FlashFeed

Full text

MagicCon Amsterdam 2026 had a lot to say, to the point that I'm still reeling. Between announcements for brand-new sets in 2027 and a host of Secret Lair drops, it was a flurry of reveals that didn't stop hitting across the weekend. Fans of the best card games were eating well, let's just put it that way.

Because so much was unveiled, and keeping up with it all is something of a headache, I've rounded up the biggest news from MagicCon Amsterdam 2026 (an annual celebration of Magic: The Gathering with big news and community events) right here. That includes a bite-sized summary, so you can catch up on the latest happenings quickly.

2027 release schedule

(Image credit: Wizards of the Coast) As well as giving fans the lowdown on 2026's releases, we got the lowdown on next year's lineup – and it feels pretty stacked. There are three new sets dropping in 2027 that introduce new settings or bring back old favorites, interspersed with three Universes Beyond sets that have yet to be revealed.

Nauctis: The Sunken Realm – February 7 2027

(Image credit: Wizards of the Coast) Magic is finally getting its underwater setting! This has been one of the most requested planes for a while, and players will be able to explore the oceans from shallows to abyss in this set. Humans are the outlier here and must use diving suits to get by in a world of sea-dwelling species like lobster folk.

Kamigawa: Titanbreach – June 4, 2027

(Image credit: Wizards of the Coast) The Japan-inspired plane of Kamigawa returns next year, but it isn't alone; it's being invaded by Ikoria, the plane of monsters. Basically, that means a Magic spin on Pacific Rim – we're talking mechs vs giant kaiju.

Zhalfir – October 1, 2027

(Image credit: Wizards of the Coast) One of Magic's oldest settings is returning at last after a long absence, this time in its own plane. The Afrofantasy Zhalfir is getting a full set for the first time, split between a world of endless day that's lit by five suns and the spirit realm of eternal darkness.

Universes Beyond

(Image credit: Wizards of the Coast) Although Wizards of the Coast announced that we would be getting three crossover sets in 2027, including when they'll arrive, there's no word on what they'll be. You can start theorizing now, in other words.

Universes Beyond set – April 9, 2027

Universes Beyond set – August 6, 2027

Universe Beyond set – November 19, 2027

Reality Fracture

(Image credit: Wizards of the Coast) This year's final mainline set (Reality Fracture) was a major focus for Magic Con 2026, and we finally know what we're up against. Narratively, it's the culmination of longtime hero Jace's fall from grace. After suffering some pretty rotten luck over the last few years, such as being assimilated/'compleated' by the evil Phyrexians, he decided that enough was enough; this multiverse sucks, he thought, so it's time for a new one.

That's his mission in the set: replace the real world with his 'improved' multiverse (the "Echoverse") that removes villains like the Phyrexians. The downside is that it'd destroy the MTG world we've come to know and love. Because most people don't like the idea of being erased from existence, MTG's heroes are opposing him… but the Echoverse has created twisted reflections of each hero, so they'll be met by bizarre doppelgangers. Cue a massive fight.

Up for grabs

(Image credit: Wizards of the Coast) If you want to get ahead of the curve, Reality Fracture just went up for pre-order via Amazon . At the time of writing, most of the range (boosters, Commander deck, Bundle, and Draft Night) is still available.

Mechanically speaking, these Echoverse characters mirror their inspiration. The fire-wielding Chandra Nalaar is challenged by a frost-powered version, for example, while others flip the character's classic color association. As a case in point, standard green Garruk wants creatures to enter, while Echoverse black Garruk wants them to leave.

However, it's not just Planeswalkers who are getting mirror images. Every booster pack for the set features an 'echoed pair,' showing the normal version alongside a twisted variant. Similarly, a lot of classic MTG staples have also received Echoverse versions that flip the script.

Reality Fracture is available from October 2, 2026.

Secret Lair

(Image credit: Wizards of the Coast) All eyes may have been on Reality Fracture and 2027's lineup, but Secret Lair was quietly churning out surprise after surprise.

Stardew Valley Superdrop: This is a crossover I never expected, but it's bringing the goods. A staggering number of cards have been created for the drop (as shown on MTG's blog ), and they include a new-to-Magic Stardew Valley land card alongside a mechanic for gifting cards. It's out on July 27, 2026.

Hatsune Miku: As of August 10, 2026, a Secret Lair Commander Deck themed around the virtual singer will take center stage.

