We've been introduced to at least 3 planes that are explicitly inspired and modeled after ancient civilizations and cultures, and many others with more subtle inspiration. Is this something they should continue to do (like with the un-named Roman plane Licia, Sanguine Tribune is from), or should they stick to crafting more "original" worlds like Mirrodin?
Magic has a grand total of one completely original world... Mirrodin. Even when the others aren't based on a specific real world culture or time period (like Otaria), they're based on common tropes. Magic's take on artifice is cool but not really as unique as many magic players like to think (the trope of ancient technologically advanced cultures is nothing new).
It also makes a difference if you are talking Top Down or Bottom Up worlds. Ravnica is technically flavored by Czech culture, but has nothing else to do with it. Same with Kaladesh and India. Those hardly count.
Besides which, we're now talking about creating two new worlds per year with an already stretched Creative team. Using real-world cultures as the launchpad is the only way they're going to keep up.
Real-world basis has been deep rooted in MtG since it's creation, such as with Arabian Knights & Portal: 3 Kingdoms. Not to mention the fact that much of high fantasy lore is based off of mythologies from various ancient cultures, such as Minotaurs & Medusas from Ancient Greek Mythology.
There is a lot of lore hidden within real-world folklore, & many of which are not common knowledge such as "Leanan Sídhe" in Celtic folklore or "Baba Yaga" in Russian folklore.
I think the main reason why WotC have been focusing on real-world settings is because of player-demand for them. There was a big push for an Egyptian-like world, hence why Amonkhet was created.
Some worlds have an extreme reliance on IRL mythology or history (Theros) and others are really quite divorced from the real world (Mirrodin).
Some worlds rely on familiar tropes from fiction (Innistrad) and some are high-concept and experimental (Ravnica).
The key for Creative - which they have done - is to mix it up. Ixalan is in the middle of both scales. Amonkhet was pretty far to the Theros end of the first scale and, due to elements like Bolas, the Hekma, the Curse of Wandering, and the three slave-gods, pretty far to the Ravnica end of the second.
Just to note, the reason I asked this is because of all the nostalgia that may come with Dominaria, and I wanted to have some perspective provided for why the different planes are the way they are.
Also what three planes are you talking about specifically?
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“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Also what three planes are you talking about specifically?
Kamigawa, Theros and Amonkhet were the three.
I said "at least" because it's a complex situation, as many planes were clearly influenced by IRL cultures in some way but still more or less do their own thing. Ixalan, Tarkir, various parts of Dominaria and Kaladesh come to mind as examples. Even Amonkhet was both Egypt World and Bolas World, the latter of which has no real-world equivalent.
I'm not saying I'm against Wizards using IRL cultures as inspiration, but I want to see opinions on it.
Both, but I would like to see WotC not deviate so far from IRL or familiar tropes when they do sets that are clearly originating from them. Not every year. Just once in a while, a set less like Theros and more like Arabian Nights.
This would give Magic the much needed anchors to ground the fiction into something relatable.
Also what three planes are you talking about specifically?
Kamigawa, Theros and Amonkhet were the three.
I said "at least" because it's a complex situation, as many planes were clearly influenced by IRL cultures in some way but still more or less do their own thing. Ixalan, Tarkir, various parts of Dominaria and Kaladesh come to mind as examples. Even Amonkhet was both Egypt World and Bolas World, the latter of which has no real-world equivalent.
I'm not saying I'm against Wizards using IRL cultures as inspiration, but I want to see opinions on it.
Thanks my thought was needing to know that bits.
I think what works best is when they mix things together using "original" magic with the real world influence. Out of those three Amonkhet I think really works since it had "Bolas world" mixed in. While Theros was all greek mythology I liked the additions of cat people (which works in both magic and in a greek mythology world) as well as the gods of Theros being focused on the color pie marrying the gods of greek mythology and the color pie of magic. While on the nose, this why I also like the use of vampire conquistadors (or really conquers in general) in Ixalan. A magic "oringal" idea (vampires) mixed wit the real world influences (conquistadors).
