Quick Links
Summary
There have always been landmark sets inMagic: The Gathering, some introducing powerful mechanics, while others taking you to fascinating new planes. One of the biggest milestones is coming up with the release of Magic’s 100th set, but the details of that set are still a little vague.
As far as special Magic sets go, there have been a bunch over the years. We’ve seen planeswalkers lose their godlike power, the multiverse be threatened by cosmic horrors, andevery plane in existence joined through Omenpaths. Now, with the 100th set bearing down on us, let’s take a look at what that set is and what confusion there might be about its release.
What Is Magic’s 100th Set?
As far as Wizards of the Coast is concerned, the 100th Magic set is going to be Outlaws of Thunder Junction, the rootinest, tootinest set in the West. Outlaws of Thunder Junction is setting up to be a fascinating set, one filled with all sorts of villains from across Magic’s recent history, pulling characters in from distant planes in some sort of plan.
The set has a very Western film feel to it, with all the tumbleweeds, cowboy hats, and cacti you would expect from a set like this. Outlaws is the last set from the Omenpath Arc, and has villains like Oko, Rakdos, Vraska, Tinybones, and more working together in the heist of the century. Somehow, tales of an ancient, treasure-filled vault has been uncovered in Thunder Junction, and everyone wants in on it. Along the way, Kellan has picked up the trace of his father, which makes sense now that he’s spent some time working as a detective on Ravnica.
There are two Bonus Sheets in the set to help nail down the Western-inspired feeling of the set. The first is a Crime sheet, which is a full sheet of cards that help you commit crimes. As a quick refresher, a crime is a new mechanic that considers any spell or ability you activate that targets an opponent or their cards in any way, shape, or form, as a criminal act, labeling it as a ‘crime’. This first bonus sheet is going to be filled with cards that target stuff in one way or another.
The second Bonus Sheet is called The Vault and was supposed to be an Epilogue Booster pack called The Big Score. However, most players weren’t a bit fan of the Epilogue Boosters after March of the Machine, so the whole thing is reworked to be a bonus sheet. These cards have their own set symbol, code, and frame and are all Standard legal.
Outlaws of Thunder Junction isset to release on June 22, 2025, and you can bet there are going to be some cool things to celebrate the release.
Where Is The Confusion Coming From?
Over the course of Magic’s 30-year history, there have been tons of extra products, special releases, and bonus sets released. Some have been region-specific, while others have been functional reprints of other sets. Since some of these sets have been less standalone, it has caused some confusion as to what the 100th set might actually be.
Some time ago, Mark Rosewater, head designer for Magic: The Gathering, stated on hisblogthat Wizards wasn’t even fully aware that Outlaws of Thunder Junction was going to be the 100th Magic set. He also stated that considering it the 100th set is a bit ambiguous thanks to all the extra sets Magic has released over the years.
Taking into account all Base Sets, Core Sets, and main expansions, but excluding sets non-legal sets like Unhinged and introductory sets like Portal, as well as reprint sets like Chornicles and Modern Masters, that would bring us to 2018’s Dominaria as being the 100th Magic set.
However, if you add in most of these other sets, you come up with sets like Dragons of Tarkir, Theros Beyond Death, and Aether Revolt as being the 100th set depending on your criteria. All of this ambiguity gets summed up with the answer is a bit more complicated than just being a straight count of sets and expansions.
Rosewater also clarified a few other questions over at hisblogabout what constitutes as full sets for Magic. Welcome Decks don’t count as an official Magic set, which is good to know. Then, internally at Wizards of the Coast, Alpha and Beta are considered the same set, with Limited Edition being one set split into two printings. Then, Chronicles is not taken into set count consideration, and Time Spiral and Time Spiral Timeshifted are the same set.
What Could Be Coming With Magic’s 100th Set?
While there is still some time until its release, it wouldn’t be too far out of the realm of possibility to expect some other tie-ins to help celebrate the 100th Set. The most likely thing Magic could dowould be a series of Secret Lairs,one like the 30th Anniversary Countdown Kit, where Magic included a card that was iconic to each year of Magic’s history.
Instead, they could release a Commander deck, one that takes one card from each of Magic’s main expansions, give them all an alternate art or even a special showcase frame, and then put it under some neat five-color commander.
