Magic: the Gathering’s Head Designer Mark Rosewater gave players their first look at the upcoming Zendikar Rising expansion today in his SDCC Online panel. He provided of hints about Magic’s next set, but didn’t reveal any details or preview any cards.
Read about today’s other big announcement: Set Boosters.
Zendikar Rising, which will release on MTG Arena on September 17 and in paper on September 25, will be the third third visit to the plane of Zendikar, following the Zendikar block from 2009-10 and the Battle for Zendikar block from 2015-16. For Zendikar Rising, Wizards of the Coast really wanted to recapture the original “adventure plane” feel of the original Zendikar block.
It will follow in the footsteps of the previous two Zendikar blocks in that it will be a land-focused and will feature full-art basic lands. There will also be two returning mechanics from the five sets that made up those blocks, as well as a brand new mechanic that takes a popular theme and “Zendikars it up.” It’s a theme we’ve seen before but done in a new way, Rosewater said, resulting in a mix of new and old.
There will also be six—yes, six— new dual lands. “Many years ago—all my stories start with ‘many years ago,'” Rosewater joked, “I made six dual lands that I was very proud of that I thought were really cool and I’ve been trying to get them into a set. And finally, I’m happy to say that in Zendikar Rising, my six dual lands finally find a home and I think you guys will really like them.”
Rosewater also said that there will be three Planeswalkers in Zendikar Rising—but none of them will be new. The set’s packaging, shown in an accompanying article, revealed those three Planeswalkers to be Jace, Nissa, and Nahiri.
He also hinted at the return of popular Zendikari legendary creatures, one of which will be getting the addition of a new color. Given the packaging above, it would appear that Omnath will be evolving to include White in its color identity based on its newly White arm to go along with its Green, Red, and Blue arms.
Rosewater also confirmed that there won’t be any Eldrazi in Zendikar Rising. The Gatewatch defeated the Eldrazi in the Battle for Zendikar and Shadows Over Innistrad blocks, removing them as a threat to the multiverse . . . for now. But we’ll see the lingering impact of the Eldrazi on Zendikar as the plane begins to recover.
Finally, as with any Magic panel, Rosewater showed off some amazing art from the upcoming set. Unfortunately, the images weren’t accompanied with artist credits or card previews, but Magic art never ceases to amaze. Check out the 14 pieces of previewed art below.