Magic: The Gathering 2026 Sets in Order: The Complete Release Calendar

Magic: The Gathering 2026 Sets in Order: The Complete Release Calendar

Seven main expansion sets are scheduled across Magic: The Gathering's 2026 calendar, and four of them are Universes Beyond IP crossovers: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in March, Marvel Super Heroes in June, The Hobbit in August, and Star Trek in November. The next release on the schedule is Reality Fracture (set code FRA), hitting shelves October 2, 2026, followed by Star Trek on November 13. If you are planning grading submissions around new product, the IP crossovers are the tier to watch. The original-Magic expansions (Lorwyn Eclipsed, Secrets of Strixhaven, Reality Fracture) follow a different collector logic. Both cases get the grading analysis below.

Set data in this post comes from the Scryfall API, verified September 14, 2026.

Every 2026 Magic: The Gathering Set

The table covers every main expansion and notable supplemental product releasing in 2026, sorted by date. Commander companion products are listed separately from their parent expansion.

Release Date	Set Name	Code	Cards	Notes
January 23, 2026	Lorwyn Eclipsed	ECL	408	Expansion; 176-card Commander companion (ECC)
March 6, 2026	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	TMT	320	Universes Beyond; 20-card Source Material masterpieces
April 24, 2026	Secrets of Strixhaven	SOS	368	Expansion; 195-card Mystical Archive; 426-card Commander (SOC)
June 26, 2026	Marvel Super Heroes	MSH	453	Universes Beyond; 866-card Commander companion (MSC)
August 14, 2026	The Hobbit	HOB	321	Universes Beyond; no Commander precon
September 2, 2026	The Zeta Set	SLZ	363	Box set; wide reprint product
October 2, 2026	Reality Fracture	FRA	266	Expansion; 2-card Commander companion (FRC)
November 9, 2026	Mystery Booster Commander Edition	MBC	80	Draft innovation product
November 13, 2026	Star Trek	TRK	135	Universes Beyond; 41-card Commander companion; 1-card Stardates masterpiece (SDS)

The Marvel Super Heroes Commander at 866 cards is the largest supplemental product of the year, nearly double the expansion itself. Secrets of Strixhaven is the largest single release window by total card count: 368 cards in the main set plus 195 in the Mystical Archive plus 426 in the Commander product adds up to 989 cards releasing on April 24.

Lorwyn Eclipsed (January 23, 2026)

At 408 expansion cards, the first major release of 2026 returns to one of Magic's most beloved planes. Lorwyn is the classic faerie world from the 2007 and 2008 blocks, and the Eclipsed iteration draws on the nostalgia of a player base that remembers the original deeply. By September 14, the set has been on the market for about eight months.

For grading, original-plane returns (as opposed to IP crossovers) attract enfranchised Magic collectors rather than crossover buyers. The chase tier is typically alternate-art mythic rares and whatever showcase frame the set ships with. The PSA 10 premium on a Lorwyn Eclipsed alternate art is real among long-time Magic collectors, but it does not carry the dual-buyer pool dynamic that drives IP crossover premiums.

The ZeroPop catalog does not currently carry a set page for Lorwyn Eclipsed, so community scan data is limited. If you are evaluating a pull from this set, the centering check matters more than it looks: the original Lorwyn aesthetic used detail-heavy borders that make half a millimeter of drift visible in a way a sparse frame would not.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (March 6, 2026)

The March 6 IP crossover ships 320 expansion cards plus a 20-card Source Material masterpiece series. Those 20 Source Material cards are the premium alternate-art tier in this release, and at that print footprint the rarity premiums are meaningful on the top characters.

The IP grading logic applies here clearly: TMNT collectors who have never cracked a Magic pack will still grade a clean Leonardo or Shredder card because it is an IP collectible, not because it is Standard legal. That crossover demand is why Universes Beyond graded premiums tend to hold longer than comparable original-set rares. The ZeroPop catalog has a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set page, which will grow with community scan data as more collectors submit.

Surface is the grading axis to watch on character-illustration cards. High-contrast figure art on a detailed background shows print lines and ink saturation variance under a scan that a plain eye test misses. Check the surface sub-grade before committing to a submission fee.

