[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/onslaughtcycle.jpg]]

This cycle of ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' novels is the sequel cycle to the ''Literature/OdysseyCycle'' and similarly corresponds to the ''Onslaught'' block in the card game. The '''Onslaught Cycle''' (composed of three novels: ''Onslaught'', ''Legions'', and ''Scourge'') also takes place in the continent of Otaria and immediately picks up where the original trilogy left off. Series protagonist Kamahl has retreated into the Krosan Forest following the corruption of his sister Jeska, who has become the powerful Cabal pit fighter Phage. In the meantime, small-time MasterOfIllusion Ixidor is cast into the desert to die and gains PowerBornOfMadness. From there, the story chronicles the further rise of Phage and Ixidor's champion, the avenging angel Akroma. Otaria's story is concluded in this cycle, though it would later be briefly revisited in the ''Literature/TimeSpiralCycle''.

Has nothing to do with the 1996 CrisisCrossover ''ComicBook/{{Onslaught}}''.
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!!The ''Onslaught Cycle'' provides examples of the following tropes:

* AbortedArc: A certain very famous ''Magic'' character's return in ''Scourge''. Keep reading for the specifics.
* AncientConspiracy: The numena kings Lowallyn, Kuberr and Averru, who are retconned into being three of the sorcerers who imprisoned the Primevals in the backstory of the ''Literature/InvasionCycle''.
* AntiVillain: Ixidor is the antagonist in ''Onslaught'', but there's nothing about him that's villainous, and if readers didn't already know Kamahl and Phage they'd be forgiven for thinking the book's heroes are a VillainProtagonist and his evil(er) sister.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: The unmen Sash and Waistcoast seek to become human and eventually are given bodies by Akroma... [[spoiler:so she can execute them for deserting Ixidor]].
* BigBad: Ixidor in ''Onslaught''. Akroma and Phage form a BigBadEnsemble in ''Legions'', and Karona is the final BigBad in ''Scourge''.
* BigBadWannabe: [[spoiler:Averru makes an 11th hour attempt to become the final BigBad in ''Scourge'' after Karona kills his brothers for him, but Karona shuts him down effortlessly]].
* BigBrotherInstinct: Kamahl's actions during ''Onslaught'' are driven by his desire to protect and redeem his sister Jeska. As Phage, Jeska does not exactly appreciate this.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: The deathwurms in ''Onslaught'' are creepy crawlies so big they threaten the entire continent of Otaria.
* BreakTheCutie: Karona in ''Scourge'' (the novel only), bizarrely.
* BrotherSisterTeam: Kamahl and Phage team up to take on Akroma in ''Onslaught''. Kamahl is reluctant, knowing that Ixidor is not evil, while Phage resents the team-up and only goes along with it under orders from the First.
* CainAndAbel: Though not this originally as Kamahl and Jeska, Kamahl and Phage become this.
* CanonDiscontinuity: One of the most well-known events from ''Scourge'' involved Karona opening five portals (one for each color of magic) and summoning champions of those colors, beings she felt were of power comparable to her own. These characters included the maro-sorcerer Multani (Green) from the ''Weatherlight Saga'', the dwarf god Fiers (Red, actually a planeswalker), Ixidor (Blue), Teferi, also from the ''Weatherlight Saga'' (White for some reason, even though his traditional color is Blue) and most famously, YAWGMOTH (Black, of course). TheReveal that ''Magic's'' ultimate BigBad was in fact alive, if barely, and slowly gathering power on the shattered plane of Phyrexia was a '''huge''' deal. But this was apparently a bit of author license by author J. Robert King, as Wizards did not intend for Yawgmoth to come back. Come ''Time Spiral'', this entire scene was retconned as simply being one big hallucination, with Teferi confirming for readers that he never met Karona.
* CanonForeigner: Several characters from the novels have no presence in the card game. Kamahl's sidekick Stonebrow, the redundant Zagorka from ''Legions'' and the unmen trio of Sash, Waistcoat and Umbra are all among the novel cycle's original creations. Stonebrow was later promoted to a CanonImmigrant, but the others were poorly received and both Wizards of the Coast and fans are content to forget they exist.
* CantRefuseTheCallAnymore: After refusing to return to Otaria with Akroma in ''Legions'', Ixidor is forcibly hauled back to the world by Kamahl in ''Scourge''.
* CatGirl: Akroma sort of, at least after Ixidor fuses her with a jaguar.
* ComedicReliefCharacters: Sash and Waistcoat, two rogue unmen (living portals) of Ixidor who become ThoseTwoGuys. J. Robert King seems to have been angling to make them something akin to the [[Theatre/RosencrantzAndGuildensternAreDead Rosencrantz and Guildenstern]] of the ''Magic'' universe, but their increasing importance to the narrative very much works as a detriment in retrospect.
* CoolSword: The Mirari sword, which is carried over from the previous Odyssey Cycle.
