Ixalan

Ixalan
Set Information
Set symbol
Themes and mechanics	Tribal, Double-faced cards, Vehicles, Treasure tokens, +1/+1 counters, life as a resource
Keywords/​ability words	Explore, Enrage, Raid, Crew, Transform
Set size	279 + 10
Expansion code	XLN
Development codename	Ham

Ixalan (pronounced as "IXS-a-lon") is the 76^th Magic expansion, and the first in the Ixalan block. It will be released on September 29, 2017, and is a large expansion.

Set details

Ixalan contains 279 cards (15 more than Kaladesh and 10 more than Amonkhet) and includes randomly inserted premium versions of all cards. Ten additional cards are found in the set's planeswalker decks (2 mythic planeswalkers, 2 rares, 2 uncommons, 2 commons, and 2 common dual lands). These are numbered #280/279 to #289/279. A checklist card replaces the basic land in some boosters. Five of the basic lands depict a lost Jace Beleren. The boosters feature artwork from TBA.

A complete Ixalan rare foil print sheet was leaked three months before prerelease, which caused Wizards of the Coast to re-evaluate their preview plan.

Rules change

Starting with this set, all planeswalkers past, present, and future have the supertype legendary. They will also be subject to the "legend rule", instead of to the "planeswalker uniqueness rule".

Storyline

“

Brave the Unknown

”

This is a story about desire. It is desire for power, desire for companionship, desire for approval, desire for discovery, and everyone is racing to get what they want first. For centuries, the untamed jungles of Ixalan have hidden a coveted secret: Orazca, the city of gold, which houses a mysterious artifact, the Immortal Sun. But no secret can remain undiscovered, and no treasure can be taken uncontested. The dinosaur riding warriors of the Sun Empire and the merfolk shamans of the rival River Heralds are met by the vampire conquistadores of the Legion of Dusk and the pirates of the Brazen Coalition.

Vraska poses as a pirate on the high seas, while Jace Beleren is stranded on the plane with loss of all his memories.

The cards that represent the Story Spotlights in Ixalan are: Ixalan's Binding, Vraska's Contempt, River's Rebuke, Thaumatic Compass // Spires of Orazca, and Perilous Voyage.

Marketing

Ixalan is sold in 16-card boosters (one card being a marketing card), two planeswalker decks, the Ixalan bundle and a Deck Builder's Toolkit.

There is no Masterpiece Series accompanying Ixalan.

As part of the preview season, Wizards of the Coast distributed trackable game pieces to stores, fans, volunteers, and some well-known community folk. As game pieces travel, the distances they travel will influenced the release of preview cards and could actually influence how the story of Ixalan plays out.

Events

• Prerelease Events take place on September 23, 2017
• Magic Online Launch: September 25, 2017

Promotional Cards

• Magic Open House: Full-art foil Walk the Plank
• Prerelease: a stamped card that can be any rare or mythic rare from the set.
• Draft Weekend Launch promo: Bishop of Rebirth
• Standard Showdown: foil basic land with art by Rebecca Guay.
• Magic League: foil Unclaimed Territory
• Store Championship: full-art foil card showcasing the upcoming Rivals of Ixalan set (Top 8 receives a deck box)
• Buy-a-Box: Burning Sun's Avatar
  • As a first, there is also a "Dino sized" 9-card Buy-a-Box booster. This contains an extra Buy-a-Box promo card and the equivalent contents of two Standard Showdown prize boosters. The booster contents will only be available in English and Japanese.
• FNM promos:
  • 1/1 White Vampire token with Lifelink / Treasure (Legion of Dusk flavored)
  • 3/3 Green Dinosaur token with Trample / Treasure token (Sun Empire flavored)
  • 2/2 Black Pirate token with Menace / Treasure token (Brazen Coalition flavored)

Tokens

Ixalan features 10 tokens.

1. 1/1 Vampire with Lifelink for Legion's Landing, Adanto, the First Fort, Mavren Fein, Dusk Apostle, Call to the Feast
2. 2/2 Illusion with "When this creature becomes the target of a spell, sacrifice it." for Jace, Cunning Castaway
3. 1/1 Merfolk with Hexproof for Deeproot Waters
4. 2/2 Pirate with Menace for Fathom Fleet Captain, Vraska, Relic Seeker
5. 3/3 Dinosaur with Trample for Raptor Hatchling, Thundering Spineback, Huatli, Warrior Poet, Regisaur Alpha
6. 0/2 Plant with Defender for Dowsing Dagger
7. Treasure Artifact (Sun Empire flavored) with ", Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool." for Prosperous Pirates, Spell Swindle, Dire Fleet Hoarder, Revel in Riches, Ruthless Knave, Wanted Scroundrels,Captain Lannery Storm, Trobve of Tempation, Wily Goblin, Deadeye Plunderers, Vraska, Relic Seeker, Treasure Map
8. Treasure Artifact (Legion of Dusk flavored)
9. Treasure Artifact (River Heralds flavored)
10. Treasure Artifact (Brazen Coalition flavored)

