The Multiverse is the shared fictional universe depicted on Magic: The Gathering cards, novels, comics, and other supplemental products. Though Magic is a strategy game, an intricate storyline underlies the cards released in each expansion. On the cards, elements of this multiverse are shown in the card art and through quotations and descriptions on the bottom of most cards (called flavor text). Novels and anthologies published by HarperPrism and Wizards of the Coast (WOTC), and the comic books published by Armada Comics expand upon the settings and characters hinted at on the cards. WOTC also publishes a weekly story (most often related to the plane explored in the current expansion set) in the Magic Fiction column, previously known as Official Magic Fiction and Uncharted Realms.
In the early days of the game, the name 'Dominia' was used to describe the story multiverse, but due to confusion with the name of the plane/planet where the central events of Magic occur (Dominaria, which means "the Song of Dominia"), it fell into disuse and was replaced.
Publication history
Creative origins
The way Magic storylines are conceived and deployed has changed considerably over the years. The main premise of Magic is that countless possible worlds (planes) exist in the Multiverse, and rare beings called Planeswalkers are uniquely capable of traversing the Multiverse without external aid. This allows the game to frequently change worlds so as to renew its mechanical inspiration while maintaining Planeswalkers as recurrent, common elements across worlds. Players represent Planeswalkers able to draw on the magic and entities of these planes to do battle with others.
Richard Garfield established enough of this story for the game when it was first published. With the first sets, most of this story was told through the cards' flavor text, and because most of the creatures and the keywords were based on common fantasy tropes (flying dragons, for example), there was no significant driver for a backing narrative. In some cases, the narrative was demanded to help with new gameplay mechanics and keywords that did not fit standard fantasy tropes, but these were still limited to flavor text. The first expansion Arabian Nights (1993), designed by Garfield, was based on One Thousand and One Nights folklore and included figures from that such as Aladdin.
Pre-revision era
With the demand for more expansions, several different teams within Wizards of the Coast's research and development department worked separately on these upcoming sets, with the card designers taking the lead in creating their narratives. Each of these teams had different approaches for implementing that in the cards. For example, the next expansion was Antiquities (1994), with a design led by Skaff Elias. Elias' team wanted this set to focus on the use of colorless artifacts and came up with the narrative idea of a battle between two brothers skilled in artifact use at a point in time before the other realms of magic had established themselves. This would tie into both their planned cards as well as help define the differences between the color mana schools better. Elias planned out elaborate timelines, but as the set was only 100 cards, most of this was left on paper, giving players only glimpses of the larger picture through flavor text. "Much of the lore established" by Armada Comics "is the foundation from which the rest of continuity was built. In fact, the idea of 'The Revision' stemmed in part from WotC publishing novels based loosely on many of the stories told in these comics. Some of the details changed (or were 'retconned', in popular fan speak), but for the most part, the core of these stories stayed the same". The comics came to a sudden end in 1996 when Acclaim, parent company of Armada Comics, started to run into financial trouble. In 1997, "two video games connected to the comics, Shandalar and Battlemage, were also released [...]. In general, Pre-Revisionist materials are still canon unless contradicted by another source". "The next four years, from Tempest in 1997 through Apocalypse in 2001, would follow the story of the legendary Skyship Weatherlight and her crew". This saga was intended to last the next five years, but several factors came into play by the time the Urza's block was released: there was a change in leadership in oversight of Magic: The Gathering and the direction it was heading, players were not interested in the lead characters of the saga, and players had found it difficult to follow the narrative from the cards alone. Around the same time, Wizards had regained control on the license to publish novels and comics and they decided to make the novels the primary route for the story of Magic: The Gathering which would tie in closely with the cards designed for the expansion. This approach was used through the Onslaught block in 2003, after which Wizards found that novels were not a sufficient means to build out the details for cards; novels would be focused on how characters change over events, while the game presented a character at a single moment, and a novel could not flesh out all the other supporting elements that the card designers needed to build their sets without weighing down the readers.
