Magic: The Gathering - Edge of Eternities Reveal
Magic! In! Space! That’s right, MtG is boldly going where it hasn’t gone before in Edge of Eternities, the upcoming August release which combines elements of science and fantasy. EoE takes Magic to the very ‘Edge’ of its known universes and into the Sothera system., where new mechanics and card types await. Touted as one of the longest stories in recent Magic history at over 80,000 words, Edge of Eternities drops players in the midst of a galactic calamity as monoist dark forces have purposefully collapsed the dying star of Sothera into a supervoid; a black hole which is slowly devouring all that surrounds it. For the first time ever, MtG fans will be able to listen to a professionally narrated story podcast for Edge of Eternities, featuring voice actor Jesse Inocalla with eleven episodes and five side stories already available right now through Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
The five major Planets in the Sothera system quite fortuitously align with the five major Mana colours of Magic, providing both colourful lore and a new non-basic Land card type, Planet, which provide exciting effects alongside some gorgeous new artwork. Rather than going for a sterile look that can often accompany space exploration and interstellar travel, the artwork in Edge of Eternities instead favours bold colours and a strong contrast between warmer pink and red hues against the colder blues and blacks of the void. Reimagined Creatures adapted for a space setting like the ‘Nova Hellkite’ Dragon and the ‘Cosmogoyf’ Lhurgoyf highlight how the artists working on Edge of Eternity have creatively captured the essence of Magic’s aesthetic and really infused the science aspect of ‘sci fantasy’ that was the driving idea behind the vision for the set.
Mechanically, there are some exciting new terms and some old favourites, starting with Shock Lands returning to the Standard format as legal cards, now sporting a shiny coat of Edge of Eternities paint. It wouldn’t be space adventure and exploration without Spacecraft now, would it? So naturally, Spacecraft are a new artifact card subtype with Station as a sub-mechanic. While they may start as artifacts, many can become artifact creatures once each station on the ship has been manned via the Station ability. As Senior Magic editor Matt Tabak explains, “Station is an activated ability that can be activated only as a sorcery, meaning during your main phase when the stack is empty. To activate the station ability, tap an untapped creature you control other than the Spacecraft itself (which will soon become a creature, as you’ll see). As that ability resolves, put a number of charge counters equal to the tapped creature’s power on the Spacecraft. Once a number of charge counters equal to or greater than the number indicated in the circle on the left side of its text box are present, the Spacecraft becomes a creature with the power and toughness indicated on the right side. It also has any abilities found in the lower striation of the text box. Not all Spacecraft become creatures once they reach the indicated number of charge counters. If there is no power and toughness indicated, it simply means the Spacecraft will have the abilities listed in that part of the text box, but it won’t become an artifact creature.” Land Planet cards will also feature Station abilities, but these abilities will not change the card type. In addition, Edge of Eternities will also shake-up the Commander format by allowing Legendary Vehicles and Spacecraft with printed power and toughness values to now act as a decks Commander. Colour restrictions will still apply, but this is one more avenue for deck construction to push the limits of the Commander format.
Warp is another new ability which provides an alternative cost to play at card, at the added expense of having to exile it after the next end step. It can be cast from exile, but only at its regular cost, not its warp cost – Warp is only available when played from hand. Warp effects can have a valuable trade-off and as such add another tactical dimension to both deck construction and play. For new Spell cards with a Warp cost, their mana value remains determined by their mana cost, so playing an Edge of Eternities Spell for the warp cost won’t adjust its mana value.
Next up is Void, an ability word that enhances a card’s effect if a nonland permanent left the battlefield this turn or if a spell was warped this turn. Void effects can differ depending on card type; on instants and sorceries, void may provide an alternative effect, indicated by the word “instead” or provide an additional effect, adding to what a spell normally does rather than replacing it. The looming threat of a void ability triggering and cascading consequences is sure to ramp up the tension in any Edge of Eternities match. Finally, we have the new Lander token, a colourless predetermined token type which can be created by many of the cards found in the EoE set. When used, a Lander token costs two mana and is sacrificed to search the players library for a basic land which is then played to the battlefield tapped and their library shuffled.
Edge of Eternities will offer a number of cards that appeal to both players and collectors, the first being the incredible looking Borderless Celestial Basic Lands which present the locations of Magic: The Gathering as an as-yet-unseen scale, further enhanced by the full art uninterrupted by UI constraints. These cards will occasionally appear in Play boosters, with one guaranteed in Collector boosters in Foil and Galaxy Foil finishes which makes a return from 2022’s Unfinity set. Borderless Viewport Lands are the work of artist Piotr Dura and thrust players onto the surface of each Planet with a unique perspective, peering out of your spaceship as you land. Borderless Stellar Sights are only available in Rare and Mythic Rare, with 35 of the former and 10 of the latter specifically. One in eight Play Boosters should contain a Borderless Stellar Sight card in non-foil, with a lower chance of a foil appearing. These cards can also be found in Galaxy Foil finish at a much higher rarity. The rarest Land cards in Edge of Eternities will be the ‘Borderless Poster Stellar Sights’, only appearing in Collector boosters and featuring retro-futurism inspired art from a range of MtG artists excited to work in this setting.
Moving away from Lands, ‘Borderless Surreal Space’ cards take inspiration from pulp novels of the 60’s and 70’s with collage and airbrush aesthetics to imagine the unimaginable, while Borderless Special Guests are easily the most engaging cards visually, these mimic pulp sci-fi, cosmic horror and fantasy covers of the 40’s and 50’s with card costs and effects blended into the artwork itself via font type and colour. The Japan Showcase series features a number of Japanese artists bringing their own unique style to Edge of Eternities.Of great interest to MtG collectors and speculators will be Edge of Eternities’ Singularity Headliner Card, a full art borderless ‘Sothera the Supervoid’ which will appear in very low numbers only in Collector Boosters and as always, only in English. It uses a fractal lens effect which is difficult to capture in images and video, but attempts to capture the beauty and terror of the void.
The Edge of Eternities product line-up continues to offer a similar product range to that of previous waves like Tarkir, with Prerelease and Booster Bundles available alongside two wedge-type Commander pre-con decks, ‘Counter Intelligence’ (Blue/Red/White) and ‘World Shaper’ (Black/Red/Green). ‘World Shaper’ utilises the new allowance for Legendary Spacecraft to feature as the Commander, with ‘Hearthhull, the Worldseed’ also using the Station mechanic. Similarly, ‘Counter Intelligence’ also features a Legendary Spacecraft Commander with ‘Inspirit, Flagship Vessel’ again utilising the Station mechanic. MtG Arena is also receiving all of the new Borderless card types and much more, with the usual set of Play, Pack and Pass Bundles on offer, with Edge of Eternities going live on July 29th.
Pre-release events for Edge of Eternities will take place at all good FLGS’s from July 25th to 31st in advance of the worldwide release on August 1st. The Full Card Gallery will be accessible for those eager to create their ‘must-have’ checklists on July 18th. Stay tuned to Player2 for more Magic: The Gathering content in the lead-up to and post release of Edge of Eternities!
