Magic: The Gatheringis about to release its newest expansion, Edge of Eternities, and it was first addressed as a “space opera” set when the roadmap of releases for 2025 came out. This is very much still the case now that the set is being revealed, and it may feel like a huge departure forMagic: The Gatheringexpansions after the likes of Bloomburrow, Duskmourn, or Tarkir: Dragonstorm. However, Edge of Eternities is still fundamentallyMagic, just with a different flavor. Game Rant attended a preview of Edge of Eternities cards and its products via an online panel.
How Magic: The Gathering’s Edge of Eternities Doesn’t Depart From Typical WotC Sets
Edge of Eternities puts an emphasis on the distinction between science-fantasy and science-fiction, with the former being grounded in magical, fantastical elements, more akin to theMagic: The GatheringIP. The new Starbreach Whale card is a good example of this logic, as it would normally be frowned upon as a concept for science-fiction that’s grounded in actual science, whereas it makes sense in theworlds ofMagic: The Gatheringbecause they are not necessarily tied to physics in the same way as the real world or hypothetical sci-fi worlds.
As such, Edge of Eternities still offers the same core conceits ofpastMagic: The Gatheringsetsor the game’s identity as a whole. The set includes a card called Cosmogoyf, which long-time fans will recognize as a different version of a Lhurgoyf, a type of creature unique to the IP, but with a space-themed spin as it appears as a constellation. Yet, the expansion wants to offer a new setting for the game that hadn’t been explored outside of lore, with it being the far edges of the Blind Eternities in the Sothera system.
The set also contains five planets that are Land cards in the game, each corresponding to one of thefive colors inMagic: The Gathering. Edge of Eternities does have some typical sci-fi tropes in it, too, like alien civilizations, but they are all grounded inMTGfashion. This also applies to cards themselves, such as Haliya, Guided by Light, which embodies several core principles of White cards, like gaining life and effects tied to gaining life in a turn.
Perhaps even more iconic is the connection between longstanding villain Tezzeret and machines, making him a perfect Artifact-themedPlaneswalker inMagic: The Gathering’s new set. This card is also particularly strong because it gains loyalty counters whenever an Artifact enters, without the clause that it needs to be a non-token Artifact.
It’s worth noting that the Edge of Eternities set will mark the return of the so-calledShock Lands in Magic: The Gathering’s Standard format, this time with Sothera-themed art.
Edge of Eternities Marks a Big Departure From Past Rules for Magic: The Gathering
The set includes several new mechanics, as customary with eachMTGexpansion. However, Edge of Eternities also marks a big change forMagic: The Gathering’s Commander format, as players will now be able to use vehicle cards and spacecraft cards as their decks' commanders.
Aetherdrift added many new vehicles toMagic: The Gathering, and Edge of Eternities is now introducing spacecrafts, which share some DNA with vehicles but are their own thing. These cards have the Station mechanic, which allows players to put a charge counter on a spacecraft by tapping a creature they control, and then spacecrafts turn into creatures when they reach a certain charge counter threshold.
Edge of Eternities' New Mechanics Call Back to Some of MTG’s Most Iconic
This is similar to the Crew mechanic onMTG’s vehicle cards, but it’s also fundamentally different and makes for a nice lore-based addition to the set due to the spaceships found in it. Spacecrafts are not the only cards to have the Station mechanic, either, as shown with the planet Uthros, Titanic Godcore, which has an additional effect mirroring legendary Land cards fromMTG’s history when reaching a certain threshold of charge counters.
The new planet-themed cards in Edge of Eternities also have the “Planet” subtype.
Another new mechanic is Warp, which allows players to cast creatures with Warp from their hand for a reduced cost, and then exile them at the end of the turn. However, cards with Warp can be cast again from exile for their actual mana cost, which is not too dissimilar in concept to Flashback, but on the other end of the spectrum. Interestingly, this mechanic is to represent how objects can disappear or fly under the radar in space, even warping the space-time continuum.
Void is also a new mechanic in Edge of Eternities, which is a keyword that gives a given card additional effects based on whether a permanent left the battlefield that turn or a spell was played for its Warp cost. An example is Tragic Trajectory, which is a 1 CMC card that gives the target creature -2/-2 as a Sorcery, but can give that creature -10/-10 if Void conditions are met.
Lander is the final new mechanic in the set, creating a Lander token when conditions are met. This token can be sacrificed while spending two mana to search the library for a basic Land to put tapped into play, essentially acting as a ramp mechanic. This works perfectly withMagic: The Gathering’s Landfall mechanic, which can also be found in the expansion for added flavor and combos.
Magic: The Gathering’s Edge of Eternities Products Explained
Collectors won’t be left empty-handed with Edge of Eternities either. The expansion includes a series of Borderless Celestial Basic Lands that are all inspired by the setting, with spaceships and planets taking center stage. On top of that, there will be Borderless Viewport Lands, which are unique versions of the various Planet Lands with Station. Another cycle of thematic Lands comes from the Borderless Stellar Sights and Borderless Poster Stellar Sights, which are reprints oficonic Lands fromMagic: The Gatheringwith art inspired by Edge of Eternities.
With other treatments like Borderless Surreal Space, Borderless Special Guests, and Japan Showcase, Edge of Eternities has a lot of fantastic cards to collect.
Another noteworthy addition is the Singularity FoilHeadliner card forMagic: The Gathering’s Edge of Eternities. This is one of the new serialized cards in the game, and in this case, it’s dedicated to Sothera, The Supervoid.
What to Expect From Edge of Eternities' New MTG Commander Decks
Magic: The Gathering’s Commander decksare still a big part of a new product cycle, and Edge of Eternities features two new ones: the World Shaper deck and the Counter Intelligence deck. The former is Black, Red, and Green with a theme of sacrificing lands, and the latter is Blue, Red, and White with a heavy artifact and counter theme. These both feature a spacecraft commander, building on the rule change coming to the format.