Post-mending era
The pre-mending and post-mending monikers come "from the event known as the Mending, which fundamentally changed the nature of Planeswalkers from near-divine beings to mortals with a bit more oomph". During this time, Wizards further transitioned to ebooks as well as having their creative staff write more in "Uncharted Realms", a weekly column on the company's website. In September 2011, Hasbro and IDW Publishing accorded to make a four-issue mini-series about Magic: The Gathering with a new story but heavily based on MTG elements and with a new Planeswalker called Dack Fayden, the story of which mainly developed in the planes of Ravnica and Innistrad. In total, between 2011 and 2014, four four-issue mini-series were published by IDW. In 2013, Wizards saw that even with continued growth in player numbers, printed novel sales had fallen greatly and ebook sales remained flat, and made the decision to discontinue the larger narrative works in favor of having the creative team provide story coverage and shipments as of the "Uncharted Realms" column.
In 2014, Mark Rosewater wrote: "Unfortunately, the public has made it very clear that novels are not how they want the story told". Clayton Emery, on why he no longer writes Magic: The Gathering novels, wrote that after being invited to Gen Con he "arrived to find waiting for me — nothing. [...] No reading, no panels, no chance to meet fans, and not a single copy of any of my books anywhere in sight. Why did you invite me? [...] While there, I did get to ask, [...] Will you guys promote my work? 'No. If you catch fire with the fans, then we'll promote you.' How do I catch fire with the fans if you don't promote my work? 'Who knows? We don't promote Magic books as a rule anyway, because they don't sell well.' Then why produce them? And hey, you promoted Jeff Grubb's latest Magic book, advertising it on the inside front cover of every DC comic for three months during one summer. 'Oh, sure. His books sell.'" Sam Keeper, for CoolStuffInc, wrote "I can't attest to the accuracy of Emery's recollections, but it certainly feels familiar. [...] None of the ebook releases, to my knowledge, have ever been acknowledged by official accounts, aside from that single link to an incomplete list on mtgstory.com. [...] Nonetheless, it's a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy to not promote a product, and then conclude that there simply isn't an audience for it".
In 2018, as part of MTG's 25th anniversary, IDW began publishing another four-issue comic mini-series — this time centered around the Planeswalker Chandra Nalaar. and Wizards of the Coast "canceled plans for the book that was intended for the game's next set, "Theros: Beyond Death". Then in 2020, with the Zendikar Rising (2020) set, the Magic storyline returned via story articles on the official website. A new ongoing comic series began in 2021; the first issue went "for a third printing despite it already being the highest selling Magic comic book in history".
Cosmology
In the lore of Magic the gathering the Multiverse is a collection of planes (described somewhat like pocket universes) which are usually named after the primary planet contained within them. Travel between these planes is possible, and a few powerful beings known as "Planeswalkers" are capable of traversing between them at will.
The Blind Eternities
The Blind Eternities is the term more commonly used to describe the space between the planes of reality. Filled with chaotic, raw energies such as Aether, Mana, and temporal energy, it is a place where matter and life as known within the planes of reality cannot subsist. (The only exceptions are the Planeswalkers, who briefly pass physically through it when they "walk" between planes.) As such, not much is known or understood about the Blind Eternities. Unfathomable, reality-warping cosmic horrors known as the Eldrazi are said to be born there. An upcoming set, Edge of Eternities, is set in an outer space-like region outside of the Blind Eternities.
Aether
Aether (previously spelled Æther) is the main type of energy filling the blind eternities, although it can also appear in variable quantities within the planes. It is inextricably associated with magic within Magic's shared fictional universe and the use of the word in several Magic cards implies that casting magic involves channeling and manipulating Aether. Similarly, "summoning" the creatures around which combat and much of gameplay in Magic revolves is described as "pulling (them) from the Aether".
Dominaria
The majority of the Magic story was set on the plane of Dominaria prior to Mirrodin, encompassing long time periods each detailed in certain card sets or books. Dominaria is a unique nexus between all the other planes of the Multiverse. Occasionally, such as in Time Spiral, the storyline returns to it.
Storylines
In explaining the game and lore of Magic: The Gathering in an article in Popular Mechanics, Darren Orf explains that each expansion set of MTG "tells a cohesive story across those sets. [...] Each new world comes with all its own themes, strife, magic, and complications. While some elements carry throughout each block (Planeswalkers can cross into other realms after all) and Magic game designers often returns to past favorites, every block is mostly a new story to hook new players while keeping Magic veterans interested".
