Alara's five shards are one again, igniting new magics and mayhem. It's all as Nicol Bolas planned. But can he be stopped before this plane is destroyed?
The five shards of Alara were separate worlds for centuries, each one flowing with only three colors of mana. Their worlds and cultures evolved independently: Bant, an orderly, sunlit kingdom; Esper, a hegemony of wizards and sphinxes; Grixis, an undead-infested hellscape; Jund, a primordial hunting-ground ruled by dragons; and Naya, a lush jungle paradise.
But now they have converged into one, and the rejoined plane flows with all five colors of mana once more. Waves of raw power crash across the former planar boundaries, bringing long-forgotten magics to all the shards and mingling them in unprecedented ways.
As the boundaries between the shards dissolve, cultures clash and wars ensue.
The forces of Esper invade the other shards looking for carmot, an element necessary to create more of their dwindling etherium. Hordes of Grixis undead mount an assault to maim, enslave, and drain the life energy from other shards. The warriors of Jund extend their "life hunts" to the newfound game throughout Alara's vast hunting grounds. Naya's forces follow the elves' decrees and march out of the jungle, searching for answers to the Anima's prophetic visions. And the armies of Bant clash with the horrors swarming over their borders, defending their homeland in the name of their guardian angels.
At each front, the shards' legions pummel one another with powerful magics, calling on every spell they know to defeat the other shards.
Nicol Bolas, the ancient dragon Planeswalker, planned this all along. He came to Alara to feed on its rich mana and, in one massive ritual, restore its lost power as part of his multiplanar plan. Only a fellow Planeswalker has hope of discovering his schemes—but even a Planeswalker would likely die trying to stop him.
Alara has become a single plane once more.