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Wizards of the Coast has finally kicked off Magic the Gathering's Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty preview season by fully lifting the lid on the first ever sci-fi set.
This cyberpunk set is bringing back a number of old faces (some of them in very, very different forms to when we last saw them) while also introducing a load of new mechanics to keep things fresh.
While the reveal stream did go over a lot of ground we'd already covered in the sneak preview late last year, we were also given confirmation of the four Planeswalkers headlining Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty.
The Planeswalkers of Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
We'd already see Kaito Shizuki, a new Ninja character who brings Phasing to Planeswalkers to the first time. He's being joined by Tezzeret – an evil artificer who has been on the run since War of the Spark – and The Wanderer. The Wanderer has been a long-running mystery in Magic, and now we've finally been shown who she really is: The Wandering Emperor of Kamigawa, stripped of her Kami Kyodai and forced to Planeswalk against her will.
Both of their cards are fascinating. Tezzeret reduces the cost of an artifact's activated abilities, and can also turn any artifact into a vehicle. Meanwhile, The Wandering Emperor has Flash (it can be played at instant speed, including on other players' turns), and you can activate her loyalty abilities at any time.
The fourth Planeswalker of the set is a major spoiler for the Neon Dynasty story. Tamiyo, the Moonfolk Planeswalker who helped save Innistrad in the Shadows Over Innistrad block, is captured by the Phyrexian Jin Gitaxias, and is "compleated". Merged with metallic augmentations and forced to become part of the Phyrexian hivemind, Tamiyo is now Tamiyo, Completed Sage.
A simic (green/blue) Planeswalker, Tamiyo introduces the new Compleated mechanic that uses Phyrexian mana at a Loyalty cost for Planeswalkers. You can either pay the full cost of two generic, one green, one blue, and either a blue or a green and have her enter the battlefield with five Loyalty counters. Alternatively, you can ignore that last blue or green and pay two life instead. If you do, she only enters with three Loyalty. So far, she is the only Planeswalker with this mechanic, but she might not be for too long with the way the story is going.
Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty's Mechanics
It wasn't just Planeswalkers we were introduced to, several mechanics were revealed for the set. Returning are Ninjutsu, which allows you to swap an unblocked attacker with a Ninja from your hand, and Channel, which lets you discard a card from your hand for an effect. Vehicles are also confirmed to be returning, and seem to be a major part of the set thanks to mechs, motorbike-riding rats, and more.
Something coming back in a fun, different way are Sagas. They've been a popular mechanic in every set they've been in, and this time they're going to be double-sided; completing the Saga on the front face will transform it into the creature on the back, something we've never seen in Sagas before.
There are two brand-new mechanics: Reconfigure and Modify. Neon Dynasty is introducing artifact creatures who are also equipment, and the Reconfigure mechanic will allow you to pay mana to attach and detach the creature like any other equipment.
Modify is a 'batching' mechanic. That is, it's a keyword that groups together other entities in the game in a similar way to what Historic did with artifacts, Sagas, and legendaries. Any permanent that has an equipment attached, enchanted with an Aura enchantment, or has a counter on it is considered Modified. Though the mechanic doesn't inherently do anything itself, there will be lots of cards in the set that care about it, such as Goro-Goro, Disciple of Ryusei, which can make a 5/5 flying dragon if you control an attacking creature that is modified.
The Commander Precons
Modified will also be the main mechanic of one of the two Commander preconstructed decks, which were also announced. The first is the Gruul (red/green) Upgrades Unleashed, led by Chishiro, the Shattered Blade. Whenever an Aura or Equipment enters the battlefield under your control, you make a 2/2 Spirit token with menace. Then, every Modified creature you control gets a +1/+1 counter at your end step.
The other deck is Vehicle themed, and is the Azorius (white/blue) Buckle Up. Its Commander is Kotori, Pilot Prodigy (bringing back the Pilot creature type, which we haven't seen in a while). Kotori sets the Crew cost of all vehicles to just two generic mana, and at the start of combat on your turn can give an artifact creature (such as a crewed vehicle) lifelink and vigilance.
We didn't see any more of the Commander decks beyond their face Commanders. The rest will be revealed at the very end of the Neon Dynasty preview season.
Alt-Art Styles
We were shown a lot of the alternate art styles in the sneak preview stream. Last year we were shown the Ninja frame, one of the set's three Showcase frames. It is a sharp and futuristic frame that'll only appear on Ninja-themed cards (every Ninja will get an alternate with this frame, as will the Ninja Planeswalker Kaito Shizuki).
What we hadn't already seen is the Samurai counterpart. The Samurai frame is a lot more traditional, featuring rope, fabric, and ornate framing. This frame will be seen on every Samurai in the set and on The Wandering Emperor (who isn't technically a samurai, but… go with it).
Every rare and mythic rare that isn't a Ninja or a Samurai will use the set's third showcase style, called Soft Glow. This is the most high-tech of the three, giving the card a Tron-like look full of neon bars.
Japanese artists are also contributing large amounts of art to the set, with many cards having alt-art manga styles. There are some big names involved in this, such as Fist of the North Star creator Tetsuo Hara illustrating the alternate art for Kaito Shizuki.
The last new alt-art we were introduced to was only seen on Tamiyo, Compleated Sage and Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant. It is, of course, the return of the Phyrexian language cards we last saw in Kaldheim. These cards are the same as the standard printing, but all the text is replaced with the Phyrexian language. Phyrexian is an actual, fully-fleshed-out language constructed by Wizards of the Coast, and new cards like this will be very exciting for those who work to try and decode it.
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Today is the first day of the Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty preview season. For the next eight days, we're going to be seeing a lot of new cards come in to build upon the things we've seen today.