After many years of planning, we've reached the next major arc-ending set in Reality Fracture (FRA).

This set depicts Jace Beleren's attempt to rewrite the Multiverse and make it free of suffering in the wake of the Phyrexian Invasion. The mighty telepathic Planeswalker has split into several versions of himself, with many locked away by The Theorist.

Today marked the beginning of FRA's preview season with the debut video and WeeklyMTG aftershow. Players were treated to a tremendous amount of mechanics, card previews, variants, and Special Guest (SPG) treatments.

Let's look at everything we got to see today.

Mechanics

Empower Jace

The major mechanic for Reality Fracture is Empower Jace.

This mechanic puts a Jace Planeswalker token on your board or adds loyalty counters to one you already have. Each token has two loyalty abilities but, these only remove counters, revealing the utility of Empowering them.

Empower Jace was inspired by the popular Amass ability. The only difference is that it makes a Planeswalker, not a Creature, so you can't mix the two for one epic Creature Planeswalker.

This mechanic brings big changes, unleashing Planeswalkers into the Pauper format for the very first time. Many players are wondering how this will impact the format with the release of this set.

Prepare

Prepare is back following its appearance (and success) in Secrets of Strixhaven (SOS). This mechanic allows you to Prepare your Creatures under specific conditions. Once you achieve the condition and the Creature becomes Prepared, you can cast the spell made by it.

For example, you can use Bloodline Recollector to cast Ancestral Craving just like Emeritus of Ideation casts Ancestral Recall.

Heartwood Tokens

We also get Heartwood tokens, which are exclusive to the Konstrari school. These tokens provide you with a full-blown mana rock that taps for either R or G. There's no restrictions and it's not a one-time use effect either. The more of these you build up, the deeper you can ramp into massive plays.

New Cards

The debut stream also brought with it a massive number of awesome new cards. Much of the focus was on Jace throughout the stream, showcasing several cards linked to him.

Many of these cards help fuel the Empower Jace mechanic through a reflection of the character's past. For example, Theorist's Sanctum acts as a visual reflection of Jace's Sanctum.

Repurposed Enforcer is also a faceless version of Mage-Ring Bully, aiding in Jace's efforts rather than harming him.

While much of the focus is on Jace, the other Planeswalkers of the set also received plenty of attention.

Previously, we'd gotten to see new cards for Ajani, Liliana, Chandra, and Garruk, with Vraska yet to be revealed. However, we got several cards associated with them and their efforts to confront and stop Jace.

Loyal Tutor is the most noteworthy of these cards, allowing you to search your deck for any Planeswalker you'd like. It's been a very long time since Wizards has printed a one mana tutor spell like this, calling back to the ones seen in Mirage block.

Another major element of Reality Fracture is each character's alternate Echoverse version. These cards - dubbed Echoed Pairs - will bring two different versions of one Legendary card in every pack.

Here we see Karn, the beloved silver golem following his desparking in March of the Machine (MOM). In one form, he's the Colorless version we know and love. In the other, he bears all five colors and acts as the guardian of Mirrodin, uncorrupted by Phyrexia.

We also got to see new versions of the mighty dinosaur Ghalta. Ghalta the Unstoppable is the mighty tyrannosaurus-like Creature we know and love. In this alternate reality, we see a triceratops inspired version of her as Ghalta the Immovable.

Some of these Echoed Pairs also depict something besides Creatures or Planeswalkers.

Players can expect to find a cycle of Legendary Enchantments whose names being with "Way of the..." Here we see Way of the Pyromancer and Way of the Cryomancer.

This depicts the two different paths Chandra Nalaar might've taken between the two versions of the Multiverse.

Some cards depict alternate versions of famous cards throughout Magic's past as well.

A great example of this is Hexhaven Invigorator. This card represents an alternate version of Phyrexian Obliterator in a Multiverse where Phyrexia never existed. This is a going to be a fantastic card for both Standard Landfall decks and virtually every Green Commander deck until the end of time.

