Magic: The Gathering storylines

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Although Magic: The Gathering is essentially a strategy game that uses decks of cards, an intricate storyline underlies the cards released in each expansion. This storyline is shown in the art, through quotes and descriptions on the bottom of most cards (called flavor text), the novels and anthologies published by HarperPrism and Wizards of the Coast, and the comic books published by Armada Comics.

The majority of Magic's story is set on the plane of Dominaria, and can be broken down into several distinct time periods each detailed in certain sets:

The Thran: The Thran were a race of master artificers who were destroyed by Yawgmoth and his Phyrexians (converted Thran following him) during the Thran-Phyrexian War about 5000 years before the Brothers. They are only hinted at in the game, but J. Robert King's novel The Thran explores their culture in some depth.

The Brothers' War: War between Urza and Mishra, two brothers who were trained by the archaeologist and artificer Tocasia in creating magical devices based off of ancient Thran technology. As their power as artificers grew, so did their enmity, eventually erupting in an all-out war utilizing powerful constructs. Marshalling vast armies aided by their impressive machines (some of the old Thran Empire, some newly made) the brothers staged a series of battles. The war devastated the land of Terisiare on the plane of Dominaria and culminated in a world-devastating climax on the island of Argoth. This caused the Dark, the climate changes which led to the Fall of the Sarpadian Empires and finally to the Ice Age. The Brother's War predated 5 color magic; it was fought with artifacts. This story is the basis for the Antiquities expansion and later the Urza's Saga Block.

The Dark: The devastation wrought by the Brothers led to the fall of many civilizations and the beginning of a dark age in Dominaria, and the destruction of Argoth caused a nuclear winter that would later lead to the Dominarian Ice Age. This story is portrayed in the Fallen Empires and The Dark expansions. In this age Terisiare's survivors were bitterly opposed to magic. Tiny, insular villages dotted a wasted, goblin-infested landscape. Fanatical priests controlled a few powerful city-states. Preachers and witch-hunters hunted the countryside for the few remaining wizards. This story is fully explained in the The Gathering Dark novel by Jeff Grub and continued on to the Ice Age with Eternal Ice and The Shattered Alliance, also by Jeff Grub.

The Ice Age: The climate-altering effects of the devastation continued leading to a global ice age. Eventually this cooling climate was reversed and life returned to normal. This story is portrayed in the Ice Age, Alliances, and Coldsnap expansions, and in the novels Eternal Ice and Shattered Alliance by Jeff Grub. Jeff Grub also wrote a short story "continuing" the story for Coldsnap, which is located in the Player's Guide insert you can find in a Coldsnap Fat Pack.

The Phyrexian Invasion: After millennia of peace, the Phyrexians, who originate on a hellish mechanical world, invade the world of Dominaria from the pocket universe of Rath. War ensues; with the aid of Urza (who has been spending thousands of years planning a defense against the Invasion), the Phyrexians are eventually overcome, but several civilizations are decimated or destroyed, creating social chaos in many parts of the world. The backstory is portrayed in the Tempest and Masquerade blocks, preparation (and Urza's involvement) occurs in the Urza's Saga block, and the Invasion itself occurs in the Invasion block. This is illustrated in depth in a series of articles named "Remember the Weatherlight" at MTGSalvation.com by an author working under the pseudonym "VestDan."

Otaria: After the devastation of the invasion, Dominaria needs time to rebuild. This part of the story takes place in Otaria, a devastated continent that was, surprisingly, the place least affected by the Invasion. It centers on Kamahl, a barbarian, and his quest to get the Mirari, a magical orb of seemingly endless power. In the Onslaught block, the story shifts to a battle between Akroma, an angel, and Phage, Kamahl's corrupted sister, who kills with a touch. Those two women raise armies behind their causes as the Mirari sits in the background of the conflict.

Mirrodin: The story of Mirrodin takes place on a metal world populated by creatures stolen from other worlds, created by the planeswalker Karn. Glissa, an elf, and her friends strive to assemble the mythical Kaldra, so that they can defeat the crazed Memnarch, who lives inside the hollow world. All the while, we learn about the history of Mirrodin, and its loose, but nonetheless present, connection to previous storylines based on Dominaria. It is, obviously, not on the same world as previous storylines, taking place on an artificially created plane. It is later revealed that the world of Mirrodin has a connection to the Mirari.

