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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 thirty-five million players as of December 2018, and over twenty billion Magic cards were produced in the period from 2008 to 2016, during which time it grew in popularity.
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.
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.
Friday Night Magic is a format of Magic: The Gathering tournaments, held on Friday nights in gaming stores and associations all across the world. They are designed to be a beginner-friendly introduction to organized play.
The rules of Magic: The Gathering were originally developed by the game's creator, Richard Garfield, and accompanied the first version of the game in 1993. The rules of Magic have been changed frequently over the years by the manufacturer, Wizards of the Coast, mostly in minor ways. However, major rules overhauls have also been done a few times.
Commander is a series of supplemental Magic: the Gathering card game products. Its mechanics are derived from a fan-created format known as "Elder Dragon Highlander (EDH)". The official Commander format is "the only sanctioned format maintained by an outside entity" other than Wizards of the Coast.
Scott M. Fischer is an American artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games and in children's books.
Gavin Verhey is a Senior Magic: The Gathering Designer at Wizards of the Coast. He has been a member of numerous Magic set Design and Development teams since joining in 2011, including Aether Revolt, Conspiracy, Conspiracy: Take the Crown, Fate Reforged Gatecrash, From the Vault: Angels, From the Vault: Annihilation, From the Vault: Twenty, Ixalan, Kaladesh, Modern Masters 2017, Oath of the Gatewatch, and Shadows Over Innistrad, in addition to being the lead designer of Archenemy: Nicol Bolas, Commander 2017, and Battlebond. He also currently writes the weekly column Beyond the Basics on the official Magic website. Mark Rosewater considers him part of the fifth generation of Magic designers.
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.
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.
Theros Beyond Death is a Magic: The Gathering expansion set. It is not part of a block. It was released on January 24, 2020. The set's development codename is "Baseball", and its expansion code is THB.
Throne of Eldraine is a Magic: The Gathering expansion set. It is not part of a block. It was released on October 4, 2019. The sets development codename is "Archery", and its expansion code is ELD. MTG Arena also officially launched with this set.
Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths is a Magic: The Gathering expansion set. It is not part of block. The sets development codename is "Cricket", and its expansion code is IKO. The set was released on April 17, 2020 in Asia and on May 15, 2020 in the rest of the world. The release date of the set was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kaldheim is the 86th Magic: The Gathering expansion and is not part of a block. It is set on the plane of the same name. It was released on February 5, 2021. It also became available in MTG Arena on January 28, 2021.
Guilds of Ravnica is the 79th Magic: The Gathering expansion; while it is not part of a block, this set is functionally the first part of a Ravnica focused storyline set on the plane of Ravnica. It was released on October 5, 2018.
Zendikar Rising is the 85th Magic: The Gathering expansion and is not part of a block. It is set on the plane of Zendikar. It was released on September 25, 2020. The sets development codename is "Diving", and its expansion code is ZNR.
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.
War of the Spark is the 81st Magic: The Gathering expansion; while it is not part of a block, this set is functionally the third part of a Ravnica-focused storyline set on the plane of Ravnica. It was released on May 3, 2019. It also became available in MTG Arena on April 25, 2019.
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