Zendikar Rising

Zendikar Rising is the 85th Magic expansion. It was released on September 25, 2020.

Set details
Adventure Awaits As Mark Rosewater announced "we return to a Zendikar without Eldrazi and revisit the adventure world players fell in love with." It is a "land set" in the sense of the sets of the first Zendikar block, and all about adventure, exploration and reward.

Zendikar Rising contains 280 regular cards and includes randomly inserted premium versions of all cards. Cards with alternate card frames have another card number than the original version. Like all previous Zendikar sets, Zendikar Rising features full-art basic lands (#266-280). Borderless planeswalkers are numbered #281-283, borderless pathways are #284-289, showcase cards are numbered #290-313, extended artwork cards are numbered #314-379, and regular frame lands are numbered #380-384. The (non-exclusive) Buy-a-Box is #385, and the Bundle promo is numbered #386. Finally there are the FNM-treatment cards from the Universal promo pack numbered #387-391. Both regular and foil versions of the cards above #280 may be found in the Collector Boosters.

The Showcase cards are connected to Landfall mechanic. The card frame is themed around Zendikar’s hedrons, and the art style is intended to imitate bright-colored Travel Posters. The set features no new planeswalkers. The returning planeswalkers are Jace, Nissa, and Nahiri. Starting with Zendikar Rising, the mythic rares are changing their rate of drop. In the past, 1 in every 8 rares was a mythic rare. That is changed so that 1 in every 7.4 rares will be a mythic rare. Equivalently, this is an increased chance, from 37 in 296 packs previously, to 40 in 296 packs now. Draft boosters have a dedicated MDFC slot.

Storyline
Zendikar is a dangerous world of lethal risks where brave adventurers delve into ancient ruins in search of priceless rewards. The storyline features no Eldrazi but we see the ruin they have caused. From the perspective of its inhabitants, it is a hostile place that seems to be actively trying to kill the creatures that have the audacity to live there. The danger is unrelenting: precarious terrain, cunning predators, natural disasters on a massive scale, and the still continuing Roil — the unpredictable ripples of change that wash through the land — all present a constant challenge to survival. Nahiri has returned to Zendikar, and is willing to do anything to get rid of the Roil. Nissa has also returned home, but for reasons of her own.

The cards that represent the Story Spotlights in Zendikar Rising are:
 * Lithoform Engine
 * Lithoform Blight
 * Maddening Cacophony
 * Nahiri's Binding
 * Nahiri's Lithoforming
 * Nissa's Zendikon

Marketing
Zendikar Rising is sold in regular 16-card Draft Boosters (one card being a marketing card), Theme Boosters, Collector Boosters, Set Boosters, the Zendikar Rising bundle, and two Commander decks. A special Gift Edition of the Bundle will release in November 2020. The set is accompanied by a new Welcome Booster. The Draft Boosters feature artwork from Jace, Nahiri and Nissa. The Theme Boosters feature art from (Party), ,  ,  ,  , and. The Collector Boosters feature art of Omnath, Locus of Creation. The Set Boosters feature art from.

As part of the advertisement campaign for the set, content creators were provided with adventure gear (a water bottle, a bandanna, and a face mask).

The release of Secret Lair Drop Series: Showcase: Zendikar Revisited was timed to coincide with the release of Zendikar Rising.

Set boosters and the List
Zendikar Rising introduced Set Boosters. These are targeted to players that are not interested in Draft or Limited, and sell for a slightly higher price than Draft Boosters. Each pack comes with fourteen objects, twelve of which are Magic cards.

One of the objects in the Set Booster is an Art card. Art cards were last seen with Modern Horizons.

In 25% of the Set Boosters, cards of "The List" can be found instead of a marketing card. The List is a changing catalogue of 300 cards from older sets. These are not Standard legal. In addition, in 5% of the Set Boosters, the marketing card is replaced by a minigame card.

Expeditions
Similar to the original Zendikar Priceless Treasures and Zendikar Expeditions of the second block, Zendikar Rising has its own version of bonus cards from outside the set. There are 30 Expeditions in total, all of which are lands. These include all 10 fetch lands. Unlike those earlier cards, these will not randomly appear in booster packs. Instead, they will only be available as Box toppers (non-foil with a high-gloss treatment) and in Collector Boosters (foil).

Events

 * Magic Online and MTG Arena release: September 17.
 * Tabletop Prerelease: September 18–24.
 * Each player purchasing a Prerelease Pack was given one Zendikar Rising Set Booster.
 * Launch party (Outside US & LATAM only): September 26–27.
 * Friday Night Magic (Outside US & LATAM only): September 25–January 15.
 * Commander Nights (Outside US & LATAM only): September 28–January 14. A weekly Commander league with rotating rules and achievement-based prizes.

