Wizards Of The Coast Announces Major Design Change To Magic: The Gathering

Republished By Plato

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2023 is a big year for Magic: The Gathering. The major Phyrexian storyline just concluded with huge consequences for the game's narrative and world, while sets like Tales from Middle Earth expand the game's multiverse to include characters from other franchises entirely. Elements of the game's design philosophy have also changed, with Standard rotation undergoing a massive overhaul. Now, a major change is coming to the game's attitude toward Planeswalkers.

Planeswalkers are some of the most popular cards in MTG due to their high importance in the story as recurring characters, as well as their unique, powerful mechanics. In most sets, Planeswalkers take up several Mythic card spots and are frequently some of the most interesting, if not always the most powerful, cards in the set. March of the Machine: Aftermath stripped many fan-favorite Planeswalkers of their sparks, reducing them to regular Creatures, a major event in the story.

This set features one Planeswalker card: Ashiok, Wicked Manipulator. A character who is thrilled to learn of an plane largely asleep. You will see other characters who were Planeswalkers but have been desparked. #MTGEldraine pic.twitter.com/NQSZVw7Q4o
— Magic: The Gathering (@wizards_magic) July 28, 2023

During a panel discussion at today's Wilds of Eldraine preview event that took place at MagicCon: Barcelona, Magic head designer Mark Rosewater revealed that going forward, each Magic set is limited to just one Planeswalker.

"Right, so this is something kinda brand new, this is a big deal," Rosewater said. "From our perspective, it lets us put a huge focus on that Planeswalker."

The Planeswalker that will be heading Wilds of Eldraine is Ashiok, a mysterious and ethereal being with the power to feed off of and control nightmares, a big boon in a plane currently plagued by a sleeping curse.

Ashiok's card certainly looks powerful: Ashiok, Wicked Manipulator comes with the passive ability of exchanging the payment of life for costs with exiling cards from the top of their controller's library, as well as anumber of activated abilities that benefit from this potentially game-breaking boon.