The Warhammer 40,000 Commander decks for Magic: The Gathering are finally arriving, albeit with some issues.
The crossover between Wizards of the Coast’s Magic: The Gathering and Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000 was one of the biggest announcements for the most popular collectible card game in the world. Fans of both franchises believed such a thing would never happen, given WoTC and Games Workshop are competitors in the tabletop gaming industry.
But is the arrival of the Warhammer 40,000 Commander decks going to be smooth? That doesn’t seem to be completely the case, as detailed below.
Warhammer 40K being part of the Universes Beyond crossover series was highly anticipated. The gritty sci-fi and fantasy franchise set in the 40th century has long been in the wishlist of fans of MTG. With the announcement that the crossover was happening, fan anticipation ran high. However, that enthusiasm was doused by unwanted delays with shipping the product.
As announced by Wizards of the Coast at the official Magic: The Gathering site last June, the global release for the Warhammer 40K commander set was going to be moved due to supply chain issues:
Due to ongoing global supply chain challenges and delays in production, the global release of Warhammer 40,000 Commander decks is now October 7, 2022. This release date change includes both the regular and Collector's Edition Warhammer 40,000 Commander decks.
Plus, this global supply chain issue also affected the release of the adjacent Secret Lair Drop products Warhammer 40,000: Orks, Warhammer Age of Sigmar, and Blood Bowl.
Curling cards in the decks
In addition to the delay, some early boxes of the Magic: The Gathering Warhammer 40K Collector’s Edition of the special Commander set showed curling (also called pringling). For hardcore collectors, this may be a non-negotiable issue.
While this is likely due to the humidity and no direct fault of Wizards of the Coast, the curving of cards before they are even opened is detrimental. And as each Warhammer 40K Commander deck is upwards of $200, this potential damage is hard to ignore.
On the other hand, some reviewers have pointed out that the curling cards do flatten out after a period of time and with some preparation, such as using double card sleeves.
Packaging quirk
Moreover, it seems the Warhammer 40,000 Commander decks arriving this weekend still have some kinks along with them.
As Warhammer 40,000 Commander decks hit shelves this weekend, we have a quick clarification regarding the packaging and placement of a few of your newest cards entering the battlefield.
Read up on DailyMTG: https://t.co/GF9sNusrUE
— Magic: The Gathering (@wizards_magic) October 5, 2022
In an update from Magic: The Gathering's official blog, some key cards might seem missing, but are actually just misplaced in the box:
The Epistolary Librarian card in the Forces of the Imperium deck and the Exalted Flamer of Tzeentch card in The Ruinous Powers deck will, in many of the printed decks, appear in the section of the deck containing tokens. This may give the initial appearance that these cards are missing from the deck, but they can be found in the sealed portion of the deck alongside the tokens.
Wizards of the Coast suggests buyers of the Warhammer 40,000 Commander decks to double check the tokens section. This is if the Epistolary Librarian card and Exalted Flamer of Tzeentch card initially appears to be missing from the main deck.
More Universes Beyond
Warhammer 40K is one of the big crossovers for Magic: The Gathering’s Universes Beyond series. Universes Beyond is a special subset of products for the popular customizable and collectable card game with IPs from other popular franchises.
Although Universes Beyond cards are not Standard legal, they are generally allowed in Eternal formats. These cards also do not have counterparts for the popular Magic: The Gathering - Arena mobile game. Universes Beyond sets previously released include IPs such as The Walking Dead, Stranger Things, Arcane, Street Fighter, and Fortnite.
Just recently, WotC confirmed The Transformers will be the next fan-favorite franchise coming to Magic: The Gathering, releasing previews of the 15-cards depicting the Autobots and Decepticons. And more collaborations are planned in the future, with Doctor Who and The Lord of the Rings.
The Magic: The Gathering Warhammer 40,000 Commander decks will represent four of the franchise's major factions: The Imperium, Necron Dynasties, Tyranid Swarm, and the Ruinous Powers.
Warhammer 40,000 Commander Decks will be releasing this October 7, 2022. The Secret Lair x Warhammer 40,000: Orks, Secret Lair x Warhammer Age of Sigmar, and Secret Lair x Blood Bowl drops will be available for pre-order beginning October 17, 2022.
