In recent years, the promo selection for competitive Magic events has been a bit of a sore spot among players. While we do get some excellent picks from time to time, many are underwhelming duds, or impossible to get for many players due to region exclusivity. Today, Wizards has revealed the MTG Play Promo lineup for the 2026-2027 season, and it feels like a mixed bag. While there are some bangers in here, for the most part it’s as unexciting as ever.
2026-2027 RCQ Promos
The first pair of promos today will be available to those who take part in RCQ events between December 11th, 2026 and March 28th, 2027. At local stores these events will be either Standard or Limited, but larger WPN stores can host them in other constructed formats, too, so be sure to check with your store on the specifics.
For all RCQ participants during this period, a fancy, non-foil
Strategic Betrayal
Strategic Betrayal
Target opponent exiles a creature they control and their graveyard.
is the promo you’ll get just for taking part. Art-wise this new promo is pretty stunning, featuring a fresh take on recent MTG big bad Valgavoth, and playability-wise it’s great, too.
Strategic Betrayal sees a lot of play in current Standard, with decks like Dimir Midrange and Dimir Excruciator in particular loving it. Surprisingly, it also sees sideboard play in Dimir Tempo lists in Legacy. Despite this, however, the card can currently be had for around $0.85, so it’s not exactly a big value add.
For “Top Finishers” at these RCQ events, a promo
Archenemy’s Charm
Archenemy’s Charm
Choose one —
• Exile target creature or planeswalker.
• Return one or two target creature and/or planeswalker cards from your graveyard to your hand.
• Put two +1/+1 counters on target creature you control. It gains lifelink until end of turn.
will be the reward. You’ll get a non-foil version for being a Top Finisher, and a foil version as well if you qualify for a Regional Championship event this season.
Like Strategic Betrayal, this is a promo with a good bit of play to it, but very little financial value. It sees a good amount of Commander play, appearing in around 52,200 decks, largely Mono-Black lists like
Baron Helmut Zemo
Baron Helmut Zemo
Whenever you cast a black spell from your hand, Baron Helmut Zemo connives.
Boast — Exile any number of black cards from your graveyard with fifteen or more black mana symbols among their mana costs: Copy those exiled cards. You may cast up to three of the copies without paying their mana costs. (Activate only if this creature attacked this turn and only once each turn.)
and
K’rrik, Son of Yawgmoth
K’rrik, Son of Yawgmoth
({B/P} can be paid with either {B} or 2 life.)
Lifelink
For each {B} in a cost, you may pay 2 life rather than pay that mana.
Whenever you cast a black spell, put a +1/+1 counter on K'rrik.
. It also sees a reasonable amount of Standard play in Dimir Excruciator lists, though it’s by no means a staple there. Copies of this card will run you around $1.13 right now, so this isn’t the most inspiring reward for doing well in an RCQ.
2026-2027 RC Promos
For players who make it past the RCQ stage to a Regional Championship, there are two more promos waiting to be claimed. First and foremost, for those who compete in a Regional Championship that qualifies for the Pro Tour at MagicCon: Tokyo next year, a promo
Elspeth, Storm Slayer
Elspeth, Storm Slayer
If one or more tokens would be created under your control, twice that many of those tokens are created instead.
+1: Create a 1/1 white Soldier creature token.
0: Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control. Those creatures gain flying until your next turn.
−3: Destroy target creature an opponent controls with mana value 3 or greater.
is up for grabs.
This is one of the best planeswalkers we’ve seen in the last few years, and a real multi-format player to boot. As a token doubler, it naturally sees a ton of play in Commander, appearing in around 204,000 decks overall. It also sees a fair amount of play in both Standard and Pioneer, with Selesnya Gearhulk in particular running the card regularly.
Because of this widespread use, Elspeth, Storm Slayer is sitting at around $43 right now, making it the most expensive card in this new promo lineup by a wide margin. All participants in a Pro Tour MagicCon: Tokyo RC will get a non-foil copy, and Top Finishers will also get a foil copy. The markup here is likely to be pretty significant, so it’s well worth attending one of these events, between January 8th and February 14th, 2027, if you can.
Finally, if you take part in a Regional Championship to qualify for Pro Tour Nauctis, which will be held between September 11th and November 1st, 2026, then you’ll receive a textless
Kozilek’s Command
Kozilek’s Command
Choose two —
• Target player creates X 0/1 colorless Eldrazi Spawn creature tokens with "Sacrifice this token: Add {C}."
• Target player scries X, then draws a card.
• Exile target creature with mana value X or less.
• Exile up to X target cards from graveyards.
promo. We’ve known about this particular promo for a few months now, but it’s worth looking at again given its quality.
Though it’s only worth around $7.50 currently, Kozilek’s Command is a true multi-format staple, seeing a ton of play across Modern, Legacy, and Commander. This Textless version is quite novel, too, given how wordy the original card is, allowing the charming non-foil promo to demand over $100 so far.
All RC participants will get the non-foil version of this promo, while Top Finishers will get a foil copy as well. Considering how expensive the non-foil already is, the foil could easily be worth thousands of dollars.
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