Magic: The Gathering’s Bloomburrow set doesn’t have any people in it

After more than 30 years of development and over 100 different sets of cards, the designers behind Magic: The Gathering continue to turn out fascinating new products. Wizards of the Coast is releasing its next set, titled Bloomburrow, on Aug. 2 and it’s unique for a very unusual reason. No, it won’t be introducing a new gameplay format or changing how packs are sold at retail. Its claim to fame is that it’s the first set of cards in Magic history where none of the characters are humans: They’re all anthropomorphic animals instead.

Mabel, Heir to Cragflame, is a legendary creature — a mouse soldier with 3/3 and other powers related to equipment she carries.

Leading the way is Mabel, just one of the animalfolk heroes of this particular set. To handle her art, Wizards turned to New York Times best-selling author David Petersen, the Eisner- and Harvey-award-winning comic writer and illustrator behind the Mouse Guard series.

“When approached about doing […] mousefolk,” Peterson said during a recent press briefing, “I had to kind of relearn what I was going to do. I had to think about redesigning my sensibilities for Magic; looking at real mice again for anatomical reference for how the feet work, how the hands work, how the ears work — all very different from my normal kind of thing.”

Mabel isn’t alone. Bloomburrow will introduce 10 different varieties of animalfolk, each representing a new creature type. Here’s a quick synopsis, including sample cards, for each of those new types.

Birdfolk: Described as “noble, communal transporters of aid and other animals,” their mana colors are white and blue.

Kastral, the Windcrested is a legendary creature, a bird scout, with flying and other powers. It is 4/5 on 5 mana, including a white and a blue.

Plumecreed Mentor is a creature, a bird scout, with flying and additional powers. It is 2⁄3, costing three mana — including a white and a blue.

Mousefolk: Described as “plucky, loyal seekers of adventure and glory,” their mana colors are red and white.

Seedglaive Mentor is a creature, a mouse soldier, with vigilence and haste.

Flowerfoot Swordmaster is a creature, a mouse soldier, with 1⁄2 that costs a single white mana to cast. It also has offspring 2, meaning it can field an additional 1/1 token copy of itself.

Rabbitfolk: Described as “talented chefs and community-focused farmers,” their mana colors are green and white.

Finneas, Ace Archer, is a legendary creature, a rabbit archer, with vigilence and reach — plus additional powers.

Byrke, Long Ear of the Law, is a legendary creature, a rabbit soldier, with Vigilance and additional powers. He’s wielding a nasty looking black carrot as a weapon.

Batfolk: Described as “eccentric and mysterious nocturnal defenders,” their mana colors are white and black.

Starseer Mentor is a creature, a bat warlock, with flying and vigilence.

Raccoonfolk: Described as “free-spirited wanderers, collectors, and entertainers,” their mana colors are red and green.

Muerra, Trash Tactician, is a ledendary creature, a racoon warrior, with 2/4 costing three mana — including one red and one green. He also has an expend ability that allows the caster to gain life.

Bello, Bard of the Brambles, is a lengendary creature, a raccoon bard, that is 3/3 costing three mana total, including a red and a green.

Lizardfolk: Described as “cantakerous fire-worshipers and expressive artists,” their mana colors are black and red.

Fireglass Mendor is a creature, a lizard warlock, with 2/1 and an additional power related to scrying cards.

Squirrelfolk: Described as “morbid stewards of land and the live-death cycle,” their mana colors are black and green.

Camellia, the Seedmiser, is a lendendary creature, a squirrel warlock, with menace. It gives other squirrels menace as well.

Hazel of the Rootbloom, is a legendary creature, a squirrel druid, that can spend life to tap tokens as if they were mana.

Ratfolk: Described as “isolationist keepers of secrets and ancient relics,” their mana colors are blue and black.

Tidecaller Mentor is a creature, a rat wizard, with 3/3 and menace.

Otterfolk: Described as “clever gamesters and storm-chasing daredevils,” their mana colors are blue and red.

Alania, Divergent Storm is a legendary creature, an otter wizard, that has powers related to casting spells.

Bria, Riptide Rogue is a legendary creature, an otter rogue with prowess that is 3/3.

Frogfolk: Described as “curious, pessimistic practitioners of divination,” their mana colors are green and blue.

Glarb, Calamity’s Augur is a legendary creature, a frog wizard noble, with deathtouch and other powers.

Lilysplash Mentor is a creature, a frog druid, with reach. It has an additional power related to exile.

Other highlights of the set include a lavish series of land cards featuring the four seasons; cards that speculate what some popular planeswalkers would look like as animalfolk; and a series of anime-inspired alternate art treatments.

The set also includes three new mechanics. The first, called offspring, allows you to spend additional mana to field low-powered copies of a given creature. While handy, these young clones are always limited to a single attack and a single defense when cast. The gift ability allows players to share a 1/1 blue fish with any player at the table — which is sure to inspire plenty of politicking during hotly-contested games of Commander. Finally, the new expend ability (see the raccoonfolk above) allows you to receive extra buffs when you meet the requirement of mana spent that turn.

You can find a gallery below with all of the other cards revealed in Tuesday’s preview.

Bloomburrow preview cards will begin running from today; the set’s pre-release weekend is scheduled for July 26. The formal retail release is Aug. 2. Pre-orders are available now, both online at retailers like Amazon and at local game stores.