Lorwyn Eclipsed Story Begins

The first episode of the #MTGLorwyn story, penned by @seananmcguire.bsky.social, is here! Four first-year Strixhaven students stumble through an Omenpath to a strange new world.

mtg.social/LorwynStory1

[image or embed]

— Magic: The Gathering (@magic.wizards.com) December 8, 2025 at 4:00 PM

The big hype for this week has clearly been around the story dropping for Lorwyn Eclipsed. Over the course of the past week, several stories have told the tale of a bunch of students from Arcavios/Strixhaven who find themselves on Lorwyn. When they arrive, they set off a chain reaction that affects the entire plane. There's tons to catch up on and read as players gear up for previews, which begin in earnest on January 5th.

Check out the stories in the links below (there may be an additional one by the time this goes live):

• Episode 1: Out of This Wood
• Episode 2: Shake Off Slumber
• Episode 3: Aweary of This Moon
• Episode 4: Fetch Me That Flower

Marvel Super Heroes Preview Prologue Drops

While our lead-up to Lorwyn Eclipsed gears up slowly but surely, we also had a somewhat unexpected reveal this week as well. The WeeklyMTG stream revealed several cards for the upcoming Marvel Super Heroes set coming in June 2026. This bothered some players given how long it would be until the set drops compared to other releases - as well as Lorwyn Eclipsed previews not fully beginning yet. However, there were tons of awesome cards shown off all the same with plenty of classic Marvel characters and artwork utilized.

You can check out the official reveal article for more info, or check out my write-up on the event breaking down all of the previewed goodness.

Premodern Comes To Magic Online

For as much as many players have long enjoyed official Wizards formats, there has always been a space for player-made formats. Pauper and especially Commander are testaments to this. Over the past few years, Premodern - a format ranging from Fourth Edition to Scourge - has been gaining in popularity. Time capsule formats like this have become popular in many other games in recent years, and this provides a fun one for Magic. So much so that it's now coming to Magic Online!

In an announcement published on Monday (which you can read here), it was revealed that the beloved format is coming to the client in a somewhat unique way. Daybreak Games is utilizing something called "Contraption" - a rotating event where a fun new format is highlighted and given some time in the sun. While Premodern is expected to become a fully realized MTGO format, it won't be until February, so in the meantime it's kicking off the cool concept of Contraption on the client beginning this week.

Additionally, decklists for various Premodern events can be found on the Magic Online decklists page. Check it out and join in on all the retro fun!

Commander Format Panel Lineup Changes

Today, we are doing the Commander Format Panel member rotation I mentioned when the panel formed last year. Thanks to everybody on the panel for their work, and a warm welcome to @budgetcommander.bsky.social and @highermtg.bsky.social!

Read: magic.wizards.com/en/news/anno...

#wotcstaff

[image or embed]

— Gavin Verhey (@gavinverhey.bsky.social) December 11, 2025 at 11:18 AM

You know it's been a pretty stacked news week when this is all the way down here. On any given other week this would be top billing news, but not this time!

Gavin Verhey put out an announcement regarding the Commander Format Panel. Previously he noted that nothing would be changing with the format for the rest of the year, but - in keeping with the original announcement last year - the panel members would be rotating a bit. As a result, this announcement was revealed yesterday with six members leaving and two joining.

The ones leaving the panel are the following:

• Attack on Cardboard
• Charlotte Sable
• DeQuan Watson (better known as PowrDragn)
• Greg Sablan
• Kristen Gregory
• Scott Larabee

These six members have been well known for their contributions to the Commander format. One of them, Scott Larabee, was even an original Commander Rules Committee member prior to its dissolution. Hopefully we'll see them back in the future, with great new ideas in tow.

Replacing them will be two new faces:

• Alex Heyer (better known as Higher MTG)
• Tomer Abramovici (better known as Budget Commander)

Congratulations to both of them on making it into the panel!

You can read the full announcement of these changes in the official article here.

Decklist of the Week

Izzet Lessons | TLA Standard | Seth Manfield, 1st Place World Championship 31

• Creatures (4)
• 4 Gran-Gran

• Instants (16)
• 1 It'll Quench Ya!
• 3 Abandon Attachments
• 4 Accumulate Wisdom
• 4 Combustion Technique
• 4 Firebending Lesson

• Sorceries (6)
• 3 Boomerang Basics
• 3 Iroh's Demonstration

• Enchantments (8)
• 4 Artist's Talent
• 4 Stormchaser's Talent

• Lands (22)
• 2 Mountain
• 7 Island
• 1 Agna Qel'a
• 4 Multiversal Passage
• 4 Riverpyre Verge
• 4 Spirebluff Canal

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Abandon Attachments
• 1 Abrade
• 1 Annul
• 1 Broadside Barrage
• 1 Iroh's Demonstration
• 1 It'll Quench Ya!
• 1 Pyroclasm
• 1 Spell Pierce
• 1 Torch the Tower
• 2 Negate
• 2 Quantum Riddler
• 2 Soul-Guide Lantern

Buy This Deck Export text Export Arena

World Championship 31 took place this weekend and it was an absolute doozy! Following weeks of speculation as what would end up performing the strongest, a wholly unexpected contender rose to the top: Izzet Lessons. Going into the event, most people didn't think much of the deck, but the innovation of adding in Artist's Talent and Monument to Endurance made it head and shoulders the best deck of the event.

?Congratulations to Seth Manfield, winner of Magic World Championship 31!?

This is Manfield's second World Championship title, and he won it in the same city as his first one, exactly ten years later.

Congratulations again, Seth!

[image or embed]

— Play Magic (@playmagic.com) December 7, 2025 at 7:42 PM

Seth Manfield came out on top piloting this build of the deck, winning his second World Championship in the process! His victory was not without some controversy, thanks to a takesies-backsies or two and some sloppy play early on. Despite this, many judges and participants have stood behind Seth, noting that this is perfectly within the bounds of the rules given the circumstances of the games played.

It's also worth noting that Seth's quarterfinals opponent, Ken Yukuhiro, was named Player of the Year at the event thanks to his performance throughout 2025. Ken may have not gone the distance here, but he's really proven his mettle at the highest levels of play all year long.

I could go on and on about the event but only have so much time and space. I'll likely touch on Standard a bit more heavily in a future week with less news pouring in as the year comes to a close. With that said, though, congratulations to both Seth and Ken on their amazing achievements throughout the weekend!

Paige Smith

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/themaverickgirl.bsky.social

Twitch: twitch.tv/themaverickgirl

YouTube: TheMaverickGal