September 25, 2026
Today is a launch-pad kind of Friday for two of the games we have been watching most closely. Riftbound's Radiance preview season officially takes the stage in Los Angeles this afternoon, while Magic players can finally sit down with Reality Fracture at Prerelease tables.
For Riftbound, today turns the Radiance calendar from a schedule into actual cards. For Magic, it is the first tabletop weekend where the completed Reality Fracture file matters more than preview-season theory.
Radiance preview season officially begins in Los Angeles
Developer panel: September 25 at 3 p.m. PDT · Card Gallery updates daily at 5 p.m. PT
Riot is using the final 2026 Riftbound Regional Qualifier in Los Angeles to formally kick off Radiance preview season today. The developer panel begins at 3 p.m. Pacific and is slated to show a batch of new cards, with Game Director Dave Guskin, Radiance Lead Designer Jon Moormann, Creative Director Brice Cox, and Radiance Art Director Michelle Mauk on stage.
That makes today more than another date on the reveal calendar. It is the first concentrated look at Set 5's actual play pieces and design direction, and Riot says the panel will be recorded and uploaded to YouTube afterward for players who are not in Los Angeles.
From here, reveals spread across creators and media outlets through early October. Riot's official Card Gallery will update every day at 5 p.m. Pacific with the previous day's reveals, which should make it much easier to follow the set without chasing every individual post.
The Los Angeles event itself runs September 25–27 and closes the Vendetta Regional Qualifier season. Riot has $25,000 in prizing on the line, Regional Championship invitations, exclusive Jayce promos, and live coverage beginning at 10 a.m. PDT over the weekend.
See Riot's Radiance preview schedule · Los Angeles RQ details
Reality Fracture Prerelease weekend begins
Prerelease: September 25 · MTG Arena: September 29 · Tabletop release: October 2
Reality Fracture moves from previews and Early Access into actual tabletop play today as Prerelease weekend begins. Each Prerelease Pack contains six Play Boosters, a traditional-foil year-stamped promo card, a deck box, and a Spindown life counter for building a 40-card Sealed deck.
The set's prerelease structure also gives Two-Headed Giant teams a slightly different setup: Wizards recommends one Prerelease Pack plus two additional Play Boosters per team, rather than simply combining two full kits. That is worth knowing before pairs sit down and start opening packs.
For players who followed the preview season, this is where mechanics such as empower Jace and prepare finally have to work across a real Sealed pool rather than in isolated card evaluations. Wizards' Prerelease Guide and Release Notes are the useful references to keep nearby if an interaction gets strange.
Digital players do not have long to wait either. Reality Fracture arrives on MTG Arena September 29, followed by the full tabletop release October 2.
Read Wizards' Reality Fracture Prerelease Guide
Around the Hearth
Radiance is the story to watch through the afternoon and into the weekend: once the Los Angeles panel ends, the conversation shifts from what Riot has scheduled to what the new cards actually do. The official gallery's daily updates should give the set a much clearer shape over the next two weeks.
At the Magic tables, Reality Fracture Prerelease runs through the weekend before Arena opens the doors September 29. That gives paper players the first crack at finding which cards and interactions overperform when the packs are actually shuffled.
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