Story Spotlight

The lower half of the card Captured by the Consulate, showing the forked planeswalker symbol behind the text, and the Story Spotlight designation and URL below the text box.

Story Spotlights are a small group of cards found in each expansion set from Kaladesh onward. They are marked by the words "Story Spotlight" (initially followed by a sequence number) below the text box.

Description

Story Spotlights convey the broad strokes of that set's storyline when collected and read in order. Each such card also shows the web address for Magic Story, mtgstory.com, where the complete narrative can be read.

In addition to the text label at the bottom of the card, each early Story Spotlight card carried a watermark of the planeswalker symbol in its text box. Until Rivals of Ixalan, each set had a total of 5 Story Spotlight cards.

History

The story has been told in a variety of media, including novels, comic books, webcomics, and ebooks. Currently, new chapters are published weekly in the online Magic Story column, which is more popular and more widely read than all previous models of storytelling. However, many players remain unfamiliar with the story. Story Spotlights were created to make the story more visible, and draw less enfranchised players to the online column.

Story Spotlights are the latest of several iterations showing the story on cards. Tempest card art depicted the story nearly scene-for-scene, but the cards lacked any explicit order. At some point afterward, a policy was instituted barring cards from showing key story events. More recently, that policy was dropped, and a concerted effort was made to convey major plot points on cards.

Before their printing, the name "Pivotal Moments" was considered for the Story Spotlight cards. However, it was changed for being inadequately self-explanatory.

Because Core Set 2019 was filling in the story and was not part of the current storyline, it had no Story Spotlights.

Starting with Guilds of Ravnica, the story spotlight cards no longer tell you the order they occur in. This was done to give away less of the story when the set was previewed.

As of War of the Spark. the Story Spotlights no longer featured the planeswalker symbol watermark.

