Description

Battle for Zendikar is a Magic: The Gathering expansion block consisting of the sets Battle for Zendikar and Oath of the Gatewatch. It sees the return of full-art basic lands, last seen in the Zendikar block. It is also the first block in Magic (since the Shadowmoor block) to use the new Two-Block Paradigm, wherein each block has two sets instead of the three that were previously used (the last block having three sets being the Khans of Tarkir block).

Whilst Kiora leads a one-woman sea assault on Kozilek, Gideon, Jace and Nissa find themselves outflanked by Ob Nixilis. The demon attempts to trap them on Zendikar to be destroyed by the Eldrazi, much as he himself was, but is stopped by the unexpected arrival of Chandra Nalaar, who frees them to continue the fight. Ob Nixilis decides to planeswalk away and leave his revenge for later. However, the battle on Zendikar is going poorly. Kiora, the only planeswalker left to represent the Zendikari, is defeated by Kozilek and almost loses her prized possession, the Bident of Thassa which she obtained on Theros. The Zendikari army has been devastated, and Tazri steps up to reorganize it in Gideon's absence.

The four planeswalkers emerge from Ob Nixilis' erstwhile prison to discover the Sea Gate destroyed and the Zendikari in disarray. They will not be able to trap both Eldrazi using the Hedrons, and none of them are powerful enough to fight alone. Jace suggests simply planeswalking away, but Gideon suggests they swear an oath as they overlook the Sea Gate—the Oath of the Gatewatch, in which they promise to cooperate to defend the Multiverse against extraplanar threats. And since the Eldrazi are extraplanar threats and cannot be contained, the newly formed Gatewatch have only one option: kill them outright.

Jace lays out their battle plan: the corporeal forms of the Eldrazi, monstrous though they are, are only part of their existence; the rest of them reside in the Blind Eternities, the whirling chaos between planes. This is why Ugin has always counseled against destroying the Eldrazi's corporeal forms. Jace's solution is to draw Ulamog and Kozilek entirely into Zendikar so that they can be fully slain. Whilst Gideon, Kiora, Chandra, Tazri and the Zendikari army distract the Eldrazi with battle, Jace and Nissa are to use the remaining Hedrons to anchor them in corporeal form. The plane of Zendikar itself, which has been trying to consume the titans ever since they were imprisoned there, will do the rest. Or, at least, that's the plan. Zendikar quickly begins to struggle over the mouthful it has bitten off, and Nissa and Kiora, both Zendikari natives, almost come to blows over the fate of their home. It's Chandra who has the answer: Nissa redirects the last of Zendikar's mana to her, and Chandra employs a purifying fire that annihilates both Ulamog and Kozilek.

In the aftermath, Zendikar begins to rebuild. Gideon cedes his role as Commander-General to Tazri. Jace still has his own concerns: of the three Planeswalkers who originally imprisoned the Eldrazi here on Zendikar—Ugin, Sorin Markov, and Nahiri the Lithomancer—the latter two have failed to help; and when Ugin himself arrives, he has only criticism for Jace's impetuousness at destroying two lifeforms that are older than worlds, their purposes in the Multiverse unknown. Jace decides to hunt down Sorin Markov, who was last seen on the plane of Innistrad.