Hobbit Superdrop: It's not enough for The Hobbit to be getting its own set, because Secret Lair is getting in on the action with a range of different cards on August 14, 2026. That includes some very handsome food tokens detailing a hobbit's meal plan (from breakfast to supper) along with some gorgeous alt treatments that use drastically different styles like claymation.

Masters of the Universe: Yes, He-Man and co are making their way to MTG as of September 14, 2026.

A Perfectly Normal Superdrop: This range is available as of September 1, 2026 and features an incredibly random lineup of cards from Marvel characters like Joe Fixit to the return of classics such as the Shivan Dragon.

Chaos Vault Het Moment Is Daar: Five cards bedecked in beautiful classic Marvel art became available during MagicCon, ranging from Scarlet Witch's Hex Magic to Spidey villain Hammerhead.

Festival in a Box Amsterdam 2026: This drop went live during MagicCon and sold out pretty much instantly. A green-themed treasure trove, it featured a Mystery Booster 2 Display, four exclusive promo cards, and the Wild in Bloom drop.

The Hobbit

(Image credit: Wizards of the Coast) As the next set on the release schedule, MTG's Hobbit got plenty of love at Magic Con Amsterdam 2026. The focus was primarily on new cards, with an emphasis on those that introduce new or returning mechanics. The most notable ones are "Storied," which provides permanent bonuses if you control three or more artifacts, legendary permanents, and/or Sagas, and "Recruit," which lets you pick up a card, discard a card, and create a 1/1 white Human Soldier creature token if it was a nonland.

We also got our first look at some of the alt-art treatments for the set, which include old-school book cover cards and dwarvish language cards.

Community events

(Image credit: Wizards of the Coast) It wasn't just new sets and card reveals for Magic Con 2026; Wizards of the Coast also showed off the litany of community-focused events that'd be coming our way next year. Here are the headlines.

MagicCon 2027

(Image credit: Wizards of the Coast) Rather than just having a couple of MagicCon events for 2027, there will be four scattered across the globe next year.

MagicCon Detroit: February 26-28, 2027

MagicCon Tokyo: May 14-16, 2027

MagicCon Las Vegas: August 27-29, 2027

MagicCon Amsterdam: December 3-5, 2027

Mystery Booster Commander Edition

(Image credit: Wizards of the Coast) The Mystery Booster format is wildly popular despite only being available from in-person events like MagicCon, and it features both old favorites and weird playtest cards for a one-of-a-kind experience. So popular, in fact, that the idea is now being given a shakeup with a Commander-themed version. Besides the usual mix of previous cards, it's adding over 50 brand-new ones not seen anywhere else. A great example is Tolabow, Loch Rascal, which creates 1/1 otter tokens whenever you cast an instant or sorcery.

Hall of Fame

(Image credit: Wizards of the Coast) Think you have what it takes to become one of the best Magic players around? Now's your chance, because Wizards of the Coast is looking for new additions in 2026 and 2028. You can get the full details via the MTG blog , but you've got to have five "Top Finishes" in major events – e.g. you have to be in the top eight for the Arena Championship or have won the Magic Online Showcase over the past few years.

Want something to play while you wait for all this juicy Magic goodness to drop? Don't miss the best board games , or the best tabletop RPGs .

Full text

I blinked and a holy war kicked off. Over the weekend, a battalion of Old School RuneScape players gathered together to spread the good word of Saradomin, a pillar of the game's theology, on a pilgrimage through the MMO's PvP-enabled Wilderness zone. One thing led to another, and, well, a second pilgrimage is now planned for July 25, this time targeting a home base of the opposing Zamorak faction that has rallied in response to this all godly do-goodery.

On July 18, seemingly hundreds of OSRS players assembled at the monastery in the town of Edgeville sporting monk robes, holy symbols, white staves, and pockets full of lobsters (for healing, obviously).

Their plan, as Reddit user jan7283 explained , was to march to the PvP-heavy Revenant Caves as "one enormous, deeply underprepared religious group" with "absolutely no plan" beyond admonishing anyone found guilty of attacking other players.

In OSRS, PvP aggressors have a temporary skull icon placed over their heads, you see, making them a target for the chanting of these followers of Saradomin: "Brother, your skull concerns us."

Absolutely nobody in the pilgrimage dabbled in, or specifically brought weapons for, killing other players, and anyone telling you otherwise is a Zamorakian traitor.

