Magic: The Gathering: Edge of Eternities Review ⏤ A classic feeling set that’s out of this world

So the other tagline I thought of for this set was, “In space no one can hear you curse very loudly as you lose a lot of games.” Turns out that didn’t fit well into a tagline space. I’m joking about the cursing, but I found Edge of Eternities challenging. Despite my being bad at this format, I’ve really enjoyed losing pretty much all my games with Edge of Eternities. I think this speaks to how well-designed the set is. If I’m having fun while losing, then the set has to be doing something right. Let’s chart a course around Edge of Eternities and explore what this set is.

Overview - Full Bore

Mechanically, Edge of Eternities brings with it three new mechanics to examine, so let’s begin with Station. Station is a mechanic that comes attached to the new Spacecraft and Planets. Station allows you to tap your other creatures to add charge counters equal to that creature's power. You can only Station at sorcery speed. With enough charge counters, spacecraft and planets will gain new abilities. Spacecraft can even become full-fledged creatures, while planets can not.

Warp is an alternate casting cost for cards that generally allows you to cast that card at a discount. If you do cast a card for its Warp cost, it will exile itself at the beginning of the next end step, but you are then allowed to cast the creature from exile on a later turn.

Void is the third of the new mechanics and works in tandem with Warp. Void is a new ability word that will trigger if a nonland permanent left the battlefield this turn or if a spell was warped this turn.

While it’s not a strictly new mechanic, we have a new artifact token. The Lander token allows you to pay two generic mana and sacrifice the token in order to search your library and put a tapped basic land onto the battlefield. While we’re talking about Lander tokens, I should also mention that Landfall is in the set, and as you would expect, loves the Lander tokens.

Pros - Zealous Display

Examining the mechanics, we can immediately see the synergies between some of them. Warp and Void are designed to go together, along with Landfall and Lander tokens. Modern Magic is largely about using your cards to enable other cards. Being able to identify these synergies is a big part of the game. Edge of Eternities strikes that perfect balance of setup and payoff. If you seek out those synergies, you will be rewarded. However, you don’t have to build that way. Limited decks are perfectly functional without them, as there are individual cards that will weather you through games, too. Even in deck construction, there are meaningful paths to choose. While this is usually the case in Magic, here it really shines.

The new mechanics just work well. They are easy to grasp and fun to use. I love mechanics that offer flexibility, and Void and Warp are the epitome of that. Void can be set off by creature deaths, exile effects, bounce effects, Warp, and more. There are times you don’t need the extra effects from a Void card, but sometimes you find yourself trying to find a way to move a permanent off the board because you need that bonus Void effect.

Warp offers flexibility in allowing you to play cards earlier than normal while also setting off other cards. One of the best feelings in Magic is using your cards to their maximum potential, and nothing feels as good as warping in a creature only to play it again normally next turn. It doesn’t come up a lot, but Warp also “protects” the creature from hand attack or sorcery speed removal, which is a nice side effect. Warp’s main use is as an enabler for other cards.

Lander tokens and Landfall go hand in hand, but I particularly like the new Lander tokens. One of the things I noticed about Edge of Eternities is that the set offers you a lot of small ways to use your mana through card abilities. Lander tokens represent that philosophy in spades. Do you have an extra two mana you’re not using this turn? Then turn it into another land..

Lastly, I haven’t mentioned Spacecraft and Planets, but these are no slouches either. I first evaluated Station similar to the Crew mechanic, but I was very wrong. One of the key limitations of Station is that you can only do it during your turn. Knowing when to Station to build for future turns is difficult to answer. You are leaving yourself vulnerable with your creatures tapped, hoping that your investment will pay off. If that Spacecraft gets removed, it hurts. As this mechanic is found in every color, it just adds to the overall puzzle. It also doesn’t hurt that whenever I think of Station, I think of Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey. Just me…oh well.

It’s hard to describe, but Edge of Eternities feels like a classic set from years past. Like the first time we went to Innistrad or Zendikar. The colors seem balanced against each other, and the various draft archetypes play with their unique twists. My experience with Edge of Eternities is that it’s a slower format, allowing for games to develop. An example is that there is a high amount of board wipes in the set. This is something you have to keep in mind if you’re playing an aggressive deck. You don’t want to overextend yourself if your opponent has one or if you’re relying on one too. Another effect is that these cards can reset games or destroy board stalls. You are trying to puzzle your way around what your opponent is doing, and finding the answers within that puzzle is where the fun lies. The slower format produces more thoughtful play, which I appreciate.

There is also a bonus sheet for Edge of Eternities. This is another inconsistent bonus sheet with an individual Play Booster having a 12.5% chance of containing a bonus sheet card. These bonus sheet cards are all lands from Magic’s past, and there are some great cards on the list. There are also some true stinkers, too. At least with this bonus sheet, the odds of getting blown out by land cards are lower, though Strip Mine is in the list, and it is possible to strip lock (destroy all of your opponents' lands repeatedly) someone in this set. (The odds are very low.)

Cons - Embrace Oblivion

There’s not a lot to criticize with the set. There’s an average amount of mana fixing, even with half of the Shocklands returning. Most limited decks will be locked into two colors with the occasional third splash. I’d like the bonus sheet to be an actual bonus slot with a card found in every pack. It would have been nice to have more than a single Eldrazi card, considering we’re adjacent to the Blind Eternities. Any criticisms I have about Edge of Eternities are more around how Wizards of the Coast manages sets rather than the set itself. I feel we have too many art variants, but that isn’t Edge of Eternities' fault.

Artwork/Art Treatments - Moonlit Meditation

Starting out, I’d just like to say that Edge of Eternities might be one of the best names I’ve ever seen for a Magic set. If you’re familiar with Magic lore, then you’ll know the planes are separated by the Blind Eternities. A space only planeswalkers can cross without dying and populated by the enigmatic Eldrazi. While the Omenpaths have somewhat changed that dynamic, Edge of Eternities is a set that takes place in The Edge, which borders the Blind Eternities. This is the “outer space” set, and I was skeptical of this as a setting, as I wasn’t sure what that meant.

The more time I spent with Edge of Eternities, the more I enjoyed the set’s theming. The set just oozes classic science fiction vibes, but more importantly, it’s doing it in its own way. Edge of Eternities is weird, and I love that. There are bug people and an entire race of Kavu. There’s a dog with way too many limbs. There are religious factions fighting over the literal end of the universe. I recommend that people experience the Magic story, but the artwork is doing a lot of the heavy lifting here. Conveyed is the vastness of space, the loneliness of travel, and the strange denizens of the Edge. I can’t say that I like all of the artwork, but I can say that it is all captivating. It’s a small detail, but I particularly like the spaceship in most of the land cards. That detail really captures the scope that the cards are depicting.

We’ve mostly settled into how many art variants a set will have as we’ve adopted Play Boosters and Collector Boosters. I’ve never cared much for the anime-style cards, but with this set, I adore the Triumphant Showcase frame and the Surreal Space frames. Magic’s version of space captures the feeling of wonder and awe that outer space deserves.