Magic: The Gathering is the longest standing and most established trading card game with sets of cards being released as early as 1993.
The 28-year-old card game has 21 “core” sets. There are also 87 “expansion” sets to the game, including the most recently released Strixhaven: School of Mages set that dropped in April.
Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms will be the 88th expansion set for MTG, coming in July.
Outside of those core and expansion sets, Wizards of the Coast has also introduced some sets that were meant to stay outside of the standard rotation like Modern Horizons, which reprinted cards regularly used in Eternal formats like Modern.
WotC has also printed numerous multiplayer sets like Planechase and Conspiracy, which aren’t included in the Standard rotation.
Lastly, WotC has produced a handful of whacky “Un” sets that aren’t even legal for DCI-sanctioned play because of the way many spoof-like cards in them break the fabric of MTG as we know it.
With so many sets, it can be difficult to remember where certain sets fell in the overall timeline of the game’s history. Here’s a comprehensive list of all of the game’s core and expansion sets in chronological order.
| Set | Code | Type | Released |
| Alpha (Limited Edition) | LEA (1E) | Core | August 1993 |
| Beta (Limited Edition) | LEB (2E) | Core | October 1993 |
| Unlimited Edition | 2ED (2U) | Core | December 1993 |
| Arabian Nights | ARN (AN) | Expansion | December 1993 |
| Antiquities | ATQ (AQ) | Expansion | March 1994 |
| Revised Edition | 3ED (3E) | Core | April 1994 |
| Legends | LEG (LE) | Expansion | June 1994 |
| The Dark | DRK (DK) | Expansion | August 1994 |
| Fallen Empires | FEM (FE) | Expansion | November 1994 |
| Fourth Edition | 4ED (4E) | Core | May 1995 |
| Ice Age | ICE (IA) | Expansion | June 1995 |
| Homelands | HML (HM) | Expansion | October 1995 |
| Alliances | ALL (AL) | Expansion | June 1996 |
| Mirage | MIR (MI) | Expansion | October 1996 |
| Visions | VIS (VI) | Expansion | February 1997 |
| Fifth Edition | 5ED (5E) | Core | March 1997 |
| Weatherlight | WTH (WL) | Expansion | June 1997 |
| Tempest | TMP (TE) | Expansion | October 1997 |
| Stronghold | STH (ST) | Expansion | February 1998 |
| Exodus | EXO (EX) | Expansion | June 1998 |
| Urza’s Saga | USG (UZ) | Expansion | October 1998 |
| Urza’s Legacy | ULG (UL) | Expansion | February 1999 |
| Sixth Edition | 6ED (6E) | Core | April 1999 |
| Urza’s Destiny | UDS (UD) | Expansion | June 1999 |
| Mercadian Masques | MMQ (MM) | Expansion | September 1999 |
| Nemesis | NEM (NE) | Expansion | February 2000 |
| Prophecy | PCY (PR) | Expansion | June 2000 |
| Invasion | INV (IN) | Expansion | September 2000 |
| Planeshift | PLS (PS) | Expansion | January 2001 |
| Seventh Edition | 7ED (7E) | Core | April 2001 |
| Apocalypse | APC (AP) | Expansion | May 2001 |
| Odyssey | ODY (OD) | Expansion | October 2001 |
| Torment | TOR | Expansion | February 2002 |
| Judgment | JUD | Expansion | May 2002 |
| Onslaught | ONS | Expansion | October 2002 |
| Legions | LGN | Expansion | January 2003 |
| Scourge | SCG | Expansion | May 2003 |
| Eighth Edition | 8ED | Core | July 2003 |
| Mirrodin | MRD | Expansion | October 2003 |
| Darksteel | DST | Expansion | February 2004 |
| Fifth Dawn | 5DN | Expansion | June 2004 |
| Champions of Kamigawa | CHK | Expansion | October 2004 |
| Betrayers of Kamigawa | BOK | Expansion | February 2005 |
| Saviors of Kamigawa | SOK | Expansion | June 2005 |
| Ninth Edition | 9ED | Core | July 2005 |
| Ravnica: City of Guilds | RAV | Expansion | October 2005 |
| Guildpact | GPT | Expansion | February 2006 |
| Dissension | DIS | Expansion | May 2006 |