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“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Creating a fresh immersive culture from scratch is an incredibly difficult task, moreso if said manufactured culture is only going to be in the spotlight for a few months at a time, so when I said Wizards should continue taking inspirations from real-world cultures to make their worlds, I'm saying this less because I think that's a good idea and more because it's next to impossible to do otherwise.
Now, I know there are some franchises out there that somehow manage to create fresh cultures not too similar to existing real-world cultures, but usually that's because said franchise focus on their own cultures instead of constantly creating new ones, or they made said culture when its components weren't so well-known, etc.
So yeah, go ahead, Wizards. Bring us Australian-aboriginal, Polynesian, Inuits, whatever other cultures you can think of as long as you can do it well enough.
If you think about it, even Dominaria is a (huge) combination of "generic fantasy" tropes mashed together over time (with a dose of other fantasy tropes like "Alien Hive Mind Experiment gone wrong" Slivers and "Magical Apocalyptic Wasteland" Time Rifts).
I think Magic's actual forte is in combining tropes correctly to give it a fresh flavor (as mentioned earlier combining Vampires and Conquistadors in Ixalan together felt refreshing even if it's quite literally two obvious tropes mashed together). I think culture-inspired backgrounds are important to establish planes apart from the get-go (seriously if Dominaria didn't have that decade of build-up, it and Shandalar would probably be no different from each other) and they're trying to find that split line where they can combine that background with the innovation without completing stifling future developments in innovation when they return to the plane.
I would say the recent two planes were among the more successful ones in doing that - Amonkhet in its entirely is a mashed Egytian-Bolas plane and while Ixalan might be a bit too innovative on the flavor front (Vampires Conquistadors, Merfolk Shamans with Pirates and Dinosaurs), I see it as another attempt of seeing if there were more ways than one to innovate the a plane's culture from the get go as well (as elegant as Amonkhet was, every other plane following the 1+1 plan would go stale pretty fast).
I'm also on the both train, my favorite planes are actually the ones where WOTC takes a real world culture/area and puts their own mtg spin on it (Tarkir, Innistrad etc.) At the same time it would be awesome to see some really unique worlds (both Vryn and Iquatana come to mind as planes that don't really have an obvious real world equivalent). So I would say Wotc should just keep on charging large and there isn't really a wrong direction to take.
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UG Merfolk RG 8-Whack BWG Abzan midrange GRB Living End UWB Spirit Control
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My favorite story is the Invasion block, which isn’t based on ancient civilization. My favorite plane is Ravnica, which isn’t based on ancient civilization. However, I enjoyed Innistrad and Amonkhet.
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Tymna and Ravos WB
Borrowing pre-existing culture is easy, but it'd do the franchise good if they could come up with something unique. I like Mirrodin and Phyrexia, and how New Phyrexia was born from creator of Mirrodin, like a sci-fi/metallic version of biblical story.
If we look at the Planeschase product, there are a LOT of places which appear to be unique and fun. Jace's home plane Vryn has a lot of political intrigues, Equilor being the end of growth, etc.
Hell, why not make a set base on the interplanar disasters? Perhaps a rock in the Blind Eternity became a refuge for planeswalkers who're lost during their travel, later a black market like Knowhere from Marvel universe?
Borrowing pre-existing culture is easy, but it'd do the franchise good if they could come up with something unique. I like Mirrodin and Phyrexia, and how New Phyrexia was born from creator of Mirrodin, like a sci-fi/metallic version of biblical story.
If we look at the Planeschase product, there are a LOT of places which appear to be unique and fun. Jace's home plane Vryn has a lot of political intrigues, Equilor being the end of growth, etc.
Hell, why not make a set base on the interplanar disasters? Perhaps a rock in the Blind Eternity became a refuge for planeswalkers who're lost during their travel, later a black market like Knowhere from Marvel universe?
Before, many of these places in the Multiverse probably wouldn't have had enough to justify an entire block, but with the absence of blocks, we might get to see more of these places now. Vryn is almost assured to be visited because of Jace IMO, but seeing places like Equilor, Iquatana, Kaldheim and Belenon in their own sets would be neat too (Belenon especially looks pretty bizarre).
