Magic: The Gathering’s War of the Spark Chronicles brings a story-based event to Arena

Magic: The Gathering — Arena hasn’t tried injecting story into this digital adaption of the world’s biggest collectible card game. But beginning May 23, it’s going to try to tell the story of big moments in Magic history with War of the Spark: Chronicles, a five-week event that dishes on lore, introduces a new game mode that’s never been in official paper Magic, and new cosmetic rewards.

War of the Spark: Chronicles tells the story of the Elder Dragon Nicol Bolas’ invasions of the plane of Ravnica and quest to become a god — and the resistance against him. Hearthstone has had some success with telling stories over the past five years, and that helps it rule the roost in a digital card game market that research firm Newzoo estimates could be worth $2 billion by 2020. Magic: The Arena could be a significant challenger to Hearthstone, and its frequent events (it does something special each week, akin to Hearthstone’s Tavern Brawls). But Hearthstone also offers single-player modes, like the Dalaran Heist that launched today.