With every new plane that it introduces,Magic: The Gatheringgains more potential story threads. As a general rule, everyMagic: The Gatheringset featuring a new world introduces a planeswalker or two who’ll get involved in futureMagicstories, but the worlds themselves are impactful too. A lot of planeswalkers run around theMagicmultiverse, seeking objects of power or sources of knowledge that’ll fulfill whatever benign or malign quest they’re committed to. All of these possibilities mean that there’s sure to be a lot of excitement among lore-mindedMagicfans when Wizards of the Coast announces upcoming sets and the planes they’ll take place on.
In recent history,Magichas added a ton of new planes. Every setting from Eldraine to Ikoria to Arcavios adds new perspectives onMagic,both in terms of lore and gameplay. In 2022, there’s seemingly only one totally new plane scheduled, but the sets coming out in early 2022 are still totally new approaches toMagic: The Gathering.Next year,Magic is returning to Kamigawato explore its new cyberpunk aesthetic, and then it’ll take fans to a totally new setting called New Capenna that has a striking aesthetic borrowed from the Roaring 20s. These highly modern planes are very far away fromMagic: The Gathering’s swords-and-sorcery roots, but that’s not a bad thing. Both planes are positive signs of growth.
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Kamigawa and New Capenna Break the Mold
The firstMagic: The Gatheringset releasing in 2022 isKamigawa: Neon Dynasty,which brings fans back to a plane that fans haven’t seen in more than 15 years. The original Kamigawa was heavily inspired by feudal Japan and Japanese mythology, introducing ninjas, samurai, and a diverse legion of curious spirits.Kamigawa: Neon Dynastyis set 10,000 years after the original ancient sets from Kamigawa, showing how cyberpunk influence has come to dominate an advancing Kamigawa. Cyberpunk isn’t in any way an aesthetic thatMagic: The Gatheringhas used before, so it’ll be interesting to seehowMagiccards represent techlike sci-fi guns, computers, and so on.
Streets of New Capennareleases in Q2 2022 afterKamigawa: Neon Dynasty.While not much is known about New Capenna since it’s seemingly in a brand-new plane, there are a few conclusions that fans can draw. New Capenna art suggests that it heavily borrows from the Art Deco aesthetic of the 1920s, rather than a high fantasy style likeso many otherMagic: The Gatheringworlds. Its demonic crime families clearly seem inspired by the early 20th century’s prolific criminal empires, and the city itself seems like it’ll have technology appropriate to New Capenna’s inspiration.
Kamigawa: Neon DynastyandStreets of New Capennahave one important thing in common: they takeMagic: The Gatheringto time periods more reliant on technology than ever. There have beenMagicplanes like Mirrodin that made frequent use of magical artifacts, but that’s wholly different from cyberpunk’s advanced tech and realistic cars and guns from the 1920s. In other words, it looks like Wizards of the Coast no longer feels the need to limit itself to high fantasy. More and more,Magicseems more willing to experimentwith other genres, which is fantastic. MixingMagicwith other genres opens up an endless number of storytelling and mechanical possibilities.
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Magic: The Gathering is Looking Forward
Interestingly, both of these groundbreaking sets are coming out in the same year as two sets aboutDominaria, the high fantasy planethat hosted most ofMagic’s stories for a great many years, which offers quite the contrast. Dominaria isn’t lesser than New Capenna or cyberpunk Kamigawa for being a highly traditional setting. However, staying in Dominaria forever would’ve vastly limitedMagic: The Gathering’s storytelling options in a game that’s supposed to be about a diverse multiverse.Magic’s original core plane is still a good hub, but it’s for the best that the game has expanded beyond it.
Wizards of the Coast’s willingness to pioneerMagic’s themes with Kamigawa and New Capenna means there are probably big things inMagic’s future. Although there’s stillplenty of ongoingMagicnarrativeson worlds like New Phyrexia that are worth addressing, it’s also good to see some more growth and experimentation beforeMagicgets to those.Magic: The Gatheringis a game steeped in tradition that’s often slow to change. It’s taken a long time to get to this point, butMagicfinally seems ready to truly broaden its multiverse’s horizons.
Magic: The Gatheringis available now at card shops and digitally throughMagic Arenaon PC and mobile.