You can also see this in Return to the Light Realms, a mirrored version of Rise of the Dark Realms. Rather than pulling all Creatures from every graveyard, this one pulls all non-Land permanents from just your graveyard.

While much of the previews focused on Jace, the Planeswalkers, and the Echoed Pairs, there was also a look into the new world of Hexhaven.

This acts as an alternate version of Strixhaven, where rather than leaning into enemy color pairs, it focuses on allied colors. Instead of being founded by Elder Dragons, it's founded by a set of Elder Sphinxes - a nod to Jace's history with the iconic Creature type.

This also brings the cycle of allied Slow Lands back into Standard. The five enemy-colored ones appeared recently in Secrets of Strixhaven, and Hexhaven provides a great excuse to complete the cycle.

Cards like Deserted Beach and Shipwreck Marsh will be especially impactful thanks to the prevalence of Control decks in Standard right now.

Variants

Tower Basic Lands

First up are three cycles of Borderless Tower Basic Lands.

Each of these arts depicts a rising tower crafted in Jace's image. When you lay them out vertically, you can plainly see the full tower image in the Land's respective color.

Sculptor's Stronghold Cards

Next are the Sculptor's Stronghold cards.

Each of these cards utilizes a unique showcase frame highlighting the warped worlds created by Jace. This also allows the card's art to extend all the way to the edge of the border.

Borderless Echoed Pairs

Several of the Echoed Pair cards also get new Borderless treatments. This highlights the conflicts between several characters confronting their alternate selves. So far, we've seen versions of Ajani, Liliana, Chandra, Garruk, and Karn depicted this way.

In total, there will be 30 cards - or 15 pairs - including 14 Rares, ten Uncommons, and six Mythic Rares.

Portal View Lands

Portal View Land cards are also back following their return in SOS.

These Lands depict a person looking through a portal into a new world and first appeared in Edge of Eternities (EOE). This completes the cycle of Slow Lands with this treatment.

Braintwister Series Cards

The set also brings with it a batch of new Braintwister Series cards.

Each of these takes various aspects of Jace's new twisted reality and presents them in weird abstract ways. This can be seen in the endless loop in The Theorist, Jace Beleren's art as well as the Theorist's Sanctum depicting a portal in Jace's head.

Shattered Mirror Cards and Facet Foils

The other major new treatment for Reality Fracture are the Shattered Mirror cards.

With so many cards representing cards of Magic's past redone in a new way, this treatment shows how they've changed. Not only do you see the new card depicted in the image, but the Shattered Mirror shards depict how their original versions look.

In addition to the standard version, players will be able to open fancy Facet Foil versions exclusively in Collector Boosters.

Secret Lair Bundle Cards

There will also be a Secret Lair bundle coming later.

Each of these depicts a Mythic Rare from the set in a classic Secret Lair-style Borderless treatment. The styles vary wildly from card to card, making for a fun collectible.

Japan Showcase Cards

The fan-favorite Japan Showcase treatment returns in FRA.

These beloved foils depict anime-inspired artwork. Each one comes in both a normal showcase foil treatment as well as a fancy Fracture Foil version. Both are exclusive to Collector Boosters.

In the past, these were available in both English and Japanese inside English-language Collector Boosters. This time, Japanese versions are only available inside Japanese-language packs.

Special Guests

Finally, Reality Fracture brings with it a fresh set of ten Special Guest cards.

Each of these brings a classic Magic card as a super rare version that you can find even in Play Boosters They'll infrequently add some additional spice to your Limited events or act as a fancy foil in your Collector Boosters.

All ten borderless treatments can be linked together to create a looping panorama with gorgeous art by Marina Banker.

Conclusion

Reality Fracture is off to a great start with tons of new cards. The preview season is just getting started, with two weeks of cards ahead.

FRA Prerelease kicks off on September 25 with all orders shipping out that same day.