Looking at all the various and disparate worlds and planes Magic: the Gathering has visited since 1993, from today’s Innistrad and Zendikar to yesterday’s Ulgrotha and Dominaria, it’s quite a body of work. So many different settings, so many different moods (idyllic to demonic and everything in between)…

It makes me wonder, as a longtime Magic player, where the game can travel to next. It seems like MTG has innovated so much in its fantasy worlds that coming up with a new realm/plane seems very difficult.

Magic’s Fantasy Planes Thus Far

Dominaria – Time Spiral, Weatherlight, Onslaught, Odyssey, & Ice Age blocks; Fallen Empires set

Dominaria is one of the most oft-visited planes in Magic, having been featured in many sets over the years. It’s kind of a “home base” for Magic, full of many forms of recognizable fantasy flora, fauna, and humanoids.

Ulgrotha – Homelands set

Only visited one time in all of M:TG history (thus far), the hopelessly rural and isolated Ulgrotha serves as the backdrop for one of Magic’s most player-hated sets, Homelands.

Rath – Tempest block, Nemesis set

Built as a base for Dominaria’s enemy Phyrexian armies to build up, Rath has a gritty black/red feel to it, almost like a seedy Dominarian underground.

Mirrodin – Mirrodin block, Scars of Mirrodin block

As the setting for both the idyllic “artifact industrial revolution” of the original Mirrodin block, and the apocalyptic “demonic artifact takeover” of the Scars of Mirrodin block, the plane of Mirrodin has hosted practically the whole emotional gamut of hope and despair.

Ravnica – Ravnica block

Made up of 10 guilds within a huge city, Ravnica was the setting for the tussle between various two-color alliances (and lots of inter-mana politics!). Last visited in 2006, it’s rumored to be on the menu for later this year as well.

Alara – Alara block

Broken beyond recognition, Alara first appears as a fairly low-fantasy plane shattered into five pieces, each piece missing two mana colors, thus paving the way for tri-color decks galore. The plane gets re-unified over the course of the Alara block, and all spells become multicolored as a result.

Zendikar – Zendikar block

This plane is an oddity, a techno-fantasy landscape dotted with Hedrons (basically, big ole geometrically-perfect rocks). While “normal” fantasy beings live on Zendikar, it seems like another planet, too–almost like a Mars fantasy, almost but not quite Earth-like.

Innistrad – Innistrad block

If you love horror, Innistrad certainly has it in droves, with all sorts of high-fantasy, terrifying creatures brought to life. Not only that, but a grand conflict of good vs. evil tinges the whole plane–with evil much more represented than good.

M:TG Sets Based on Real Places

Not only has Magic explored lots of fantasy planes, but they’ve also visited fantasy versions of real Earth regions, such as:

• Fantasy Africa (Mirage block)
• Fantasy Middle East (Arabian Nights set)
• Fantasy China (Portal: Three Kingdoms set)
• Fantasy British Isles (Lorwyn & Shadowmoor blocks)
• Fantasy Japan (Kamigawa block)

Popular and Unpopular Realms

It seems that Dominaria is most popular among developers, and many of the players as well. The traditional “fantasy” fare of elves, goblins, wizards, vampires, angels, and the like, plus landscapes that match such epic majesty, have captivated all of the M:TG world for a number of years. But what about the lesser-known planes and universes?

Many players didn’t go for the countryside of Lorwyn and Shadowmoor, and even less of the player base seemed to care for the other “Magic in real places” sets, especially Kamigawa (though that may have been less about the setting and more about the cards in the set itself). Mirrodin, though, enjoyed a good bit of popularity (at least among my local sect of gamers), as did Ravnica–the artifact-driven setting and the city-state setting seemed to resonate with players more effectively than other sets.

These days, Innistrad and Zendikar seem fairly well-tolerated, but many gamers’ focus is less on the setting and more on the card mechanics. (Are people really interested in the settings of various blocks, or is M:TG moving away from the fantasy-flavored landscapes in favor of stronger mechanics? A question for the ages.)

What Would I Like to See It Return To?

I personally liked the rural charm of Lorwyn and Shadowmoor, and wouldn’t even mind a return to Ulgrotha (since I wasn’t playing during Homelands and didn’t get a real feel for the setting). But then again, I’m a country girl, with a love for forested landscapes and lovely natural settings… 🙂

Possible New Ideas

With M:TG already having visited Western Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan, and much of Africa, perhaps now they can do a few sets/blocks featuring fantasy versions of the Americas. A South or Central American setting might be cool–maybe even an after-Ice-Age setting in northern Canada. Or heck, maybe they could get really crazy and have an Un-set take place in a real USA city or region somewhere, just for fun. (I could put in a few cards like “Walmart Overrun” and “Nobody Knows How to Drive on 74,” plus “You Can’t Fight, You’re In Front of a Church!” because we have about 1,000 churches in my town…LOL)

What Are Your Thoughts?

What are your most favorite M:TG planes and settings? Where would you like the game to “travel” to next? Leave me your thoughts in the comments–I’d like to get more player input on this.