Brandon Sanderson’s Acclaimed MTG Novella Gets Deluxe First Print Edition

Last updated on March 26, 2026

Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage | Illustration by Daarken

One of the more unusual pieces of modern MTG fiction is back from the dead… which is fitting, given that it’s set on Innistrad!

Back in 2018, Wizards of the Coast pulled off a really clever crossover: They brought in Brandon Sanderson, let him write an Innistrad story, and published the result for free online. That novella, Children of the Nameless, introduced Davriel Cane and quickly became one of the most fondly remembered pieces of modern MTG fiction, but was later taken down. Now Subterranean Press has announced a signed limited edition of Brandon Sanderson’s Children of the Nameless.

The collector angle is very much the point. Subterranean’s limited edition is signed by Sanderson, limited to 1,500 numbered copies, and comes with premium production features including a cloth binding, foil stamping, a slipcase, and six full-color interior illustrations. There’s also an unsigned hardcover edition of 5,000 copies planned for April.

What Is Children of the Nameless About?

Source: Subterranean Press – Art by Cynthia Sheppard

Children of the Nameless follows Tacenda Verlasen, a girl from a small Kessig village whose mysterious protective magic has guarded her family and neighbors for years — until one night that protection fails, her life is shattered, and she goes hunting for the man she blames: the lord of a nearby manor rumored to consort with demons. That investigation leads her straight to Davriel Cane and into a much larger mystery. 

And, yes, the novel is written by the Brandon Sanderson: the creator of the Cosmere and the writer who took over The Wheel of Time. But here's the kicker: Sanderson wasn’t some prestige author that WotC parachuted into the Multiverse for brand synergy. He was already a longtime Magic player, and in Wizards’ 2018 interview Sanderson said that writing for MTG was “something I had been hoping for years I'd get a chance to do.” Turns out he started playing in 1994, after his brother came home with a starter deck. 

According to Sanderson’s own website, Wizards of the Coast sent him “an exploratory email” around March 2017, during the lead-up to Magic’s 25th anniversary.

“As most of you know,” Sanderson wrote back then, “I’m quite the fan of Magic: The Gathering. It’s my primary hobby, and I have way too many cards. (Which still aren’t enough, of course.)”

Innistrad was not a random choice. Sanderson told Wizards he was “quite a big fan of Innistrad,” and had drafted both the original block and its return many times.

“Years ago, I started asking myself what I'd do if given the chance to play in a Magic setting,” he said, “and the story that started to build was always set on Innistrad.”

Source: Subterranean Press – Art by Cynthia Sheppard

He also said he was careful to propose a story where he could do “my own little corner of the playground, then going wild with my style of storytelling.”

Part of the novella’s appeal was that Sanderson deliberately wrote it to be approachable. On his own site, in a FAQ for the release, he says that “The story was written to be a standalone, and though it uses a MTG setting, everything you need to know about that setting is presented in the story itself.”

That also feeds into what makes the current print debut interesting. Subterranean describes the novella as a “gift” Sanderson originally gave fellow MTG fans for free, and says the print debut now gives the story a life beyond its original web release.

There’s also an unsigned hardcover edition limited to 5,000 copies, with part of the proceeds, and a portion of proceeds from the new edition is going to Child’s Play Charity.

Did Children of the Nameless Turn Into Actual MTG Cards?

Yes, it did!

Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage, which is the other main character of the novel, showed up a year later in War of the Spark.

According to Magic's Head Designer Mark Rosewater, the mono-black planeswalker design already existed during vision design. But “when Brandon Sanderson later created Davriel, we realized we had a great fit and turned this card into Davriel,” Rosewater writes. “When the card got a static ability, we added an ability that allowed the card to be a build-around for discard decks.”

On MTG Arena, there are two digital-only cards featuring Davriel: Davriel, Soul Broker and Davriel's Withering.

Wrap Up

Source: Subterranean Press – Art by Cynthia Sheppard

Children of the Nameless is the print debut of one of Magic’s best-regarded standalone stories, written by an author who was clearly thrilled to be there, and built around a character who actually made the jump into the game itself. It started life as a free web novella in 2018, and in 2026 it’s finally getting the kind of premium physical edition that says, yes, somebody at long last realized people might want to own this as an actual book!