Mana Stage Highlights Pt 1

There’s so much to see and do at MagicCon: Las Vegas – miles of it if it was laid out end to end! – but one thing looms large above the rest, and we mean literally. The Mana Stage  brings together some absolute showstoppers, and we’ve got a guide to a few favorites you’ll want to add to your schedule.

The Mana Stage is a place to hear about Magic’s past and future, and to experience some of the very best of Magic in the present! So, give yourself a rest from walking Art of Magic or crushing Commander pods, kick up your feet, and enjoy the show!

Below we’ve highlighted just a few of the great offerings on MagicCon: Las Vegas’s Mana Stage. Make sure you’ve got your badge and get ready for a stellar weekend!

Wizards of the Coast introduced Magic: The Gathering Foundations at MagicCon: Amsterdam, teasing some iconic cards that will soon have a permanent home in Standard. We learned that with the launch of Foundations, longtime favorites (or most feared) staples like Llanowar Elves and Day of Judgement will remain in Standard until at least 2029, along with more reprints and new-to-Magic cards we’ve yet to see.

See the Preview Panel and you’ll get the inside scoop on the making of Foundations, see some fresh new previews, and have a first look at the new cards and reprints that will make up this one-of-a-kind set.

Don’t miss this one if you: have a passion for preview season, can’t wait to start building a Standard deck, or want to be the person in the group chat who gets to dish about upcoming cards!

As an added bonus, catching the Preview Panel will make sure that you have the best seats in the house for the next Mana Stage event, a little something you may have heard of before . . .

It wouldn’t be a MagicCon without Jimmy, Josh, and the crew of Game Knights Live bringing you another Commander showdown of absolutely epic proportions. Commanders will be cast, alliances will be made and broken, attacks declared, and at the end only ONE may stand!

At Game Knights Live, you’ll be surrounded by an enthusiastic, cheering crowd as you watch four spectacular players (and their hype teams) battle for the chance to call themselves the Game Knights Live champion. The energy and sheer scale of Game Knights Live has to be seen to be understood, and if you’re in the hall when they take the stage, you’ll know it!

Don’t miss this one if you: love spectacle, want to pick a team and cheer your heart out for them, or want to see a Commander game with the maximum amount of WOW factor!

“What mechanics just make Magic a better game?” was the question head designer Mark Rosewater set out to answer at his MagicCon: Chicago panel “The 20 Best Mechanics of All Time.” Now he’s back with a follow-up, and what else could it be but the WORST mechanics of all time?!

Come see Mark Rosewater’s 20 Worst Mechanics of All Time and you’ll get a list of his least favorite mechanics and why he thinks they failed. But even better, the highlights of MaRo’s panels are the fun stories about the journeys that different mechanics have taken through design, from failed first attempts to designer favorites and finally into the sets where they found a home. It’s a unique peek into the world of Magic design with an absolutely delightful storyteller.

Don’t miss this one if you: want to experience Mark Rosewater’s love of Magic firsthand, want to settle a heated debate about terrible mechanics with your friends, or want to learn more about what makes mechanics successful (and unsuccessful)!

Check out MaRo’s previous panel from MagicCon: Chicago, The 20 Best Mechanics of All Time: 

MagicCon: Las Vegas will host not only the final cosplay contest of the 2024 season, but also the Grand Championship. The Grand Championship brings together past winners and runners-up from previous MagicCons to compete for the final grand prize of 2024. It’s a remarkable opportunity to see the best of the best from this year’s competition. Everything on the Mana Stage is worth catching, depending on your Magic interests, but the Cosplay Contest is a true highlight of what our amazing community is capable of.

Catch the Cosplay Contest and you’ll see an absolutely dazzling display of creativity and artistic achievement. These incredible artists turn their skills to creating everything from Planeswalkers, your favorite legendary creatures, Vehicles, artifacts, and basic lands. They have yet to meet a piece of Magic art they’re not willing to tackle, so prepare to be amazed.

Don’t miss this one if you: want a first glimpse at the best cosplayers in the game, are looking to be wowed by the creativity of your fellow Magic enthusiasts, or want to enjoy their stunning artistic achievement!

Two teams of creators face off in the multiverse’s toughest test of obscure Magic trivia in Clash of the Creators! And this time, the competition doesn’t stop when one team has proven themselves, because the winners will then have to test their knowledge against some of Wizards of the Coast’s most powerful minds! Should you see it? Survey says yes!

Watch Clash of the Creators and you’ll catch an hour of some of your favorite Magic personalities flexing their Magic knowledge in some categories you might expect . . . and some you definitely won’t!

Don’t miss this one if you: think your Magic knowledge can stack up against the competitors’, you want to watch the players sweat, or you just love naming the regions of Dominaria or knowing what tokens everyone thinks are on the table in a game of Commander!

Get hyped and watch the Clash from MagicCon: Amsterdam: 

Of course, this is only half of all of the incredible panels, shows, and more you can catch on the Mana Stage at MagicCon: Las Vegas. Stay tuned for more recommendations, grab your badges if you haven’t already, and we’ll see you soon!