Top 5 Planes in The Magic The Gathering Universe

Magic is a famous and serious game for people aged ten and above. The game entirely rests on a weirdly set of creative rules that guide the game’s plot and aesthetic experience. Each card can neatly fit into a form and content matching system designed by the innovative team. And the multiverse of planes sits in the middle.

Basically, The Gathering is a set in an extensive multiverse that consists of plenty of unique planes of reality. In short, the planes are the different world from which the game of Magic can take place. More importantly, the planes are often thematic and draw influence from various forms of fiction, culture, and mythology.

However, since the planes are not alike, the comfort of each plane varies. Some of them can be idealistic imaginary worlds one would love to live in, and others are a complete nightmare. This article discusses the top 5 planes in The Magic The Gathering Universe resulting from that creative process.

1. New Phyrexia/Mirrodin

Mirrodin is an artificial and metallic plane created in 2003 by Karn, a silver golem designed by Urza and provided with the hearthstone of a Phyrxian. Other than being crafted with metal, the plane’s entire ecosystem is also set around the workings of metal. It has three separate spheres that include the inner, surface, and interior furnaces.

Moreover, this plane in the Magic the Gathering Universe features five Lacunae (large tunnels that pass through Mirrodin’s core). Each Lacunae corresponds to various colors of mana. These tunnels were made when five suns of Mirrodin were banned from the core.

It is not a coincidence that each sun corresponds to the five specific colors of mana. These suns that happen to be rulers (Praetors) include the Eye of Doom, Bringer, Ingle, Lyese, and the Sky Tyrant.

The artifact-based plane of Mirrodin has incredibly transformed into New Phyrexia (the nightmare scape). This is due to the impact of oil produced by the plane of Phyrexia. Mirrodin’s leaders like Karn became corrupt, turning the living creatures into Phyrexian who invaded the plane, hence New Phyrexia.

And the primary goal of New Pyrexia’s residents was to survive. If they get caught by any of the praetors, their fate becomes worse than death. Meanwhile, a group of Mirrans remained after the glistening oil joined together to form the Mirran Resistance. Notably, this resistance group was led by leaders like Koth, Elspeth Tirel, and Venser.

The resistance then liberated Karn after Venser sacrificing his life and planeswalker spark to clear Karn’s corruption. However, Karn’s new intention is to cleanse the Phyrexian’s universe and restore Mirrodin.

2. Alara

In the past, Alara existed as a plane full of magic and mana. Due to Sundering, a mysterious planeswalker drained all the mana causing the world to divide into five Shards. Each shard, in turn, comprised of three nearby colors.

The first one was Bant which is a white-aligned shard supported by Blue and Green colors. Humans, Angels, Aven, and Rhoxes, were the primary inhabitants of Bant. This shard was governed by five different kingdoms, with three found in the central savannah and two in the wilderness. Elspeth Tirel, later on, found a home in Bant as it lacked violent colors consisting of black and red.

Esper, the blue-aligned shard, was sup-orted by Black and White colors. Its main occupants include humans, Homunculi, Sphinxes, Tezzeret, and Vedalkens. With the presence of Etherium, Esper’s wizards created mechanical creatures of all kinds, including mechanical parts for their bodies.

Another shard is Grixis which is black-aligned and has blue and red-colored support. Before Sundering, this shard was a white-aligned empire known as the Lithia. Its popular feature is Dregscape which is a giant wasteland occupied by demons, the dead, and necromancers.

The red-aligned shard is Jund, and black and green colors support it. Active volcanoes mainly litter Jund’s landscape. And it is dominated by Humans, Goblins, and Viashino. With no white or blue mana (the colors symbolizing order and peace), this shard is governed by instinct and survival of the fittest.

Naya is the final kingdom which is aligned with green and supported by white and red colors. It is the home for Humans, Beasts, Minotaurs, Nacatl, and Elves who worship them. After the Conflux, a natural event, all the five kingdoms were reunited.

3. Dominaria

Initially, Dominaria was commonplace for nearly all the early magic: the gathering universe. It started as a typical Dragon and Dungeon-style plane with a remarkable history that has changed its landscape.

When it comes to size, Dominaria is about 2.5 times larger than the earth, and it hasn’t been explored thoroughly in this magic game. You will find eight continents that have been discovered and known. They include:
• Otario
• Tamingazin
• Sarpadia
• Aerona
• Jamuraa – a super-continent with three subcontinents
• Terisiare which split into six parts after the Ice Age
• Unnamed continents at the northern and southern poles
This plane had several smaller oceanic landmasses like Tolaria, a lonely island, and a home for Vesuva and Tolarian Academy.

According to its history, Dominaria was led and controlled by dragons, followed by the wizards who conquered the dragons. In the following period, the Thran Empire was formed and started to spread. Yawgmoth initiated a civil war that spread to other Dominaria nations and resulted in the Thran Empire’s collapse.

With the obsession to gain godlike power, Yawgmoth moved to Phyrexia, but the portal found between Phyrexia and Dominaria was sealed before his return. And this led to the fall of the technologically improved Thran Empire. After that, the Golden Age of Magic took over, which mainly involved two brothers, Urza and Mishra, who ravaged Terisaire with a long war that lasted for 36 years. This war-damaged Argoth (a massive lush island near Terisaire) resulted in devastating tidal waves, change in planet’s rotation axis, introduced the Dominaria’s Ice Age, and creation of Twelve Worlds of shard. Most of the stories in this magic game that occurred in Dominaria are set in the Modern Era.

4. Lorwyn

Lorwyn is one of the most cheerful and creative planes in the Magic the Gathering universe. It is inhabited by elves, merfolk, giants, prankster goblins, treefolk, and kithkin. All these members lived in relative peace. The elves were a more advanced community and assumed the role of de-facto leaders of Lorwyn. They valued beauty and perfection over everything, banishing or executing the physically imperfect members of their ranks.

The Kithkin is the smallest, agile, and strong race with a strong sense of community. Besides that, they are welcoming, and those who cause troubles are dealt with quickly. They are also curious and very inventive since they were superstitious and reverent.

Faes were governed by the Queen of the Fae, known as Oona. They move in small groups (cliques) and tend to collect the dreams of other communities. Such stolen dreams result in a powerful magic that the Fae have. Fairies are erratic, cruel, childish, and creative.
Visually and contextually, this plane draws a significant influence from the Welch folklore and myth. Apart from that, the plane lives in a state of endless daylight. Because of a phenomenon called the Great Aurora, the plane of Lorwny can change to a twisted reflection, Shadowmoor, which is a plane of eternal dusk. Norway is a more pleasant plane if the twist doesn’t occur.

5. Zendikar

Zendikar is less of a world and more of a massive asteroid cloud and debris floating and supports a large ecosystem of life. Initially, Zendikar was created and known as the plane of adventure, and it was under threat from destruction by the giant Eldrazi. Fortunately, the Eldrazi got expelled from the plane, and Zendikar got back to its original form and shape.
With plenty of floating oceans, amorphous swamp clouds, and mountain spires, this plane’s elegance rivals the multiverse’s most attractive sights. Also, it features unthinkable madness living things that will feed on your body and destroy your brain.

Other honorable mentions include

• There’s – a plane in the magic’s multiverse that is greatly influenced by different mythologies.
• The plane of Tarkir – a war-torn world initially ruled by five elder dragonlords.
• Kyle – it is home to the giant arena called Valor’s reach, where members come to withness battles and competitions.