Before, many of these places in the Multiverse probably wouldn't have had enough to justify an entire block, but with the absence of blocks, we might get to see more of these places now. Vryn is almost assured to be visited because of Jace IMO, but seeing places like Equilor, Iquatana, Kaldheim and Belenon in their own sets would be neat too (Belenon especially looks pretty bizarre).
Equilor expecially would be a good place where have something unique to happen, don't forget that it is inhabitated by the most powerful beings in the Multiverse. And its strange mountain with the living spirits of the ancestors is something not seen to much (if you exclude animist reliigions).
Before, many of these places in the Multiverse probably wouldn't have had enough to justify an entire block, but with the absence of blocks, we might get to see more of these places now. Vryn is almost assured to be visited because of Jace IMO, but seeing places like Equilor, Iquatana, Kaldheim and Belenon in their own sets would be neat too (Belenon especially looks pretty bizarre).
Muraganda received a lot of demands, mainly due to dinosaurs and curiosity on how WotC will make a set focus on creatures with no abilities, though that enthusiasm waned slightly after Ixalan gave us dinosaurs. (and pirates!)
Of the ones you mentioned, I found Belenon remains the biggest mystery, it has elaborated architecture akin to Kaladesh, with Phyrexian-like monsters at the same time, very intriguing.
I wonder if the Norse mythology plane is in fact nine different interconnected planes (or sub-planes), with Kaldheim, Valla, etc, connecting each other resembling the world tree. A big story could be written for such a locale.
Of the ones you mentioned, I found Belenon remains the biggest mystery, it has elaborated architecture akin to Kaladesh, with Phyrexian-like monsters at the same time, very intriguing.
I wonder if the Norse mythology plane is in fact nine different interconnected planes (or sub-planes), with Kaldheim, Valla, etc, connecting each other resembling the world tree. A big story could be written for such a locale.
That's a really interesting idea. Not as exaggerated as Rabiah's 1001 versions, but having nine different planes be part of one planar cluster within which people can travel freely without planeswalking would be neat, and it'd be different from the Alara shards due to needing planeswalking to move between shards prior to the Conflux. It'd be a good use of IRL mythos if they do it justice.
Fantasy fiction is always inspired by real world myth and civilizations. Ixalan was a good adaptation because it is a mish-mash of ideas.
I did not like the Greek and Egyptian sets, however. I think the main reason is they simply plastered new names onto existing deities. It felt tacky. If you're making Hephaestus, just call him Hephaestus.
What I would like to see are historical Mtg sets where the actual names are used. For example, a set about King Arthur wherein the name of the legendary creature is King Arthur, not some plastered on WOTC name. I want to equip Excalibur, not some Excalibur look-a-like, and tap the actual Holy Grail.
I doubt, however, that WOTC has the guts (and perhaps also savvy) to make such a set work. It would also require artwork which fits the historical period, which would destabilize the Comic Books style WOTC has pushed since a decade now.
I'd love to see more cards with historically-inspired art (like they did with the BaB-promo flip lands from Ixalan). I'd love to see that sooo much. Just think about an Arthurian set with a mythic unicorn with art styled after that really famous tapestry. I'd pay for that card. That's probably the only reason why I happened to like the "Defeat of the Gatewatch" hieroglyph SDCC cards for this past year, at all.
Or even an Renaissance-styled masterpiece set in a Conspiracy set, since that's a clockpunk Renaissance world. Think of that!
I think it would be cool if they broke away from traditional fantasy/medieval themes every now and than. The lore has the ability to do so. Like a modern age era or scifi or something.they have all this room for creativity but they don't verge too far from the formula. Which I understand understand is a risk factor
I think it would be cool if they broke away from traditional fantasy/medieval themes every now and than. The lore has the ability to do so. Like a modern age era or scifi or something.they have all this room for creativity but they don't verge too far from the formula. Which I understand understand is a risk factor
Multiple people from wotc, most vocally MaRo, have stated magic has no intention of going to a more modern setting than Kaladesh, which they've said was pushing the boundaries of fantasy.
Fantasy fiction is always inspired by real world myth and civilizations. Ixalan was a good adaptation because it is a mish-mash of ideas.
