Slivers are coming back to Magic: The Gathering, and Wizards of the Coast already knows when. In an interview at MagicCon: Atlanta, Wizards Vice President of Design Aaron Forsythe confirmed that the fan favorite creature type has a planned return, although he refused to reveal the timing.
“They will be back,” Forsythe said. “We know when they’re coming back,” he added, while keeping the actual release plans secret.
Forsythe acknowledged that Slivers remain difficult to develop, particularly for Limited formats, but said Wizards has a plan for bringing them back.
The comments provide a more concrete update on something Magic head designer Mark Rosewater previously addressed in September 2025, when he confirmed that Slivers would eventually return without predicting how soon.
Why Slivers Are So Difficult to Balance
First introduced in Tempest in 1997, Slivers are one of Magic’s most recognizable creature types. Their defining mechanic allows individual Slivers to grant abilities or stat bonuses to the rest of the hive, making each additional creature potentially more powerful than the last.
That creates an unusual problem in Draft. Slivers need enough support to function as an archetype, but concentrating too many synergistic creatures in one environment can produce boards that quickly become difficult to overcome.
Wizards has wrestled with this before. During the development of Magic 2014, the team specifically considered how to support Slivers without disrupting other Limited strategies.
In a 2013 design article, set lead Dave Guskin explained that Wizards narrowed the Sliver archetype primarily to red, green, and white rather than encouraging unrestricted five-color drafting.
Slivers also generated controversy when Magic 2014 changed their traditional shared abilities to affect only their controller’s creatures, alongside a divisive visual redesign.
Players Have Been Waiting for a Bigger Sliver Return
Wizards has already laid some groundwork for the creature type’s return. The 2025 set Edge of Eternities introduced Thrumming Hivepool, an artifact that creates Sliver tokens and grants Slivers haste and double strike. The set’s storyline also established that Slivers inhabit the Sothera system.
Those appearances fueled speculation about a larger comeback, particularly among players hoping to see Slivers become a viable Standard archetype again.
In a September 2026 discussion about their possible return, some players expressed concern about their impact on Pauper.
For Commander players, a substantial wave of new Slivers could also provide more options for existing decks built around the creature type.
A few new Slivers would be welcome additions for Commander players, but a full return in a Standard-legal set would be a much bigger deal. That would also bring back the same Limited design challenges Wizards has struggled with in the past. Forsythe isn’t saying which direction they’re taking yet, but it sounds like that decision has already been made.