The cause was so noble that a true demon – not a player in a mask, another Zamorakian lie – even joined the pilgrimage. "I've changed my ways, but due to prejudice, some will say I can't wear these robes," says pious Reddit user gomy1020 . In the end, they were accepted by some, with fellow monk Even-Stranger5764 reasoning, "Doesn't matter how you pray to Saradomin, as long as you're praying brother."

We Are The Chosen Ones from r/2007scape

The so-called "Brothers of the Monastery" successfully purified the Wilderness, as footage from Redditor Miro_Game shows.

"Really channeling the essence of the 2006 to 2008 era shenanigans with a 480p recording," replies user Cold-Sigma-770. "Well done OP. A thematic masterpiece. Just needed the Unregistered Hypercam 2 watermark for the finishing touches."

The pilgrimage went so well that, on July 19, de facto leader jan7283 announced the Brothers' next mission. This time, on July 25, they will storm the Chaos Altar which is home to many Zamorak devotees. "They can kill some of us. They can kill most of us. But they can’t kill all of us," jan asserts.

But the wicked were not quiet. The same day, scion of Zamorak (and Reddit user) suresh declared, flanked by an army of demons and dark wizards, that "THE ALTAR WILL NOT BE TAKEN."

"The servants of Saradomin intend to march upon the Chaos Altar, draped in monk robes and calling their invasion a 'holy pilgrimage.' Let them come," preaches suresh. "We will meet them in the Wilderness and remind them whose ground they trespass upon.

"Bring your finest robes of Zamorak, your weapons, your runes, and enough food to survive the march. Scouts, mages, rangers, warriors, and any loyal soul willing to defend the altar are called to arms.

"They preach order. We answer with freedom. They bring light. We shall show them fire. They claim we cannot kill them all. We accept the challenge. For chaos. For strength. For Zamorak." I have to admit, they are persuasive.

(Image credit: Jagex) The discussion in the lead-up to this July 25 conflict has been heated. "Brother, your plan concerns us," remarks one Saradomin follower. "Hold fast, brother. Do not let evil strike fear into your heart. In Saradomin's light there is no dark," assures another.

"Are we just recreating God Wars now?" asks Tzazon, perhaps the most sensible person in the room, in a reference to the deity-on-deity combat at the heart of some of RuneScape's juiciest lore.

So, here we are, watching the mortal armies of the RuneScape gods try to outwit one another in a genuinely powerful demonstration of what makes MMO communities so great. There are even fliers for the coming march: Saturday, July 25, at 12pm ET / 5pm BT / 6pm CT. The Brothers will meet at the Varrock Chapel and then meet the followers of Zamorak at the Chaos Altar. It's sure to be a sight to see.

"I remember with a load of friends back in the day we all dressed up as LOTR characters and was seeing how far we could get into the wild and stay there without dying," says one delighted player. "One of my fondest memories, love shit like this."

"This is what makes a MMO truly special," agrees another. "Love to see it. Hail Zamorak!"

After 6 years living as a monk and a total of 19 years later, MMO player returns to Old School RuneScape and proves the classic phrase: you don't quit, you take breaks .

Full text

Runoff from Greenland's rapidly melting ice sheet could severely disrupt currents in the Atlantic Ocean that regulate the global climate, researchers say. But the fresh water won't trigger the complete and irreversible collapse of the circulation that some research predicts, a new study suggests.

By 2100, Greenland meltwater could cause a reduction in the strength of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) equivalent to an additional 10% to 20% on top of the weakening that many scientists already expect for this huge system of currents, researchers found.

Previous research suggests the AMOC, which moves heat from the tropics to the Northern Hemisphere and cold water back south toward Antarctica, is at its weakest in more than 1,000 years due to Arctic ice melt and soaring ocean temperatures. Models indicate that the circulation will continue to weaken for decades to come , potentially unleashing freezing weather in Northwest Europe, additional sea-level rise along the U.S. East Coast and droughts around the equator.

The AMOC loops around the Atlantic Ocean, bringing warm waters north along the ocean's surface and cold waters south along the ocean floor. (Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio) The new study revealed that by 2300, Greenland's ice sheet could cause a whopping 40% of AMOC weakening on top of the declines projected by some climate models if we continue to cook the planet. The results highlight the effects on the AMOC of a growing freshwater pulse from Greenland that most climate models currently don't take into account, the authors said.

"By the year 2100, yes, we have something, but the greatest fraction is what we add later," study co-author Jost von Hardenberg , a professor in the Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Turin in Italy, told Live Science.

