Ophorio (set)

Ophorio and Oirohpo are the 6th and 7th expansions of the Cajuniverse. They were released simultaneously on October 10th, 2016. While two different sets, due to their simultaneous release, parallel plotlines, and mechanical overlaps, they are commonly treated as one large set. They are part of the Ophorio block with Occult Outbreak.

Set Details
Ophorio and Oirohpo are both 222 cards (97 commons, 70 uncommons, 43 rares, 12 mythic rares).

The keywords Distorted, Revive, and Fuse appeared in both sets. Ophorio contained the duos Frenzy, Winnow, Prophecy, and Glory counter cards, while Oirohpo contained the Fateseal, Shimmer, and Catalyze cards.

The set contained a large number of mirrored pairs due to its mirrorworld theming.

Storyline
Ophorio and its reflected counterpart Oirohpo had lived blissfully ignorant of each other for thousands of years, very few of the plane's residents ever getting a glimpse of their reflected counterpart or world. When the Mending occurred, these two planes began fusing back together. The process was slow and nearly impossible to see for anyone not studying it directly, but year by year more of the two planes vanished as they overlaid each other, leaving only a large barrier of aether where the two planes met known as the Mirror's Edge. Ophorion owl Ahl Strixian began monitoring the Mirror's Edge in the late 40s PM, eventually entering the Mirror in 50 PM to see what would happen. This ignited his planeswalker spark and sent him to the apparent desolation of Oirohpo. Believing the plane uninhabited, Ahl returned to Ophorio and began looking for allies to stop the overlay, even if it meant destroying this other plane.

Meanwhile, Ahl's crossing had also ignited the spark of his reflection, Noirohpo reflection Sha'rador. Sha'rador found the abandoned notes of Ahl and believed that the overlay was an intentional invasion of the other plane. Sha'rador returned to Oirohpo and began looking for allies to fight back against this coming war. The two would move for years, each worried about making the first move, but even more worried about doing nothing. In 92 PM, something finally forced their hand.

The Blight Arrives
Following Shadows of Vaask, The Blight had planeswalked to the first plane its new host Xaro Tarax had thought of, a plane that an owl had brought him to many years prior. The Blight thrived in the jungles of Ophorio, spreading through the native elves and lizards. While it found it was unable to spread as quickly as it had on Novea thanks to its growth magic, it was able to use Xaro's emotional magic to rile up the Ophorions to help spread nearly as quickly.

However, unbeknownst to the Blight as it ravaged Ophorio, it now had a reflection on Oirohpo, that of the uninfected Xaro. Aware of the plane's mirrored nature, Xaro whipped up fear and anger among the Oirohpo reflections, pushing them to demand action against the overlaying planes that was getting faster by the year.

The Merge Begins
While the walkers began moving their planes forward, a starving Mei Liva unexpectedly found herself planeswalking to Oirohpo rather than Ophorio, the first planeswalker to do so without walking through the Mirror's Edge. Interested in this new world and disdainful of its reflection denizens, she began turning a large number into vampires like herself. This had a consequence that was unknown to Oirohpo, but felt on Ophorio as the reflections of the new vampires began to wither away.

With the Blight on Ophorio's plate and now reflections across the plane disappearing, all attention of the Ophorions has been turned inward, trying to stop the death and disease while unaware of the army marching to their doorstep. The Blight could feel the army moving in, and not understanding why, moved for the Mirror's Edge. As it raced there, Ahl stood before the advancing aether alone, his plane and his decades of allies were occupied elsewhere. The spell that had been prepared to be cast by a dozen mages instead needed to be cast by one.

As he did, the gods of fate, the Grand Refractors, convened. Within the seconds of the spell, a great debate raged. As the Lawweaver finally reached to end the owl's spell, the remaining rebelled, stripping the her power as they had done to another of their number centuries before. The Refractors granted Ahl the power to complete his spell, but at a price. The planes movement stopped. The aether barrier between them dissolved. While a chasm still separated the two landmasses, Ophorio and Oirohpo had merged into a single plane. And Ahl was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, the army of reflections lead by Xaro and Sha'rador were met with the advancing throng of the Blight. Xaro charged for the parasite wearing his body, fighting it briefly before the Blight planeswalked away, causing Xaro's reflection to vanish with it. In the coming weeks, Sha'rador would reach out to Ophorio, trying to form peaceful relations rather than continue the violence that Xaro had whipped them into.