* DoingInTheWizard: J. Robert King does this to Kuberr, who in the cards is an ineffable avatar of darkness only seen in [[https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=42077 two]] [[https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?printed=true&multiverseid=42050 cards]]. In the books, he's a petulant child with a MoneyFetish.
* TheDragon: Phage replaces Braids as the Cabal First's Dragon. Braids is not pleased about this, being in MadLove with the First.
* DrivenToSuicide: Zagorka tries to jump out of a tower to thwart Averru's plans. [[spoiler:Sadly even this plays into Averru's hands and by jumping at the exact moment she does, she unwittingly helps reincarnate Karona]].
* EvilRedhead: Jeska becomes one of these as Phage.
* ExpositionOfImmortality: The numena kings Lowallyn, Kuberr and Averru all devised different forms of immortality: Lowallyn can reincarnate in Blue-aligned wizards who have been driven into madness, Kuberr can be born and reborn through powerful Black-aligned Cabalist parents, and Averru is permanently based in an ancient city that becomes a GeniusLoci if enough beings gather there and are driven to Red-aligned acts of warfare.
* FusionDance: Karona in ''Scourge'' is a gestalt being formed from [[spoiler:Akroma, Phage and Zagorka]].
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: ''Legions'' is dedicated to the struggle between Akroma and Phage, who fight repeatedly without a clear victory. In the card game, Akroma wins any clash with Phage thanks to her Protection from Black.
** Karona is referred to in the cards as a false god, while in the books she is not only a real god but is in fact the physical manifestation of all magic on Dominaria.
* GeniusLoci: Averru in ''Scourge''. He appears in ''Legions'', but his true nature is not fully revealed until the final book.
* GettingEatenIsHarmless: Ixidor survives being SwallowedWhole by a deathwurm and remains alive inside of it for some time. Justified by it being the deathwurm of his lover Nivea, which is apparently sustaining him somehow.
* GladiatorGames: The Cabal are still at this and, with Phage's help, build a Grand Coliseum to maximize their gladiatorial revenue.
* GodsNeedPrayerBadly: Karona in ''Scourge'' needs believers to draw on her Magic, and the more believers she has the stronger she is.
* GuardianAngel: Akroma is literally created by Ixidor to be his guardian (and later avenger) against Phage.
* HatePlague: Karona's presence on Otaria causes its various factions to go to war with one another. In the cards it is implied that Karona is doing this deliberately because she is a [[JerkassGods jerkass]] ''[[InsistentTerminology false]]'' [[JerkassGods god]], while in the novel she is an UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom who laments the carnage her presence accidentally causes.
* TheHecateSisters: This trope seems to be the reason why J. Robert King created Zagorka: Akroma is the Maiden (young and supernaturally beautiful), Phage is the Mother (and becomes an actual mother in ''Legions'') and Zagorka is there to be the wizened crone. The trope would have more weight if the three characters ever met, though (Phage and Zagorka meet and are even allies for a time, but Akroma and Zagorka never meet).
* HeroicSacrifice: Umbra sacrifices himself to save his brothers Sash and Waistcoat from Akroma.
* IHatePastMe: Kamahl feels this way about the BloodKnight he used to be. When Ixidor forces the Cabal/Krosan army to all fight their greatest fears, Kamahl is forced to confront his old self as the EnemyWithin. Fortunately, he's ''not'' the SuperpoweredEvilSide that Kamahl fears him to be and the good version ultimately triumphs.
* ImmortalBreaker: Soul Reaper, an axe created by Kamahl and the Cabal Patriarch to slay Akroma.
* TheImmune: Being former unmen, Sash and Waistcoat are immune to the HatePlague effect of Karona. She takes a liking to them as a result.
* InexplicablyIdenticalIndividuals: Ixidor's unmen are all created in his image, so when Sash and Waistcoat get bodies, they turn into skinny and fat Ixidor doppelgangers respectively.
* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: After being exiled from Dominaria, Karona wanders around the multiverse for a while before deciding to return to Dominaria as a conqueror and TakeOverTheWorld, starting with Otaria.
* KilledOffForReal: Balthor's ''ghost'' gets killed by Kamahl trying to help him master the Mirari once and for all. And because Kamahl kills him with Soul Reaper, Balthor is very definitively DeaderThanDead.
* KnightTemplar: Akroma is one of the most hardcore Templars in the entire ''Magic'' pantheon.
* LetsYouAndHimFight: This is Averru's shtick, as he is a living city who draws Otaria's factions to himself and pits them against one another to increase his own power.
* LightIsNotGood: Akroma is willing to plunge all of Otaria into war to carry out her mission of vengeance against Phage.
* LovableCoward: Sash and Waistcoast are written to be this in the vein of the Invasion Cycle's Squee, but as with Squee just how "lovable" they are varies from reader to reader.
* MadGod: Karona ultimately becomes a Mad Goddess. In the cards she is a False God, but seems to be similarly Mad.
* MadeOfMagic: Karona is the physical embodiment of Dominaria's magic and is so vital to the world that when she is exiled she takes all of Dominaria's magic with her.