In 2018, Kunzelman, for Kotaku, highlighted a card from 1993 that was reprinted as part of the 25th anniversary — the newer card now has an elaboration on how it connects to the Planeswalker, Liliana Vess. Kunzelman wrote: "This is the smallest trickle of narrative, literally buried at the bottom of a card, and yet it allows a player who is familiar with the game to grasp onto it and get a huge amount of new contextual information about the world [...]. It's a really great touch that makes a world that we access through card stock feel like it is a living, breathing world with its own mythology that we've been living in for the past 25 years. That's the real selling point of this kind of contextual storytelling on collectable cards for me. [...] This story, appearing on the bottom of a card and giving a whole new dimension to a narrative I'm already familiar with, sells me on the idea that all the pieces matter. Each card is a piece of a larger world, and I'm supposed to pay attention to them and connect them up like breadcrumbs".
Aidan Moher, for Tor.com, wrote "Magic's storytelling has come a long way from its early days. It's no longer a plain fantasy world filled with generic tchotchkes and epic fantasy tropes. It's grown into something way bigger and more expansive than Richard Garfield, the game's creator could have ever imagined. Magic was my gateway into fantasy—and as an adult, I'm stilled thrilled by its ever-expanding world. [...] It's also an experience shared by the game's millions of players—a story of community and hope, overcoming odds, coming together over a shared love of the game, and, of course, blasting dragons with lightning bolts".
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margins:auto; width=95%; font-size: 95%;"
|-
! | Title
! | Lead Designer(s)
! | Type
! | Date
! | ISBN
|-
|Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica
|James Wyatt, Jeremy Crawford
|Campaign setting
|November 20, 2018
|
|-
|Mythic Odysseys of Theros
|F. Wesley Schneider, James Wyatt
|Campaign setting
|June 2, 2020 (digital release), July 21, 2020 (physical release)
|
|-
|}
Comics titles
Acclaim Comics' Armada label (1995–1996)
{| class=wikitable
! Title !! Cycle !!Author !! release
|-
|Magic: the Gathering: The Shadow Mage||Planeswalker War||Jeffrey Gomez (wr.), Val Mayerik & James Dean Pascoe (art)||Jul 1995
|-
|Magic: the Gathering: The Shadow Mage (2)||Planeswalker War||Jeffrey Gomez (wr.) & Val Mayerik (art)||Aug 1995
|-
|Magic: the Gathering: The Shadow Mage (3)||Planeswalker War||Jeffrey Gomez (wr.), Val Mayerik & Rick J Bryant (art)||Sep 1995
|-
|Magic: the Gathering: The Shadow Mage (4)||Planeswalker War||Jeffrey Gomez (wr.), Val Mayerik, Rick J Bryant & Gonzalo Mayo (art)||Oct 1995
|-
|Ice Age on the World of Magic: the Gathering||?||Jeffrey Gomez (wr.), Rafael Kayanan & Rodney Ramos (art). Cover by Charles Vess ||Jul 1995
|-
|Ice Age on the World of Magic: the Gathering (2)||?||Jeffrey Gomez (wr.), Rafael Kayanan & Rodney Ramos (art). Cover by Charles Vess||Aug 1995
|-
|Ice Age on the World of Magic: the Gathering (3)||?||Jeffrey Gomez (wr.), Rafael Kayanan & Rodney Ramos (art). Cover by Charles Vess||Sep 1995
|-