Secrets of Strixhaven (April 24, 2026)

989 cards on a single date, April 24. The main set carries 368 cards, the Mystical Archive treatment adds 195 more, and the Commander product adds another 426, making this the year's largest single-window release by a wide margin.

The Mystical Archive is the collector story. In the original Strixhaven: School of Mages (2021), the Mystical Archive was a 63-card series of historically significant instants and sorceries in an alternate-art frame, with a separate Japanese alternate-art treatment that traded at a consistent premium. Secrets of Strixhaven's Mystical Archive triples that to 195 cards, which dilutes the scarcity argument unless specific cards carry strong competitive demand or especially limited print runs. The cards that will justify a submission fee are the ones appearing in multiple competitive formats and carrying the rarest frame variant the set offers.

The Secrets of Strixhaven set page in our catalog shows community data beginning to come in. Teacher's Pest (card 238) shows a $0.27 community price, which marks it as a low-rarity card outside the Mystical Archive segment. The Archive tier is where the grading math is more likely to work.

Marvel Super Heroes (June 26, 2026)

453 expansion cards plus an 866-card Commander companion released June 26, 2026, and the secondary market responded within days. The first three weeks of July saw price spikes across multiple cards, driven by genuine demand on competitive staples and production delays on supplemental products that created temporary scarcity on specific cards.

The Marvel Super Heroes catalog page shows Bruce Banner at $5.01 in community data, a lower-tier card reflecting the depth of the set's 453-card pool. The genuine chase tier sits in Secret Rare and Collector Booster exclusive treatments for the most iconic characters, where the IP premium applies hardest.

A 453-card expansion means a huge pool of potential submissions, but the realistic grade-worthy tier is much narrower. Run the break-even math from is my card worth grading before sending a stack of Marvel rares. The set's July price movement breakdown is in the July 2026 Magic price movers post.

The Hobbit (August 14, 2026)

The third Tolkien-universe Universes Beyond expansion released August 14, 2026 with 321 cards. Its headline chase is the gold-foil Smaug the Magnificent showcase treatment, plus five Dwarvish Language Collector Booster exclusive alternate arts. The ZeroPop catalog has a set page for it, with community submissions growing.

We covered this set in detail before release. For the full breakdown of Smaug's surface grading risk (gold foil scratches before it reaches a lamp), the Dwarvish Language card speculation, and the Scene Box format's submission questions, see the MTG The Hobbit set guide.

Reality Fracture (October 2, 2026)

Arriving in 18 days, on October 2, this 266-card original-Magic expansion is not a licensed IP crossover. The Commander companion (code FRC) ships with only 2 cards, an unusually small footprint that suggests a limited promotional product rather than a full preconstructed deck.

No ZeroPop catalog page exists for Reality Fracture yet. As with any original-Magic expansion, the grading window typically opens 30 to 90 days after release: prices need enough transaction volume to establish a realistic hold-versus-sell-raw verdict, and the early premium on a fresh expansion always cools as supply reaches market. Collector Booster exclusive treatments and the set's most limited alternate-art variants are where the submission math is likeliest to work, once prices stabilize.

Reality Fracture is also one of the two remaining 2026 expansions with no graded population data yet, which means there is no established PSA 10 ratio to project from. That makes it a research task in November, not a submission task in October.

Star Trek (November 13, 2026)

At 135 main-set cards, this is the smallest expansion of the year, roughly a third the size of Marvel Super Heroes. It ships November 13, 2026 with a 41-card Commander companion and a 1-card Stardates masterpiece (code SDS).

A smaller set means fewer cards sharing the rarest treatment slots, which concentrates demand. If Star Trek follows the TMNT and Marvel pattern, the crossover collector segment will be substantial: the franchise's multigenerational fanbase includes people who have never played Magic but will grade a clean Original Series card for the same reason they would grade a clean TOS trading card. The 1-card Stardates masterpiece is a natural single-submission target for anyone who pulls it.

The ZeroPop catalog does not yet have a set page for Star Trek. It will populate after the November 13 release. For a comparison of which grading company handles IP crossover cards best, the PSA vs BGS vs CGC guide covers turnaround times, population data, and which labels carry the strongest resale premium for licensed-IP Magic cards.

