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| Released | September 29, 2017 | ||
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| Size | 279 cards | ||
| Development code | Ham | ||
| Expansion code | XLN | ||
| First set in the Ixalan block | |||
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| Released | January 19, 2018 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Size | 184 Cards | ||
| Development code | Eggs | ||
| Expansion code | RIX | ||
| Second set in the Ixalan block | |||
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Ixalan is a Magic: The Gathering expansion block consisting of the sets Ixalan and Rivals of Ixalan. The first set of the block was released on September 29, 2017 [1] and Rivals of Ixalan was released on January 19, 2018. [2]
The golden city of Orazca, buried deep in the jungle, houses a great secret. The immortal sun, an artifact of immense power, is hidden there. Now, that secret has become known. The great forces of the plane gather to combat one another in a contest to see who will claim the mighty prize. The plane is home to four primary tribes, each with distinct synergies and advantages that draw off of one another. The merfolk River Heralds, the vampiric Legion of Dusk, the Brazen Coalition of pirates, and the Sun Empire's dinosaur riders all meet in open conflict to decide the fate of their world. [3] [4] [5]
 | This section needs additional citations for verification .(June 2021) |
Ixalan included the following mechanics, a mix of new and returning keywords:
All of the above mechanics also appeared in Rivals of Ixalan, with the addition of one new keyword:
Ixalan is an adventure-themed set emphasizing exploration.
The Art of Magic: The Gathering – Ixalan (2017) by James Wyatt was published by VIZ Media in January 2018. [8] Jay Annelli, for CoolStuffInc, wrote "The Art of Magic: the Gathering - Ixalan switches from the vertical approach of the last two art books to a more horizontal approach, covering the four warring factions of Ixalan in great detail. If you want to know more about the extensive world outside of the continent of Ixalan, well that's not really covered here, but by the end of the book you'd be extremely well acquainted with the continent itself". [9]
Rich Stein, for Hipsters of the Coast, reviewed the impact of the Ixalan set on the competitive scene from its release to just before the release of the Rivals of Ixalan set (111 days in total). Stein highlighted that during this time period "there were 21 National Championships, 15 Grand Prix events, one Pro Tour, one World Magic Cup, and one World Championship. [...] [In Standard format,] we can see that Amonkhet also has a significant chunk of the pie and that Ixalan is no slouch either. Even though Kaladesh has clear control of the format, the other five expansions are somewhat evenly represented. [...] But, if we take lands out of the equation [...] this change highlights a very simple fact which is that Ixalan’s key role in Standard right now is to provide access to the ally-colored cycle of dual lands. [...] It’s safe to say that Ixalan limited Grand Prix attendance was down from Kaladesh limited Grand Prix attendance and that should be somewhat concerning. [...] Ixalan limited wasn’t bad, per se, but it wasn’t as enticing as Kaladesh limited was last fall". [10]
James Whitbrook, for Kotaku Australia , highlighted the art of the Ixalan set and commented that "pirates, are, amazingly, one of the few avenues that Magic has rarely explored in its fantastical settings, even as its merrily fired goblins out of cannons or created absurd joke series such as Unglued. Dinosaurs, even less so, which is why the world of Ixalan — released last Friday — serves as a perfect mishmash of roaming piratical fleets, packs of dinosaurs, and even some aquatic Merfolk and Vampiric conquistadors thrown in for good measure. It’s like a beautiful mess of the internet’s favourite things, blended together and pressed into a set of cards". [11]
Cassie LaBelle, for US game store Star City Games, highlighted that "Rivals of Ixalan is almost here, and I have to admit that I’m starting to get excited. I get why you might be hesitant to believe that Rivals is going to affect the Standard metagame very much-I had high hopes that Ixalan was going to shake up Standard back in September, and it didn’t really happen. [...] Remember, though, that all four tribes are fully powered up now. Tribal sets are inherently parasitic, and strategies that weren’t quite there in September should be ready to break through once Rivals hits shelves. [...] Regardless, I feel like some of these new cards will end up hogging the Standard spotlight at some point in 2018. From a financial evaluation perspective, one of Rivals‘ biggest quirks is how conditional so many of its cards are. Most of the tribal cards are only good if you’ve got a critical mass of Merfolk or Vampires or whatever, the cards with ascend vary greatly depending on how easy it is for you to get the city’s blessing, and there are a bunch of other rares that require you to jump through a couple of different hoops in order to earn yourself a Tolarian Academy or something. [...] A handful of them will break out, but culling the hits from the misses ahead of time is more difficult than usual". [12]
