Codecracker HoundCodecracker Hound | Art by Julia Metzger

After the absolutely unrivaled success of the Final Fantasy set, where could Wizards of the Coast possibly take us with the next universes within set? With the issues the community has had with Murders at Karlov Manor, Outlaws and all the way up to Aetherdrift, the community was understandably apprehensive about vising another brand new world that had a theme that was... out there.

Well, Edge of Eternities is here and look at that, the community's fears that this would be "just another hat set" have completely evaporated. With the release of the entire set's gallery we've seen what makes this set real, what makes this set feel like the perfect next step for Magic to take after the Universes Beyond set that broke records. That, of course, is the art, the story and the gameplay that remains utterly Magic; and the best place to see this is in the mechanics.

So lets look at the mechanics behind Edge of Eternities and see what makes this set work!

Warp Speed

To start, I want to explain the mechanic that will not only be the most memorable in the set, but also the one that almost every other ability in Edge hinges on. It informs how we should look at not only the majority of cards but also goes a long way in teaching players timing and sequencing naturally.

By far the most plentiful mechanic, appearing on about 23 different cards in the set, with a home in each colors, warp is the mechanic Wizards wants you to see. Warp a lot of mechanical (pun not intended) depth to it that is not as obvious on first glance so we'll need to take a look at some examples:

Warp allows us to cast a creature from our hand for a lesser cost, but then it exiles from the battlefield at the beginning of the next end step. We can cast said card from exile on a later turn but only for it's full original cost.

Now casting something for a lesser cost to only get temporarily has some call backs to evoke and casting something from exile on a later turn harkens back to foretell and plot, but clearly is a bit different from each of those. You honest to goodness just get to have two full-on casts of a creature, and everything that could mean to the board you've set up.

Any "when a creature/permanent enters/leaves do X" can trigger twice, so Impact TremorsImpact Tremors and PurphorosPurphoros get double duty off of a single creature, and even Ketramose, the New DawnKetramose, the New Dawn and Ranar the Ever-WatchfulRanar the Ever-Watchful somehow get even better than we thought possible.

"Cast spells from exile" commanders like Faldorn, Dread Wolf HeraldFaldorn, Dread Wolf Herald and Prosper, Tome-BoundProsper, Tome-Bound get a huge glow up from the later recasts of the warped cards, but we need to remember one key thing about this mechanic: These cards don't stick around as blockers.

While red might be used to the dash mechanic, like on RagavanRagavan, just about every other color is accustomed to having the creatures they cast stick around to be blockers or even attackers on later turns. Warp cards must always exile themselves on the next end step, so there'll be times where it's actually the better play to just fully cast the creature for its regular cost in order for your board state to grow.

You could cast fifty spells with warp all in one turn, but your opponents will swing into a wide-open board as if nothing ever happened. So unless conditions on your board state are already set up with other creatures, you might just want to ignore the warp ability on cards like Mightform HarmonizerMightform Harmonizer, Rayblade TrooperRayblade Trooper, and Susurian VoidbornSusurian Voidborn, because they produce negative value on a naked board.

Which is honestly one of the things make this mechanic soo interesting; the fact that we're easily incentivized to just... ignore it nearly half of the time when the timing isn't perfect.

So yeah, warp might not be great very early in the game before we have everything all set up, but we should keep in mind the flurryflurry of it all. Yes, flurry is "back," although for some weird reason they don't actually call it flurry this time around, and are instead just re-lengthening the ability, like on Cosmogrand ZenithCosmogrand Zenith.

Whatever, warp is very very good for getting that second spell cast, and if you have good enters abilities like MechanozoaMechanozoa, getting to cast that and a Sinister CryologistSinister Cryologist for four on a turn that you have something looking for two spell casts is going to be an almost unbeatable turn.

It's all about timing with the warp ability, which isn't saying much as most all of Magic is about timing and sequencing, but it is a bit rare to have a mechanic that dips into each color make that so clear.

From setting up incredible plays with Weftstalker ArdentWeftstalker Ardent and Starfield VocalistStarfield Vocalist, doing weird things with Timeline CullerTimeline Culler and All-Fates StalkerAll-Fates Stalker, or just straight up crashing out with Tannuk, Steadfast SecondTannuk, Steadfast Second, warp is the mechanic that will define not just this set, but potentially Standard as a whole. There are infinite possibilities present when you can guarantee two casts, two enters, and up to two leaves of a singular card, so don't toss any of these away.

Legitimately, keep a playset of any you find because they could end up being very good at a moment's notice. Like right now - that moment is right now.

Void

Speaking of ways to make warp good, lets introduce you to void, a brand new mechanic that honestly is a derivative of a previous mechanic: Revolt, but made specifically weaker for reasons that honestly make a lot of sense if you played back in Aether Revolt.

Void says to trigger itself if a nonland permanent left the battlefield or was warped this turn. Found only on fourteen red and black spells (which is weird because it's, by lore, only applicable to the Monoist faction who are only on black cards, but I digress) void is another mechanic from Edge of Eternities that's about waiting. We're waiting to see how a thing is going to leave the battlefield this turn, as long as it's not a land, of course.

We can do that in a myriad of ways; we could attack unfavorably with a little 1/1 and either force an opponent to block or take the damage because void will trigger if any nonland leaves. Or you could swing with a big ol' 10/10 into a 1/1 chump blocker, if they block, that counts as a permanent (horrifically) leaving the battlefield, even if its an opponent's.

