The vault is opened, and Wizards of the Coast has dropped the first look at the Magic: The Gathering x Fallout Universes Beyond cards.
Magic: The Gathering and Fallout are both global gaming brands and franchises with millions of fans. But whoever thought they’d actually mesh well together? But then again, neither did anyone initially think that Godzilla, the Transformers, The Walking Dead, Stranger Things, Doctor Who, and Street Fighter (to name a few) would appear in Magic: The Gathering cards.
The announcement of the first look drop came from WotC via the official Magic: The Gathering website.
"It's the end of the world, all over again."#MTGxFallout First Look has begun!
Join us as Blake, Chris Mooney, and #Fallout 's own Pete Hines share some insights on this nuclear collaboration!https://t.co/nUzYF5lf0v pic.twitter.com/NQhwlwFxCW— Magic: The Gathering (@wizards_magic) October 19, 2023
According to the details revealed so far, the MTG x Fallout set will primarily pay homage to the first two Fallout Games (i.e. Fallout and Fallout 2) with some key elements from the later Bethesda entries. Specifically, the cards will represent the characters, events, locations, and the paraphernalia of the post-nuclear dystopian wasteland as presented in these classic CRPGs.
These elements will also be represented as themes in the Fallout Commander Decks. For instance, the Scrappy Survivors Commander Deck (Red, Green, and White) will focus on the denizens of the Wasteland and gathering supplies in the form of the new Junk mechanic.
Another example of the Fallout-themed Commander Deck is Science! This Blue, White, and Red mana Commander Deck has high-intensity energy weapons, robots, and scientists led by Fallout’s Dr. Madison Li. Energy counters were introduced in the Kaladesh set, which was a world heavily into the use of devices instead of natural magic. It seems appropriate then to bring back the energy counter mechanic in an artifact-heavy Fallout MTG card set.
Aside from the Commander Decks, the MTG x Fallout crossover will have Collector Boosters. Although it will have similar cards that appear in the Commader Decks, the Collector Booster versions will have Pip-Boy style art and card borders. The Fallout Collector Boosters will also give MTG players a chance to find classic cards that are reprinted with Fallout’s familiar Vault Boy visuals. Plus, there are non-foil, traditional foil, and surge foil variants of Fallout Commander Deck cards, including the basic lands.
And just to add to the collectability even more, the MTG x Fallout Collector Boosters will have limited edition serialized cards based on the Fallout Bobbleheads introduced in Fallout 3. These will have a numbering (from 001 to 500) to indicate its placement in the series.
Players should note that the Universes Beyond sub-theme of cards and sets are never tournament legal. But that’s beside the point, as the cool-factor alone of seeing your favorite Fallout characters as Magic: The Gathering cards is enough to justify the purchase. Plus, it comes full circle with the in-game parody, Tragic: The Garnering.
Magic: The Gathering – Fallout is available for preorder through Wizards of the Coast-supported game stores and via Amazon. The MTG x Fallout Universes Beyond cards will officially be released on March 8, 2024 (with a series of previews in February).
But is this enough to bring back players who have sworn off Magic: The Gathering after the Pinkerton incident and the massive oversaturation of product releases? With Wizards of the Coast (and parent company Hasbro) taking a number of hits and misses this 2023, does this Fallout crossover get you interested? What about the others announced for 2024, such as Assassin’s Creed and Final Fantasy?
