Magic: The Gathering kicks off its first proper hard sci-fi set with Edge of Eternities, a set that might just be one of its best in years.
Magic: The Gathering – Edge of Eternities
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So if Final Fantasy was the set that teased me into getting back into collecting physical cardboard, Edge of Eternities is the one that cemented it. I’ve been hungry for a hard sci-fi setting in Magic for a while now, because there’s some fun potential for setting and game design there, and Wizards really knocked it out of the park with this set.
Edge of Eternities introduced the new Warp and Station mechanics, and they’re some of my favorite set gimmicks in a while. Warp lets you cast a card for a significantly lower cost, at the price of having to exile it at the end of the turn (but still being able to cast it for its full cost while in exile). Station lets you tap creatures to “power” the new spacecraft cards, granting them new abilities as you reach their threshold. These two pair wonderfully with each other as you can warp a creature in, station them to power up a spacecraft, and still be able to cast them from exile after the turn is over.
Wizards kept it simple this set with just two commander decks, and man, they are two of my favorites. Now, I’m not a particularly huge fan of commander decks that are built around pumping up your commander to do one big swing; I tend to prefer commanders that play into the title and “command” the rest of the cards in the deck to make them more powerful instead of helping set up fun combos. Both of the decks in this set, Counter Intelligence and World Shaper, do precisely that, but in different ways.
Out of the two, Counter Intelligence might be my favorite, but that’s partially because I’m a big sucker for artifact decks. Here you have the dual commanders, Inspirit Flagship Vessel and Kilo Apogee Mind; either is great to use as the commander and works really well at what this deck likes: building up counters. One game in particular that I won using Darksteel Reactor (auto wins you the game when the card reaches 20 counters) was done using a combination of Inspirit to slowly give it two counters each turn, along with a Myr to add an extra counter. Including Darksteel’s passive counter buildup, that’s four charge counters a turn, but we can do a bit better. I also had Karn’s Bastion, which let me proliferate each turn, giving everything an additional counter, along with Tekuthal, which let I proliferate; I get to do it twice. Throw in my luck of drawing Kilo, and tapping him to station into Inspirit (which was already at 8+ to grant my artifacts hexproof and indestructible), that meant I could proliferate four more times. Using this, I was able to snowball rapidly into getting the win with Darksteel Reactor despite my attempts to warn the board about it. Other games I played with it focused more on building up armies of artifact creatures that I could safely swing/block with since they had protection from Inspirit. Love a deck that offers multiple win conditions instead of one singular strategy.
World Shaper is its own beast, focused on taking out your opponents by sacrificing your own lands using cards like its commander, Hearthhull the Worldseed, which deals 2 damage to each opponent whenever you sacrifice a land. There are a lot of ways this deck works to aid you via sacrificing lands, either to gain you a card draw or even bringing creatures back from the graveyard, and because of the secondary commander Szarel Genesis Shepard, who lets you play lands from your graveyard, there’s no fear of sacking them. One particular combo sees you using Exploration Broodship’s passive, which enables you to cast a spell from your graveyard by sacrificing a land. If you have Hearthhull out on the field, that means you’re pinging each opponent for two damage on top of that. Keep a card like Splendid Reclamation handy, which brings all lands from your graveyard back to the battlefield, and you’re good to repeat the combo.
Edge of Eternities was a complete slam dunk of a set for me. It’s got an elegant narrative setting, the art is some of Magic’s best, it’s mechanically interesting, which makes you play in fun new ways, and the commander decks are both excellent right out of the box. If you’ve been thinking of getting into Magic, or missed out on this set, I can’t recommend it enough. (Diego)
To Infinity and Beyond
Are you familiar with the old saying: “In space no one can hear you be mana screwed”? Edge of Eternities(EOE) is one of Magic: The Gathering’s most recent sets, and centers on the equivalent of outer space in Magic: The Gathering. Though space may seem like a strange setting, with Universes Beyond happening and previously going to a futuristic science fiction-based realm of Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, it definitely isn’t outside the realm of possibility. Some even think EOE is a bit of a warm up for 2026’s Star Trek set. Tezzeret, Cruel Captain is back and holds no color allegiance, and still like artifacts very much.
In space, you’ll of course need Spacecraft(s). While vehicles aren’t new to Magic: The Gathering, and neither are capable flying ships, to use these space-faring vessels, you’ll need to station them. Similar to the Crew ability, you’ll tap another creature, and its power will provide an amount of charge counters on the Spacecraft. These ships nearly all have flying, and if you thought constantly crewing a vehicle was too much work, I’ve got good news for you. After Station-ing a card with enough power, it is fully operational: when fully Stationed, it either becomes an autonomous creature or has a more potent effect, as if to represent the gulf between regular vehicles and high-tech spacecraft.
There are more abilities such as Warp, which players may be reminded of from previous abilities like Evoke or Impending. You do have to pay the full cost eventually unless you have some sort of trick like flickering (ie, Ephemerate) the Warped card back in, so that it forgets it was Warped. Void is another ability, and again, it seems to crib from previous abilities like Morbid or Revolt, but also can be activated by Warp this time around.
Lander Tokens join Clue, Food, and Map tokens as a new token type that’s hopefully here to stay. As of writing, there have not been many two-mana land fixers (though landers are attached to a card themselves, so it technically costs more than 2 mana) until Universes Beyond: Avatar: The Last Airbender’s Shared Roots.
So you’ve done the travel preparations, and now are ready to launch into the void itself, space. The question is, how to get your hands on these cards? Quite a few ways actually. EOE has two Commander decks, World Shaper and Counter Intelligence. EOE Promo Packs contain three cards that might be from EOE, but you could also score big with some “greatest hits” from Magic: The Gathering, like Bloodthirsty Conqueror, Twinflame Tyrant, or Psychic Frog.
What would going to space be without taking in the cosmically awe-inspiring sights? Even basic lands have a chance to be a Borderless Celestial variant. EOE: Stellar Sights are cards that have a chance to pop up in EOE Play Boosters and are guaranteed in EOE Collector Boosters. EOE Collector Boosters not only have that morsel, but also may contain Galaxy Foil versions of these lands. If you don’t just want cosmic beauty, but want your cards to “aura farm” while the cosmos is at their back, there are also Borderless Triumphant cards. These cards feature characters like Tezzeret simply daring your opponent to even approach your spacecraft, with some of the celestial bodies of EOE behind them. Borderless Viewport lands and Borderless Surreal Space cards can also be obtained through most packs. Last but not least, don’t forget the Art Series: EOE cards that have a chance of being packs.
As is tradition at this point, EOE has Special Guest cards that have a chance to show up in packs, emulating classic science-fantasy book covers. Additionally, Japan Showcase cards that only appear in Collector packs take inspiration from classic science-fantasy manga and anime imagery, and have a chance to be in Japanese.
Sothera, the Supervoi,d has a special, very rare variant in Collector packs for the collectors in your life. Some other standouts from this set include Quantum Riddler (both in Borderless and non-Borderless varieties), our favorite scheming Planeswalker, Ouroboroid (Extended Art and non-Extended art), and Evendo, Waking Haven(Borderless). Extended-Art cards may also be found in Collector packs.
If you know someone who’s subsisted on astronaut food for the last ten years of their life, this may just be the perfect gift for them. Play Boosters, Sleeved Play Boosters, and Collector Boosters all have art that may not explain the unknown reaches, but looks darn good regardless. (Branford)