Themes and mechanics

Ixalan is tribal set, with Pirates (), Dinosaurs (), Merfolk () and Vampires (). This is the first time Magic has an uneven color distribution of factions within a set. Though the tribes are asymmetrical, the colors are not. Each color has two tribes. The fact that Pirates and Dinosaurs both need more cards to become tribes properly (as compared to merfolk and vampires, who are already pretty established) was a factor in them becoming the two 3 color factions.

Raid returns from Khans of Tarkir (now connected to Pirates), Crew from Kaladesh (connected to the ships from Torrezon), and Transform from Innistrad (the double-faced cards now highlighting the tales and tools of discovery). The DFC's all have a Land on the "back" face cards, which features a map-inspired card frame. The front face is recognized by the icon of a compass rose and the the back face is marked by the land icon last seen in Future Sight .

There are two new named mechanics:

• Explore — Reveal the top card of your library. Put that card into your hand if it's a land. Otherwise, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature, then put the card back on top or into your graveyard.
• Enrage — Whenever a creature with this ability word is dealt damage, it has some consequences. This is the signature mechanic of the Dinosaurs.

The Merfolk make use strategy revolves around being very difficult to block and growing via +1/+1 counters, while Vampires use life as a resource.

Card types

Treasure

Ixalan introduces the treasure artifact subtype and the return of the dinosaur creature type. The trilobite creature type is new.

Vehicles are back from the Kaladesh block in the form of ships.

Cycles

• Allied color check lands: Each of these five rare dual lands comes into play tapped unless you control a land of one of the appropriate types — Glacial Fortress, Drowned Catacomb, Dragonskull Summit, Rootbound Crag and Sunpetal Grove.
• Legendary transforming enchantments: Five legendary enchantments that transform into legendary lands that genrate colored mana and have an additional ability— Legion's Landing (Adanto, the First Port), Search for Azcanta (Azcanta, The Sunken Ruin), Arguel's Blood Fast (Temple of Aclazotz), Vance's Blasting Cannons (Spitfire Bastion) and Growing Rites of Itlimoc (Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun).
• Two-colored draft archetypes: Ten uncommon cards which each represent a two-colored draft archetype. — ??? (), Deadeye Plunderers ( treasure tokens), Dire Fleet Captain ( pirates), Raging Swordtooth ( enrage), Belligerent Brontodon ( dinosaurs), Call to the Feast ( vampires), ??? (), Shapers of Nature ( +1/+1 counters), Marauding Looter ( raid), and Sky Terror ( aggro).

Reprinted cards

• Air Elemental, first printed in Alpha (last seen in Welcome Deck 2017).
• Cancel, first printed in Time Spiral (last seen in Amonkhet).
• Demystify, first printed in Onslaught (last seen in Magic 2012).
• Duress, first printed in Urza's Saga (last seen in Eternal Masters).
• Favorable Winds, first printed in Avacyn Restored (last seen in Conspiracy).
• Opt, first printed in Invasion.
• Slice in Twain, first printed in Scars of Mirrodin (last seen in Commander 2013).
• Spell Pierce, first printed in Zendikar (last seen in Amonkhet Invocations).

Common to Uncommon

• Lightning Strike, first printed in Theros (last seen in Magic 2015).

Functional Reprints

• Castaway's Despair is a functional reprint of Sleep Paralysis from Shadows over Innistrad.
• Grazing Whiptail is a functional reprint of Cloudcrown Oak from Lorwyn, except for creature types.
• Queen's Bay Soldier is a functional reprint of Walking Corpse from Innistrad, except for creature types.
• Raptor Companion is a functional reprint of Blade of the Sixth Pride from Future Sight, except for creature types.
• Watertrap Weaver is a functional reprint of Frost Lynx from Magic 2015, except for creature types.

Preconstructed decks

Ixalan will have two planeswalker decks:

Planeswalker deck name	Colors Included					Planeswalker
Jace		U			G	Jace, Ingenious Mind-Mage
Huatli	W			R		Huatli, Dinosaur Knight

Notable cards

• Revel in Riches is an alternate-win card.