Elements of adverse reactions to the other Shards come into play in this set, as the story showcases that the Shards are being forced together in a ring, constantly raking against one another causing untold amounts of disasters among the shards.

Nicol Bolas, who was once rumored to be in the set, was actually included as a planeswalker. This card was originally printed in the Legends set as a creature, but is now being reprinted as "Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker", with the same mana colors he had originally; Black Blue Red. These colors represent Nicol Bolas's existence on the Grixis shard.

Mechanics

This set continues on the Shards of Alara set's Exalted, Unearth and Devour mechanics.

Domain - This is an ability word which refers to an effect involving the number of basic land types among lands you control (Anywhere from 0-5). One such example is Matca Rioters, whose power and toughness are defined by the number of basic land types you have. This ability is accompanied by Basic Landcycling, similiar to previous forms of deck-searching cycling, where any basic land can be fetched for the cost.