After the major TMNT announcement last Friday, most players weren’t expecting much from today’s Weekly MTG stream. Turns out, however, that there was actually a good chunk of fresh info this time around. In addition to some interesting new details on the MTG x TMNT set, we also got the announcement of some Commander Bracket system changes to come.
Turtles Of Unusual Size
In this week’s Weekly MTG, host Blake Rasmussen confirmed that the MTG TMNT set will be a small set, consisting of 190 cards. This is just three cards fewer than the just-released Spider-Man, which may start alarm bells ringing. Thankfully, Rasmussen stressed that the TMNT set was originally designed at this size, unlike Spider-Man, which was intended as an Aftermath-style set but later inflated.
According to Rasmussen, the decision to make TMNT a small set was a conscious decision to address the increasing number of sets in Standard. Since more sets mean more cards, Wizards is doing what they can to combat the format’s growing complexity. That said, Rasmussen has confirmed that 2026 will bring more cards to Standard than 2025.
While some sets, like TMNT, will have reduced sizes, others will stay the same. Rasmussen said that Lorwyn Eclipsed is a “typically-sized set,” for example. Overall, 2026 will add “around 120” more cards to Standard than 2025 did. This is still a notable increase, but less than a full set’s worth, so it is a positive move for those trying to keep track of the format.
MTG Commander Bracket Changes On The Horizon?
Since its introduction in February of 2025, the Commander bracket system has been a slow-going work in progress. Since its reveal, we’ve only had one major update, which arrived alongside a plethora of unbans. Now, it seems we’re finally getting another. Blake Rasmussen has confirmed the next Weekly MTG will have “updates on the Commander bracket system.”
Airing on October 21st at 10AM PT, Rasmussen will be joined by both William Jensen and Gavin Verhey for this livestream. Sadly, details about what will be revealed are scarce at the moment, so it’s really anyone’s guess. Potentially, we might get another adjustment to the brackets, or perhaps even a new bracket entirely. Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that we’ll be getting any new bans or unbans. Wizards have previously stated there won’t be additional changes until 2026, after all.
According to Rasmussen, Jensen will be announcing a “new Play Series” on next week’s show. What this means is unclear at present, but it sounds like a new range of MTG tournaments. Competitive Magic isn’t exactly in the best place right now, so this could be a godsend if so.
Additionally, we also got some minor updates on other MTG formats. Rasmussen reconfirmed that there are “a number of cards under consideration” for Standard bans come November 10th, as expected. Rasmussen also noted that Pioneer hasn’t been totally abandoned, as Wizards is “having a lot of internal discussions” about it currently. Sadly, the same can’t be said for Premodern, as while Wizards is aware of the format, they have “no specific strategy” for support.
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