Bleeding Cool rated Magic: The Gathering as #1 in its "Best Trading Card Game" for 2018 – stating, "a name we were surprised to see make a resurgence this year was Magic: The Gathering. Not like MTG ever vanished or took time out from its regular pace, but we've noticed in 2018 that the series has found a bit of new life for two reasons. The first is that they created some sets that have really put a bit of a kick back into the game both for casual and tournament play. Rivals of Ixalan did well as the other half of the Ixalan block back in January, while Dominaria and Guilds of Ravnica have added bits and pieces to flesh out some of the old color combinations and make them flourish again". [13]
Zach Barash, in a retrospective review for Hipsters of the Coast, wrote, "the past year has been an interesting one for Magic, filled with high highs and low lows. [...] Ixalan introduced a vibrant new world with arguably the greatest storyline of the decade and some much-needed love for Pirates and Dinosaurs, but was counterbalanced by potentially the worst Limited format of the decade. [...] Rivals of Ixalan and Hour of Devastation continued the trend of small sets fixing many of the problems and homogeneity of large set Limited formats, but introduced their own issues. Hour diluted or outright removed many of the primary themes of Amonkhet, while Rivals of Ixalan replaced powerful, uninteractive aggro decks with insanely powerful, completely uninteractive bomb rares. [...] At the beginning of the year, I was excited about GDS3, close to quitting Limited thanks to Ixalan, and enjoying Magic’s story more than I had since Agents of Artifice. Now, I’m disappointed about GDS3 [...], traveling all over the country to play Limited, and disappointed by Dominaria’s overstuffed and rushed story". [14]
Magic: The Gathering is a tabletop and digital collectible card game created by Richard Garfield. Released in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast, Magic was the first trading card game and had approximately fifty million players as of February 2023. Over twenty billion Magic cards were produced in the period from 2008 to 2016, during which time it grew in popularity. As of the 2022 fiscal year, Magic generates over $1 billion in revenue annually.
Richard Channing Garfield is an American mathematician, inventor and game designer. Garfield created Magic: The Gathering, which is considered to be the first collectible card game (CCG). Magic debuted in 1993 and its success spawned many imitations.
The Multiverse is the shared fictional universe depicted on Magic: The Gathering cards, novels, comics, and other supplemental products. Though Magic is a strategy game, an intricate storyline underlies the cards released in each expansion. On the cards, elements of this multiverse are shown in the card art and through quotations and descriptions on the bottom of most cards. Novels and anthologies published by HarperPrism and Wizards of the Coast (WOTC), and the comic books published by Armada Comics expand upon the settings and characters hinted at on the cards. WOTC also publishes a weekly story in the Magic Fiction column, previously known as Official Magic Fiction and Uncharted Realms.
Mark Rosewater is the head designer for Magic: The Gathering, a position he has held since 2003.
The collectible card game Magic: The Gathering published seven expansion sets from 1993 to 1995, and one compilation set. These sets contained new cards that "expanded" on the base sets of Magic with their own mechanical theme and setting; these new cards could be played on their own, or mixed in with decks created from cards in the base sets. With Magic's runaway success, many of the printings of these early sets were too small to satisfy the rapidly growing fanbase. Cards from them became rare, hard to find, and expensive. It was not until Fallen Empires and Homelands that Wizards of the Coast was able to print enough cards to meet demand; additionally, Wizards of the Coast published Chronicles, a reprint set that helped fix many of the scarcity issues with the earliest sets.
Onslaught is a Magic: The Gathering expert-level block. It consists of the expansion sets Onslaught, Legions and Scourge. The block's main theme is creature types, and much of the game play concerns interactions between these "tribes". The story continues the saga of the Mirari from the previous block of expansion sets. Onslaught was the last block printed before the "modern" card face style was introduced.
Dominaria is a Magic: The Gathering expansion set. It is not part of a block. In celebration of Magic: The Gathering's 25th anniversary, the story returned to the plane of Dominaria. The expansion was released on April 27, 2018. Martha Wells was the head writer for the expansion.
