Exploring the edge of fantasy and science fiction.
July 25th sees the official prerelease of Magic: the Gathering’s newest Standard set – Edge of Eternity. While I’ll be sure to delve into the mechanics and art treatments you can expect to find in our “real life” interaction with the cards, I wanted to take a moment to introduce the concepts and story elements you can find.
What makes something sci-fi instead of fantasy? At its core, sci-fi is the exploration of the probable via known processes (technology), whereas fantasy is the ability to do the impossible via unknown abilities – mostly magic. Science fiction looks at the unlikely and extrapolates a society born out of some kind of technological innovation around which culture shifts and grows in a new direction from our own, known one. MtG has dabbled with this before and showed us both sides of the genre coin through its planes of Kamigawa.
Originally it was a feudal-Japan-inspired set where characters engaged in mystical connections with the kami, or spirits, of the plane (though to note many planes are simply a planet unto themselves). As time passed, the inhabitants who did the impossible came to understand it more. Demystified, the “merge gates” became a portal for more direct kami contact. Over time this led to a way that the inhabitants of Kamigawa could directly tap into the spirit realm for energy to power new devices. Thus: Neon Dynasty.
It may be the most obvious example of the difference between each of these two genres with a distinct before and after set featuring art, culture, and everything else that would have changed through the embrace of this energy source. But don’t forget that Magic has always courted sci-fi in the past. Not just in the recent Universes Beyond (and Standard!) set Final Fantasy which itself dances on either side of the genre line, but look at technologically-focused settings such as Kaladesh, Aether Revolt, and even going back to the original storyline which pitted fantasy versus science fiction: Phyrexia.
As Magic is a story-driven game, you may be wondering if there are any connections between the setting of Sothera in Edge of Eternity and others. Broadly, the location of the story known as “The Edge” where the Sothera System and its planets are located is outside the Multiverse or otherwise known in-lore as The Blind Eternities. So there is that, but that’s about as solid a connection as saying there’s also humans and cats in this set as well.
One name does stand out, and it’s not the ship that explores this place. While that is called Seriema, it’s captain is the more notable name: Tezzeret.
Wait a minute…TEZZERET?! Antagonist in Avishkar formerly known as Kaladesh? Found in Aether Revolt, and even sent to Kamigawa during its Neon Dynasty by the praetors of New Phyrexia?! Yup, that’s the one. Can you tell this will be an artifact-heavy set or have related mechanics? We’ll get to those shortly! But before I do, it’s also fair to say that we are going to meet new named characters, be introduced to new creatures and races, and have a slew of technobabble thrown our way to immerse us in the setting.
To support this sci-fi setting are going to be the new mechanics. Foremost is that of “Station” which you’ll find on artifacts or nonbasic lands called planets. It could be a bit confusing as there are space stations, but these are stations in space.
Station – a place or position in which a person or thing is normally located.
Would you like a classic sci-fi trope? The captain of a ship sees the enemy approaching on scanners. Remaining calm and confident, the camera would zoom in and you’d see a finger punch down the comms button and the command, “All crew: to your battle stations!” This means the crew leaves their usual duties to tend to their new roles for the impending battle.
This mechanic requires you to (as a sorcery) tap a creature you control. Then add charge counters to the card using Station equal to the power of the tapped creature. An artifact like a Spacecraft or even a Planet gains extra abilities when the threshold of indicated number (in a circle on the lower left portion of the card) is met or surpassed.
That is probably as complex as the new rules get, but it isn’t the only mechanic to note in Edge of Eternities. Continuing the notion of faster-than-light (FTL) travel found in sci-fi settings like Star Trek, Warhammer 40,000, or Alien is the mechanic of Warp. It’s an alternative cost mechanic which keeps a card in exile to be warped back into play again. In the wake of such force is the other mechanic called Void which is an enhanced effect on a card dependent on nonland permanents leaving the battlefield (with, say, Warp) on that turn.
We will also see a new, predefined token type called a Lander which will aid in land searches.
For more info, check out this article.
Now to prevent this article turning into a scrolling prologue from Star Wars, we’ll conclude with the special effects. What sci-fi setting is truly complete without some flash and flare? You can expect default art and traditional foil treatments for the cards in Edge of Eternities. But the real eye-openers are going to be the “fracture foil” and “galaxy foil” variants, as well as the “Japan Showcase” which is alternate art by guest artists featuring the space-themed tropes found in anime and manga.
But wait, there’s more! Of course there’s going to be borderless cards, “poster borderless” cards, and the primo card treatment to find is what’s called the “Singularity foil” treatment for Sothera, the Supervoid.
Play Boosters are the best way to discover all that Magic has to offer. Construct a deck out of your favorite color combinations, draft packs with friends, and open gorgeous Borderless cards—plus you can find a foil in every booster. A full display of Play Boosters supports a Draft event with extra left over to maximize the fun for everyone!
Collector Boosters gather all the coolest cards and foil treatments in one place! Each interstellar booster contains Rares and/or Mythics, Traditional Foils, a Borderless basic land, and more. Spacefaring travelers may encounter even more beautiful foils and a vast expanse of eye-popping lands. You could also find the headliner card—the most collectible pull of all!
Commander decks are ready to play right out of the box and contain everything you need to play Magic‘s most popular multiplayer format. Edge of Eternities features two different Commander Deck versions.
The Bundle is a great gift for Magic superfans and newcomers alike. They contain a little bit of everything to get a player’s collection off the ground, plus an oversized Spindown life counter themed after the set.
Prerelease is your players’ first opportunity to get their hands on the newest Magic: The Gathering release and explore what the set has to offer. Prerelease Packs contain everything a player needs to be guided through deckbuilding and begin facing off in epic one-on-one matches.
August 1st Edge of Eternities will be released nationally, but Play Network stores like The POP! Shop will release on Friday July 25th for Events and product sales. Play Boosters, Collector Boosters, Commander Decks, and Bundles which contain nine Play Boosters, 30 lands (10 with Celestial Basic Full Art treatments), and an exclusive, oversized Spindown d20 will all be available on Friday.
We strive to have as much of each type of product as possible. Be sure to stop in early to better ensure you can get the deck or booster you prefer. As well, make sure to sign in to our events for this set and in general as your attendance increases our allocations from Wizards of the Coast in order to stock products even deeper than before! Plus, you know, all the promos and special prizes we give away, too!