|Ice Age on the World of Magic: the Gathering (4)||?||Jeffrey Gomez (wr.), Rafael Kayanan & Rodney Ramos (art). Cover by Charles Vess||Oct 1995
|-
|Magic: the Gathering: Nightmare||?||Hillary J. Bader (wr.), Anthony Castrillo & Anibal Rodriguez (art)||Nov 1995
|-
|Fallen Empires on the World of Magic: the Gathering||?||Kevin Maples & Jeffrey Gomez (wr.), Alex Maleev & Rodney Ramos (art)||Sep 1995
|-
|Fallen Empires on the World of Magic: the Gathering (2)||?||Kevin Maples & Jeffrey Gomez (wr.), Alex Maleev & Rodney Ramos (art)||Oct 1995
|-
|Magic: the Gathering: Wayfarer||Planeswalker War/Wayfarer||Jeffrey Gomez (wr.), Val Mayerik, Rick J Bryant & Gonzalo Mayo (art). Cover by Michael Wm. Kaluta||Nov 1995
|-
|Magic: the Gathering: Wayfarer (2)||Planeswalker War/Wayfarer||Jeffrey Gomez (wr.), Val Mayerik, Rick J Bryant & Gonzalo Mayo (art). Cover by Michael Wm. Kaluta||Dec 1995
|-
|Magic: the Gathering: Wayfarer (3)||Planeswalker War/Wayfarer||Jeffrey Gomez (wr.), Val Mayerik, Rick J Bryant & Gonzalo Mayo (art). Cover by Michael Wm. Kaluta||Jan 1996
|-
|Magic: the Gathering: Wayfarer (4)||Planeswalker War/Wayfarer||Jeffrey Gomez (wr.), Val Mayerik, Rick J Bryant & Gonzalo Mayo (art). Cover by Michael Wm. Kaluta||Feb 1996
|-
|Magic: the Gathering: Wayfarer (5)||Planeswalker War/Wayfarer||Jeffrey Gomez (wr.), Val Mayerik, Rick J Bryant & Gonzalo Mayo (art). Cover by Michael Wm. Kaluta||Mar 1996
|-
|Antiquities War on the World of Magic: the Gathering||Antiquities War (1)||Jerry Prosser (wr.), Paul Smith & Thomas 'Tom' Ryder (art)||Nov 1995
|-
|Antiquities War on the World of Magic: the Gathering||Antiquities War (2)||Jerry Prosser (wr.), Phil Hester & Thomas 'Tom' Ryder (art)||Dec 1995
|-
|Antiquities War on the World of Magic: the Gathering||Antiquities War (3)||Jerry Prosser (wr.), Phil Hester & Thomas 'Tom' Ryder (art)||Jan 1996
|-
|Antiquities War on the World of Magic: the Gathering||Antiquities War (4)||Jerry Prosser (wr.), Phil Hester & Thomas 'Tom' Ryder (art)||Feb 1996
|-
|Magic: the Gathering: Arabian Nights||Arabian Nights||Jeof Vita & Susan Wright (wr.), Alex Maleev & Rodney Ramos (art)||Dec 1995
|-
|Magic: the Gathering: Arabian Nights (2)||Arabian Nights||Jeof Vita & Susan Wright (wr.), Alex Maleev & Rodney Ramos (art)||Dec 1995
|-
|Convocations: A Magic: the Gathering Gallery||-||Various||Jan 1996
|-
|Serra Angel on the World of Magic: the Gathering||Anthology||Margaret Weis & ? ||Aug 1996
|-
|Homelands on the World of Magic: the Gathering||Anthology||D.G. Chichester (wr.) & Rebecca Guay (art) ||Feb 1996
|-
|Legend of Jedit Ojanen on the World of Magic: the Gathering||?||Kenn Bell (wr.) & David Boller (art)||Mar 1996
|-
|Legend of Jedit Ojanen on the World of Magic: the Gathering||?||Kenn Bell (wr.) & David Boller (art)||Apr 1996
|-
|Magic: the Gathering: Shandalar||?||David Quinn (wr.) & Bo Hampton (art)||Apr 1996
|-
|Magic: the Gathering: Shandalar (2)||?||David Quinn (wr.) & Bo Hampton (art)||Apr 1996
|-
|A Magic: the Gathering Legend: Fallen Angel||?||Nancy A. Collins (wr.), Don Perlin, Dennis Callero & Richard Kane Ferguson (art)||May 1996
|-
|Elder Dragons: a Magic: the Gathering Legend||?||Art Holcomb (wr.) & Doug Tropea-Wheatley (art)||Apr 1996
|-
|Elder Dragons: a Magic: the Gathering Legend (2)||?||Art Holcomb (wr.) & Doug Tropea-Wheatley (art)||May 1996