Promotional cards

 * Prerelease: a stamped card that can be any rare or mythic rare of Zendikar Rising.
 * Other events: cards from the Zendikar Rising universal promo pack.
 * Doesn't contain modal double-faced cards.
 * The seasonal dark-frame promos are:, , , , and.
 * Buy-a-Box: foil alternate art extended art.
 * Bundle promo: foil alternate art.

Tokens
The sixteenth card in the Draft Boosters is either a token with advertisements on the backside, or a helper card with a standard card back. The Collector Boosters contain a foil double-faced token. In total, Zendikar Rising comes with twelve tokens.
 * 1) 4/4 Angel Warrior creature with flying, for Emeria's Call.
 * 2) 1/1 Cat creature, for Attended Healer</c>.
 * 3) 2/2 Cat Beast creature, for Felidar Retreat</c>.
 * 4) 1/1 Kor Warrior creature, for Nahiri, Heir of the Ancients</c> and Squad Commander</c>.
 * 5) 2/2 Drake creature with flying, for Roost of Drakes</c>.
 * 6) */* Illusion creature, for Inscription of Insight</c> and Skyclave Apparition</c>.
 * 7) 1/1 Insect creature, for Iridescent Hornbeetle</c>, Scute Swarm</c> and Swarm Shambler</c>.
 * 8) 0/1 Plant creature, for Phylath, World Sculptor</c>.
 * 9) */* Hydra creature, for Grakmaw, Skyclave Ravager</c>.
 * 10) 1/1 Construct artifact creature for Myriad Construct</c>.
 * 11) 0/1 Goblin Construct artifact creature with "This creature can't block" and "At the beginning of your upkeep, this creature deals 1 damage to you," for Relic Robber</c>.
 * 12) Copy, for Lithoform Engine</c>, Jace, Mirror Mage</c>, <c>Scute Swarm</c>, <c>Skyclave Relic</c> and <c>Verazol, the Split Current</c>.

The Zendikar Rising Commander Decks also come with 10 double-faced tokens each. In total, there are eleven different token faces, all using the ZNC set code and set symbol.
 * 1) 1/1 Bird creature with flying, for <c>Emeria Angel</c>
 * 2) 1/1 Kor Ally creature, for <c>Retreat to Emeria</c>
 * 3) 1/1 Faerie Rogue creature with flying, for <c>Notorious Throng</c>
 * 4) 0/0 Germ creature, for <c>Bonehoard</c> and <c>Scytheclaw</c>
 * 5) 1/1 Goblin Rogue creature, for <c>Marsh Flitter</c>
 * 6) 1/1 Rat creature, for <c>Ogre Slumlord</c>
 * 7) 4/4 Beast creature, for <c>Rampaging Baloths</c>
 * 8) 2/2 Elemental creature, for <c>Zendikar's Roil</c>
 * 9) 1/1 Saproling creature, for <c>Sporemound</c>
 * 10) 5/5 Elemental creature, for <c>Omnath, Locus of Rage</c>
 * 11) 1/1 Thopter artifact creature with flying, for <c>Whirler Rogue</c>

<c>Oona, Queen of the Fae</c> creates 1/1 Faerie Rogue creature with flying, which aren't provided with the deck.

Themes and mechanics
A new mechanic in Zendikar Rising takes a popular theme that players like and twists it in a new way: party, a batching mechanic which resembles the ally tribal strategy of previous Zendikar visits. (Allies themselves do not appear in the set.) A party looks for one of each of Clerics, Rogues, Warriors and Wizards among creatures you control, then scales an effect on the size of the party.

The second new mechanic is modal double-faced cards (MDFCs). Like previous double-faced cards, modal double-faced cards have two faces, one on each side. However, when you play a modal double-faced card, you choose the face you're playing: they don't transform. Each draft booster contains a modal double-faced card. The set also introduces helper cards: similar to the checklist cards of past sets, they can be used to replace an unsleeved card. In lieu of the abandoned block model, R&D has found a new way to tie together the three non-core premier sets in a single Magic "year" (aka the fall, winter, and spring sets—using northern hemisphere seasons): they share a common mechanic. For Zendikar Rising, Kaldheim and Strixhaven: School of Mages that is MDFCs. The MDFC's of Zendikar Rising all feature lands on their back side.