I did not like the Greek and Egyptian sets, however. I think the main reason is they simply plastered new names onto existing deities. It felt tacky. If you're making Hephaestus, just call him Hephaestus.
What I would like to see are historical Mtg sets where the actual names are used. For example, a set about King Arthur wherein the name of the legendary creature is King Arthur, not some plastered on WOTC name. I want to equip Excalibur, not some Excalibur look-a-like, and tap the actual Holy Grail.
I doubt, however, that WOTC has the guts (and perhaps also savvy) to make such a set work. It would also require artwork which fits the historical period, which would destabilize the Comic Books style WOTC has pushed since a decade now.
Arabian Nights is a set that’s exactly as you have described.
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We've been introduced to at least 3 planes that are explicitly inspired and modeled after ancient civilizations and cultures, and many others with more subtle inspiration. Is this something they should continue to do (like with the un-named Roman plane Licia, Sanguine Tribune is from), or should they stick to crafting more "original" worlds like Mirrodin?
Magic has a grand total of one completely original world... Mirrodin. Even when the others aren't based on a specific real world culture or time period (like Otaria), they're based on common tropes. Magic's take on artifice is cool but not really as unique as many magic players like to think (the trope of ancient technologically advanced cultures is nothing new).
It also makes a difference if you are talking Top Down or Bottom Up worlds. Ravnica is technically flavored by Czech culture, but has nothing else to do with it. Same with Kaladesh and India. Those hardly count.
Besides which, we're now talking about creating two new worlds per year with an already stretched Creative team. Using real-world cultures as the launchpad is the only way they're going to keep up.
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Real-world basis has been deep rooted in MtG since it's creation, such as with Arabian Knights & Portal: 3 Kingdoms. Not to mention the fact that much of high fantasy lore is based off of mythologies from various ancient cultures, such as Minotaurs & Medusas from Ancient Greek Mythology.
There is a lot of lore hidden within real-world folklore, & many of which are not common knowledge such as "Leanan Sídhe" in Celtic folklore or "Baba Yaga" in Russian folklore.
I think the main reason why WotC have been focusing on real-world settings is because of player-demand for them. There was a big push for an Egyptian-like world, hence why Amonkhet was created.
Some worlds have an extreme reliance on IRL mythology or history (Theros) and others are really quite divorced from the real world (Mirrodin).
Some worlds rely on familiar tropes from fiction (Innistrad) and some are high-concept and experimental (Ravnica).
The key for Creative - which they have done - is to mix it up. Ixalan is in the middle of both scales. Amonkhet was pretty far to the Theros end of the first scale and, due to elements like Bolas, the Hekma, the Curse of Wandering, and the three slave-gods, pretty far to the Ravnica end of the second.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Also what three planes are you talking about specifically?
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Kamigawa, Theros and Amonkhet were the three.
I said "at least" because it's a complex situation, as many planes were clearly influenced by IRL cultures in some way but still more or less do their own thing. Ixalan, Tarkir, various parts of Dominaria and Kaladesh come to mind as examples. Even Amonkhet was both Egypt World and Bolas World, the latter of which has no real-world equivalent.
I'm not saying I'm against Wizards using IRL cultures as inspiration, but I want to see opinions on it.
This would give Magic the much needed anchors to ground the fiction into something relatable.
Thanks my thought was needing to know that bits.
I think what works best is when they mix things together using "original" magic with the real world influence. Out of those three Amonkhet I think really works since it had "Bolas world" mixed in. While Theros was all greek mythology I liked the additions of cat people (which works in both magic and in a greek mythology world) as well as the gods of Theros being focused on the color pie marrying the gods of greek mythology and the color pie of magic. While on the nose, this why I also like the use of vampire conquistadors (or really conquers in general) in Ixalan. A magic "oringal" idea (vampires) mixed wit the real world influences (conquistadors).
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Now, I know there are some franchises out there that somehow manage to create fresh cultures not too similar to existing real-world cultures, but usually that's because said franchise focus on their own cultures instead of constantly creating new ones, or they made said culture when its components weren't so well-known, etc.
So yeah, go ahead, Wizards. Bring us Australian-aboriginal, Polynesian, Inuits, whatever other cultures you can think of as long as you can do it well enough.
