Huge changes to The List in Magic: The Gathering: “Both smaller and more exciting”

The List is a crucial source of reprints in MTG, but the selection of cards included will soon look very different.  

Magic: The Gathering has built up an astounding back catalog of cards across its lengthy history. With hundreds of new cards debuting in premier sets stretching back to 1993, reprints often become necessary to stop popular and important cards from being completely inaccessible.

One of Magic’s most efficient sources of reprints is undoubtedly The List. Debuting in 2020 at the same time as the Set Booster, The List featured in set boosters between Zendikar Rising and 2023’s Lost Caverns of Ixalan. But with the advent of Play Boosters in 2024’s Murders at Karlov Manor set, The List will be seeing some significant changes. 

How does The List work in MTG 

The List is a selection of cards from across MTG’s history that have a chance of showing up in any Set Booster. There is a 25% chance that any Set Booster could include a card from The List instead of a marketing card. For any MTG player cracking a pack and wondering why the card they pulled doesn’t seem to belong to the current set, The List is responsible.

Changes to The List 

During a recent press briefing on the subject of Play Boosters, Wizards of the Coast’s Blake Rassmussen announced that The List will be seeing changes once the switch to Play Boosters comes into effect. 

In its current state, The List is comprised of 300 cards. For Murders at Karlov Manor onwards, The List will be pared down to just 40 cards per set. Rather than staying as a selection of generically useful picks, these 40 cards will vary from set to set, being more closely tailored to each set’s theming and design.

Rassmussen confirmed that, while the number of cards on offer may be shrinking the overall goal of the list – providing access to reprints – will remain intact. With this goal remaining as the driving force behind The List, Rassmussen and the team are hoping that the list ‘getting both smaller and more exciting’ will provide a better experience for players that draw from it.

The List in MTG’s Future

To get some idea of the direction that The List will be taking ahead of its full redesign in Murders of Karlov Manor, look to Lost Caverns of Ixalan. That upcoming set will include ‘special guests’, which will be a staple of The List moving forward. Special Guests are valuable reprints featuring brand new art, which more closely ties them into the plane/set that they are ‘guesting’ in.