Mysteria

Starting with the Rise of Bahamut expansion we've been getting cards with the trait 'Mysteria'. These cards were easy to ignore during those early days but every subsequent expansion has added to the Mysteria cards. It's enough for me to ask: What is Mysteria?

So right now I'm thinking this has something to do with Granblue Fantasy and the lore behind Mysteria is somewhere out there written in Japanese which I don't speak. Or, maybe there is an obscure English reference that I haven't found. Either way, I don't know what Mysteria is but I want to know and the only way available to me is through the Shadowverse cards. So let's take a look shall we . . .

With the Chronogenesis expansion we come across a card called Mysteria, Magic Founder. So: Mysteria is a place and a person. Or rather, an Angel. What do we know of Shadowverse angels? They're protective - angels typically have Ward. To a lesser extend they heal and buff other Followers. Mysteria is referred to as a 'magic founder', so she must have founded the place named after her. More than that she must be possessed of vast magical powers in order to do so.

School of Magic

Students

Everytime somebody mentions a school of magic one word comes to mind: Hogwarts. Admit it. J.K. Rowling has created the quintessential magic school. I'm not complaining. Hogwarts is an amazing place. That said, we can't possibly have only one magic school in all of Fantasy. Many have been there before Hogwarts and many will come after. One such is Mysteria, which is evidently has a magic school because the cards show us a handful of students.

Freshman Lou's art shows her presumably walking to school in perfect weather. In the background are what might be some school buildings. The serenity of her surroundings is in direct contrast to her face. She looks agitated. Exactly how most new students would feel irregardless of the weather. Her hat gets my attention. Are those the ears of a Bunnicorn (bunny + unicorn)? Mysteria does have Bunnicorns as will be shown in this next card.

In spite of her rather wizardly description of 'Mysterian Summoner Vayle' (later, Mr. Heinlein's card will show us what real summoning looks like), Vayle is a student as evidenced by her uniform. She would most likely be an adept particularly good at summoning spells. In the background we have the best look at the school yet. Medieval design, high castle walls, pleasant courtyard. Another interesting part of the art is the Bunnicorn. I think the Bunnicorns are a bit of Pokemon included in Shadowverse.

From the freshman introduced in Tempest of the Gods we move on to the class president introduced in Chronogenesis. Hanna is welcoming, confident, and dressed very elaborately - obviously out of uniform. Behind her we can see another student and what I would surmise is the school. There's some kind of magic mist swirling around there.

But wait. I started off with the later students first. Before ever saw Lou and Hanna, Rise of Bahamut introduced us to Belle and Grea. There is no direct reference to them being students, although the flavor text informs us they are talking to a new student, but the art shows them in uniform.

Belle is shown against a backdrop that has an armored four-legged creature flying and a sky lit up with magical runes. Again I am assuming this is the school. This and Hanna's card is starting to suggest that the school at Mysteria is bursting with magical energy.

Grea's card is even more interesting because she's clearly not human. She is evidently a Dragonborn - a dragon human hybrid.

With these five student cards we definitely have a school of magic in Mysteria. Also these cards are leading me to conclude that the Mysteria School is an all girls school? Hmmm, future cards in future expansions will reveal.

Teachers

With Chronogenesis we come across the powerful Mr. Heinlein. I say 'powerful' because I do have a Spellboost deck and when Mr. Heinlein drops, wow, it's a spellboost festival. I always love Mr. Heinlein's Fanfare effect.

'Heinlein' is also a very famous name. Robert Heinlein is one of the all-time greatest science fiction writers. I'm not sure if he is the inspiration for Mr. Heinlein but if he is it's amusing that a sci-fi titan is featured in a Fantasy setting like Shadowverse.

Mr. Heinlein is shown using a magic book to summon a rather formidable looking demon. This seems like a piece of advanced magic. The only reason for me to classify Mr. Heinlein as a teacher in Mysteria is his flavor text which compares grimoires to students; and the salutation 'Mr.', which seems to be attached to the teachers at Mysteria.

Mr. Bertrand is without a doubt a teacher at Mysteria. We are shown a picture of him teaching a class. He's handling some map scrolls and behind him, on the board, is a dissected rune. A strong sun is streaming into the classroom, hopefully the girls aren't dozing. Mr. Bertrand is older than Mr. Heinlein, he's evolved art shows him in wizardly garb looking rather like Harry Potter's Dumbledore. I like him, I think he's one of those staid, button down, elder gentlemen who's really more powerful than the younger staff at Mysteria.

Mysteria: Beyond the School

Wizards

I should say 'wizard'. Apart from the teachers already discussed we have Craig, Wizard of Mysteria, introduced in the very first expansion to feature Mysteria cards, the Rise of Bahamut. Craig is shown in the midst of a magic spell, consulting a grimoire and doing something I know not what- but it's very colorful. He's got runes emanating from both hands and presumably he's sitting on one too. Very early on Craig gives us a head's up that Mysteria = magic.

Speaking of magic . . .

Magic

The Mysteria cards keep reminding us that the magic of Mysteria is stored in grimoires. What is the difference between a grimoire and a book? The term 'grimoire' is used specifically to refer to books about magic. There is a fine distinction between books about magic and magical books. A book can be magical without being a grimoire. A grimoire can be magical or non-magical but it is always about magic.

Increasingly, we are aware that magic is the lifeblood of Mysteria and the magic flows through books, I mean, grimoires. Several students are shown holding tomes and both Mr. Heinlein and Craig work their magic while consulting floating grimoires.

The card Burgeoning Genius, from Brigade of the Sky, shows a Mysterian wizard under a shaft of light. The card's effect is very revealing: it gives an evolution orb for 4 play orbs. In the game, nothing is more precious than an evolution orb; it is one of the most effective ways of swinging the game in your favor. this card gives us an inkling of the potency of Mysterian magic.

Guards

The Mysterian Wyrmist is a Dragonborn or a Dragonewt (I'm presuming that both terms are interchangeable. I prefer the former. I don't think such a grand a word as 'dragon' should be anywhere near so common a word as 'newt. Unfortunately Shadowverse disagrees with me as witnessed by the proliferation of Dragonewt cards). Anyway, where were we? Oh yes, the Mysterial Wyrmist. What is a Wyrmist? Wyrm or great wyrm, is the Old English term for dragons. Wyrmist might refer to the this warrior being of the draconian bloodline. His flavor text reveals that he is somehow involved in securing or guarding Mysteria and his reference to students means he is in some way attached to the school. Maybe he doesn't guard Mysteria but just the magic school.

Creatures

I know you've played Carbuncle of Mysteria before, and, like me, you've asked: What the heck is a Carbuncle? A cursory search will lead you to a rather disgusting skin condition but that is not the Carbuncle we are talking about. Reference to a mythological creature sighted in Latin America refers to a nocturnal herbivore with a gem on its forehead called a Carbuncle. Thus the art on the card. Not much more is known beyond the association between Carbuncles and gems. In Shadowverse the association is between Carbuncles and spellboost.

Haha. The Ogler. It seems dangerous beasts also exists within the environs of Mysteria. I'd like to imagine them being in far off forest lands far from the school but the flavor text refers to an Ogler being accidentally summoned by a student. I am willing to bet that the Shadowverse Ogler was inspired by one of the most famous Dungeons and Dragons monsters of all time: the Beholder.

The Ogler isn't quite as dangerous as the Beholder, as you can see it doesn't have the Beholder's fanged maw. It is a 3/4 for 5 that gets cheaper with Spellboost. So yeah, a 3/4 for 2 is going to be really sweet.

I'm sure more Mysterian cards will come our way as the expansions roll in so come back to check this page for updates.