pirate Hat
Sovereign’s Machuahuitl
Spelunking
Tune-in to see Lost Caverns ofIxalan’s debut on October 24th on twitch.tv/Magic and on our official YouTube channel. The full story drops October 20th.
Wrap Up
MaRo’s teasers are always chock full of information and insight into the set, and it’s definitely worth giving the full list a read.
That’s all we have for you concerning The Lost Caverns of Ixalan for now. What are some of the tidbits from Mark Rosewater’s teaser that have you the most excited for The Lost Caverns of Ixalan? Got any predictions? Let us know in the comments, and we’ll keep you up-to-date with the latest news and spoilers. We’ll see you next week on its debut stream!
