Wizards of the Coast is launching its next big story arc for Magic: The Gathering alongside its next set, Dominaria United. The expansion's story features the invasion of the Phyrexians in one of MTG's most popular planes, Dominaria. Story details have been shared via short fiction pieces released on the popular card game's official website, revealing that the Phyrexian sleeper agents had infiltrated the Dominarian coalition. The story also revealed a surprising sleeper agent who ends up killing one of Magic: the Gathering's oldest planeswalkers.
Warning: This article contains major spoilers from Dominaria United's story.
In the upcoming expansion's story, the Phyrexians seem to have a particular interest in capturing Karn, the planeswalker Golem, and destroying the Golgothian Sylex, a powerful artifact with destructive capabilities. The Phyrexians were able to capture Karn, but Ajani found and rescued him. The two planeswalkers returned to the Mana Rig, Jaya Ballard's workshop doubling as the hiding place of the Sylex and the headquarters for Dominaria's defensive forces.
However, the Phyrexians found the Mana Rig and attacked it. This was the moment Ajani revealed himself to be a sleeper agent, "compleated" by the Phyrexians during his attempt to rescue Karn. He killed Jaya Ballard, but before she died, Jaya set the Mana Rig to self-destruct. The Phyrexians managed to destroy the Sylex and recapture Karn, but at a massive cost to their ground forces. Jaya's death is represented by the artwork of the black Instant card, Extinguish the Light.
Wizards of the Coast took an advertisement in The Seattle Times to commemorate Jaya's passing. The ad is in the form of an obituary for one of MTG's oldest planeswalkers, which reads:
"It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of the planeswalker Jaya Ballard – hero, guardian, teacher, and fiery defender of Dominaria. She lost her life when her fellow planeswalker, Ajani, was revealed as a compleated sleeper agent of Dominaria's long-time foes, the Phyrexians. Jaya's flame burns on through her friends, and the many, many individuals she fought for and saved. The fight is not yet over, but Jaya Ballard's flame burns eternal."
Wizards also set up a new website as a memoriam, where fans can pay their respects for Jaya.
For those unfamiliar with Magic's lore, Jaya Ballard is a native of Dominaria, having been born in that plane during the Ice Age. She appeared as a background character in the art featured in MTG's Ice Age set (1995), but she was heavily-featured in Jeff Grubb's Ice Age Cycle novels. In 2006's Time Spiral set, she gets her own card debut was Jaya, Task Mage, which representing her pre-spark powers. For years, Jaya was presumed to have died during the Ice Age but reemerged as a powerful pyrokinetic planeswalker in MTG's Dominaria set in 2018 and returned to battle Nicol Bolas and his army in 2019's War of the Spark.
Dominaria United is set to release on Magic: The Gathering Arena on September 1. Pre-release events launch on Sept. 2, and the new expansion will be fully-released in stores on Sept. 9.
You can read more details about Dominaria United at MTGRocks.com.
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