Recently, Magic: The Gathering has been going all over as the game moves in a bold new direction. Not only are Universes Beyond sets taking us in a new direction, but even Magic’s in-universe sets are getting weird. Recently, we’ve had murder mystery, the wild west, a death race, and we’re going to space before too long too!
Thankfully, Magic: The Gathering isn’t exclusively weird and wacky sets nowadays. Tarkir: Dragonstorm, for instance, is taking us back to the titular plane of Tarkir after 10 long years. Alongside this, we’ve got returns to Lorwyn and Arcavios booked in for the not-too-distant future. As if these weren’t upcoming returns weren’t enough, MTG players are now after a trip to Shenmeng.
A Stay in Shenmeng
Even if you’ve been playing MTG for a while, there’s a good chance you haven’t heard much about Shenmeng. Not only do very few existing MTG cards have anything to do with this plane, but it’s only had this name for a couple of years. Prior to the release of March of the Machine, this plane was known as “The Plane of Mountains and Seas.”
While descriptive, this name isn’t exactly typical for MTG, so it’s no wonder it was changed. Wizards really needed to give this plane a proper name once it got a Planechase card in March of the Machine Commander. Despite officially getting its name in 2023, we’ve barely seen or heard anything about Shenmeng since.
Since March of the Machine, we’ve only seen a resident of Shenmeng once, which was Mu Yanling, Wind Rider in Aetherdrift. Sadly, this appearance didn’t come with much in the way of lore attached, outside of the fact that Mu Yanling was searching for her lost mentor. Even this detail was only dished out in The Legends of Aetherdrift article, so we really don’t know much about Shenmeng still.
The plane’s other known legendary character, Jiang Yanggu, hasn’t been seen since 2019’s War of the Spark. Due to this absence, we’ve had very few opportunities to learn anything about the plane of Shenmeng. We know that it’s steeped in Chinese history and myth, but there’s little to go off beyond that.
The only time we’ve seen this plane properly was in the Global Series: Jiang Yanggu & Mu Yanling Planeswalker decks. This pair of decks contained 31 new cards, giving us a brief peek into the plane, as well as Magic’s first Pangolin.
A Popular Place
While we know very little about the world of Shenmeng, what we have seen is rather intriguing. Chinese history and myth aren’t areas that Wizards of the Coast has hugely explored elsewhere, after all. A plane full of Dragons, Kirin, and Spirits sounds like a nostalgic fantasy romp, just like Tarkir: Dragonstorm is proving to be.
Due to this potential, many MTG players are unsurprisingly keen to see an actual set on Shenmeng. Following Mu Yanling’s reappearance in Aetherdrift, there have been additional calls for this to happen. Most recently, Tumblr user Darkflierazura took their request directly to MTG’s Head Designer, Mark Rosewater.
“Darkflierazura: Hi, I noticed that Mu Yanling has been getting some prints (not as much love for Jiang Yanggu tho lol)
So I was wondering If/When a full visit to Shenmeng?
Thank you!Mark Rosewater: If. How many of you would be interested in that?”
Blogatog
Unsurprisingly, many MTG players seemed interested in this possibility. In the comments on Blogatog, a huge number of players said they’d obviously want this set. Many players even called it their most requested plane suggestion.
Of course, while many players were excited, others noted that Wizards would have to do things properly. Not only would Shenmeng need to have a unique mechanical identity, but Wizards would need to avoid the pitfalls of a new themed plane. As Andthegeekshallinherit points out, it’d definitely need to avoid “Orientalism, negative tropes and horrible cliches.”
Thankfully, Wizards of the Coast does make good use of cultural consultants, so we shouldn’t have to worry about the latter issues. Similarly, Wizards’ vision and play design teams are sure to make sure that Shenmeng has its own cohesive mechanical identity. We can only hope that the names of these mechanics wouldn’t be too on the nose, like Start Your Engines.
The Wait Begins
Sadly, while many MTG players seem hugely interested in this idea, a trip to Shenmeng is hardly confirmed. For starters, while Blogatog readers were overwhelmingly in favor of the idea, they hardly account for the entire MTG player base. As much as this early feedback is encouraging, Wizards would need to do a lot more market research before committing to a plane like this.
More importantly, in their response, Rosewater stated that a trip of Shenmeng is an “If,” not a when. Due to this, we really shouldn’t get our hopes up too much since this is a rather niche set players are requesting here. Returning to a fan favorite or proven success might be a lot more financially sensible in the long run.
Potentially, should this movement to visit Shenmeng pick up enough steam, then Wizards could greenlight it eventually. Right now, however, it feels like we’re a long way away from that. Ultimately, we’re just going to have to wait and see what the future brings. In the meantime, I definitely wouldn’t hold your breath. We already know what planes we’re visiting until mid-2026, so don’t expect much about Shenmeng before then.