A Rumored Magic: The Gathering Lorwyn Eclipsed Product is a Controversy Waiting to Happen

Magic: The Gathering is in a prime spot to have one of the most successful years in its history, and while a good part of that comes from the smashing hit that was the Final Fantasy UB set, in-multiverse releases had their fair share of good reception. Tarkir: Dragonstorm was a great set for multicolor support, especially the three-color clan combinations, which not only got plenty of support in the main set, but also got a new Commander precon each. Edge of Eternities launched with several amazing cards, such as MTG‘s Hellkite Nova for Mono Red aggro decks. While this is it for in-multiverse sets this year, 2026 will start with the hyped Lorwyn Eclipsed in January, but one of its accompanying products is already problematic.

Among the various issues that the set could face is the rumored increase in the MSRP of various products, which would affect Lorwyn Eclipsed, but would then extend to future sets as well. Between the price spike with Universes Beyond and the issues with scalpers artificially increasing the value of Collector Boosters, displays, and so on, Magic: The Gathering is already a rather expensive hobby. Now, Lorwyn Eclipsed will seemingly launch with a never-before-seen product called Draft Night, but between its value, MSRP, and other potential issues, it seems far from a good item to pick up.

MTG‘s price surge for Lorwyn Eclipsed affects several products, based on information shared by retailers on their websites for pre-orders. This includes:

• Collector Boosters ($27 instead of $25), and presumably Collector displays
• Bundles ($58 instead of $54)
• Commander decks ($50 instead of $45)

This is important because the new Draft Night product, which is based on the same pre-order details from multiple retailers, will include 12 Play Boosters, 1 Collector Booster, and 90 lands. This is problematic from a monetary perspective because Play Boosters currently cost $5.50, and regular land cards have close to no value at all. As such, the product’s $90 price would translate into $93 ($66 for the Play Boosters and $27 for the Collector Boosters) if players were to buy things separately, instead. This isn’t a great deal considering that one is saving a whopping $3 and is getting a few MTG land cards plus the packaging.

Speaking of lands, this deal would not be great if it truly included 90 basic lands for the purpose of drafting. This is because two players can end up running a mono-color deck, and with 90 lands, there would only be 18 per type, meaning they would be enough for just one player. Likewise, if multiple players decide to run a given color even in multi-color decks, the lands would likely not suffice. On top of all that, Draft Night is seemingly supporting Magic: The Gathering drafts for four people, which Wizards called Pick-Two Draft, instead of the usual table of eight people.

Magic: The Gathering’s Rumored Draft Night is a Double-Edged Sword

One could argue that a 4-person draft is better as it’s easier to arrange, and it caters to existing pods of four Commander players, which is true. However, getting two Draft Night boxes is not a great option for tables of eight players, as the total prize would then be either two Collector Boosters for the first place or one for the first and one for the second, which is not ideal in either scenario. So, between the potential let-down of the price and the fact that the lands may not be enough, combined with the general MSRP increases, Draft Night may have a very hard time sticking the landing. MTG‘s Spider-Man and Through the Omenpaths sets already caused a controversy due to UB limitations, and Avatar may follow suit, so Lorwyn Eclipsed needs a solid foundation for its products — unfortunately, Draft Night is not that.

Original Release Date

August 5, 1993

Designer

Richard Garfield

Player Count

2+

Age Recommendation

13+