Magic: The Gathering has revealed the details of its next playable expansion, The Lost Caves of Ixalan, many surprises, new mechanics and archetypes.
The Lost Caves of Ixalan is the new expansion for Magic: The Gathering, and Wizards of the Coast, featuring the first decks, cards, key dates, and art to accompany you on your new adventure. After the Phyrexian invasion, we return to the plane of Ixalan, where new factions have settled underground and terrible creatures. The destruction of the surface has forced the inhabitants and creatures to take shelter in the caves, growing and growing. It’s time to take a look at what they’re hiding in a release that promises to have a huge impact on the metagame and collectibles. The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Edition will be the follow-up edition to Wildlands of Eldrain, and in conjunction with the 30th Anniversary of Magic, we’ll once again have surprise and card editions.
Colored, ancestors and colored art
The first thing we discovered was that art was inspired by pre-Columbian Latin America, with distinct influences from the Aztecs and Mayans. Art reflected not only in the cards, but also in the treatment of alternate edges. With Ovidio Cartagena as art director, the visual strength of this edition is not only in the treatment of artists, but also in the cultural influence that inspired this edition. The result is a surprise and an explosion of color, which destroys the darkness left by the Phyrexians in the plane of Ixalan.
The exploration of the Ixalan Caverns will be the basis of this release’s story focused on discovering what the depths hide. Pirates, gods, vampires, and dinosaurs fill the Earth with life and danger. Most importantly, the latter will be the protagonists of a print supported by collecting cards from the Jurassic Park universe.
The collaboration with Jurassic Park comes in the framework of Beyond Universe, where we recently got to experience with Doctor Who and the collaboration with Marvel has already been announced (there is still time for that). These cards will be available in special treatment sealed edition envelopes, collectible envelopes and bundles, which will be resold once the edition launches globally on November 17th.
Mechanics and archetypes, searches return
As for the new mechanics announced, it’s worth highlighting the return of swappable double-faced cards. Most of them change in a traditional way, that is, they do not return after leaving the war, but they are constants who change their actions.
Crafting: A new ability in the edition is an active ability that allows you to exile certain types of cards to convert two face cards. Descend: When a creature moves to your graveyard, the creature’s abilities trigger using the deck archetype that activates the graveyard. Find: Removing cards from the library is not a problem for players, so this new ability speeds up the search for key spells in the deck. This is an ability that allows you to take cards without paying the mana cost in exchange for exile cards. Explore and Map Symbols: It’s basically a scry for both players, but if it lands with advantage it goes to your hand and if it doesn’t, it puts counters on the creature with the ability. Victory in both cases. For creatures without abilities, there’s the map, an artifact that lets you grant that ability for one mana. If a creature not on the battlefield must navigate, it can do so as long as no spell or ability telling it to do so resolves. Undoubtedly one of the most interesting mechanics of the edition. Completion Counters: This is a skill that should be researched through play as it currently adds actions to the previous skill.
Wonders, reissues and treasures
There will be letters written as guests of the collection. Going back to the treatment seen in the great edition of Kamigawa’s Neon Dynasty, we can see the art in bright colors on cards like this example. It will be not only art, but also a special treat in different colors. Wizards of the Coast promises more surprises, so we’ll leave the examples covered so far below.
Gods, bodies and immortal beings
A number of cards have been revealed that show that Gods and Entities will play an important role in the Lost Caves of Ixalan game. So far, the cards have promised to give more space to creatures with the ability to fly, which makes the approaches interesting. From the looks of it, there will be different archetypes to hold to test the playing and significance of the cards. The return of the Melfox god causes the creatures to have fusion between them.
Key dates and international release
We’ve been experiencing the Lost Caves of Ixalan presentation since October 20th, with the first cards being revealed yesterday causing quite a stir in the various magical communities. Next November 3 we will be able to see the entire gallery and evaluate its value and playability. In the year On November 9, there will be an event for the MTG Arena and on the 10th, the presentations will begin, this edition can be tasted for the first time. Finally, on November 17, the launch of the physical edition of the main products will take place: drafts, editions and collection envelopes. We have to wait a bit longer for the bundles.