MTG head designer Mark Rosewater says the new Magic: The Gathering ‘micro set’, The Aftermath, is supposed to be “like the extra scenes you see in Marvel movies during the credits”.
According to Rosewater, there was too much story content to fit into March of the Machine, and so Set Design devised the Aftermath ‘Epilogue Booster’ as an “opportunity to sum up a few things and to hint at where the story is going.”
There was a risk of making the whole thing too large, the head designer explains in his latest Making Magic piece. “The goal wasn’t to make a whole second set. We just wanted something small to hit the highlights”.
The biggest highlight, and therefore the main focus for March of the Machine: The Aftermath, is that most MTG planeswalkers are losing their sparks. Card spoilers were revealed on Tuesday May 2, showing all 50 Aftermath cards – including 10 de-sparked planeswalkers, which take up every Mythic Rare slot in the set.
Another big impact of March of the Machine are rifts opening between planes, seen for the first time in cards like Open The Way. “The Omenpaths are going to be an impetus for a lot of future stories,” Rosewater says. Expanding further on his blog, he adds that “Any major reshaping of the multiverse is to allow us new opportunities. There are sets we’re currently making that we couldn’t make before.”
It sounds like Epilogue boosters or sets are not necessarily going to be the new normal for Magic, and the head designer says the reception will likely determine if Wizards makes more of them. “As with anything new, we want to see what the players think of it,” he states.
After Aftermath, we’re heading to the Wilds of Eldraine for more storybook goodness. But first, MTG Lord of the Rings will arrive, precisely when it means to. Check out the MTG release schedule for more details.
Source: Wargamer