* MeaningfulName: "Akroma". Or, "a-chroma"—"no colors". An object is white if it reflects away all colors.
* MixAndMatchCritter: After losing her legs to Kamahl, Akroma is combined with a jaguar by Ixidor, both to give her new legs and to give her a predator's heart. Later she [[RunningGag loses the jaguar legs]] and gets a set of steel ones.
* MoneyFetish: Kuberr in ''Scourge'' loves money so much that he has a secret escape passage that is a tunnel filled with gold coins that part to allow him to swim through.
* MoralSociopathy: Akroma only really cares about the fall of Phage. While her goal is good, her methods not only aren't, but she also doesn't really care about anybody or anything other than her creator.
* MoralityAdjustment: Kamahl, as per his CharacterDevelopment, goes from a BloodKnight barbarian to a more laid-back shaman type. He's still not a completely pure Face, though, as he is willing to ally with the Cabal against Ixidor and Akroma if it means protecting his sister. The cards reflect this shift, as he goes from being a Red-aligned character to a Green-aligned one.
* {{Mutants}}: A major part of the actual card block, as the Mirari's influences radiates out from Krosa and mutates all manner of creatures. In the book it's influence is only touched upon, but Stonebrow and Zagorka's mule Chester are both made mutants over the course of the story.
* OurCentaursAreDifferent: Stonebrow is a Krosan centaur who has been mutated by the Mirari. He's generally more lively than the ''Odyssey'' Cycle's centaur Seton, leading him to be promoted to a CanonImmigrant.
* PathOfInspiration: After Ixidor's 'death' in ''Onslaught'' Akroma founds a religion dedicated to him. It sounds benign, until the reader learns that Akroma is converting people through brainwashing.
* PowerFloats: Karona is depicted floating both on her card art and in the story.
* RapidAging: When Kuberr is born, he ages a day for every legion of Cabalists killed or sacrificed to him. By the end of the ''Legions'' book, Phage has led enough Cabalists to their deaths to age him into a teenager.
* RealityWarper: Ixidor graduates from a MasterOfIllusion into one of these. Unfortunately, it is a PowerBornOfMadness.
* ReforgedIntoAMinion: Braids and Stonebrow are both captured and brainwashed by Akroma. Braids is eventually abducted and shakes off the brainwashing, while Stonebrow willingly embraces it but decides that Akroma is defiling Ixidor's memory and thus still needs to die.
* RefusingTheCall: Ixidor refuses to leave the deathwurm of Nivea when Akroma attempts to retrieve him in ''Legions''. He late attempts to refuse the call '''again''' when Kamahl shows up in ''Scourge'' to haul him out, but Kamahl is not as forgiving as Akroma and forcibly hauls him out.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Ixidor goes on one of these against the Cabal in general and Phage in particular, using Akroma as his weapon.
* SuperpoweredEvilSide: [[spoiler:Phage seems to be this, as the original Jeska is still alive beneath her and re-emerges after all of the Cabal corruption is forcibly bled out of her. Sadly she has to re-accept that corruption, as being free of it looses a plague of ravenous deathwurms upon Otaria]].
* SwallowedWhole: Ixidor at the end of ''Onslaught''.
* TouchOfDeath: Like the Cabal Patriarch, Phage's touch kills almost anyone.
* VillainDecay: A common theme to the trilogy, and one reason why it never rose above having a lukewarm fandom:
** ''Odyssey Cycle'' BigBad Ambassador Laquatus returns... as a mindless AttackOfThe50FootWhatever reanimated by Krosan magic and the Mirari. Kamahl puts him down for good with little trouble.
** The Cabal Patriarch, previously ice cold even in the face of Chainer's rebellion, is made into a pathetic figure through his relationship with Phage. He becomes TheParanoiac, thinking that Phage is going to betray him, and is ultimately KilledOffForReal with little fanfare by [[spoiler:Braids]].
** Braids gets [[DroppedABridgeOnHer buried under a mountain]] in ''Scourge'' after being brainwashed by Akroma into a similarly pathetic figure. This hit especially hard, as Braids was one of the most popular characters from the original Odyssey cycle.
* WeCanRuleTogether: The Cabal First tells Phage this, and for a time they ''do'' rule together.
* WhatDoTheyFearEpisode: Or rather, chapter, as towards the end of ''Onslaught'' Ixidor forces the Cabal/Krosan army to all fight their greatest fears come to life.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Several cool characters and plots from the card sets never make it to the books:
** None of the pit fighter legends from ''Onslaught'' appear in that book. Rorix Bladewing in the cards dies between ''Onslaught'' and ''Scourge'' and is reanimated as a zombie, but he is not in either book.
** The Riptide Project from ''Scourge'' that brings the Slivers back to life is not mentioned anywhere in the book. Likely if it had the book would have been better received.
** Also from ''Scourge'' the card saw was a theme of dragons rising up across Otaria. As with the Riptide Project, this was not mentioned at all, with the book focusing solely on the Karona show.