With the preview stream for Zendikar Rising coming on Tuesday, Gavin Verhey used today’s episode of Good Morning Magic to go over the story line from previous Zendikar sets.
Before Verhey gets deep into the story, he breaks for a minute and a half to talk about and address the demand for enemy-color fetchlands. He acknowledges the need and want for the powerful lands, but reiterates that he and other members of Wizards of the Coast (WotC) can’t talk about them until they are finally previewed for whatever set they are in.
After talking about fetchlands, Verhey details the PAX parties where Magic sets are often unveiled, including the original Zendikar and the first glimpse of the enemy-color fetchlands. Other mechanics and features of the set were landfall, kicker, allies, adventuring and questing, and a general lands matter theme.
Next came Worldwake, headlined by Jace, the Mind Sculptor. The set built on landfall, adding it to instants, upgrading kicker to multikicker, and included the card Eye of Ugin, which seemed confusing at the time. It led to speculation and hype for what was to come next. Rise of the Eldrazi paid off the hype with the Eldrazi titans: Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, and Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre.
When we returned to Zendikar in Battle for Zendikar, the plane was under attack and looked much different than the first time we visited. It brought back landfall and allies while introducing new mechanics like devoid, ingest, processors, and awaken. Then Oath of the Gatewatch hit, bringing colorless mana to the game with cards like Kozilek, the Great Distortion, Reality Smasher, and Thought-Knot Seer. The set had a lot going on by jamming mechanics like surge, cohort, and the Oaths into it.
With a third trip back to Zendikar in Zendikar Rising, the plane and set will look a lot more like the original block with an emphasis on the adventure aspect of the world. For more information, check out the official preview stream at 11 am ET/8 am PT on Tuesday at twitch.tv/magic.