Wizards of the Coast’s seminal CCG,Magic: The Gathering, continues to expand its horizons with every new collection released. Over the years,Magic: The Gatheringhas given fans an incredible and diverse range of visions of its multiversal planes and characters, each with their own involved storylines and thematic flavorings. Even with these previous vast offerings, though, the upcomingBloomburrowset will mark a first, as it will explore a plane bereft of any human life but teeming with societies of anthropomorphic critters known as Animalfolk, who are dealing with a looming threat to their home world.
Game Rant participated in a preview event forBloomburrow, where a panel composed of senior game designer Annie Sardelis, senior art director Zack Stella, game designer Neale LaPlante Johnson, art director Sarah Wassell, and award-winning guest artist David Petersen all chimed in to describeBloomburrow’s concepts and how its elements came together to form one ofMagic: The Gathering’s coziest planesto date.
The Plane of Bloomburrow Bustles Vibrantly With Life, But Has its Darker Aspects
Bloomburrowis home to ten species that collectively comprise the Animalfolk:
Normally living in relative harmony in an area called Valley, many Animalfolk dwell in Three Tree City, a complex formed by a trio of enormous entwined trees. An integral part of Bloomburrow’s narrative is theCalamity Beasts, semi-divine beingsdescribed as “equal parts natural disaster and living seasons.” These are essentially elemental creatures that embody a primordial aspect or force of nature itself.
As the story opens, a sinister plot has seemingly caused the Beasts and the natural cycles they bring to go awry, threatening Bloomburrow’s delicate balance andthe well-being of all Animalfolk. The heroine of the tale is Mabel, a mouse mother of three living with her husband Clem in Three Tree City. Mabel must take up her heirloom weapon, Cragflame, and embark on an adventure to rectify the oncoming disaster. The incident itself was masterminded by Glarb, a frog wizard who leads the region of Fountainport. Glarb apparently orchestrated the theft of one of the Calamity Beast’s eggs for his own mysterious ends, which starts the upheaval that Bloomburrow currently finds itself in the midst of.
How Artists and Designers Brought Bloomburrow’s Vision to Fruition
As per its nature,Bloomburrowhas heavy woodland pastoral themes and a generally brighter palette compared tosome ofMagic: The Gathering’s grittier settings. This is showcased in the alternate art with a “breezier” style, and the facet is further reflected in the set’s basic lands representing the four seasons, with touches on the characters' clothes and expressions to match the feel of each. The team outlined how they looked at the tendencies and physical abilities of each animal type when designing their cultures, behaviors, and related game mechanics. However, they also noted that they wanted to make sure the Animalfolk’s depictions based on these weren’t the be-all and end-all of their personalities and tried to avoid some traditionally demonizing depictions of certain ones, like bats (who act as spiritual advisors here) in their presentation.
Bloomburrowwas described as taking inspiration from children’s storybooks with a bit more of an adult bent, like Brian Jaques' classicRedwallseries. The artists mentioned how in certain cases it posed more of a challenge to render the characters and world not too cartoonishly, but remain both grounded and whimsical, to fit its tone and intent. On top of all that,Bloomburrowholds a few surprises likefamiliar and popular Planeswalkerstransformed here into anthropomorphic versions of themselves. Last, but certainly not least, WotC revealed that well-knownPokemonartist, Mitsuhiro Arita, contributed a special piece to the set. With all the above and more to come, fans are in for a true treat whenBloomburrowfully releasesAugust 2, 2024.
Magic The Gathering
Magic the Gathering is a tabletop and digital collectable card game created by Richard Garfield and released in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Players take on the role of a Planeswalker and use various cards to battle other players by casting spells, summoning creatures, or utilizing artifacts. It features two main rule categories, constructed or limited, and can be played by two or more players at a time.
