The latest set for Magic the Gathering is almost here, bring on the pirates, merfolk, vampires and dinosaurs!

With the pre-release happening last week, Ixalan will be hitting the shelves nationwide this Friday (29 September) with a set crawling with hoards of new cards.

The land of Ixalan is brimming with treasure among its lush jungles and gorgeous waterways, ripe for the picking. Of course, immense power lies within Orazca, a lost city of gold, and everyone wants a piece of the pie.

This new set introduces four new factions, the Sun Empire and their dinosaurs, the Brazen Coalition (and pirates), the merfolk River Heralds and the vampires from the Legion of Dusk.

New things, old things

Ixalan sees the return of some old mechanics, as well as some new ones. For starters, Vehicles are back, as well as transforming double-faced cards!

As for the new abilities, you’ll be seeing a lot in this set are enrage, which buffs up dinosaurs when they take damage, and the raid mechanic that rewards aggression.

Also, starting with this set planeswalkers will all have the supertype legendary, which subjects them to the legend rule. In a nutshell this means that what’s true about legendary permanents will be true about legendary planeswalkers, though your legendary planeswalker cards can be your Commander unless an ability says so.

The Ixalan set is due to drop this Friday, so don’t forget to check out your friendly neighborhood TCG stores to get in on the action!