| Coldsnap | CSP | Expansion | July 2006 |
| Time Spiral | TSP | Expansion | October 2006 |
| Planar Chaos | PLC | Expansion | February 2007 |
| Future Sight | TUR | Expansion | May 2007 |
| Tenth Edition | 10E | Core | July 2007 |
| Lorwyn | LRW | Expansion | October 2007 |
| Morningtide | MOR | Expansion | February 2008 |
| Shadowmoor | SHM | Expansion | May 2008 |
| Eventide | EVE | Expansion | June 2008 |
| Shards of Alara | ALA | Expansion | September 2008 |
| Conflux | CON | Expansion | February 2009 |
| Alara Reborn | ARB | Expansion | April 2009 |
| Magic 2010 | M10 | Core | July 2009 |
| Zendikar | ZEN | Expansion | October 2009 |
| Worldwake | WWK | Expansion | February 2010 |
| Rise of the Eldrazi | ROE | Expansion | April 2010 |
| Magic 2011 | M11 | Core | July 2010 |
| Scars of Mirrodin | SOM | Expansion | October 2010 |
| Mirrodin Besieged | MBS | Expansion | February 2011 |
| New Phyrexia | NPH | Expansion | May 2011 |
| Magic 2012 | M12 | Core | July 2011 |
| Innistrad | ISD | Expansion | September 2011 |
| Dark Ascension | DKA | Expansion | February 2012 |
| Avacyn Restored | AVR | Expansion | May 2012 |
| Magic 2013 | M13 | Core | July 2012 |
| Return to Ravnica | RTR | Expansion | October 2012 |
| Gatecrash | GTC | Expansion | February 2013 |
| Dragon’s Maze | DGM | Expansion | May 2013 |
| Magic 2014 | M14 | Core | July 2013 |
| Theros | THS | Expansion | September 2013 |
| Born of the Gods | BNG | Expansion | February 2014 |
| Journey into Nyx | JOU | Expansion | May 2014 |
| Magic 2015 | M15 | Core | July 2014 |
| Khans of Tarkir | KTK | Expansion | October 2014 |
| Fate Reforged | FRF | Expansion | January 2015 |
| Dragons of Tarkir | DTK | Expansion | March 2015 |
| Magic Origins | ORI | Core | July 2015 |
| Battle for Zendikar | BFZ | Expansion | October 2015 |
| Oath of the Gatewatch | OGW | Expansion | January 2016 |
| Shadows over Innistrad | SOI | Expansion | April 2016 |
| Eldritch Moon | EMN | Expansion | July 2016 |
| Kaladesh | KLD | Expansion | September 2016 |
| Aether Revolt | AER | Expansion | January 2017 |
| Amonkhet | AKH | Expansion | April 2017 |
| Hour of Devastation | HOU | Expansion | July 2017 |
| Ixalan | XLN | Expansion | September 2017 |
| Rivals of Ixalan | RIX | Expansion | January 2018 |
| Dominaria | DOM | Expansion | April 2018 |
| Core Set 2019 | M19 | Core | July 2018 |
| Guilds of Ravnica | GRN | Expansion | October 2018 |
| Ravnica Allegiance | RNA | Expansion | January 2019 |
| War of the Spark | WAR | Expansion | May 2019 |
| Core Set 2020 | M20 | Core | July 2019 |
| Theros Beyond Death | THB | Expansion | January 2020 |
| Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths | IKO | Expansion | April 2020 |
| Core Set 2021 | M21 | Core | July 2020 |
| Zendikar Rising | ZNR | Expansion | September 2020 |
| Kaldheim | KHM | Expansion | February 2021 |
| Strixhaven: School of Mages | STX | Expansion | March 2021 |
| Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms | AFR | Expansion | July 2021 |
| Innistrad: Midnight Hunt | VOW | Expansion | September 2021 |
| Innistrad: Crimson Vow | VOC | Expansion | November 2021 |
| Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty | NEO | Expansion | February 2022 |
| Streets of New Capenna | SNC | Expansion | April 2022 |
| Dominaria United | DMU | Expansion | September 2022 |
| The Brothers’ War | BRO | Expansion | November 2022 |
| Phyrexia: All Will Be One | Expansion | January 2023 | |
| March of the Machine | Expansion | April 2023 | |
| March of the Machine: The Aftermath | Expansion | April 2023 | |
| Wilds of Eldraine | Expansion | July 2023 | |
| The Lost Caverns of Ixalan | Expansion | October 2023 |
Published: Oct 27, 2022 04:30 pm