Magic: The Gathering creator Wizards of the Coast revealed some The Brothers’ War artwork on social media, to whet our appetite ahead of the torrent of card art and story spoilers that’s coming on Thursday.
The piece, by German Magic artist Dominik Mayer, depicts a villain that seems to play a major role in The Brothers’ War, the Phyrexian demon Gix. One of the first creatures ever to be compleated, in the original story of The Brothers’ War, Gix plotted behind the scenes, manipulating both brothers in an attempt to facilitate a Phyrexian invasion. Here, In Mayer’s typical bold, geometric art style, he’s presented as a puppeteer, both Urza and Mishra appearing miniscule and within his grasp.
In the Brothers’ War plot, it’s Gix that’s responsible for turning Mishra into a Phyrexian. But despite being an important figure in one of the most important events in MTG history, Gix is yet to get his own card. Poor guy.
However, we know that’s about to change. While this new artwork looks most likely to be an instant or sorcery (at first glance we’d say saga, but the proportions don’t seem right), we’ve actually already seen a piece titled Gix, Yawgmoth. Shown on a prior Weekly MTG stream, this piece below by Anna Podedworna can really only be a legendary creature card for the Phyrexian baddy.
Keep your eyes peeled for major The Brothers’ War news this week. Though we’ve still got a month before the set’s release date, on October 20 Wizards is releasing both the first story article for the set, and a worldbuilding video that should show lots of lovely art.