7 reveals about MTG’s Nauctis, Zhalfir, Kamigawa: Titanbreach, and more

“There is evasion in the set; it’s just not flying,” he said during a press Q&A. “We did something cool. It’s organic, it makes sense, and it’s underwater.”

Magic has experimented with other forms of evasion before, such as landwalk and shadow. Rosewater also said that Nauctis is a set for people who love aquariums and underwater creatures, so the designers might be basing their mechanics on marine biology. This could involve a camouflage mechanic to represent the many sea creatures like octopuses, rays, and flounder that have evolved to blend in with their environment, possibly countered by a mechanic representing the way fish and marine mammals have evolved to sense movement through the water.

Nauctis will launch a new arc with a new villain

Image: Wizards of the Coast

Reality Fracture, which sees Jace’s friends trying to stop the planeswalker from rewriting the universe, is wrapping the three-year story arc that began in September 2023 with Wilds of Eldraine. That means Nauctis will kick off a new arc that head of story Roy Graham told Polygon will run for about two to four years.

“How do we top Jace? There was a lot of figuring out how to land that plane,” Graham said. “I can’t say a ton about what the next arc villain is, but I think Magic is ready for a new big bad. It’s something that Magic players won’t have seen before, but it has really deep ties to the multiverse in Magic‘s history.”

Magic’s next villain may not come from any plane at all. With Jace forcing an artificial reality into existence, Wizards could finally reveal what has always lived between the Multiverse’s worlds — and what happens when that connective tissue begins fighting back. It could also help explain why Wizards experimented with the Blind Eternities in 2025’s Edge of Eternities.

Wizards is working very hard to get Zhalfir’s Afrofantasy right

Image: Wizards of the Coast/Bimpe Aliu

Zhalfir’s development cycle was a year longer than most of the game’s in-universe sets, and Wizards of the Coast incorporated a cultural consultant into the design team for the first time ever.

“Africa can often be boiled down to this monolith when you’re doing Afrofantasy, and obviously there’s such an incredible diversity of culture, mythology, and inspirations to draw on,” Graham said. “That spread of inspiration was really important, but obviously it required a magnitude more work behind the scenes to make sure that we were doing it respectfully.”

The designers worked with a variety of Afrofantasy authors and creative consultants on worldbuilding to represent different aspects of African and African diaspora fantasy, including the Caribbean, North African, and Egyptian. The art team focused on representing different hair and body types.

“There’s an opinion in some online spaces that consultants are basically in the room as cops to say no to stuff,” Graham said. “That really couldn’t be further from how the consultants worked with us. They were points of inspiration, encouragement, and directional guidance that let us take way more risks and ultimately make a much, much stronger set.”

One of Magic’s oldest characters is coming out of retirement

Image: Wizards of the Coast/Jose Vega

Teferi has been part of Magic’s story since the 1996 set Mirage, which introduced the planeswalker and his home nation Zhalfir. Originally trained by Urza to protect Dominaria from Phyrexia, Teferi has appeared in numerous sets since, including War of the Spark, Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, and Ravnica Remastered. He’s been unstuck in time, and has previously battled both Nicol Bolas and the elder demon Belzenlok.

Teferi was cut off from his home for more than 300 years when it was phased out, though he found it again ahead of the New Phyrexian Invasion, phasing it back in to take the place of Mirrodin/New Phyrexia. His people, who had been prepared to fight the Phyrexians on Dominaria, proved instrumental in protecting the multiverse. Teferi lost his spark in the battle’s aftermath, and has been enjoying a well-earned retirement.

“He will be back in Zhalfir,” Graham said. “The Omenpaths have thankfully let him return to his homeland and see the strange shape that it’s taken over the years outside the multiverse. It wouldn’t be unlike him to get pulled into something new.”

The next Marvel set won’t be set in New York

Image: Wizards of the Coast

While Wizards hasn’t revealed any of the 2027 Universes Beyond sets yet, it’s a safe bet that one of them will be based on Marvel given the multi-year partnership that saw the release of Spider-Man in 2025 and Marvel Super Heroes in 2026. However, during Hasbro’s latest quarterly earnings results call, CEO Chris Cocks said, “The one thing I’ll say on the Universes Beyond partners that we have next year is they’ll probably be a bit more fantasy-adjacent — and I don’t think any of them will take place in New York City because we definitely have gotten that feedback from some fans.”

Spider-Man took place mostly in New York, and so did the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universes Beyond set that was released in March. Many of the most prominent X-Men were absent from Marvel Super Heroes, but Cooks’ statement probably means we won’t be heading to Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters in 2027. It seems safe to assume the next set will lean into Marvel’s fantasy elements with characters like the Sorcerer Supreme Stephen Strange, Ghost Rider, and Moon Knight.