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Magic: The Gathering Designer Responds To Whether or Not Ikoria Commander Decks Will Get A Prerelease Weekend


Wizards of the Coast hasn't revealed much details about Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths, the "monster world" Magic; The Gathering set coming next year, but they already revealed that new Commander preconstructed decks will be released along with the expansion. Commander 2020, also marketed as Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths Commander decks, are set to release on April 24, 2020, the same day the Ikoria set officially releases. Now fans are wondering if there will be a prerelease event to support the release of the five Ikoria Commander decks.

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Credit: Wizards of the Coast

Senior Magic designer Gavin Verhey has responded to a fan on Twitter with a cryptic smile emoticon.

I guess we'll take that as a yes. In Verhey's October article about the 2020 Commander decks, he revealed that players will be able to try the new Ikoria Commander decks at Ikoria Prerelease events at April 17-19, but he did say "in casual play", so don't expect game stores to host DCI-sanctioned Commander prerelease events in that weekend yet. Verhey also confirmed that the Ikoria Commander decks will replace the Planeswalker Decks for Ikoria, so expect them to be available during the Ikoria prerelease weekend. We also know that all the cards in the preconstructed Commander decks are set in the world of Ikoria,

"There are a handful of cards from the Ikoria set in these decks in the 'reprint' slots, but the number is fairly small," Verhey said. "Those cards are mostly just there to help make a couple themes work. (Imagine, for example, if Kaladesh had done this: if we had an energy Commander deck, you would definitely want a couple energy cards from the main set also in your deck.)"

You can find out more details about Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths here.

Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths will officially be released on April 24, 2020. Prerelease events will take place from April 17-19.

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