There are two returning mechanics, both of which have appeared in a Zendikar set before. The first of these is kicker, a keyword ability that allows you to pay an extra cost for a bonus effect. Kicker was first featured in the Invasion block, later appeared in the original Zendikar set, and was last seen in the Dominaria expansion. This set also marks the first time a card with kicker having a multicolored cost is printed since  from Invasion. The second returning mechanic is landfall, an ability word for abilities that trigger on lands entering the battlefield under your control. All cards with landfall in the set receive an alternate showcase treatment.

The set also sees the return of "two-brid mana", first featured in Shadowmoor, on <c>Tazri, Beacon of Unity</c>. Similar to regular hybrid mana, two-brid mana symbols can be paid with two mana of any color or one mana of a specific color.

All Equipment in the set attach itself to target creature you control when it enters the battlefield.

Card types
Zendikar Rising has a class tribal theme, centered on Clerics, Rogues, Warriors, and Wizards. Each class has an associated mechanic for Limited. Each color in the set showcases the four classes in varying proportions: with any two-color combination, you can have a full party with cards from only Zendikar Rising. That said, only three creatures are available in the tertiary colors in total, two in green and one in the other, not counting the "any role" vertical cycle.

It's noted that Green is present in all four classes as their tertiary colors, but in none as their primary or secondary colors. There are ten Green creatures that fill party roles; six commons, three uncommons and a rare.

<c>Canyon Jerboa</c> is the first non-token creature to feature the Mouse creature type. <c>Tazri, Beacon of Unity</c> is the only card to reference the Zendikar-specific Ally creature class.

Limited archetypes
Zendikar Rising features the following limited archetypes:
 * Party control (<c>Spoils of Adventure</c>)
 * Rogue tribal, mill (<c>Soaring Thought-Thief</c>)
 * Party aggro (<c>Ravager's Mace</c>)
 * Landfall aggro (<c>Brushfire Elemental</c>)
 * Landfall midrange (<c>Murasa Rootgrazer</c>)
 * Cleric tribal, lifegain (<c>Cleric of Life's Bond</c>)
 * Wizard tribal, "spells matter" (<c>Umara Mystic</c>)
 * +1/+1 counters (<c>Moss-Pit Skeleton</c>)
 * Warrior tribal, Equipment (<c>Kargan Warleader</c>)
 * Kicker ramp (<c>Lullmage's Familiar</c>)

Cycles
Zendikar Rising features fourteen cycles, including a partial cycle, a mega cycle, and two vertical cycles.

Reprinted cards
The following cards have been reprinted:
 * , first printed in Alpha, last seen in Core Set 2020.
 * , first printed in Zendikar, last seen in Commander 2018.
 * , first printed in Morningtide, last seen in Core Set 2020.
 * , first printed in Fate Reforged, last seen in Mystery Booster.
 * , first printed in Shadows over Innistrad, last seen in Core Set 2020.
 * , first printed in Innistrad, last seen in Battle for Zendikar.
 * , first printed in Kaladesh.
 * , first printed in Khans of Tarkir, last seen in Game Night.
 * , first printed in Ixalan.

Mythic Rare to Rare

 * , first printed in Zendikar, last seen in Iconic Masters.

Functional reprints

 * is a functional reprint of <c>Blade of the Sixth Pride</c>, <c>Devilthorn Fox</c>, <c>Dromoka Warrior</c>, <c>Knight of New Benalia</c>, <c>Oreskos Swiftclaw</c>, <c>Raptor Companion</c> and <c>Savai Sabertooth</c>, except for creature types.
 * is a functional reprint of <c>Ironshell Beetle</c> and <c>Timberland Guide</c>, except for creature types.
 * is a functional reprint of <c>Faerie Invaders</c>, <c>Spire Monitor</c>, <c>Stormrider Spirit</c> and <c>Wind Strider</c>, except for creature types.
 * is a functional reprint of <c>Centaur Courser</c>, <c>Harrier Naga</c> and <c>Nessian Courser</c>, except for creature types.
 * is a functional reprint of <c>Moss Viper</c> and <c>Sedge Scorpion</c>, except for creature types.

Preconstructed decks
Zendikar Rising introduces Commander decks that are released as a regular part of a set's product line.

Notable cards

 * <c>Skyclave Apparition</c> became the most played white creature in Modern and one of the most played creatures in the format in general thanks to its ability to permanently remove recurring threats like <c>Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath</c> and <c>Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger</c>.
 * The modal DFC cards enabled in Pioneer and improved in Modern and Legacy strategies based around having no cards counting as lands in your library and winning through different means. Eventually this led to the February 2021 banning of <c>Balustrade Spy</c> and <c>Undercity Informer</c> in Pioneer, two cards that allowed you to mill your entire library and win with a critical amount of creatures that put themselves from your graveyard onto the battlefield for free.