Wilds of Eldraine is Magic: The Gathering’s latest set and it is a magical return to fairytales, fantasy and… gingerbread? Yes, that’s right gingerbread. Wilds of Eldraine returns the “world’s oldest, and most popular trading card game” to the realm of Eldraine.
Here, players will need to race against time and help the inhabitants of Eldraine “save their realm from an oppressive curse, a tale of whimsy, beauty, adventure, and wickedness is about to unfold…”. Available now on both Magic: The Gathering Arena and tabletop, Wilds of Eldraine continues Magic’s recent trend of fun, unique and interesting expansions.
Thanks to Wizards of the Coast, I could attend two events to celebrate Eldraine’s launch; an Art Summit with Art Director Deborah Garcia and Concept Artist Magali Villeneuve and a hands-on play session at the delightful Storyville bar in Melbourne.
Wilds of Eldraine
Wizards of the Coast has been having tremendous success, returning to familiar locations and re-using some long-lost mechanics and ideas of late. Wilds of Eldraine is no exception. The return to Eldraine makes way for some truly ‘magical’ cards and concepts that lead to, perhaps, Wilds of Eldraine’s greatest strength; its artwork and themes. During the Art Summit, Art Director Deborah Garcia explained the design philosophy and ideas the team worked to imbue this set;
“I would say that with Eldraine, it’s not necessarily dark fantasy, I wouldn’t want to frame it that way exactly. It has many elements of dark fantasy that are integrated throughout the set, but it’s central story being an adventure tale through the lens of the character that both leans into storybook and fairy tale nature, that Eldraine players really love. But you also get to see that epic nature of the impact that the Phyrexian invasion has had from the previous arc.
“So we first took a look at what happened to Eldraine during the events of March of the Machines and worked to include them For example, showing Castle Ardenvale in ruins, or knights that have lost their Kingdom and now roamed the realms and the Wilds. The wicked slumber was a huge event that started during March of the Machines And continues throughout. At card level we tried to carve out a space for the card illustrations that had that darker tone. That was made to be more unsettling or cooler than what we explored in front of Eldraine and just returning to the sources of many of the fairy tales was pretty fruitful, since originally those stories are fairly dark and darker than our current cultural perception.”
Where the story and artwork for Wilds of Eldraine were pulled from the past and from existing stories and ideas, the Roles mechanic is something brand-new for Magic: The Gathering. Roles allow players to enchant creatures and give them a specific archetype that grants certain buffs and boons that can dramatically alter the field of play. The Monster role gives creatures +1/+1 and trample while the Sorcerer role gives +1/+1 and the ability to scry when attacking. Creatures can only have one active role at a time but switching them out is all part of the fun and strategy.
One of my favourite new cards from the set is the Aura Gnarlid. This 3-cost, 2/2 Green Beast is unassuming enough until you realise how powerful it’s ability is. “Creatures with power less than Aura Gnarlid’s power can’t block it. Aura Gnarlid gets +1/+1 for each Aura on the battlefield.” At first I wasn’t sure that playing this beast was worth the effort, but then, during my play session at Storyville, one of my Commander opponents pointed out that all Enchantments, including Roles are Auras. Soon, my 2/2 Beast was 13/13 and unblockable by nearly all of my opponents.
Once I started to add other Enchantments to it it became a massive problem for my opponents to overcome. Unfortunately, they were able to wipe the board and I had to bid a tearful goodbye to my Gnarlid, but it felt great to play and fun to watch everyone scramble to come up with solutions.
Another new mechanic I didn’t have a chance to play with during my hands-on session is Bargain. Bargain allows “players to sacrifice certain cards in return for a boon.” For example, Kellan’s Lightblades, a White Instant, deals 3 damage to a target attacking or blocking creature. However, if a player Bargains and sacrifices an artifact, enchantment or token the spell destroys the creature instead. Bargains are a powerful way to improve spells and offer the potential to drastically change the outcome of the game. You have to lose something to play them but the payoff seems worth it.
Also appearing in Wilds of Eldraine are Adventures and Sagas. The Adventures and Sagas allow artists to really go for broke with the design of the cards and Villeneuve and Garcia explained how inspiration was drawn for these cards;
“Working within the context of fairy tales and also mediaeval England, so things like the Sagas using an illuminated manuscript, wood carving, tapestry, even cake frosting. Huntsman’s Redemption is probably my favourite saga.
“I really had a like love at first sight thing with the saga by Julia Metzger [The Princess Takes Flight]. It really is a beauty.”
Wizards of the Coast has included new card treatments as part of the expansion too. “Every booster of Wilds of Eldraine will contain at least one Enchanting Tales card treatment, which are reprints of powerful Enchantment cards from Magic’s history. Also appearing are 11 new Borderless Storybook cards, including Eldraine’s only planeswalker, Ashiok. Additionally, collectors will find 20 rare and mythic Enchanting Tales cards that have been reimagined in a striking Anime style, each with an even rarer version featuring a totally new Confetti Foil Laminate treatment.”
To start your journey into the Wilds of Eldraine, Wizards of the Coast is offering to paths; Good and Evil. Two preconstructed Commander Decks are available featuring the Fae Dominion and Virtue and Valor. Players can also grab the Starter Kit which is a fantastic way for anyone new to the game to learn. It’s also a fantastic way to teach someone how to play Magic: The Gathering.
But wait, there’s more! Locally, Wizards of the Coast has teamed up with MissMollyMakes to create some incredible recipes for fans to recreate at home. Grab them above and see how you go.
Wilds of Eldraine is available now and, like other recent sets, it continues Magic: The Gathering’s incredible upward trajectory. The set feels fresh, fun and unique and playing is an absolute blast. It has the perfect balance of silliness, fantasy, darkness and humour and the artwork is, as usual, stunning.
If you’ve never played Magic before, Wilds of Eldraine is a perfect entry point. If you’re a lapsed player, there’s never been a better time to jump back in and if you’ve never stopped playing, well, you won’t be reading this because you’ll be too busy playing Wilds of Eldraine. And with that, I’m off to do the same.
Leo Stevenson attended a hands-on event as a guest. Food, drink and cards were provided.