This decidedly nonland card leaving the battlefield unlocks the hidden potential of our spells. Temporal InterventionTemporal Intervention turns into a better Inquisition of KozilekInquisition of Kozilek thanks to void, and Hymn of the FallerHymn of the Faller becomes surveil 1, lose one, and draw two with the mere removal of an opponent's creature.

Some creatures don't even do anything unless void is triggered, like Roving ActuatorRoving Actuator and Voidforged TitanVoidforged Titan (I guess it is in the name). Plasma BoltPlasma Bolt and winner of the most terrifying art of the set card Tragic TrajectoryTragic Trajectory both are fine in their own rights, but become removal spells that hit well above their weight class with void.

Yet if your opponent doesn't look like they will block, or you simply can't force an attack, you do always have warp to rely on, and thanks to that option, we can swing with my absolute favorite boy-failure Alpharael, StonechosenAlpharael, Stonechosen and half someone's life total on attack. Chorale of the VoidChorale of the Void lets us bring in creatures that we maybe, perhaps, just removed with a spell, and swing them at the fool who was foolish enough to leave a perfectly good 10/10 in the graveyard.

There are a lot of options we have with these fourteen cards, and I'm excited to see the crafty ways people will get up to in order to trigger void.

My Favorite Station

I'm Commander Kurohitsuki, and this is my favorite mechanic on the citadel. While warp might be the most impactful mechanic, station is going to be the most iconic. The ability to crew these massive Spacecraft and PLANETS(!!!) in order to fully arm and activate them in our game of Magic: The Gathering is one of the coolest things in the entire world.

So cool that honestly just leaving it up to the tried and true crew mechanic would have been an upset, so Wizards invented the Station keyword in order to give us that real retro space-age vibe.

When a Spacecraft comes into play, it's merely an artifact. Sometimes, like planeswalkers, they have a natural ability, like Rescue SkiffRescue Skiff and Susurian DirgecraftSusurian Dirgecraft, but after those enters abilities, they're permanents just sitting there, waiting for activation through station.

In order to Station a card, we need to tap a creature we control and add charge counters equal to its power to the stationed card. Unlike crew, we don't need to station up to certain amount, we just tap any of our creatures and add the appropriate counters. Also, unlike crew, we can only do one creature at a time, and only at sorcery speed, which was one of the biggest mistakes about crew (according to WOTC; I think it's neat).

Once we add those counters, any of the listed abilities on the cards unlock. Lumen-Class FrigateLumen-Class Frigate turns into an artifact anthem, Entropic BattlecruiserEntropic Battlecruiser becomes an incredible win-con for discard decks, etc. Once we get to the end however, and have enough charge counters to get the last ability, then and only then can a Spacecraft turn into a creature and stays a creature, unless it somehow loses its counters.

That's largely all there is to the mechanic itself; you can tap creatures even if they have summoning sickness, because you're doing it as the activation cost to a separate permanent's ability, and remember that this is one creature at a time at sorcery speed. Other than that, simple as.

Each Spacecraft has flying, naturally, and once they turn on they are some pretty decent bodies, but their main value is going to be in their enters and first level abilities.

The clear winner is Dawnsire, Sunstar DreadnoughtDawnsire, Sunstar Dreadnought, which is the sickest card in the set, and really embodies everything that these massive objects are supposed to feel like in Magic. Taking an entire twenty worth of power stored up over time on an artifact that eventually swings at you for your starting life total is just Chef's KissChef's Kiss.

Another note is that warp can be used for the station mechanic as well, seeing as how, again, we don't need haste in order to pay for the cost. So casting a creature to have temporarily but it can fully station up your Spacecraft is a huge part to keeping these cards good in the long run. Don't sleep on Bygone ColossusBygone Colossus in your draft packs, as it will fully station just about anything for just !

Oh and the Planet cards are sick too, no notes really, they work exactly how the Spacecraft work other than not actually turning into creatures (also note that not all Spacecraft can become creatures). Still always tap for a mana regardless of the counters on it.

Obligatory Artifact Token

The new artifact token for this set is Lander. Just like the Blood tokens from Crimson Vow, and Food tokens from Throne of Eldraine, these artifacts are the new tokens that will fill out each of our packs when we start diving into Edge of Eternities.

They tap and sac for and search for a basic land to put into play tapped then shuffle. It's like every color gets access to a Rampant GrowthRampant Growth, and that's pretty neat.

You can activate them at instant speed and help trigger landfall, which is a returning mechanic present on quite a few cards in the set. That's about it though, nothing too special here and the applications are rather intuitive.

Landers just pop out of cards as a little treat on top of what the card was already doing, and hey, you might have some extra mana lying around because you spend less mana on a creature because of its warp cost instead. Or you triggered void by having a permanent leave the battlefield this turn. It all comes full circle!

Thank you for joining me on this expedition into the Edge of Eternities. Its by far my most looked-forward-to set of the year and its knocked everything out of the park, from its gameplay, all the way down to its lore (which was SOO good, you HAVE to listen to the audio version).

I honestly think its going to be a very fun draft format and it's making Standard look very fun once rotation hits; so there is something for everyone!

I've been Kurohitsuki, and this, is my favorite set on the Citadel!

Signing off.