Fanboys Anonymous

Magic: The Gathering head designer Mark Rosewater announced this fall's expert-level expansion, Khans of Tarkir, in a video filmed at the end of the Journey Into Nyx Pro Tour. According to the video, the new block is a "war-torn world ruled by warlords," and the illustrations suggest that it takes its inspiration from Mongol horse-nomads. It’s also the home of planeswalker Sarkhan Vol, whose card previously appeared in the Shards of Alara and Rise of the Eldrazi sets.


Sarkhan left his home plane in search of dragons, for while the creatures fascinated him, all of Tarkir's dragons are long dead. But as Wizards of the Coast tries to include dragon cards in every set, we can expect a dramatic draconic deluge later in the block.

The ladies swoon over Sarkhan's smoldering eyes.

Rosewater also gave the following cryptic clues about the set: "There's something that people have been asking us to do for quite a while that we're finally bringing back after a long absence in Magic. And there's something that people have been asking us to do that we've never done, that for the first time we're doing in Khans of Tarkir."

The names of the remaining sets in the block haven't been announced yet. However, Wizards of the Coast has recently trademarked the names Warlords of Khanar and Dragons of Tarkir—the latter providing more evidence that we'll get blitzed by dragons later in the block.

Rosewater is the lead designer on the set, while Erik Lauer is the lead developer. This is the same creative team that headed the recent Innistrad and Theros sets. The scheduled release date for Khans of Tarkir is September 26.


Any guesses as to what Rosewater is hinting at? Are there any old mechanics that you're really dying to see return in this block—horsemanship, say, or snow lands? Please post your thoughts in the comment section below!