MagicCon Chicago: Magic: the Gathering Preview Panel Showcases Upcoming Standard Sets, Including Avatar: The Last Airbender

MagicCon Chicago's Preview Panel saw Wizards of the Coast finally pull the veil back on some of the Standard sets we'll be seeing this year, including a glimpse at the upcoming Tarkir: Dragonstorm, Edge of Eternities, and even the unnamed Universes Beyond set coming in November: Avatar: The Last Airbender.

The Nickelodeon show joins the likes of Marvel, The Lord of the Rings, and Final Fantasy as the latest franchise to make the leap with the wildly popular crossover series. The new set, which will be legal in all formats including Standard as announced at last year's MagicCon Vegas, will release on November 21st, bringing iconic characters from the television show, new art, and more to the card game. While we don't know more details just yet, it's nice to finally have confirmation on exactly what this final UB set is heading into the rest of 2025.

While Avatar is a look ahead to November, the next major Standard set is just a few short months away. Tarkir: Dragonstorm brings players back to the iconic plane of Tarkir itself, complete with Dragons, iconic characters such as Sarkhan Vol, Narset, and more. We got the first reveal of some of the cards coming with Tarkir: Dragonstorm, including a desparked Narset in Jeskai colors (Blue, Red and White), as well as a desparked Sarkahn, and an interesting new card that is very reminiscent of one of Khans of Tarkir's most powerful creatures.

Skirmish Rhino reminds me of Siege Rhino with its enter the battlefield trigger, and it costs one fewer mana than its Khans of Tarkir inspiration. It'll be interesting if we'll see this card come to be a staple in decks in Standard like Siege Rhino. 

Tarkir: Dragonstorm will also see a Mox mana rock added to Standard in Mox Jasper. This artifact echoes the powerful Mox artifacts from Magic's history with a zero mana cost and the ability to create one of any color mana - though you need to control a dragon to use the ability. This is a spicy addition for sure. We will undoubtedly get more reveals leading up to the full release date of the set on April 11th, 2025, but it's a great first look at a return to one of Magic's most iconic planes. 

Wizards also gave a look at another upcoming Magic set on the horizon: Edge of Eternities. This set doesn't release until August and takes Magic: the Gathering to the stars, bringing its iconic characters and gameplay into Wizards' own space opera. While no cards themselves were revealed today, we did get some incredible looking art, including what looks to be full art versions of each land. The Swamp and Islands look particularly great. 

The team at Wizards also highlighted some of the product releases to expect with Edge of Eternities, including two commander decks: 

• Counter Intelligence (Blue-Red-White) 
• World Shaper (Black-Red-Green)

Magic looks to be having a great 2025, as these reveals come only days after the team at Wizards showcased the first cards coming with June's Final Fantasy set, including Final Fantasy XIV's Emet-Selch, Y'shtola, as well as Final Fantasy VII's Cloud and Sephiroth, among others.