Magic: The Gathering returns to the plane of Ixalan with The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, a new premiere set of cards and Commanders. Inspired by Mesoamerica, the release features dinosaurs, merfolk, and gods, all wreaking havok both above ground and in the lost caverns under the earth.
Ovidia Cartagena, previously the art director for the Lord of the Rings Universes Beyond set, served as the senior art director on The Lost Caverns of Ixalan. In a Wizards of the Coast press conference, the new set’s worldbuilding designer, Miguel Lopez, explained the team strived to “fix the [cultural and mechanical] failures” of the previous Ixalan release.
This new set allowed Cartagena to take “more inspiration from our lived experiences and get feedback from cultural consultants” in order to more faithfully portray both ancient and contemporary art and culture of the area, slightly separate from the previous Ixalan set. For example, the buy-a-box promo card, “Jadelight Spelunker,” drawn by Cartagena himself, was inspired by the statue of the last prince of K’iche’, Tecun Uman, which he drove by frequently in Guatemala.
There are many factions in this set both above and below the surface: the Sun Empire (humans and dinosaurs), vampire paladins, pirates, merfolk, Malamet (jaguar-folk), the Oltec (a secluded cleric people), and mycoids. Ixalan is also within the Omenpaths, and non-planeswalkers now travel through the plane.
There are three new mechanics introduced in this set: Craft, Descend, and Discover. Craft is an activated ability that uses double-faced cards that will allow you to buff cards in play using other cards on the battlefield or in your graveyard.
Descend is a graveyard trigger—you have “descended” if a permanent card has been put into your graveyard from anywhere. Common triggers will also include “4 Descend” and “8 Descend,” which will require at least four or eight cards in your graveyard. There’s also “Fathomless Descent” abilities which will allow cards to get more powerful the more that you have in your graveyard.
In new mechanics, there’s “Discover.” This allows you to sift through your deck to pull out random spells and cast that card without paying its mana cost or put it into your hand. But a new mechanic, Explore, returns. It will allow more lands to be put into your hand and buff your creatures.
There are four Commander decks for The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, each focusing on unique creature types. A Blue/Black/Red Pirate deck (Admiral Brass, Unsinkable), a Black/White vampire deck (Clavileño, First of the Blessed), a Green/Blue merfolk deck (Hakbal of the Surging Soul), and a Red/Green/White dinosaur deck (Pantlaza, Sun-Favored).
The Lost Caverns of Ixalan will be released on November 17. You can preorder now. Scroll through for more looks at the cards and artwork.