I think Magic's actual forte is in combining tropes correctly to give it a fresh flavor (as mentioned earlier combining Vampires and Conquistadors in Ixalan together felt refreshing even if it's quite literally two obvious tropes mashed together). I think culture-inspired backgrounds are important to establish planes apart from the get-go (seriously if Dominaria didn't have that decade of build-up, it and Shandalar would probably be no different from each other) and they're trying to find that split line where they can combine that background with the innovation without completing stifling future developments in innovation when they return to the plane.
I would say the recent two planes were among the more successful ones in doing that - Amonkhet in its entirely is a mashed Egytian-Bolas plane and while Ixalan might be a bit too innovative on the flavor front (Vampires Conquistadors, Merfolk Shamans with Pirates and Dinosaurs), I see it as another attempt of seeing if there were more ways than one to innovate the a plane's culture from the get go as well (as elegant as Amonkhet was, every other plane following the 1+1 plan would go stale pretty fast).
RG 8-Whack
BWG Abzan midrange
GRB Living End
UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin"
RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!"
BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
JundBGR
RW Blood MoonRW
Pauper
Delver U
Elves G
Control B
Commander
Edgar Markov BRW
Captain Sisay GW
Niv-Mizzet, Parun UR
Tymna and Ravos WB
Borrowing pre-existing culture is easy, but it'd do the franchise good if they could come up with something unique. I like Mirrodin and Phyrexia, and how New Phyrexia was born from creator of Mirrodin, like a sci-fi/metallic version of biblical story.
If we look at the Planeschase product, there are a LOT of places which appear to be unique and fun. Jace's home plane Vryn has a lot of political intrigues, Equilor being the end of growth, etc.
Hell, why not make a set base on the interplanar disasters? Perhaps a rock in the Blind Eternity became a refuge for planeswalkers who're lost during their travel, later a black market like Knowhere from Marvel universe?
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
Before, many of these places in the Multiverse probably wouldn't have had enough to justify an entire block, but with the absence of blocks, we might get to see more of these places now. Vryn is almost assured to be visited because of Jace IMO, but seeing places like Equilor, Iquatana, Kaldheim and Belenon in their own sets would be neat too (Belenon especially looks pretty bizarre).
Equilor expecially would be a good place where have something unique to happen, don't forget that it is inhabitated by the most powerful beings in the Multiverse. And its strange mountain with the living spirits of the ancestors is something not seen to much (if you exclude animist reliigions).
Muraganda received a lot of demands, mainly due to dinosaurs and curiosity on how WotC will make a set focus on creatures with no abilities, though that enthusiasm waned slightly after Ixalan gave us dinosaurs. (and pirates!)
Of the ones you mentioned, I found Belenon remains the biggest mystery, it has elaborated architecture akin to Kaladesh, with Phyrexian-like monsters at the same time, very intriguing.
I wonder if the Norse mythology plane is in fact nine different interconnected planes (or sub-planes), with Kaldheim, Valla, etc, connecting each other resembling the world tree. A big story could be written for such a locale.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
Another potential artifact plane, maybe?
That's a really interesting idea. Not as exaggerated as Rabiah's 1001 versions, but having nine different planes be part of one planar cluster within which people can travel freely without planeswalking would be neat, and it'd be different from the Alara shards due to needing planeswalking to move between shards prior to the Conflux. It'd be a good use of IRL mythos if they do it justice.
I'd love to see more cards with historically-inspired art (like they did with the BaB-promo flip lands from Ixalan). I'd love to see that sooo much. Just think about an Arthurian set with a mythic unicorn with art styled after that really famous tapestry. I'd pay for that card. That's probably the only reason why I happened to like the "Defeat of the Gatewatch" hieroglyph SDCC cards for this past year, at all.
Or even an Renaissance-styled masterpiece set in a Conspiracy set, since that's a clockpunk Renaissance world. Think of that!
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Proud Disciple of the Church of the Wary
Multiple people from wotc, most vocally MaRo, have stated magic has no intention of going to a more modern setting than Kaladesh, which they've said was pushing the boundaries of fantasy.
Arabian Nights is a set that’s exactly as you have described.