Rivals of Ixalan is the last regular small expansion to be released. [4] The set contains 196 cards (5 basic lands, 70 common, 60 uncommon, 48 rare, and 13 mythic rare) and includes randomly inserted premium versions of all cards. Some of the rares are Double-faced cards which were printed on a separate print sheet. Nine additional cards are found in the set's planeswalker decks (2 mythic planeswalkers, 2 rares, 2 uncommons, 2 commons, and 1 common dual land). These are numbered #197/196 to #205/196. [5] With the exception of the Elder Dinosaur cycle, all the tribes are staying in their same colors from Ixalan.
As the design of this set fell between the abandonment of the Two-Block Paradigm, but before the introduction Three-and-One Model, Rivals of Ixalan had a combined Vision/Set Design team instead of separate Design and Development teams. Notably, head designer Mark Rosewater wasn't part of the team. [6]
| “ | Stake your claim. Dominate the opposition. Rule the city. | ” |
The legendary city of Orazca has been found, but it is not claimed without a fight. The winner will wield the greatest power of the plane. An unexpected rival takes the prize for his master.
The cards that represent the Story Spotlights in Ixalan are: Flood of Recollection, Induced Amnesia, and Mastermind's Acquisition. This is the first set to only have three spotlight cards. These feature a Planeswalker symbol icon as a watermark in their text boxes. The icon has no effect on game play. [3]
| Title | Author | Release Date | Setting (plane) | Featuring |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Flood | Alison Luhrs, Gregg Luben & Kelly Digges | 2018-01-10 | Ixalan, Zendikar, Ravnica, Vryn | Kumena, Vona de Iedo, Mavren Fein, Vraska, Jace, Tezzeret, Liliana, Ranna Beleren, Gav Beleren, Alhammarret |
| Glimpse the Far Side of the Sun | Alison Luhrs & Gregg Luben | 2018-01-17 | Ixalan, Kaldheim | Huatli, Inti, Angrath, Elenda, Jace, Vraska, Zetalpa, Azor |
| The Arbiter of Law Left Chaos in His Wake | Alison Luhrs & Gregg Luben | 2018-01-24 | Ixalan | Huatli, Angrath, Tishana, Kumena, Vona de Iedo, Mavren Fein, Jace, Vraska, Azor |
| Sabotage | Alison Luhrs & Gregg Luben | 2018-01-31 | Ixalan, Tarkir | Ugin, Azor, Nicol Bolas, Jace, Vraska |
| Who Tells the Stories | Alison Luhrs & Gregg Luben | 2018-02-07 | Ixalan | Huatli, Tishana, Vona de Iedo, Angrath, Mavren Fein, Malcolm Lee, Breeches, Elenda, Pedron, Zacama, Apatzec Intli III, Inti |
| Wool Over the Eyes | Alison Luhrs & Gregg Luben | 2018-02-14 | Kaladesh, Unknown Plane, Ravnica, Meditation Plane, Ixalan, Dominaria | Huatli, Saheeli Rai, Angrath, Rumi, Jamira, Vraska, Nicol Bolas, Jace, Jaya, Apatzec Intli III |
An additional article was published presenting alternate endings (now non-canon) that depicted each faction gaining control of Orazca.
| Title | Author | Release Date | Setting (plane) | Featuring |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rivals of Ixalan Magic Story Alternate Endings | Nik Davidson, Kelly Digges, & Kimberly J. Kreines | 2018-02-21 | Ixalan | Tishana, Huatli, Vona de Iedo, Mavren Fein, Elenda, Malcolm Lee, Breeches |
Rivals of Ixalan is sold in 16-card boosters (one card being a marketing card), two planeswalker decks and the Rivals of Ixalan bundle. [5] The boosters feature artwork from Sun Sentinel, Angrath, the Flame-Chained, Riverwise Augur, Frilled Deathspitter, and Moment of Craving. The set doesn't feature a Masterpiece Series. [4]
As part of the preview season, Wizards of the Coast again distributed trackable game pieces to stores, fans, volunteers, and some well-known community folk. As game pieces travelled from from geochache to geocache, the distances they travelled influenced the release of preview cards. [7] By tracking Dinosaurs, Merfolk, Vampires, and Pirates individually, accompanied by votes on social media, it was decided who controlled the golden city at the end of the Rivals of Ixalan story. [8] [9]
Ixalan features six tokens and markers. [12]
The following tokens printed in Ixalan are also used for cards in Rivals of Ixalan:
Transform and double-faced cards are carried over from Ixalan. The front side of some of them is multicolored. The backside is still a legendary land.
