As creature types in Magic: The Gathering go, they don’t come much more iconic than Slivers. First introduced back in 1997’s Tempest, players immediately fell in love with these bizarre, endlessly synergistic monsters. They’ve seen a few retrains since, the most radical of which came in M15 11 years ago. Since then, the Standard format has experienced a distinct lack of Slivers. Based on yesterday’s Edge of Eternities story article, however, the long hibernation of the Slivers may finally be over.
This story continues the adventures of protagonists Sami and Tan, as they investigate a mining planet in search of a rare artifact. It also includes several references to Slivers, which have significant worldbuilding implications for this new locale. While the upshot of this story remains to be seen, the fact that Slivers are even being mentioned is a pretty big deal. It could well herald a return to Standard for the type, in Edge of Eternities itself or another set soon.
Slivers Are Back In Edge Of Eternities?!
The new mentions of Slivers came in episode two of the Edge of Eternities Magic Story series, released yesterday. The story as a whole covered Sami and Tan as they searched an alien planet for a rare artifact on behalf of the Metalman. Like previous Edge of Eternities story entries, this one has branching paths you can explore. If you choose to follow the cat sounds that come up early in the story, you’ll find a Sliver reference on that route.
“Sometimes, in movies, slivers mimic the sounds of things they hear. To lure you in. Of course, slivers aren’t real.”
Edge of Eternities: Episode 2
There are a number of interesting implications here. First of all, the fact that Slivers exist in movies in the Edge of Eternities universe. Honestly, the fact that movies exist at all is a bit of a new one for Magic: The Gathering, as some pointed out on Reddit. In a sci-fi world, it’s not really much of a stretch, of course. In any case, Slivers appear to be fictional horror movie monsters in this world, which is an unexpected move.
That said, this line couldn’t be hinting at an eventual ‘they were real all along’ twist any harder. Given how much weight Slivers have in Magic, it’s unlikely that Wizards would mention them here without reason. As Vindictus173 put it, “I doubt they’d put Chekhov’s sliver in there unless they’re doing something with it soon.”
The story has other Sliver references too, mentioning on two occasions their ability to grow inside hosts. This wasn’t part of the Sliver toolkit in the past, but it is very reminiscent of the Xenomorphs in Alien, so it’d be a good flavor fit for Edge of Eternities. Perhaps Slivers aren’t just back, but back with a vengeance.
New Possibilities
If Slivers are going to be a part of Edge of Eternities, things could get interesting fast. In all past incarnations, Slivers have been known for their ability-sharing. Each Sliver comes with an ability or stat boost, which it passes on to every other Sliver you control. Older Slivers affected every Sliver in play, but that was retired alongside other board-wide lord effects.
At the time of writing, there are 115 Slivers in Magic that operate on this principle. As you’d expect, Wizards has explored most conceivable design avenues by now. From simple ability Slivers, all the way up to Slivers that emulate specific popular enchantments, we’ve seen a wide spectrum. If the type returns in Edge of Eternities, Wizards will likely need to dig deep and break out some experimental new designs as a result.
“Please, I’ve been begging for more slivers. I want them to do some real whacky mechanics with them.”
Sedona54332, via r/mtgfinance
There are a few potential avenues here. We could see Slivers that play into the wider themes of Edge of Eternities as a set, these being artifacts and lands by the look of things. We’ve seen a few artifact Slivers in the past, like Metallic Sliver and Sliver Construct. These were generic hosts for other Sliver abilities, with no real draw of their own. Perhaps a series of artifact Slivers that grant abilities from popular artifacts like Birthing Pod could make a good addition. On the land front, we could well see Slivers that grant abilities to lands, or draw from them.
Set themes aside, the hints at Slivers growing inside humans in the story could suggest an Incubate-esque mechanic for the type this time around. While this mechanic is specifically tied to Phyrexians, we could easily see an ‘Incubate Sliver’ variant. For a type notoriously soft to board wipes, the ability to ‘store’ creatures in artifact form would be a huge boon.
The Meathook Massacre II Argument
“Slivers exist as fictional characters within this fictional setting, a fun twist.”
Strolpol, via r/mtgfinance
Of course, there is a very real chance that this is a red herring, and Slivers aren’t destined for a comeback in Edge of Eternities after all. As we saw in Duskmourn with Meathook Massacre II, stories are now spreading across the Multiverse with greater ease thanks to Omenpaths. The Sliver mentions in Edge of Eternities could just be another instance of this.
Perhaps Slivers really are just a horror movie monster in this new world. Since The Edge, where the new set takes place, is intended as its own cut-off thing, this would make sense. It could be a fun, in-genre reference for players to get, but ultimately no more than that. Sami’s cat from the story, Mirri, fits neatly into that mold too. Doing things this way would allow Wizards to showcase classic Magic elements through a new lens, while still pushing things forward.
“The big reason they haven’t returned is it’s difficult for WotC to make new Slivers that aren’t either woefully unplayable or extremely overpowered, depending on how useless they intentionally make the sliver abilities.”
BlurryPeople, via r/mtgfinance
The other compelling argument against Slivers returning is the difficulty of designing them. As mentioned above, Wizards has gone through a lot of Sliver cards over the years. It’s a tricky type to balance, since they can get out of hand extremely easily by their very nature. There’s limited design space for abilities that play well when spread out over a full board of creatures, after all.
While recent Standard sets have hardly shied away from mechanical complexity, Slivers introduce a lot of design baggage that may not be ideal. They’re also a very ‘classic Magic’ element, which could detract from how novel Edge of Eternities is overall.
Whichever way things work out, these Sliver references already have players talking. For such a long-absent type, that’s some good going.
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