Magic: The Gathering’s pantheon subtype is nothing to joke about. But while we’re strapping our sandals to go meet the gods of Theros, a new threat looms on the horizon – the unknown land of Ikoria. What is it about? Let’s speculate!
After the returns to Ravnica, Theros and the upcoming Zendikar sets, it is rare to see a brand-new plane these days. We had a wild ride through Eldrane, but now our gaze is set to the mysterious Ikoria. This is a place where the story of Magic: The Gathering hasn’t taken us yet. We know almost nothing about this world, but we can make a couple of predictions and educated guesses. Let’s go!
Beasts!
This is obviously the big one. It’s in the name. While Behemoth isn’t a creature type in magic, we can safely expect to see all sorts of huge Beasts, Leviathans, and why not some Dragons?
Big creatures have been a staple of Magic: The Gathering since its very inception and a favorite aspect of the game for many players. While green specializes in these, we are sure there will be a ton of beauties in all five colors and their combinations.
We have a hint about a “make your own beast” mechanic, and we’re thinking combinations of cards. Something we’ve seen in the past with the funny contraptions of Unstable and the gruesome monsters of Eldritch Moon.
Garruk Wildspeaker in action
Garruk is one of Multiverse’s greatest hunters, always on the lookout for bigger game. However, he spent the last decade as a half-monster, cursed by Liliana Vess. In the recently released Throne of Eldraine set and its supporting book, he was finally set free from his awful curse and regained his strength. Now, he is sure to return to the forests in search of the toughest creatures to track and kill for sport. And there’s hardly a better place than Ikoria for that.
Kiora as a central character
Another planeswalker with much to prove is the merfolk Kiora. Last time we saw her in Magic: The Gathering, she was breaking dams and drowning bad guys in the War of the Spark, riding a huge Simic-made leviathan. Ikoria looks like a tempting destination for her adventures to come.
Here’s our speculation – what if she’s able to control the biggest creatures and Ikoria is an entire plane full of them? We predict that she’ll be tempted to abuse this great power and turn into the villain of the story. Will Garruk or the Gatewatch confront her? Probably not. She will most likely bring her own downfall through her reckless actions.