Enrage, explore and raid also return and the tribal component was expanded upon. [6] [13]
There is only one new named mechanic: [14]
Rivals of Ixalan has nine cycles, including two double cycles. Two of these cycles are partial due to uneven color distribution among tribes.
| Cycle name | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mythic Creatures | Trapjaw Tyrant (Rivals of Ixalan) | Timestream Navigator (Rivals of Ixalan) | Twilight Prophet (Rivals of Ixalan) | Rekindling Phoenix (Rivals of Ixalan) | Polyraptor (Rivals of Ixalan) |
| Five mythic rare creatures. | |||||
| Forerunners | Forerunner of the Legion (vampires) | None | Forerunner of the Coalition (pirates) | Forerunner of the Empire (dinosaurs) | Forerunner of the Heralds (merfolk) |
| Four uncommon creatures, one for each major tribe. Each has an enters the battlefield ability that tutors a creature of the respective type to the top of your library, and a triggered ability whenever a creature of that type enters the battlefield under your control. | |||||
| Tribal revealers | None | Silvergill Adept (merfolk; reprinted from Lorwyn) | Sadistic Skymarcher (vampires) | Daring Buccaneer (pirates) | Thunderherd Migration (dinosaurs) |
| Four uncommon spells that are undercosted but require the caster to reveal a card of a given tribe's creature type from their hand, or to pay some amount of colorless mana as an additional cost. | |||||
| Elder dinosaurs | Zetalpa, Primal Dawn | Nezahal, Primal Tide | Tetzimoc, Primal Death | Etali, Primal Storm | Ghalta, Primal Hunger |
| Five rare elder dinosaurs, one of each color. Zacama, Primal Calamity is thematically related to the cycle. | |||||
| Tribal Commons | Sanguine Glorifier (Vampires) | Crashing Tide (Merfolk) | Fathom Fleet Boarder (Pirates) | Stampeding Horncrest (Dinosaurs) | Jade Bearer (Merfolk) |
| Sun-Crested Pterodon (Dinosaurs) | Sea Legs (Pirates) | Voracious Vampire (Vampires) | Buccaneer's Bravado (Pirates) | Knight of the Stampede (Dinosaurs) | |
| Ten commons referencing their two tribes. | |||||
| Cycle name | |||||
| Allied colored draft archetypes | Resplendent Griffin (ascend) | Deadeye Brawler (ascend) | Dire Fleet Neckbreaker (pirates) | Raging Regisaur (enrage) | Atzocan Seer (ramp) |
| Five allied colored uncommon cards which each represent a two-colored draft archetype. | |||||
| Cycle name | |||||
| Enemy colored draft archetypes | Legion Lieutenant (vampires) | Storm Fleet Sprinter (pirates) | Jungle Creeper (recursion) | Relentless Raptor (aggro) | Merfolk Mistbinder (merfolk) |
| Five enemy colored uncommon cards which each represent a two-colored draft archetype. | |||||
| Legendary transforming enemy color enchantments | Profane Procession // Tomb of the Dusk Rose | Storm the Vault // Vault of Catlacan | Journey to Eternity // Atzal, Cave of Eternity | Path of Mettle // Metzali, Tower of Triumph | Hadana's Climb // Winged Temple of Orazca |
| Five rare legendary enchantments in enemy color pairs that transform into legendary lands whenever a condition is met. Each of these lands tap for one mana of any color and have other powerful abilities. | |||||
| Enemy color taplands | Forsaken Sanctuary | Highland Lake | Foul Orchard | Stone Quarry | Woodland Stream |
| Five uncommon dual lands that enter the battlefield tapped. This cycle was originally printed in Shadows over Innistrad. | |||||
Rivals of Ixalan has seven mirrored pairs.
| Mirrored Pairs | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Legion Lieutenant ( ) | Merfolk Mistbinder ( ) | Uncommon lords, each of which is 2/2 for two mana of the tribe's colors and gives other creatures of that tribe that you control +1/+1. |
| Kumena's Awakening ( ) | Vona's Hunger ( ) | Rare noncreature spells with ascend that each represent a villainous figure in the story gaining momentary control over Orazca. |
| Moment of Triumph ( ) | Moment of Craving ( ) | Common instants that give a creature +2/+2 or -2/-2 respectively, and gain you 2 life. |
| See Red ( ) | Curious Obsession ( ) | Uncommon Auras that enchant creatures, give a power and toughness boost, and sacrifice themselves if you didn't attack with a creature this turn. |
| River Darter ( ) | Dinosaur Hunter ( ) | Common creatures outside the Dinosaur colors with anti-Dinosaur abilities. |
| Pride of Conquerors ( ) | Golden Demise ( ) | Ascend uncommon spells depicting events that never occurred in the story (the Legion of Dusk in Orzaca and Vraska's subsequent Sun-powered massacre of them) that have mirrored effects when Ascended: +2/+2 to your team or -2/-2 to theirs. |
| Storm Fleet Swashbuckler ( ) | Slippery Scoundrel ( ) | Uncommon 2/2 Human Pirate creatures with Ascend that gain powerful keywords. |
As a first, this small set features four common reprints that were also printed in the large set. This was done because R&D had realized that they didn't want to make "second best" versions of those cards. [15] [16] They all have the same art as in the first set.
