My favorite sets in Magic are ones that upset the delicate balance of the color pie. Torment/Judgement, Planar Chaos, and most recently New Phyrexia are all famous examples. They force you to reimagine Magic, changing it forever. For some it feels like a visit to the uncanny valley, but for me it feels like a well-needed variation on my favorite game. Like playing in a new place with its own house rules. Sign me up, Jace!
Reality Fracture is MTG's latest in-universe set. It caught my attention immediately when they spoiled this card. Pow! A fresh take on an old favorite, Snapcaster Mage. (Speaking of alternate universes… this Hatsune Miku version is swoon inducing.)
For those of you who play mono-red burn decks, it's time to take another look… For those of you who play against them, beware, they just jumped up a tier.
You just entered Jace's Echoverse! (Play the Twilight Zone theme song here.) This is not exactly an attack on the color pie. It's more of a "What If…?" version of the multiverse. It's a world where Jace has "improved" on many familiar characters and mechanics. And the limited (sealed & draft) experience is going to be memorable. More on that soon…
Back in the real world: far from routine, this is the first prerelease where we're leaning heavily on the new Guild Hall Prelude to host a bunch of great events. It's our biggest play space yet and will host our biggest events. In case you haven't already visited it, I want to encourage you to, specifically so you can confidently arrive on time and ready to play! Each prerelease event has a location attached, so when heading out to play, please check your destination in advance.
7pm Sealed (Guild Hall Prelude)
11:30pm Sealed (Main Street Cafe)
7pm 1v1 Sealed (Guild Hall Prelude)
3:30pm Collector's Sealed (Main Street Cafe)
Back to Reality Fracture: you're going to hear and experience the term "Mirrored Pairs" a lot this set, as each pack will contain one pair! Ask Lilliana about it. She appears here as one of the 7 rare pairs in a very flattering de-sparked version. There are also 3 mythic pairs and 33 uncommon pairs to look forward to.
On a very similar note, like Stingcaster Mage, there are a ton of "Echoverse" alternate versions of cards that are guaranteed to delight (or dismay) you. If you've been playing a while, you'll likely recognize these riffs on popular cards from Magic's long backstory. Whatever format you play, there's something here for you. Two examples:
But wait, there's more! In addition to a sweet new location, we're also trying a new format on release weekend that has proven popular at recent conventions: DELUXE Sealed deck. This gives players 2 Reality Fracture collectors packs + 4 play boosters to make a 40-card sealed deck. It's another experiment in making sure event participants have access to collector boosters at MSRP, rather than forcing them to queue up in the mad rush on pre-release morning. Give it a try and let me know if it scratches the itch for unique, memorable game play!
I look forward to hosting you at the new Guild Hall Prelude and seeing your reactions to this awesome new set.
Lastly, there is a plethora of MTG events coming this fall, including sealed deck league play, draft league, casual Standard (with a meta banlist), a pauper social event, win-a-dual Legacy and Vintage tournaments, and… just maybe, the return of the Lady Planeswalkers Society get-togethers. All deets should be available on either our website or our discord as they become available.