|-
|Magic: the Gathering: Dakkon Blackblade||?||Jerry Prosser (wr.), Rags Morales & Barbara Kaalberg (art)||Jun 1996
|-
|Urza-Mishra War on the World of Magic: The Gathering||?||Jerry Prosser (wr.), Tom Mandrake & Bill Sienkiewicz (art). Cover by Bill Sienkiewicz||Sep 1996
|-
|Urza-Mishra War on the World of Magic: The Gathering (2)||?||Jerry Prosser (wr.), Tom Mandrake & Bill Sienkiewicz (art). Cover by Bill Sienkiewicz||Oct 1996
|}
Dark Horse Comics (1998–1999)
{| class="wikitable"
! Title !! Type !! Cycle !!Author !! release
|-
|Gerrard's Quest (1): Initiation|| rowspan="4" |Comics|| rowspan="5" |Gerrard's Quest || rowspan="5" |Mike Grell (wr.), Pop Mhan & Norman Lee (art) ||March 1998
|-
|Gerrard's Quest (2): Legend||April 1998
|-
|Gerrard's Quest (3): Crucible||May 1998
|-
|Gerrard's Quest (4): Destiny||September 1998
|-
|Gerrard's Quest||Collection||April 1999
|}
IDW Publishing (2012–2019)
{| class="wikitable"
!Title
!Issues
!Writer(s)
!Artist(s)
! colspan="2" |Publication date
|-
|Magic: The Gathering
| rowspan="6" |4
| rowspan="3" |Matt Forbeck
|Martin Coccolo
|December 2011
|March 2012
|-
|Magic: The Gathering: The Spell Thief
|Christian Duce, Martin Coccolo
|May 2012
|August 2012
|-
|Magic: The Gathering: Path of Vengeance
|Jack Jadson, Martin Coccolo
|October 2012
|February 2013
|-
|Magic: The Gathering: Theros
|Jason Ciaramella
|Martin Coccolo
|October 2013
|March 2014
|-
|Magic: The Gathering: Chandra
|Vita Ayala
|Harvey Tolibao
|December 2018
|February 2019
|-
|Magic: The Gathering: Trials of Alara
|James Asmus
|Eric Koda
| colspan="2" |Cancelled
|-
|}
Boom! Studios (2021–2023)
{| class="wikitable"
! scope="col" width="15%" |Title
! scope="col" width="10%" |Issues
! scope="col" width="10%" |Writer(s)
! scope="col" width="15%" |Artist(s)
! scope="col" width="15%" |Colorist(s)
! scope="col" width="10%" |Premiere date
! scope="col" width="10%" |Finale date
|-
|Magic||1–25||Jed MacKay
|Ig Guara
|Arianna Consonni
|April 2021
|April 5, 2023
|-
|Magic: Master of Metal
|One-shot
| rowspan="2" |Mairghread Scott
|Jorge Coehlo, French Carlomagno and Jacques Salomon
|Francesco Segala
| colspan="2" |December 1, 2021
|-
|Magic: The Hidden Planeswalker
|1–4
|Fabiana Mascolo, Lea Caballero and French Carlomagno
|Franceso Segala and Gloria Martinelli
|April 20, 2022
|July 27, 2022
|-
|Magic: Ajani Goldmane
| rowspan="4" |One-shot
| rowspan="2" |Seanan McGuire
|Nori Retherford, Jaques Salomon, Giuseppe Cafaro, Lea Caballero and Michael Shelfer
|Kieran Quingley, Natalia Nesterenko and Fernando Sifuentes
| colspan="2" |August 24, 2022
|-
|Magic: Nahiri the Lithomancer
|Fabiana Mascolo
|TBA
| colspan="2" |November 30, 2022
|-
|Magic Planeswalkers: Noble
|Stephanie Williams, Daniel Warren and Dave Rapoza
|Alberto Locatelli and Lea Caballero
|Arianna Consonni and Raúl Angulo
| colspan="2" |June 14, 2023
|-
|Magic Planeswalkers: Notorious
|Cullen Bunn and Rich Douek
|French Carlomagno and Carlos Pedro
|TBA
| colspan="2" |August 23, 2023
|}
Dark Horse Comics (2025)
In July 2024, Wizards of the Coast announced that Dark Horse Comics will regain the Magic: The Gathering license, and is scheduled to launch a new line of comics in summer 2025.