A RPG set in the multiverse ofMagic: The Gatheringis something fans have dreamt of for a long time. The potential of meeting the game’s characters firsthand and getting to experience themajor events ofMagic’s loreis very exciting. However, the question becomes when exactlyMagic: Legendstakes place. The place in the timeline has a critical impact on what kinds of events can show up in-game. That’s definitely the case forMagic: Legends, the upcoming multiplayer ARPG in theMagicmultiverse. When it was announced at The Game Awards 2019, fans immediately wondered how much of the multiverse they would see, and that’s becoming clearer.
The window in theMagictimeline whereMagic: Legendstakes place has been narrowed down, somewhat. It takes place after the “Mending,” in which the multiverse was vastly restructured and planeswalkers lost tremendous power. That much was expected, since pre-Mending planeswalkers were practically gods, so player power would be impossible to balance.Magic: Legendsalso takes place beforeHour of Devastation,a major event in the Gatewatch’s conflict with the dragon planeswalker Nicol Bolas. That’s still a huge window in time, and depending on where exactly in that gap the gameplay falls, there’s tons of possibilities forMagic: Legends.
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Living the Lore In Magic: Legends
The question of whereMagic: Legendslands between the Mending andHour of Devastationis hard to answer. However, it wouldn’t be surprising if the developers were setting the game more towards the Mending. The farther back in the multiverse’s historyMagic: Legendstakes place, the more in-game events it can hold based on major moments in the franchise. If it’s going pretty far back, the developers can hold a major event introducing a plane like Alara, while players live through Nicol Bolas' attempt to fusethe five shards of Alaraback together again. It’d be really exciting to come across famous planeswalkers and explore a new setting during such a climactic time.
On the other hand,ifMagic: Legendstakes placetoo far in the past, it’d be hard for the game to get to some ofMagic’s more recent events.Magicfans have been dying to know ifWar of the Sparktakes place at the same time asMagic: Legends. That event is the ultimate union of all the planeswalkers inMagic,so it’s clear why fans would want to be there for that.
The timeline so far indicates thatWar of the Sparkhasn’t happened yet, but fans could be close to it. IfMagic: Legendstakes place close to the Mending, then it might take a really long time to get to the climax ofWar of the Spark.However, if it takes place around the time ofHour of Devastation,then there’s a lot of historic events thatMagic: Legendswill miss out on.
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Finding the Sweet Spot For Legends
Cryptic Studios,Legends' developer, is probably going to attempt to strike a balance between the past and the present.Jumping intoWar of the Sparkas soon as possible may be tempting, but it’d be better to spend some time setting up for it. It wouldn’t be as satisfying or climactic for players to leap into it immediately.Magic: Legends’current timeline suggests that time to setup is in Cryptic Studios' plans. It’ll probably ease players through some major post-launch events on new planes, like Ixalan and Amonkhet, before bringing players to Ravnica forWar of the Spark.
Maybe Cryptic Studios will find a way to incorporateevents inMagic: The Gathering’s pastintoMagic: Legendsin spite of the timeline. Time magic does exist, after all; Teferi might show up and help players visitMagic’s past. Regardless of howMagic: Legendstreats the broad scope ofMagichistory, the game has chosen a great place in the timeline to take place. It’s not too close to any of the most recent major events, but it’s also not to far away that players will feel like they’re waiting forever.Magic: Legendsis sure to get a lot of exciting expansions and engaging content out of the milestones in the timeline that it can come across.
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