Magic: The Gathering Lead Designer Says Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths May Be Delayed Further

Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths, the latest Magic: The Gathering set featuring the brand new plane of monsters, will be released in Magic: The Gathering Arena tomorrow, but fans will have to wait longer to get the actual cards on paper. Last month, the official North American release date for Ikoriawas pushed back to May 15 from its original April 24 release date due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but according to Magic lead designer Mark Rosewater, the official release date for the paper version may be delayed further.

Credit: Wizards of the Coast

Over on his Blogatog, when a fan asked Rosewater if Ikoria will be postponed further, he said, "That has a lot to do with factors out of our control. Trust me, we want to get the cards into your hands; we just want to make sure we're doing it safely."

Sadly, many tabletop-only Magic players won't get to play one of Magic's most innovative sets this month, and most MTG players probably will never get to experience in-store Prerelease and Release events due to the coronavirus pandemic, but fanscan still get an Ikoria Prerelease Packfrom their local game stores.

"As parts of the world recover from COVID-19 while others are still dealing with rising numbers of cases, we've come to accept that we cannot celebrate the release of a set in the uniform way to which we've become accustomed," Wizards of the Coast previously said in a statement. "For the safety of those working in our distribution and shipping centers as well as in acknowledgement that some places simply cannot open their doors, we will be rolling out the release of Ikoria as such":

WotC also said that they're combining their Prerelease and Release weekends for Ikoria, and stores can sell any product in those dates, and still let players play Prereelase at home, ideally with Magic: The Gathering Arena.

Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths is set to launch on Magic: The Gathering Arena on April 16, for tabletop play in China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong on April 17, and for tabletop play everywhere else on May 15.

Related:MTG Game Design Architect Reveals The Companion Cards That Didn't Make It in Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths