The following insanity comes from the incorrigible mind of BDC
Ok,, hopefully before you begin to berate me online, you will hear me out.
Ok, we’re going to take this one step at a time. First, it began with a post on Reddit that keeps popping up. Brought to our attention by u/LeBubonicPlague 4 months ago, it has been the subject of much speculation, arguments, cheers and jeers since. I’m not going to quote the whole post, so, if you want to read through it go here. The post went through almost two years of spoiled sets with name and descriptions. The first three have either been nearly confirmed or talked about for a year before.
KAMIGAWA: NEON DYNASTY & DOMINARIA UNITED
This all goes back to a post by MTGGoldfish’s Saffron Olive who posted on July 23 that two domains were purchased by Wizards which is their proven practice. One a year after Kaldheim’s domain was purchased the same way and another a few months later.
Multiples were purchased for both, once again, as is their practice, but the name that arose from this was Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty for Winter 2022. The description given by the article linked in the first of the article was Old vs New. Now, Kamigawa being powerfully influenced by ancient Japanese culture, we see loads of ninjas, warriors with Bishido, rats, spirits, goblins and Arcane spells; just to name a few.
Both the mention of NEON and old vs NEW, suggests an upgrade from the old school tropes. We may get more urban settings with an upgraded warrior class with futurepunk type weapons. The Rogues may be more Yakuza-like in fashion. But the old part may be the spirits and Kami that haven’t gone anywhere. The planeswalkers or heroes and villains of Kamigawa’s future are definitely upgraded in futuristic garb. The pics below were apparently part of a survey with descriptions of each character straight from Wotc.
Dominaria debuted in early 2018 but MTG has developed most of their stories in and surrounding this plane. The most well known are Urza’s Saga and the Weatherlight Saga. Returning there is no real surprise. It’s almost inevitable. But why now is the question. The set is tagged “Dominaria United”. United against what? It doesn’t take long to put it all together.
Back at the first of the year, Kaldheim introduced the first official Phyrexian creature type. This is the first time we had seen one in a while and they were obviously up to something. To be clear, they were stealing the sap from the World Tree that made their gods immortal. Hmmm…
But point is their back! And, if they hold a grudge, and I bet they do, they’re more than likely going for revenge and their focus is no doubt Dominaria.
SHANDALAR: ISLAND IN THE MIST
In a response to the aforementioned Saffron Olive, this picture circulated the internet energizing all of the speculators out there. But besides this and the hopes of many, nothing. No domains. No Leaks. Nothing. Oh, unless you count the three cards in Commander Legends who were from Shandalar?
Strangely enough Kenshi Sakashima from Kamigawa got a lot of play too from Commander Legends.
But as far as I can find, Shandalar is nothing more than a meme that keeps on coming. It’s on the wishlist though and can turn Wotc for future sets.
WHAT’S ALL OF THIS ABOUT SLIVERS, PHYREXIANS AND ELDRAZIS?
Ok, here is where it gets REAL dicey. The above link (here it is again) went on for several more sets after the three listed above. They reached all the way into 2023. And, without digging through every detail, one of the big leaps were the return of the Eldrazis happening right in the middle of a war with the Phyrexians. Some Slivers are found on Shandalar, so what you end up with is either a wish list or a trigger list of MTG monsters. It gets attention, that’s for sure. But it is not even close enough to fact for me to speculate.
However, check out our initial reaction in our podcast link.
One side interest was a named, new plane called Mwadwani and it’s set name is Destiny Torn.
The description says “Little girl wreaks havoc on her home plane”. I’m just going to leave Aminatou here for future reference. Hmmm?
WHAT IS NEW CELESTIA?
Found much in the same way Dominaria United and Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, Reddit user u/Paynswalker found another domain bought by the same Network Solutions proxy. It was called “The Streets of New Celestia”. Now, this doesn’t bring ANYTHING up in Magic, so it could be a new plane. Here’s the full post!
BUT, then I saw this!
This is artwork done apparently for Adventures in the Forgotten Realms that wasn’t used. It was done by Alben Tan and this can be seen on Artstation!
“The brand manager of WotC MTG SEA directly contacted me months ago to create content specifically for the new set “Adventures in the Forgotten Realms”. I decided to make Bahamut’s lair “Seven Heavens of Mount Celestia” as a land art. This is to promote the new set and its D&D lore. So glad to be a part” Alben Tan on Artstation
DEBUNKED: the domain name is Celesta not the plane Celestia. Sorry, I got excited!
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