Meltwater from the Arctic and Greenland slows the AMOC by preventing the formation of deep currents in the North Atlantic that drive the circulation south toward Antarctica. Deep currents form when masses of cold, salty water sink to the seabed, but inputs of fresh water and rising water temperatures are blocking this step by diluting and warming surface waters.

While Arctic meltwater is commonly integrated into climate simulations, researchers have been slower to include runoff from the Greenland ice sheet in models, partly because this runoff may not be as disruptive as Arctic meltwater on shorter timescales, von Hardenberg said.

"In order to represent correctly the Greenland melt, you need a specific, dynamic model for the Greenland ice sheet. It's nice to have, but it requires a lot of resources to develop," von Hardenberg said

The Community Ice Sheet Model version 2 (CESM2) is one of the few available simulations of the Greenland ice sheet. For the study, von Hardenberg and his colleagues used a global climate model called EC-Earth3, which does not include the Greenland ice sheet. The team added the ice sheet from CESM2 to explore how it might affect the AMOC over the next few centuries. Adding the ice sheet separately enabled them to compare AMOC weakening with and without Greenland, clearly revealing the impact of the ice sheet on the AMOC's strength.

The results, published June 19 in the journal Science Advances , suggest the Greenland ice sheet will have a big influence on Atlantic ocean currents, especially after 2100.

"Greenland starts really melting strongly only after that date," von Hardenberg said. "If you go farther in our simulation — we go up to the year 2300 — that is also when this meltwater really becomes extremely strong."

Yet unlike other studies that show the AMOC collapsing irreversibly under climate change, in this model, the circulation recovered once the team switched off the meltwater or dialed down greenhouse gas emissions. Both the simulations that didn't include the Greenland ice sheet and those that did had similar results, recovering partially when the meltwater was turned off and fully when greenhouse gas emissions were stopped.

The recovery in the model suggests that the AMOC is more stable than previously thought and doesn't suddenly flip from an active state into a collapsed one, von Hardenberg said. "It's consistent with a strong weakening, but not a shutdown," he said.

Overall, the findings show that it is important to include the Greenland ice sheet in climate models — something von Hardenberg and his colleagues are planning to do in the next version of the EC-Earth3 model.

"It's really something which is worthwhile doing to better constrain the uncertainty of these future simulations," von Hardenberg said. "If we have a larger set of models which include this component, we will be in a better position to try to answer the question, 'How much do we expect AMOC to decrease in different scenarios?'"

Other experts agreed that integrating the Greenland ice sheet in climate models will increase the accuracy of AMOC predictions.

"What makes the study particularly interesting is that it directly tests a process that has often been highlighted as an important source of uncertainty in future AMOC projections," said Jonathan Baker , a senior climate scientist at the Met Office in the U.K. who was not involved in the study.

The results are consistent with previous research showing that Greenland meltwater causes additional AMOC weakening, but whether the system could collapse is still uncertain, given that the team used only one model, Baker told Live Science in an email. "Repeating these experiments across a wider range of models will be important to assess how robust the findings are," he said.

Nicholas Foukal , an assistant professor at the University of Georgia's Skidaway Institute of Oceanography who was not involved in the study, said he doesn't think the use of a single model limits the analysis.

RELATED STORIES

Early warning indicator hidden within the Gulf Stream could signal the collapse of key Atlantic currents, study finds

Building a massive dam between Alaska and Russia could prevent AMOC collapse, scientists say

Collapse of key Atlantic current could bring extreme drought to Europe for hundreds of years, study finds

"I think this result is robust and I am glad to see the authors come to this conclusion in such a high-resolution and realistic coupled climate model," Foukal told Live Science in an email. "This finding also agrees with other modeling results that require immense amounts of fresh water, much more fresh water than is available on Greenland, to cause irreversible change in the AMOC."

However, a third expert said the model used in the study is unrealistic, because its parameters make the AMOC more resilient than those of other models. Therefore, the study should be replicated in other models to draw unbiased conclusions.

"While the experiment reported is interesting, its outcomes are neither surprising nor should be interpreted as exemplary for the whole model ensemble," Sybren Drijfhout , a professor of physical oceanography at the University of Southampton in the U.K., told Live Science in an email.

Researchers should investigate the impact of the Greenland ice sheet on the AMOC further, von Hardenberg said. "It would be interesting in the future to check it [the AMOC's recovery with Greenland meltwater] with other models, but of course it's encouraging to see it in one case," he added.