The Lorwyn Five
Magic: The Gathering is bringing the original Lorwyn Five planeswalkers together in a single storyline for the first time in Reality Fracture. Discover how the iconic character type evolved from early rulebook lore into a defining card category.
- Planeswalkers were described in the August 1993 Alpha rulebook as opposing magicians.
- Dominia was introduced as the original multiverse name before shifting to Dominaria.
- The word Planeswalker first appeared in a 1994 Pocket Player's Guide article by Richard Garfield.
- Reality Fracture previews begin next week, uniting the five original Lorwyn planeswalkers.
The Evolution of Multiverse Magicians
When Magic: The Gathering debuted with Limited Edition Alpha in August 1993, the original rulebook introduced players to the game through a short duel between two wizards named Worzel and Thomil. While creator Richard Garfield did not use the word Planeswalker yet, the foundational identity was already clear: players were powerful mages slinging spells drawn from across a vast world. Early cards briefly hinted at legendary figures like Urza, but their true nature remained shrouded in mystery.
By early 1994, official publications began expanding on this central premise. In the inaugural issue of The Duelist, Garfield explained that the game was built around an endless multiverse where disparate settings like Arabian Nights and Ice Age could exist side by side. The lore evolved further with Antiquities, which used card names and flavor text to tell a coherent narrative centered on an ancient conflict between powerful brothers.
Defining the Nature of Dominia
In April 1994, The Pocket Player's Guide for Revised Edition formally published Garfield's article titled 'Dominia and Its Walkers.' This piece introduced the original term for the multiverse - Dominia - and marked the very first official appearance of the word Planeswalker. Garfield described the multiverse as a vast beach where each grain of sand represented an independent world, and only a rare few wizards possessed the ability to step across the boundaries between them.
The early lore established that Planeswalkers could tap into five colors of mana by forming invisible bonds to lands across different planes. These interdimensional travelers operated free from standard laws, possessing the power to flee across realities at a moment's notice or even survive physical death by preparing new bodies. The concept expanded further through 1994 and 1995 in early novels like Arena and narrative essays by creative leads, which established Dominaria as the central anchor connecting numerous shifting dimensions.
