Ask Jay

What was Teferi doing between phasing out Zhalfir and the temporal crisis? The Wiki just mentions 300 years passed until his return

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 19:53:00 -0400

He was phased out with Shiv, so barely any time passed for him

Hi, Jay, not long ago I asked you about the origin of name “Hookiver”, and I think i’ve figured it out. Arts for Skycoach Waypoint and Island by Constantin Marin both depict (presumably) owlin architecture with hook-shaped roofs. So, it may be hook + kiver, which is a dialectal variant for “cover”. Pranticle Peak still eludes me, though :(

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 21:33:59 -0400

That sounds plausible

19. There are apparently sliver infestations in the Edge, are they all one large hive or multiple hives scattered across space?

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 13:55:47 -0400

The implication is that they’re scattered.

10. Why are Shandalari slivers (the primes) humanoid?

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 13:55:05 -0400

Art direction decision.

How many years after the invasion (and DFT) is SOS happening?

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 13:53:58 -0400

Invasion was in 62 ME, SOS is 65 ME.

7. Were slivers on Mirrodin, or is that non-canon like amonkhet?

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 13:53:08 -0400

That one seems like it might be but not 100% clear. It could just be reacting to a MOM era invasion.

IMO today most of the weird one off Slivers might be the result of the Omenpaths. Theres no reason Lazotep Sliver couldn’t exist today.

I sort of want them to be an invasive species in the new multiverse. That’s not canon, just my headcanon.

6. Are dominarian slivers outside of riptide island, or are they contained on/near the island?

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 13:46:26 -0400

So, I see you’ve sent me a bunch of of questions but I don’t think anyone wants to read “we don’t know” 15 times, so I’m just going to answer the ones there’s an answer to.

It’s not clear if Dominaria currently has Slivers. They were resurrected, Jurassic Park-style, on Riptide Island and were mostly wiped out, reappearing during Time Spiral, but the ones we saw there were mostly wiped out too. I will say they did escape the island or at least time spiral shenanigans versions made it to the Mending, but we haven’t seen them since.

When does Omens of Chaos take place in the lore compared to the Phyrexian invasion and Outlaws of Thunder Junction?

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 14:03:09 -0400

Phyrexian Invasion was in 62 ME

Omens of Chaos takes place in 63 ME

Outlaws of Thunder Junction and Lorwyn Eclipsed both take place in 64 ME.

Anything you can tell us about Slivers?

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 14:00:52 -0400

Yes. But like, what specifically? It's tough to answer broad questions like this. If you just want everything, mtg.wiki has a good grounding in what slivers are.

Hello, Jay. Don’t know if you’re the right person to ask, but maybe you have some insight into why did WotC compress djinni and efreeti into one type? I mean, efreeti ARE kinda the subspecies of djinni in mythology, so maybe that’s the case, but they never were particularly clear about it, in contrast to rakshasas and nagas.

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 07:06:19 -0400

My basic understanding of it is that Efreet are pretty exclusively Islamic while Djinn are a pan-Asian bit of mythology.

I have to imagine you can’t actually tell us if this is right or not, but I’m curious: Is Tam Jace and Vraska’s kid? She was “made to do this” and all, and she IS a very Jace-y gorgon…

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 11:54:03 -0400

All we know about Tam right now is that she was created by her white robed mentor.

well specifically in the latest story… Ajani healed himself if i was reading correctly… and i was like wait… wasnt his healing never able to self target?

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 11:47:19 -0400

That's a complicated one. It's not something he was originally able to do, but he can now. He's not Wolverine though, he can't heal or regenerate indefinitely and it's hard to do other things while doing it.

in the latest story for mtg… without me spoiling much… why does it feel like Ajani’s abilities were upgraded or changed a bit?

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 22:54:18 -0400

You would need to be more specific, but I will say Ajani’s powers have been relatively underused over the years.

Is Professor Fel human? He looks like one on most of the arts, but on Grapple with Death he is depicted with slightly pointed ears. Half-elf maybe?

Sun, 29 Mar 2026 17:27:12 -0400

I believe he’s meant to be human.

In _Dreams of the City_, Ashiok created the short-lived god Cacophony, and expressed interest in trying again. In _Theros Beyond Death_, Ashiok appears in the flavortext of Aphemia, the Cacophony. Was Aphemia another attempt at creating a god, or an experiment of a different kind?

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 20:10:42 -0400

AFAIK the name is a coincidence, because it’s a Harpy making noise. Or someone in creative text was making a nod. Theres not any additional lore there.

Is there a canon answer for what was left in the Zhalfir void? Zhalfir itself, the phased-out place and the new plane, still has land and water and atmosphere, so I would have thought that it all phased out with it, leaving a vacuum (that could’ve been filled in with water and air and maybe moving earth and sand after). But the art for Zhalfir Void shows land (with one of the arts showing the clouds suggesting it’s just the buildings that disappeared), but then where did the land in Zhalfir now come from?

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 20:58:16 -0400

Zhalfirin Void by Chase Stone

That's ocean down there. Teferi is standing at the edge of a cliff overlooking the void. The Dominaria Map also shows the Zhalfirin Void being in the water. It's likely a shallow sea of some sort. Phasing out magically doesn't work quite like you'd think with physics, there's no sudden suction of air, although the gap left behind did eventually fill with water.

If an Oracle is a planeswalker, does the archaic they become retain their spark?

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 20:48:16 -0400

I don’t think the Founder Dragons would choose a planeswalker because they’d want someone solely dedicated to Arcavios.

Hey Jay, had a question that I’m not sure has ever been answered or cleared up: How did anyone convince Nahiri to assist in the attack on New Phyrexian? I get that it was multiversal stakes, Zendikar included, but we had already seen how she held grudges against both Sorin, Jace, and Nissa (SOI and ZNR). Was it just as simple as “Zendikar is at risk too”?

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 20:47:37 -0400

I don’t think it has been explicitly explained, but Nahiri does have a strong sense of the greater good.

Hello, Jay, question from a non-native speaker: in the PWG to Secrets of Strixhaven we have names for two locations, Hookiver and Pranticle Peak. I feel there might be some word play here, but am unable to identify it. I know that Pranticle Peak wasn’t translated to any language in the original set, but still, maybe you’ll have some suggestion to help me? Thanks!

Fri, 20 Mar 2026 12:38:19 -0400

Pranticle may be a play on pratincole, a type of bird. Hookiver might have some wordplay there but I don't know what it is.

On Bloomburrow, would a wild turkey be an animalfolk (ala the swan birdfolk we see in the set) or a Calamity Beast? The lines seem pretty fuzzy for some species.

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 10:36:27 -0400

I'm not sure what the question is.

Are you asking what a wild turkey would become if it went to Bloomburrow? Not clear, but the transformed equivalent of a wild animal is an insect on the plane.

Are you asking if a wild turkey is a type of birdfolk on Bloomburrow? It could be.

Are you asking if a calamity beast could have a turkey form? Also could be.