Summary
The firstMagic: The Gatheringrelease of the year is usually a remastered set. Sets like Dominaria Remastered, Ravnica Remastered, and Innistrad Remastered bringing the best of their settings into one booster pack.
Whether they’re bringing back a specific block, like Time Spiral Remastered, or combining the best of years of Magic history, remastered sets are an exciting release for the game. There’s lots of history Wizards could look to for its future remasters, too.
10Amonkhet Remastered
Breathe New Life Into The Undead
We’ve only had a handful of sets on Amonkhet, with Amonkhet and Hour of Devastation making up the two-set block it debuted in, and Aetherdrift expanding the world a few years later. Despite that, the plane has a huge amount of worldbuilding and a mechanical identity that could carry an entire remaster.
Amonkhet did previously receive a remaster on MTG Arena, which has yet to come to paper play.
Graveyard matters are the primary theme of Amonkhet, with every living thing cursed to become a wandering undead. It also includes the Cartouche enchantments and -1/-1 counters to help it stand out despite how few sets it’d have to work from.
9Odyssey Remastered
Put Things Back Into Balance
Odyssey, Torment, and Judgement are three older sets, having launched between 2001 and 2002, and launched at a time when Magic was still experimenting with what a set could be. The latter two sets had their colour balances skewed, with Torment favouring black, and Judgment favouring white and green.
A set that takes cards from all three sets and makes a balanced, nostalgic draft environment would be exciting. The block is full of cool cards like Cabal Coffers, Tainted Pact, Sylvan Safekeeper, and Parallel Evolution that could always do with another reprint.
8Dungeons & Dragons Remastered
Roll For Initiative
Despite one being Standard-legal, and the other being made for Commander, Dungeons & Dragons’ Adventures In The Forgotten Realms and Commander Legends: Battle For Baldur’s Gate sets have a lot in common. Venturing into dungeons, rolling d20s, and Class enchantments tie the two together.
A D&D Remastered would give some of Baldur’s Gate’s best cards another chance, as that set launched before Baldur’s Gate 3 launched to universal acclaim. A chance to pull Shadowheart or Astarion, or perhaps an Ancient Copper Dragon alongside Old Gnawbone and Teleportation Circle would be great.
7Kamigawa Remastered
Celebrating One Of Magic’s Biggest Success Stories
For over a decade, Kamigawa was the black sheep of Magic, with its original block proving less than successful. It was finally redeemed in 2022 with the stellar Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, a cyberpunk-themed set that revitalised Kamigawa in a huge way.
A remaster would be able to bring back some of the better-received aspects of the original, like its focus on enchantments and its unique art style, and combine it with the fantastic draft environment and cyberpunk aesthetic of Neon Dynasty. Chuck in cards from other sets that are set on the plane, like Invasion of Kamigawa and Satoru and Goro Goro, to really celebrate one of Magic’s most-redeemed settings.
6Avishkar Remastered
A New Name For A Great Plane
You may better know Avishkar as its old name, Kaladesh. A steampunk world inspired by South Asia,it was renamedduring Aetherdrift to reflect its new government (and resolve some long-standing problematic elements of its old name). This new era is the perfect time to take a look at everything the plane is known for.
Though Avishkar is the name of the plane as of Aetherdrift, previously released sets and cards that use Kaladesh are not being renamed. Kaladesh is, canonically, the old name of the plane, rather than a retroactive change.
Avishkar didn’t just appear in Kaladesh and Aether Revolt. Over the years it’s picked up a huge number of cards in other sets, like the very Avishkar-themed Energy deck from Modern Horizons 3, Magic Origins, and, of course, as the focal point of Aetherdrift. Artifacts, energy, Hydras, Dwarves, and Gremlins could all play a huge role in revisiting Avishkar.
5Theros Remastered
A Heroic Return
Theros is one of Magic’s most fleshed-out worlds, having appeared in its own block, a single set in Theros: Beyond Death, and even in its own source book for Dungeons & Dragons. Inspired by Greek mythology, it’s full of Minotaurs, Gorgons, and brave warriors earning the gods’ favour.
Like Avishkar, Theros may not have had too many sets of its own to draw from, but it’s been a popular recurring setting for one-off cards in other sets like March of the Machine and Commander Legends. A remastered set that plays up the enchantments, Gods, and heroic themes of Theros could make for a fun draft environment.
4Fiora Remastered
A Set To Kill For
While it’s unlikely we’ll ever get another Conspiracy set, considering how poorly both outings of it before did, it would be a shame to lose the Renaissance world of Fiora that served as its setting.
A cutthroat world of political intrigue, it introduced some big names in Magic, like Queen Marchesa, Daretti, Grenzo, and Dack Fayden. Even if Fiora Remastered did away with the draft-matters cards of the Conspiracy sets, something that brings back Fiora itself in a less risky release would be more than worthwhile.
3Phyrexia Remastered
All Will Be One Set
The Phyrexiansmay be defeated, with the praetors dead and the plane sealed off from the rest of the multiverse, but we could always revisit the body horror nightmare with a remastered set.
Phyrexia Remasters would have tons of sets it pull from, ranging from their first invasion of Dominaria in the Invasion block, through the Scars of Mirrodin block, and right the way through to the Phyrexian Invasion of the Multiverse seen from Kaldheim through to March of the Machine.
With so much history ot pull on, and a unified mechanical base with poison counters, Germ tokens, and Phyrexian kindred synergies, a Phyrexian-centric remastered set could potentially be an all-timer.
2Alara Remastered
Jund ‘Em Out
One of the most heavily requested remasters brings together the Alara block of Shards of Alara, Conflux, and Alara Reborn. Focused on the plane of Alara, which was split into five three-colour shards before being violently brought back together in Conflux, it was an incredibly creative series of sets that remain beloved to this day.
Alongside the focus on the five-colour shards of Esper, Bant, Grixis, Naya and Jund, the Alara block also introduced, among other things, the ever-popular cascade mechanic. More than anything else, the thought of being able to Jund your opponent out in a bona-fide Alara set is too much to handle.
1Zendikar Remastered
I Just Want Fancy Lands
It’s frankly shocking Zendikar wasn’t one of the first settings to get its own remastered set. The original Zendikar Block, the Battle for Zendikar block, and the solo set Zendikar Rising, there’s more than enough material for a remastered set to pull from.
Lands are the big pull of Zendikar, with it introducingthe landfall mechanic, double-faced lands, full-art lands, and the Zendikar Expeditions reprinting some of the game’s best lands with new, fancy art. Throw in some Eldrazi from the Battle for Zendikar sets, and plenty of kicker spells, and it’s clear Wizards is sleeping on one heck of a great remaster.
Magic: The Gathering
Created by Richard Garfield in 1993, Magic: The Gathering (MTG) has become one of the biggest tabletop collectible card games in the world. Taking on the role of a Planeswalker, players build decks of cards and do battle with other players. In excess of 100 additional sets have added new cards to the library, while the brand has expanded into video games, comics, and more.
