A range of alloys in the Mg rich corner of the Mg-Al-La ternary system have been cast to experimentally analyse the solidification microstructure. Discrepancies between our experimental observations and thermodynamic liquidus projection predictions were observed and revised solidification pathways have been confirmed in this study. The range of compositions that solidify with Mg as the primary phase is significantly smaller than what has been calculated by Pandat database (Mg 2018) but quite similar to that predicted by FactSage (FTlite). The revised solidification pathways are shown to be a useful tool for practical Mg-Al-La alloy design and avoiding the presence of the Mg17Al12 phase which has been associated with poor creep resistance of Mg-Al alloys. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.