Magic: The Gathering’s longevity is all about introducing new planes. Not a year goes by that a new world in theMagicmultiverse isn’t revealed, adding diverse new settings to the game. It certainly helps players live out the fantasy of being a planeswalker to constantly discover new places.Kaldheimrecently got introducedtoMagic,introducing Norse themes to the setting, but the game is already ready to move on to another new plane in a few months. That plane is Arcavios, and it’ll play host to the new set titledStrixhaven: School of Mages,named for the magical academy that Arcavios is famous for.
A lot of the time, planes are inspired by real-life mythology, like Kaldheim, Eldraine, and Theros. However, sometimes Wizards of the Coast adds planes toMagic: The Gatheringthat are entirely their own invention. Strixhaven is one of those settings, as is Arcavios in general.Strixhaven: School of Magessounds like it’s going to be very different from most other sets tonally, since it’s all about life at a magical school. There may not be the kinds of high stakes plots involving planeswalker battles, politics, and global wars like previous sets do. However, on top of the plane’s uniqueness, the change of pace might be fantastic forMagic.
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Learning About Strixhaven
Wizards of the Coast certainly isn’t the first group to tell a story about a school for wizards. However, Strixhaven sounds like a fairly unique take. This academy is divided into five different schools of magic, each associated with two-color pairs of enemy colors, from Black and White to Green and Blue. Each of these schools within Strixhaven is also associated with a real life type of academics, including math, science, literature, history, and art. Although plenty of magical schools focus on specific kinds of magic, they don’t often incorporate real life studies. It’ll be interesting tosee howMagic’s developerfinds ways to translate real disciplines intoMagicmechanics.
What’s more, the set is being designed with a secret, more subtle theme in mind.Magic: The Gatheringoften uses color pairingsto represent certain groups and organizations like Strixhaven’s schools. However, in most of these settings, the color pairings play off of what those colors have in common. Strixhaven’s schools will be built around what sets the colors in each pair apart. That means Strixhaven’s students probably won’t be as unified within their own organizations as other color-paired groups have been inMagic’s history. Players might be encouraged to make decks that bring these different schools together in creative ways, in contrast to dedicating decks to their favorite guild in Ravnica or shard of Alara.
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Bringing the Multiverse Together
Strixhaven has some significant implications. It’s supposed to be the greatest academy for mages not just in Arcavios but in the Multiverse. That implies that planeswalkers of all kinds come here and appreciate the studies here too. There might be a lot of familiar faces showing up at Strixhaven.Planeswalkers like Tamiyo, Jace Beleren, and moremight happen to decide to visit Strixhaven at the same time as Will and Rowan Kenrith, who are confirmed to appear in the set. This set could bring together characters in way that’ll set up for new plot threads down the line.
There might even be a lot of new planeswalkers introduced here. Since it’s specifically an academy, there could be a lot of young planeswalkers like Teyo Verada who are visiting Strixhaven to gain better control over their magic. Arcavios has a really diverse native population too. It seems to haveseveral rareMagicracesto offer, including dwarves, loxodon, orcs, and even kor. In terms of new characters from Arcavios, the sky’s the limit.
Lastly, this might become a very important place for planeswalkers to come back to down the line. Strixhaven supposedly has an incredibly well stocked library, so it might be where some really important information is hidden away. If the Gatewatch comes back together to fight a new threat in the near future, Strixhaven might turn out to be a crucial resource thatturns the tide inMagic’s plot. There’s so much that Wizards of the Coast can do with this new plane. Although it’s build on a very traditional fantasy narrative, it looks like a unique and exciting spin on the magical school genre.
Magic: The Gatheringis available now in game stores and digitally throughMagic Arena.
