Magic’s Lorwyn Eclipsed Channels The Dark Crystal — Expect Puppet-Perfect Weirdness on Jan. 23, 2026
Magic: The Gathering is returning to Lorwyn with a new set called Lorwyn Eclipsed, and it’s leaning into a stranger, more puppet-friendly vibe than the original release. The design team said they took inspiration from the 1982 film The Dark Crystal, while also trying to bring back the hand-painted, nostalgic look fans remember. The set will be the first Magic release of 2026 and is due on January 23, 2026.
What inspired Lorwyn Eclipsed
Wizards of the Coast’s creative team said they used The Dark Crystal (1982) as a baseline while revisiting Lorwyn. According to the announcement, Jim Henson and Frank Oz directed the film, and they also performed many of the puppets featured in it. This influence helped push the set toward a darker, more unusual fantasy tone, rather than a straight rehash of the original Celtic inspirations.
As Roy Graham put it: “The Dark Crystal was an excellent baseline for us in going back and finding what the modern approach to Lorwyn is,” said Roy Graham, the story lead for Magic publisher Wizards of the Coast.
Tone and visuals
The team described the direction as orbiting “weirdo fantasy” — meaning a mix of strange, sometimes menacing, sometimes charming creatures that feel a little off the beaten path. In their words: “We didn’t want to do a straight up return to all the aspects of Celtic mythology we didn’t get to cover the first time around,” Graham said. “So we ended up orbiting what I would call ‘weirdo fantasy’ with a lot of strange creatures — a lot of oddballs, sometimes menacing, sometimes charming, but always a little off the beaten path.”
At the same time, the art team is aiming to recapture Lorwyn’s classic, hand-painted look. Fans’ nostalgia for the original world matters to the team, and they’ve said there will be a lot of traditional artwork in the set.
Mechanics and world design
Lorwyn–Shadowmoor originally played on the idea of two connected worlds — one stuck in daytime (Lorwyn) and the other perpetually night (Shadowmoor). Now, the new set will try to explore both sides inside a single release.
Mark Rosewater explained some of the historical reasoning behind the original dual-world idea: “We wanted to do four blocks in one year,” Rosewater said, “Crazy, four blocks in one year! So what I pitched was two mini blocks, and then we wanted to connect them some way.”
For Lorwyn Eclipsed, the team said they found an elegant way to mix light and shadow together. As Rosewater put it: “We came up with a way where the world gets intermingled, and now it’s a marble cake of light and darkness.” Wizards also previewed a few cards that can flip between light and dark at MagicCon, showing how the set might handle those themes mechanically.
Cards and examples
So far, Wizards showed a handful of cards that demonstrate the flip or dual-state ideas. These previews suggest the set will lean into hybrid or transforming mechanics to represent the mingled light and dark.
Release and what to expect
Lorwyn Eclipsed will release on January 23, 2026. It’s the first Magic set of 2026 and the next original Magic setting that isn’t tied to an outside IP. Meanwhile, Wizards is planning a busy 2026 calendar, with seven new sets scheduled across the year.
Expect a mix of nostalgia and experimentation: the team is keeping the original visual cues fans love, but also pushing the setting toward more unusual creatures and a blended light/dark approach. In short, it should feel familiar, yet intentionally stranger.
