It may feel like Strixhaven: School of Mages just came out (it was released two weeks ago), but preview season never really ends. So today, Wizards of the Coast gave us our first look at Magic’s next set, Adventures in the Forgotten Realms.
Don’t miss our coverage of today’s previews from Modern Horizons 2 and the return of sanctioned in-store play to the US.
The Adventures in the Forgotten Realm expansion is set in the Forgotten Realms, a world from Dungeons & Dragons (which is also owned by Wizards) and features a plenty of callbacks to spells and items from the role playing game. It contains some of the game’s most popular characters and locales, as well!
As with Modern Horizons 2, the release and prerelease dates for Adventures in the Forgotten Realms has been delayed by a week to July 23 and July 16, respectively. The set will still be available on MTG Arena and Magic Online on July 8.
Tiamat, the Queen of Dragons
It wouldn’t be a Dungeons & Dragons set without dragons, and Wizards decided that Tiamat was the perfect dragon to include. She is a chromatic dragon, with one head of each color, and is one of the most evil characters in D&D.
The Locales on Basic Lands
All five basic lands in Adventures in the Forgotten Realms will have four variants with unique art, each featuring a locale within the Forgotten Realm. The flavor text of each land “features a prompt for an adventure,” similar to the beginning of a D&D campaign.
Emblematic D&D Items, Spells, and Races as Magic Cards
Dungeons & Dragons is as much about the characters, items, and spells as it is the dungeons or the dragons. To that end, Wizards revealed a few cards that play directly into those those themes.
First was the Portable Hole, a popular piece of fabric that you can lay on any surface to create a hole. Used for hiding yourself or even hiding away a pesky enemy, you should never leave home without one.
Second was Power Word Kill, a spell that can instantly kill a normal-sized creature in D&D. Its translation to Magic changes the less-than-100 HP requirement to non-Angels, Demons, Devils, or Dragons.
Prosperous Innkeeper marks the introduction of the Halfling creature type to Magic. Halflings are the Hobbit-esque creatures of D&D and are known to be kind, curious, and a little less suited for adventuring than other races in the game.
Finally, Vorpal Sword will be the Buy-a-Box card for Adventures in the Forgotten Realms. In D&D, the Vorpal Sword is known for having a good chance of cutting an enemy’s head straight off their shoulders.
But those weren’t the only cards Wizards showed off today!
The Rule Book Showcase Frame
Despite the fact that they removed the name, mana cost, and rules text from the card, that is in fact the Baleful Beholder. Beholders are an iconic creature from D&D that are floating balls with a single large eye with several other eye stalks coming out of its body.
This particular Beholder has a showcase variant in Adventures in the Forgotten Realms, called the classic rulebook frame. It gives off the vibe of old D&D Monster Manual, with the strong ink lines on faded parchment.