After a lot of hype in the run-up, many MTG players were understandably disappointed when today’s Aetherdrift stream turned out to be purely lore-focused. You could almost hear the collective groan when Blake Rasmussen announced there would be no new cards previewed. That said, it wasn’t a total bust. We learned a lot about the story and setting of Aetherdrift and the different race teams that will be competing for the Aetherspark. We also finally got confirmation that the third Plane for MTG Aetherdrift will, indeed, be Muraganda. For long-time fans, this is a reveal 17 years in the making.
Muraganda Is The Third MTG Aetherdrift Plane!
This announcement came during today’s Aetherdrift worldbuilding stream on WeeklyMTG. Even before today, however, many players were speculating that this would be the case. Both Kaladesh (now Avishkar) and Amonkhet were confirmed previously. Based on previous statements from Mark Rosewater, players were fairly confident Muraganda would be the third MTG plane visited in Aetherdrift. Turns out that hunch was 100% correct.
Muraganda is interesting for a number of reasons. It’s a plane we’ve seen referenced multiple times in the past, but not one we’ve ever visited properly. It’s a bit of an anomaly among the Aetherdrift planes in that regard. We’re essentially getting mini returns to Avishkar and Amonkhet here, but Muraganda is brand-spankin’ new both to us and in general. According to Aetherdrift Worldbuilding Set Lead Miguel Lopez, Muraganda is a “primordial plane.” This means we’ll be seeing plenty of Oozes and Dinosaurs, as well as some truly wild early-world magic.
Muraganda is an outlier among the other Aetherdrift planes in another way, too. Both Avishkar and Amonkhet have racing teams participating in the Ghirapur Grand Prix, but Muraganda is purely one of its destinations. This makes sense given the nature of the plane’s inhabitants. Though I have to admit it’s a shame we won’t be getting Dinosaur or Ooze-based teams.
Lore-wise, Lopez promised on the stream that Aetherdrift would give players ” a higher-fidelity picture” of Muraganda through its art and flavor. Given how long players have waited to finally see more of it, that’s a very good thing indeed.
17 Years In The Making
Muraganda’s history in Magic goes all the way back to 2007’s Future Sight. That’s right: the first mentions of this plane were a whopping 17 years ago. Future Sight was infamous for introducing wild new concepts that would eventually be explored in later sets. Among those concepts, two cards were printed that referenced the plane of Muraganda. These were Imperiosaur and Muraganda Petroglyphs.
Just looking at these two examples, Lopez’s statement on the plane being primordial makes total sense. Both cards encourage extreme simplicity in different ways. Petroglyphs buffs up your vanilla creatures, while Imperiosaur rewards you for playing only basic lands. Both cards also clearly reference classic early man/age of Dinosaurs tropes in their art and flavor.
After these two cards, the trail goes cold on Muraganda for a while. It was represented by Feeding Grounds in 2009’s Planechase, but then nothing. Until 2023, that is. In March of the Machine, Wizards took the opportunity to reintroduce the plane via Invasion of Muraganda, confirming its role in the Phyrexian Invasion. Like the Future Sight cards, this one really conveyed the primordial nature of Muraganda, with the flip side turning creatures into chunky vanilla beaters.
Finally, Muraganda Eldrazi brought the plane back yet again, albeit on a Playtest card, in 2024. Both this and the March of the Machine appearance seemed random at the time, but in retrospect, they were clearly seeding our visit to the plane in Aetherdrift next year.
While not everyone will be excited about the prospect of a plane known mainly for vanilla creatures, I for one am psyched. The use of Muraganda in Aetherdrift is the kind of MTG deep cut that makes the game as great as it is.