The collectible card game Magic: The Gathering has released compilation sets, reprint sets, and box sets over its history. These are distinct from core sets and expansion sets, the most heavily marketed sources of new cards. With the exception of Chronicles, reprint sets generally do not affect tournament legality in supported formats; for example, cards reprinted in the Modern Masters reprint set, while legal for tournament play, did not necessarily cause the card to be included in the "Standard" environment.
Magic: The Gathering formats are various ways in which the Magic: The Gathering collectible card game can be played. Each format provides rules for deck construction and gameplay, with many confining the pool of permitted cards to those released in a specified group of Magic card sets. The Wizards Play Network, the governing body that oversees official Magic competitive play, categorizes its tournament formats into Constructed and Limited. Additionally, there are many casual formats with the Commander format being one of the most popular formats of the game.
The Lorwyn block is a Magic: The Gathering expert-level block consisting of two sets: Lorwyn and Morningtide. A third set, codenamed "Jelly", was originally planned as part of the Lorwyn block, but partway into the design of Lorwyn, it was split into a two-set block. Jelly was revealed as Shadowmoor, the first set of the new two-set block. The two blocks were linked together and rotated through the official tournament formats as a single, four-expansion unit. The primary theme of the Lorwyn block is tribalism.
Ravnica is a Magic: The Gathering block that consists of three expert-level expansion sets: Ravnica: City of Guilds, Guildpact, and Dissension. Following in the tradition of other Magic blocks, Ravnica takes place in a plane of the multiverse that was previously unexplored in the game's backstory. The world of Ravnica is an ecumenopolis, a vast city that covers the entire surface of its planet, and is home to a diverse assortment of sentient races. Much power in Ravnica is held by the ten "guilds", political factions that each represent a combination of two of Magic's five colors. The mythology of Ravnica is loosely derived from Slavic folklore, and the character names reflect this. This plane was revisited in the Return to Ravnica block, and the Guilds of Ravnica,Ravnica Allegiance, War of the Spark, and Murders at Karlov Manor sets.
A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards. It was introduced with Magic: The Gathering in 1993.
The Rath Cycle is a cycle of three Magic: The Gathering expansions that continues the events of the Weatherlight Saga. Whereas there had previously been no official term for a trilogy of thematically or story-linked expansions, starter decks and booster packs from all three of these sets had the phrase "The Rath cycle" printed on them, firmly establishing "cycle" as the official word of choice and "The Rath Cycle" as the name of this particular cycle. It consists of Tempest, Stronghold and Exodus as the 20th, 21st and 22nd expansion sets, respectively.
Conspiracy is a Magic: The Gathering set and format released on June 6, 2014, cryptically announced through a strange card at the Born of the Gods prerelease events at a game store in the Philippines. It was designed as the first ever multiplayer draft format and is released as boosters, each with 10 commons, 3 uncommons, 1 rare or mythic rare, 1 "draft matters" card of any rarity, and 1 token or marketing card. The tagline for the set is "Pick. Plot. Play.". Many cards from past expansions show up in Conspiracy, but there are also 65 new cards. Excluding the 13 "Conspiracy"-type cards, which can be only used in Conspiracy or Cube drafts, all of the new cards are legal in the Vintage, Legacy, and Commander formats.
Kaladesh is a Magic: The Gathering expansion block consisting of the sets Kaladesh and Aether Revolt. The block debuted with the release of Kaladesh on September 30, 2016. The block is set on the plane of Kaladesh, the original home of planeswalker Chandra Nalaar, and features an emphasis on artifacts, their creators and the magical aether which powers them.
Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica is a sourcebook that details the Ravnica campaign setting for the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game published in November 2018. The world of Ravnica was originally created for the Magic: The Gathering collectible card game and first appeared in the card set Ravnica: City of Guilds, which was released in 2005. It is a high-magic world with a loose Slavic flavor, and features a single city which spans the entire planet that is controlled by ten competing guilds of different ideologies.
Mythic Odysseys of Theros is a sourcebook that details the Theros campaign setting for the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game published in June 2020. The plane was originally created for the Magic: The Gathering collectible card game and first appeared in the card set Theros, which was released in September 2013. It is inspired by Greek mythology and has a powerful pantheon of Gods that are present and active in both the world and the lives of the player characters.
Ravnica Allegiance is the 80th Magic: The Gathering expansion; while it is not part of a block, this set is functionally the second part of a Ravnica focused storyline set on the plane of Ravnica. It was released on January 25, 2019.
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