The Kami War: Taking place in a plane far removed from those seen so far in Magic: The Gathering, this story began in 2004 with Champions of Kamigawa and was continued and finished by Betrayers of Kamigawa (February 2005) and Saviors of Kamigawa (June 2005). It centers on the kakuriyo Kami world (spirit world) and the utsushiyo material world; both working and operating harmoniously until the Kami began attacking the material world, resulting in a grand struggle. This storyline is interesting in that instead of relying on the "color wheel" to denote conflict (traditionally opposing colors such as White and Red are correspondingly in opposition in stories), it is strictly about the Kami world versus the material world, meaning that it is less important what colors a card has for purposes of synergy, but rather whether it is among the Kami world or the material one. (Example: There is a lack for color hosers, and spirits tend to be better together.) The Kamigawa novel ends and the Legends Cycle II books begin.

Ravnica: The story of Ravnica is similar to Kamigawa in that it explores a plane far removed from Dominaria, with little to no connection story-wise. Ravnica is a plane covered almost entirely in cityscape. The city's ten "guilds", loose organizations that revolve around a two-color pair, warred for a long period of time. After the conflict, a magical document, the Guildpact, was created to ensure that the plane remained at peace and that the guilds would constrain themselves to their jobs. The main storyline begins 9,999 years later, as anticipation of the decamillennial anniversary builds. The once-noble guilds have corrupted and decayed over time, and a great political gridlock is all that keeps Ravnica stable. A series of protagonists - most notably Agrus Kos, a law enforcement officer from the League of Wojek and Teysa Karlov, a lawmage from the Orzhov Syndicate, uncover the plots of the various guildmasters, as well as the ambitions of the "secret guild", House Dimir.

Time Spiral: The Time Spiral block returns to a post-apocalyptic Dominaria. Teferi, a planeswalker, abandoned Urza during the invasion by "phasing out", or removing from reality, two landmasses known as Shiv and Zhalfir. He returns to Dominaria to find it in a state of ruin. In addition to having been almost totally devastated by the Apocalypse, mysterious "time rifts" have opened in the skies across the plane, making planeswalking and spellcasting more difficult. Teferi wants to ensure that Zhalfir and Shiv "phase in" to Dominaria unharmed by the events of the invasion - however, the time rifts and overlay of the plane of Rath have rendered the holes in the ground the wrong size. Should Zhalfir and Shiv land, Dominaria would be even more utterly destroyed. This story eventually ventures in a different direction than past stories, bringing back in cameos many older characters and locations rather than discover new ones.

There are numerous other smaller plots and subplots that take place in Dominaria and on the many planes of the multiverse of Dominia as well as events after the invasion of Dominaria by the Phyrexians.

For example:

The sets from Weatherlight up to Apocalypse follow the epic story arc of the crew of the airship Weatherlight, their trek across several planes, and ultimately their role in defending Dominaria from the Phyrexian invasion.
The sets from Odyssey to Scourge, set in the era of upheaval after the Invasion, involve the Dominarian continent of Otaria and the struggle between various factions for the powerful artifact known as the Mirari.
The sets from Mirrodin to Fifth Dawn are set in the world of Mirrodin, where artificial and natural life are inseparably entwined.
Several Magic: The Gathering video games have their own storylines and worlds.

[edit] Book Titles

Harper Prism:

Title	Type	Author	release
Arena	Novel	William R. Forstchen	11/1994
Whispering Woods	Novel	Clayton Emery	03/1995
Shattered Chains	Novel	Clayton Emery	03/1995
Final Sacrifice	Novel	Clayton Emery	05/1995
The Cursed Land	Novel	Teri McLaren	08/1995
The Prodigal Sorcerer	Novel	Marc Sumner	11/1995
Ashes of the Sun	Novel	Hanovi Braddock	03/1996
Tapestries	Anthology	Edited by Kathy Ice	05/1996
Distant Planes	Anthology	Edited by Kathy Ice	05/1996
Song of Time	Novel	Teri McLaren	06/1996
And Peace Shall Sleep	Novel	Sonia Orin Lyris	07/1996
Dark Legacy	Novel	Robert E. Vardeman	12/1996

Armada:

