In a quite significant tonal shift, the latest Magic: The Gathering expansion follows up the multi-chapter epic multi-versal Phyrexian war with a set that’s all about magic, fairytales and angry gingerbread people. Wilds of Eldraine returns players to the plane first seen in 2019’s Throne of Eldraine set, in a story that’s all about magic, enchantments and a little more levity than MTG players may have come to expect after the grandiose stage of the last few expansions.
Seeing Wilds of Eldraine for the first time, the new art of the cards really makes an impression, with both standard and borderless art featuring some really beautiful and sometimes overtly wacky imagery. There’s mages transforming hapless heroes into frogs, witches offering sweet treats, and yes even gingerbread heroes like Syr Ginger going full goblin mode. There are also other cards that feature a more abstract art style, evoking stained glass windows or more modern stylised storybooks.
Storybooks and fairytales are the running theme in Wilds of Eldraine, which features a new storyline clearly inspired by them. In this narrative, the denizens of Eldraine find themselves under a sleeping spell that is slowly overtaking the plane, unless a band of heroes can turn the tide.
Enchantments are a big deal in Wilds of Eldraine, as you can assign new ‘Roles’ to your creatures that provide them with potentially hugely beefy bonuses. For instance, the Monster role provides +1/+1 plus trample, while the Virtuous Role (in Commander decks) will grant +1/+1 for every enchantment you control. Combined with something like Daybreak Coronet, which provides +3/+3, first strike, lifelink and vigilance to an already enchanted creature (usually with a role), you can create some really intimidating creatures. In one of the games I played, with four Commander decks, three of them being green, the number of beefy creatures feeding off the pool of enchantment auras creating massive health and attack buffs got to a fairly unbelievable point. There are cards to mitigate some of the ridiculousness, such as ‘Grave Pact’ which helps you take other cards down with your creatures’ demise, or ‘Expel the Interlopers’ to decimate the playing field.
The ‘Bargain’ mechanic also allows you to sacrifice cards to effects in certain situations, such as sacrificing an artefact/enchantment/token in exchange for increased damage. The ‘Sagas’ mechanic from earlier sets also returns, allowing for effects to the battlefield to take place over several turns, as do ‘Adventures’ from the previous Throne of Eldraine set.
Wilds of Eldraine is available with the usual set boosters, draft boosters and collector’s boosters. Every booster contains at least one ‘Enchanting Tales’ card treatment, which are reprints of Enchantment cards from MTG‘s past, while 11 Borderless Storybook cards are also available, along with 20 rare Enchanting Tales cards that have been reimagined in an Anime style. Magic also partnered with Aussie MissMollyMakes for some fairytale-themed recipes you can check out on her stream. The Wilds of Eldraine set is now available.
This article is based on a launch event for Wilds of Eldraine, provided by Wizards of the Coast.
