Urza
The Planeswalker at the heart of the Artifacts Cycle, whose actions shaped Dominaria's fate.
Urza is a central figure in the Artifacts Cycle of Magic: The Gathering expansion sets. He is a Planeswalker from the plane of Dominaria, whose exploits are the focus of the tetralogy consisting of Antiquities, Urza's Saga, Urza's Legacy, and Urza's Destiny. His story begins in the set Antiquities, which centers on the two brothers Urza and Mishra. Urza was born on the first day of the year 0 AR, and his brother Mishra on the final day of that year. The brothers' conflict, which eventually led to all-out war, is a key part of the storyline, culminating in Urza activating the Golgothian Sylex, an artifact that destroyed the island of Argoth and triggered an Ice Age on Dominaria.
Quick Facts
- Expansion name
- Antiquities
- Released
- March 1994
- Mechanics
- Artifacts; artifact effects
- Keywords
- None new
- Print run
- 15,000,000
- Designers
- Skaff Elias
- Jim Lin
- Dave Petty
- Joe Mick
- and Chris Page
- Expansion code
- ATQ (AQ)
Lore & Background
Urza's story is told across the Artifacts Cycle sets and novels. In Antiquities, he and his brother Mishra explore the Caves of Koilos, where each finds one half of a powerstone that sealed a gate to the plane of Phyrexia. Their mutual desire for the other's piece leads to a duel that inadvertently kills their mentor, Tocasia. The brothers separate, and Urza eventually comes to power in Yotia, while Mishra leads the Fallaji people.
Their conflict escalates into open warfare, ending when Urza activates the Golgothian Sylex, destroying both armies and triggering an Ice Age. Urza's Saga continues his story, showing his failed attack on Phyrexia (black cards), his recuperation in Serra's Realm (white cards), his founding of an academy on Tolaria and temporal experiments (blue cards), and his alliance with Shiv (red cards). The green cards of Urza's Saga detail the conflict on Argoth.
Urza's Legacy follows his quest to fight Yawgmoth, Phyrexia's master, and his building of a skyship to lead the war. Urza's Destiny sees the skyship Weatherlight completed, and Urza working on a eugenics program to create a perfect crew, while the Phyrexians create the plane of Rath as a staging ground for invasion.
Reader's Guide
Urza is a Planeswalker from Dominaria, central to the Artifacts Cycle. His story begins in Antiquities, where he and his brother Mishra discover powerstones in the Caves of Koilos, leading to a conflict that ends with the activation of the Golgothian Sylex and the onset of an Ice Age. In Urza's Saga, his story continues with a failed attack on Phyrexia, recuperation in Serra's Realm, founding of an academy on Tolaria, and an alliance with Shiv. Urza's Legacy follows his quest to fight Yawgmoth and build a skyship. Urza's Destiny sees the completion of the Weatherlight and Urza's eugenics program to create a crew, while the Phyrexians create Rath. The Artifacts Cycle has had more cards banned from tournament play than any other cycle, with 16 different cards banned at some point, nine from Urza's Saga alone.
Did You Know?
- Urza's Saga introduced the mechanics of cycling and echo, and contained 'free' blue spells that untapped lands.
- Urza's Legacy was the first set to feature premium foil cards inserted randomly into boosters.
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