A RPG set in the multiverse of Magic: The Gathering is something fans have dreamt of for a long time. The potential of meeting the game's characters firsthand and getting to experience the major events of Magic's lore is very exciting. However, the question becomes when exactly Magic: Legends takes place. The place in the timeline has a critical impact on what kinds of events can show up in-game. That's definitely the case for Magic: Legends, the upcoming multiplayer ARPG in the Magic multiverse. When it was announced at The Game Awards 2019, fans immediately wondered how much of the multiverse they would see, and that's becoming clearer.
The window in the Magic timeline where Magic: Legends takes place has been narrowed down, somewhat. It takes place after the "Mending," in which the multiverse was vastly restructured and planeswalkers lost tremendous power. That much was expected, since pre-Mending planeswalkers were practically gods, so player power would be impossible to balance. Magic: Legends also takes place before Hour of Devastation, a major event in the Gatewatch's conflict with the dragon planeswalker Nicol Bolas. That's still a huge window in time, and depending on where exactly in that gap the gameplay falls, there's tons of possibilities for Magic: Legends.
Living the Lore In Magic: Legends
The question of where Magic: Legends lands between the Mending and Hour of Devastation is hard to answer. However, it wouldn't be surprising if the developers were setting the game more towards the Mending. The farther back in the multiverse's history Magic: Legends takes place, the more in-game events it can hold based on major moments in the franchise. If it's going pretty far back, the developers can hold a major event introducing a plane like Alara, while players live through Nicol Bolas' attempt to fuse the five shards of Alara back together again. It'd be really exciting to come across famous planeswalkers and explore a new setting during such a climactic time.
On the other hand, if Magic: Legends takes place too far in the past, it'd be hard for the game to get to some of Magic's more recent events. Magic fans have been dying to know if War of the Spark takes place at the same time as Magic: Legends. That event is the ultimate union of all the planeswalkers in Magic, so it's clear why fans would want to be there for that.
The timeline so far indicates that War of the Spark hasn't happened yet, but fans could be close to it. If Magic: Legends takes place close to the Mending, then it might take a really long time to get to the climax of War of the Spark. However, if it takes place around the time of Hour of Devastation, then there's a lot of historic events that Magic: Legends will miss out on.
Finding the Sweet Spot For Legends
Cryptic Studios, Legends' developer, is probably going to try to strike a balance between the past and the present. Jumping into War of the Spark as soon as possible may be tempting, but it'd be better to spend some time setting up for it. It wouldn't be as satisfying or climactic for players to leap into it immediately. Magic: Legends' current timeline suggests that time to setup is in Cryptic Studios' plans. It'll probably ease players through some major post-launch events on new planes, like Ixalan and Amonkhet, before bringing players to Ravnica for War of the Spark.
Maybe Cryptic Studios will find a way to incorporate events in Magic: The Gathering's past into Magic: Legends in spite of the timeline. Time magic does exist, after all; Teferi might show up and help players visit Magic's past. Regardless of how Magic: Legends treats the broad scope of Magic history, the game has chosen a great place in the timeline to take place. It's not too close to any of the most recent major events, but it's also not to far away that players will feel like they're waiting forever. Magic: Legends is sure to get a lot of exciting expansions and engaging content out of the milestones in the timeline that it can come across.
The Magic: Legends open beta begins on March 23, 2021.