MTG Reality Fracture reunites the Lorwyn Five for the first time in nearly 20 years

Magic: The Gathering's upcoming set Reality Fracture, releasing October 2, brings back the Lorwyn Five — the iconic Planeswalker group introduced in the 2007 set Lorwyn — together in print for the first time in nearly two decades. The reunion is driven by Jace Beleren, now rebranded as The Theorist, who serves as the set's main villain.

Jace has constructed an alternate reality called the Echoverse — a "better" multiverse free of suffering, but one that requires overwriting existing reality to survive. "Jace has decided to make a new multiverse, a better one free of all of those bad guys he spent his life battling," principal story lead Roy Graham explained during a press preview. "The only issue is it's unstable. There's only one way to make it stick: Overwrite reality as we know it and replace it with his grand vision." The Echoverse produces twisted versions of familiar Planeswalkers with altered color identities — Ajani Unrelenting became consumed by vengeance instead of finding peace, Liliana never turned to necromancy because her brother survived, and Garruk donned the Chain Veil and became a soul-devouring killer. Jace's base of operations is Hexhaven, a dark mirror of Strixhaven, described by Graham as "a ruthless pressure cooker where the strong are made stronger and the weak are left behind." Unlike Strixhaven's opposing-color schools, Hexhaven's five schools are built on allied colors.

The set also reimagines classic Magic cards through an Echoverse lens. Dark Confidant isn't being reprinted, but a new Kor cleric called Enlightened Confidant offers a fresh take on the effect. Craterhoof Behemoth becomes Craterclaw Colossus, a giant puppetbeast crafted by students of one of Hexhaven's schools. Head designer Mark Rosewater was clear that these variants are designed to work as standalone cards — deep lore knowledge is a bonus, not a requirement. "We made sure every Echoverse version is just a cool card in a vacuum," Rosewater said. The Lorwyn Five debuted in 2007 and have appeared across nearly every non-licensed Magic set since, making them some of the most recognizable characters in the game's history. Reality Fracture's 16 newly revealed cards represent just a slice of the full set, which drops October 2.