First seen in 2016, Kaladesh is finally returning to Magic in 2025. Well, it almost is, as Kaladesh isn’t Kaladesh anymore. In a worldbuilding-focused livestream dedicated to Aetherdrift, Wizards has revealed this plane has been renamed. Once it reappears next year, the MTG plane of Kaladesh will henceforth be known as Avishkar.
Announcing Avishkar
During the latest WeeklyMTG livestream, Blake Rasmussen and Miguel Lopez confirmed the unexpected name change. This information was revealed alongside the entire plane lineup for Aetherdrift. As theorized, Aetherdrift takes place across Avishkar (Kaladesh), Amonkhet, and Muraganda.
Obviously, as exciting as Muraganda is, the big exciting plane here is Avishkar. While it has happened before, it’s incredibly rare that Wizards will completely rename a plane. Understandably, therefore, you may be wondering what on earth is going on, and why this change has happened.
According to Lopez, this change has occurred due to both in-universe and real-world factors. Thankfully, we haven’t had to wait long for these factors to be explained to us. Following the WeeklyMTG stream, Wizards released an article detailing exactly why the name had been changed.
As many MTG players suspected, the change was made in the interests of cultural sensitivity. Specifically, “the original Kaladesh set that that name carried unfortunate connotations in some dialects of the Hindi language.” These connotations came from the use of “Kala” in the set’s name, which carries “derogatory colorist and racist connotations when applied to a person.”
Unsurprisingly, Wizards of the Coast didn’t want these racial connotations to loom over the set for its return. This led Wizards to work with cultural consultants to find a new name for the plane. After some searching, Avishkar was chosen, which was derived from the Hindi word “aavishkar,” which means invention.
Notably, Wizards of the Coast has no plans to rename past cards or sets following this change. This means that cards like Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh will not be errata-ed or altered. Wizards will simply not be using the name Kaladesh going forward unless referring to past sets or the plane’s former state.
A Storied Change
Alongside the real-world factors that drove this name change, it also makes sense in the plane’s own story. As detailed during the WeeklyMTG Livestream, and an accompanying Planeswalker’s Guide article, a lot has gone on. Essentially, the plane of Kaladesh was overturned by revolution following the end of the Phyrexian invasion.
Unsurprisingly, the Phyrexian invasion of Kaladesh left a pretty big dent in the plane which left it ripe for change. Beyond any damage sustained, however, Kaladesh, and every other plane, also learned that the multiverse existed. In turn, this spurred a major cultural shift, led by the New Culture Collective.
This cultural shift took the form of “The Indigo Revolution,” which bloodlessly toppled the old government. In its place, the new Avishkar Assembly was born, who obviously decided to rename the plane. Much like the real-world reasoning for the change, this was done to distance themselves from the negative connotations associated with the Kaladesh name.
“The Avishkar Assembly voted to undertake was to change the name of the plane from Kaladesh—an old term weighed down by history’s cumbersome, painful weight—to Avishkar, a name that reflects the forward-looking, revolutionary spirit of the plane and her people.”
Wizards of the Coast
Overall, this vast cultural change is a good in-universe explanation for the plane’s name being changed. While Wizards probably wouldn’t have done this if the real-world factors weren’t there, the change nonetheless fits. Hopefully, this should help everything move smoothly once the story for Aetherdrift starts in earnest.