Lists of Story Spotlights

Set name	List of cards
Kaladesh	Inventors' Fair Captured by the Consulate Deadlock Trap Fateful Showdown Confiscation Coup
Aether Revolt	Consulate Crackdown Pia's Revolution Disallow Battle at the Bridge Dark Intimations
Amonkhet	Renewed Faith Cruel Reality Anointed Procession By Force Gideon's Intervention
Hour of Devastation	Hour of Revelation Hour of Glory Hour of Promise Hour of Eternity Hour of Devastation
Ixalan	Ixalan's Binding Vraska's Contempt River's Rebuke Thaumatic Compass//Spires of Orazca Perilous Voyage
Rivals of Ixalan	Flood of Recollection Induced Amnesia Mastermind's Acquisition
Dominaria	Broken Bond Final Parting Settle the Score In Bolas's Clutches
Guilds of Ravnica	Firemind's Research Guild Summit Assassin's Trophy Thousand-Year Storm
Ravnica Allegiance	Rampage of the Clans Kaya's Wrath Ethereal Absolution Emergency Powers
War of the Spark	Act 1 Emergence Zone Ravnica at War Dreadhorde Invasion God-Pharaoh's Statue Ignite the Beacon No Escape Act 2 Rally of Wings Awakening of Vitu-Ghazi Topple the Statue Enter the God-Eternals Pledge of Unity Spark Harvest The Elderspell Deliver Unto Evil Act 3 Niv-Mizzet Reborn Storm the Citadel Divine Arrow Unlikely Aid Tyrant's Scorn Price of Betrayal Gideon's Sacrifice Command the Dreadhorde Despark Heartwarming Redemption Prison Realm Oath of Kaya Planewide Celebration
Throne of Eldraine	Unexplained Vision Kenrith's Transformation Return of the Wildspeaker Happily Ever After
Theros Beyond Death	Agonizing Remorse Triumphant Surge Relentless Pursuit Heliod's Punishment
Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths	Tentative Connection Sanctuary Lockdown Thwart the Enemy Heartless Act Lead the Stampede
Zendikar Rising	Lithoform Engine Lithoform Blight Maddening Cacophony Nissa's Zendikon Nahiri's Binding Nahiri's Lithoforming
Kaldheim	Battle for Bretagard Dogged Pursuit Doomskar Fall of the Impostor Forging the Tyrite Sword Invasion of the Giants Kaya's Onslaught King Harald's Revenge Open the Omenpaths Rise of the Dread Marn Starnheim Unleashed Struggle for Skemfar The Trickster-God's Heist The World Tree
Strixhaven: School of Mages	Crackle with Power Culmination of Studies Defend the Campus Draconic Intervention Explosive Welcome Extus, Oriq Overlord // Awaken the Blood Avatar Letter of Acceptance Mage Hunters' Onslaught Mascot Interception Mentor's Guidance Plumb the Forbidden Practical Research Professor's Warning Rise of Extus Tempted by the Oriq
Innistrad: Midnight Hunt	Borrowed Time The Celestus Dawnhart Wardens Defend the Celestus Dire-Strain Rampage Duel for Dominance Fateful Absence Light Up the Night Olivia's Midnight Ambush Pack's Betrayal Secrets of the Key Sigarda, Champion of Light Storm the Festival Sunset Revelry Thraben Exorcism Unnatural Moonrise
Innistrad: Crimson Vow	By Invitation Only Edgar's Awakening End the Festivities Glorious Sunrise Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr Katilda's Rising Dawn Resistance Squad Sigarda's Imprisonment Sigarda's Summons Sure Strike Voldaren Estate Wedding Invitation
Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty	Anchor to Reality Brilliant Restoration Eiganjo Uprising Explosive Entry Kaito's Pursuit Planar Incision Reality Heist Regent's Authority Spell Pierce Tamiyo's Compleation Tamiyo's Safekeeping Wanderer's Intervention When We Were Young
Streets of New Capenna	An Offer You Can't Refuse Daring Escape Giada, Font of Hope Hostile Takeover Meeting of the Five Most Wanted Murder Revelation of Power Structural Assault Urabrask, Heretic Praetor
Dominaria United	Ertai's Scorn Extinguish the Light Heroic Charge Lightning Strike Protect the Negotiators Sheoldred’s Restoration Silver Scrutiny Temporal Firestorm Temporary Lockdown Twinferno
The Brothers' War	Ashnod's Intervention Awaken the Woods Bitter Reunion Brotherhood's End Calamity's Wake Corrupt Desynchronize Diabolic Intent Dreams of Steel and Oil Epic Confrontation Fallaji Dragon Engine The Fall of Kroog Fateful Handoff Forging the Anchor Gruesome Realization Hostile Negotiation Hurkyl's Final Meditation Kayla's Reconstruction Loran's Escape Machine Over Matter Meticulous Excavation Mishra's Domination One with the Multiverse Overwhelming Remorse Portal to Phyrexia Raze to the Ground Shoot Down Sibling Rivalry Soul Partition Splitting the Powerstone The Stasis Coffin Stern Lesson Take Flight The Temporal Anchor Tocasia's Dig Site Tocasia's Welcome Union of the Third Path Urza's Sylex Visions of Phyrexia Wasteful Harvest
Phyrexia: All Will Be One	All Will Be One Bring the Ending Compleat Devotion Nahiri's Sacrifice Phyrexian Arena Planar Disruption Resistance Reunited Tyvar's Stand Urabrask's Forge Vanish into Eternity
March of the Machine	Archangel Elspeth Breach the Multiverse Coming in Hot Corrupted Conviction Elspeth's Smite Into the Fire Invasion of New Phyrexia // Teferi Akosa of Zhalfir Merciless Repurposing Mirrodin Avenged Moment of Truth Negate Render Inert Seal from Existence Seed of Hope Storm the Seedcore Surge of Salvation Transcendent Message Traumatic Revelation Wrenn and Realmbreaker Wrenn's Resolve

External links

• All Story Spotlights on Scryfall