Title	Type	Cycle	Author	release
The Shadow Mage	Comics		Jeff Gomez	07/1995
?	Comics	Ice Age (1)	Jeff Gomez	?/1995
The Frozen Dead	Comics	Ice Age (2)	Jeff Gomez	04/1995
none	Comics	Antiquities War (1)	Jerry Prosser	11/1995
none	Comics	Antiquities War (2)	Jerry Prosser	12/1995
none	Comics	Antiquities War (3)	Jerry Prosser	01/1996
none	Comics	Antiquities War (4)	Jerry Prosser	02/1996
Serra Angel	Comics		Margaret Weis	08/1996
Fallen Empires	Comics		Kevin Maples & Jeff Gomez	1996
Homelands	Comics		?	1996
Wayfarer	Comics		?	1996

Dark Horse:

Title	Type	Cycle	Author	release
Initiation	Comics	Gerrard’s Quest (1)	Mike Grell	03/1998
Legacy	Comics	Gerrard’s Quest (2)	Mike Grell	04/1998
Crucible	Comics	Gerrard’s Quest (3)	Mike Grell	05/1998
Destiny	Comics	Gerrard’s Quest (4)	Mike Grell	09/1998

Wizards of the Coast:

Title	Type	Cycle	Author	release
Brothers' War, The	Novel	Artifacts (I)	Jeff Grubb	05/1998
Rath and Storm	Anthology		Edited by Peter Archer	07/1998
Planeswalker	Novel	Artifacts (II)	Lynn Abbey	09/1998
Colors of Magic, The	Anthology		Jess Lebow, ed.	02/1999
Time Streams	Novel	Artifacts (III)	J. Robert King	04/1999
Gathering Dark, The	Novel	Ice Age (I)	Jeff Grubb	06/1999
Bloodlines	Novel	Artifacts (IV)	Loren L. Coleman	08/1999
Mercadian Masques	Novel	Masquerade	Francis Lebaron	09/1999
Thran, The	Novel		J. Robert King	12/1999
Nemesis	Novel	Masquerade (II)	Paul B. Thompson	02/2000
Eternal Ice, The	Novel	Ice Age (II)	Jeff Grubb	05/2000
Myths of Magic, The	Anthology		Edited by Jess Lebow	06/2000
Prophecy	Novel	Masquerade (III)	Vance Moore	06/2000
Invasion	Novel	Invasion (I)	J. Robert King	10/2000
Planeshift	Novel	Invasion (II)	J. Robert King	10/2000
Shattered Alliance, The	Novel	Ice Age (III)	Jeff Grubb	12/2000
Johan	Novel	Legends (I)	Clayton Emery	04/2001
Apocalypse	Novel	Invasion (III)	J. Robert King	06/2001
Dragons of Magic	Anthology		Edited by J. Robert King	08/2001
Odyssey	Novel	Odyssey (I)	Vance Moore	09/2001
Jedit	Novel	Legends (II)	Clayton Emery	12/2001
Chainer's Torment	Novel	Odyssey (II)	Scott McGough	01/2002
Secrets of Magic, The	Anthology		Ed. by Jess Lebow	03/2002
Judgment	Novel	Odyssey (III)	Will McDermott	05/2002
Hazezon	Novel	Legends (III)	Clayton Emery	08/2002
Onslaught	Novel	Onslaught (I)	J. Robert King	09/2002
Assassin's Blade	Novel	Legends 2 (I)	Scott McGough	12/2002
Legions	Novel	Onslaught (II)	J. Robert King	01/2003
Emperor's Fist	Novel	Legends 2 (II)	Scott McGough	03/2003
Scourge	Novel	Onslaught (III)	J. Robert King	05/2003
Monsters of Magic, The	Anthology		Edited by J. Robert King	08/2003
Moons of Mirrodin, The	Novel	Mirrodin (I)	Will McDermott	09/2003
Champion's Trial	Novel	Legends 2 (III)	Scott McGough	11/2003
Darksteel Eye, The	Novel	Mirrodin (II)	Jess Lebow	01/2004
Fifth Dawn, The	Novel	Mirrodin (III)	Cory Herndon	05/2004
Outlaw: Champions of Kamigawa	Novel	Kamigawa (I)	Scott McGough	09/2004
Heretic: Betrayers of Kamigawa	Novel	Kamigawa (II)	Scott McGough	01/2005
Guardian: Saviors of Kamigawa	Novel	Kamigawa (III)	Scott McGough	05/2005
Ravnica	Novel	Ravnica (I)	Cory J. Herndon	09/2005
Guildpact	Novel	Ravnica (II)	Cory J. Herndon	01/2006
Dissension	Novel	Ravnica (III)	Cory J. Herndon	05/2006
Time Spiral	Novel	Time Spiral (I)	Scott McGough	10/2006