Which 2026 Sets Are Worth Grading

The honest answer separates IP crossovers from original-Magic expansions.

Universes Beyond sets (TMNT, Marvel, The Hobbit, Star Trek) have demand from two independent buyer pools: Magic players and IP collectors. IP collectors do not track the Standard meta; they track whether they own a clean copy of their favorite character. That dual-demand dynamic keeps graded premiums on the top Universes Beyond treatments higher and more durable than comparably scarce original-Magic cards. The Lord of the Rings serialized Ring cards from 2023 demonstrated the ceiling: PSA 10 premiums held at multiples of raw for months.

For original-Magic expansions (Lorwyn Eclipsed, Secrets of Strixhaven, Reality Fracture), grading works on: format staples in multiple competitive formats where supply cannot easily be reprinted, the most limited alternate-art treatments with genuinely tight print quantities, and cards from the Strixhaven Mystical Archive that carry both historical significance and play demand.

Skip: bulk rares and uncommons from any 2026 set. A PSA 10 bulk rare rarely covers a $20 submission fee, and the pop report on any 2026 rare will grow fast enough that early gem copies have diminishing returns. The grading math requires a high raw price, a documented PSA 10 premium from comparable cards, or both. The Magic: The Gathering grading guide has the full submission workflow and the four sub-grade axes (corners, edges, surface, centering) that decide whether a given card can reach a 10.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Magic: The Gathering sets are releasing in 2026?

Seven main expansion sets are confirmed for 2026: Lorwyn Eclipsed (January 23), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (March 6), Secrets of Strixhaven (April 24), Marvel Super Heroes (June 26), The Hobbit (August 14), Reality Fracture (October 2), and Star Trek (November 13). The calendar also includes The Zeta Set (September 2, a box set) and Mystery Booster Commander Edition (November 9, a draft product). Set data sourced from Scryfall, September 14, 2026.

How many 2026 Magic sets are Universes Beyond IP crossovers?

Four of the seven main expansions are Universes Beyond licensed IP sets: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Marvel Super Heroes, The Hobbit, and Star Trek. That is the highest concentration of IP releases in a single year in Magic's history. Original-Magic worlds account for the remaining three: Lorwyn Eclipsed, Secrets of Strixhaven, and Reality Fracture.

Which 2026 Magic set has the most cards?

Marvel Super Heroes has the largest expansion at 453 main-set cards, and its Commander companion adds 866 more for a combined 1,319 cards across the two products. Secrets of Strixhaven is larger across its full release window: the main set (368), Mystical Archive (195), and Commander product (426) together total 989 cards releasing on the same day, April 24.

When does Reality Fracture release?

Reality Fracture (set code FRA) releases October 2, 2026. It is a 266-card original-Magic expansion. As of September 14, no ZeroPop community scan data or catalog set page exists for it yet. Both will populate as collectors submit copies after the October 2 street date.

Are Universes Beyond Magic cards worth more graded than original-set cards?

Generally yes, for the top-rarity treatments. IP crossover cards reach buyers who value the IP independently of the card game, which creates demand that does not fluctuate with Standard rotation or Commander meta shifts. The Lord of the Rings Tales of Middle-earth serialized One Ring (2023) and its Collector Booster exclusives maintained strong PSA 10 premiums for months after release while original-set rares of comparable scarcity returned to raw prices quickly. That gap narrows on lower-rarity IP cards, which is why the submission case for IP sets focuses on Secret Rares, showcase treatments, and masterpieces, not standard rares and uncommons.

Does ZeroPop support grading Magic: The Gathering cards?

Yes. ZeroPop grades Magic cards across the same four sub-grades used for all trading cards: corners, edges, surface, and centering. Magic-specific surface challenges (foil delamination, print lines on dark art backgrounds, foil curl) and the centering standard players call the silver ring are covered in the Magic: The Gathering grading guide. Scan a card through ZeroPop before committing to a submission fee; the four sub-grades tell you which axis is likely to cap the grade before the card ever reaches a grader's desk.