Key Takeaways
- Magic: The Gathering has renamed Kaladesh to Avishkar, starting with Aetherdrift.
- It reflects the new government of the plane, following the Aether Revolt.
- It also replaces the old name, which had racist and colourist connotations.
Wizards of the Coast has revealed that one of Magic: The Gathering’s best-known settings is being renamed with next year’s Aetherdrift.
The Indian-inspired steampunk world formally known as Kaladesh will now be known as Avishkar, in a change that solves a problem that has hung over the setting since its 2016 debut.
The in-universe reasons behind the change were explained in a Weekly MTG stream focused on the worldbuilding of Aetherdrift. The reason behind this change began back in Aether Revolt, the second main set based on the plane. With the Consulate overthrown by what is now known as the Indigo Revolt, the people have formed a new, post-revolution government.
This government is now contending with the revelation of the existence of the rest of the multiverse, thanks to the opening of the Omenpaths – portals between planes – during the March of the Machine when the plane was invaded by New Phyrexia. This discovery has led the people of Avishkar to an era of soft expansion via exploration and trade, with a change of name to reflect the new era.
The Real Reasons For Avishkar’s New Name
However, there are also real-world reasons behind this change, too. While the ‘kala’ in ‘Kaladesh’ was intended to refer to the Sanskrit words for ‘time’ and ‘art’, playing up the plane’s identity as a city of tomorrow, it unfortunately is more commonly used to mean ‘dark’ or ‘black’, and has racist and colourist connotations when applied to a person.
In a blog post on the official MTG site, Wizards said that “we didn’t want that connotation to hang over this plane each time we visited it. Instead, we decided to take Aetherdrift as our opportunity to implement a new name.”
The new name of Avishkar borrows from the Hindi word “aavishkar”, meaning “invention”.
We’ve already seen Avishkar named on a card, though the context behind it wasn’t known at the time. Among the first Aetherdrift cards showed off was Brightglass Gearhulk, with the flavour text reading “A new day dawns for Avishkar, and we shall draw our power from its light.”
As Kaladesh, Avishkar has been the focal point of multiple sets (one of which simply called Kaladesh), and its world of inventors and gadgets has proved incredibly popular with fans. It’s also the home plane of some of Magic’s biggest characters, like Chandra Nalaar and Saheeli Rai.
This change is not retroactive. The plane previously, canonically was known as Kaladesh, and any set, card, or product referring to it as Kaladesh will remain how it is. This is only a forward-facing change that will affect Aetherdrift and future products.
Much like this year’s Outlaws of Thunder Junction, Aetherdrift goes more in-depth on the impact the opening of Omenpaths has had on the multiverse, with the Ghirapur Grand Prix now extending across the planes of Avishkar, Amonkhet, and Muraganda. It borrows from racing media like Fast And The Furious and Wacky Racers as ten two-colour teams race between worlds.
Aetherdrift, and with it our first look at a renamed Avishkar, will launch on February 14, 2025 as the first Standard-legal set of the year.
Magic: The Gathering
Created by Richard Garfield in 1993, Magic: The Gathering (MTG) has become one of the biggest tabletop collectible card games in the world. Taking on the role of a Planeswalker, players build decks of cards and do battle with other players. In excess of 100 additional sets have added new cards to the library, while the brand has expanded into video games, comics, and more.
- Franchise
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Magic: The Gathering
- Original Release Date
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August 5, 1993
- Player Count
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2+
- Age Recommendation
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13+
- Length per Game
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Variable