Wizards of the Coast's latest set is Magic: the Gathering Wilds of Eldraine, and takes place in the fairy tale-themed plane of Eldraine. It features fantastical creatures inspired from the classic fairy tales of your childhood.
Quick notes
- New storyline and new mechanics
- Good for drafting as set feels more balanced
- Fun twists on classic fairy tales
The return to Eldraine also marks a new story unfolding in the world of MtG after the multi-year long arc of the Phyrexian invasion. This took place in sets such as Dominaria United, Phyrexia: All Will Be One, and March of the Machine. This time, you get to explore classic fairy tales, with cards such as the Goose with the Golden Egg as a Bird Hydra legendary creature, or the Red Riding Hood as Ruby, Daring Tracker. You also have villains such as the Conceited Witch, obviously inspired by the Wicked Queen from Snow White.
You'll have gingerbread men artifacts, mice, faeries, knights, as well as witches, nightmares, zombies, rats, and wizards. These cards feature story-themed effects, where you can cast spells that let you do cool story-related things using the new Adventure mechanic. However, once the spell is cast, your card gets sent to exile. You can play them later again from exile. The Saga mechanic from Dominaria returns, and when played, get lore counters that have specific effects that can change the game for you. And I like that these Saga cards all reference specific fairy tales, such as the Wicked Queen's mirror (called The Witch's Vanity).
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Another new mechanic to jazz up the gameplay is Roles, where you (or your opponents) can assign roles to the creatures in the battlefield, giving them buffs and debuffs that are thematically relevant to the roles bestowed. In a sense, this is also a play on the whole fairy tale enchantment theme of the set. There are, however, restrictions. A player can assign only one role to a creature, but a creature can get multiple roles if another player chooses to enchant the same creature. Given that these buffs can make it super strong, it's probably not a good idea to buff your opponent's creature. Instead, use Cursed roles to nerf a potential threat.
Magic: The Gathering Wilds of Eldraine can be experienced via set boosters, draft boosters, commander deck, and collector boosters. It feels a bit more balanced than some of the recent releases so if you like drafting or fairy tales, then this set is a Can Buy for sure. And the good news is that the booster pack card stock is from Japan this time around, which means better quality. Get from Shopee.
Note: Review set provided by Wizards of the Coast.
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