Magic: The Gathering has long been at the forefront of collectible card gaming, beginning with its earliest editions 30 years ago, and soon after introducing variously themed expansions as its popularity grew. Magic: The Gathering branched out into other media like novels, and the MTG world eventually came to video games in the form of titles like Arena. Later, the franchise's Universes Beyond collaborations expanded to other familiar IPs that were brought into its CCG format, like The Walking Dead and Doctor Who. More recently, Wizards of the Coast announced that it would be teaming up with Bethesda Game Studios, developer of the Fallout titles, to bring the world and flavor of its post-apocalyptic wastelands into the realm of MTG.

Game ZXC recently attended a digtal preview event hosted by WotC where MTG senior game designer Annie Sardelis was joined by Dane Olds, lead weapons/character artist for Fallout at Bethesda. The pair presented and discussed a range of freshly unveiled cards from Magic: The Gathering's forthcoming Fallout Commander formatted decks, along with some of the related mechanics that will be introduced in them.

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Wizards of the Coast and Bethesda Reveal New Fallout Commander Deck Cards and Mechanics Ahead of Launch

Consisting of four themed decks as per the standard for Commander releases, the Magic The Gathering Fallout crossover will include cards featuring characters, creatures, new mechanics, and a few other surprises spanning the mainline Fallout titles from the very first game to Fallout 76. All are designed specifically for the Commander format and will be fully playable out of the box, with fans being able to customize or supplement them as well if they wish.

Magic The Gathering Fallout - Scrappy Survivors Commander Deck Card Reveals

The Survivors deck sees everyone's favorite best boy in Fallout, Dogmeat, in the commander spot. Of the newly shown off assets, one that will likely delight many fans is MTG's version of Fallout 3's charismatic Capital Wasteland DJ, Three Dog. This deck centers around equipping a few key creature cards that can be made increasingly powerful via support through various buffs and protections granted by others.

Magic The Gathering Fallout - Hail, Caesar Commander Deck Card Reveals

Commanded, of course, by Caesar himself, this deck emphasizes building an army of often expendable token and other creatures in order to boost more major ones like Caesar's right hand, Legate Lanius, as well as disrupt opposing player resources. It also sees the return of the squad mechanic used in MTG's Warhammer 40K sets.

Magic The Gathering Fallout - Mutant Menace Commander Deck Card Reveals

With The Wise Mothman at its head, this deck centers around Fallout's recognizable menagerie of mutants who buff each other and themselves up, with supporting abilities designed to work in conjunction with the new rad counter mechanic. This spin on MTG mechanics emulates the dangers and debuffs radiation sickness in Fallout usually brings, but with the twist being that it actually empowers most of the deck's mutants in addition to forcing the milling of cards and dealing constant direct damage to players until the counters are removed.

Magic The Gathering Fallout - Science! Commander Deck Card Reveals

Fallout's Dr. Madison Li takes charge of this technologically based deck. Centered around the energy generating mechanic originally from the Kaladesh set, these counters are meant to boost and compliment various synergies created between cards. Liberty Prime, for example, is a bruiser of a creature, but must be kept powered or be lost. Fallout 4's synth detective, Nick Valentine, also appears in this deck to lend a hand, while Fallout's iconic power armor can be equipped to provide a variety of beneficial effects.

Magic the Gathering Fallout - Collector Boosters New Card Reveals

Lastly, the showcase gave attendees glimpses of some collector booster inclusions. The Arcane Signet, often a necessary staple of Commander decks, gets the Fallout treatment in the form of the Lone Survivor's wedding ring. Also of particular note is a reprint of a rather devastatingly harsh card. Since "war never changes," the Ravages of War sorcery that destroys all lands in play was stated by Olds and Sardelis to be one of the highlights of translating and encapsulating the essence of Fallout to fit into MTG for this series. With all the new cards shown off above, it looks like Magic: The Gathering's Fallout Commander crossover is set to surprise and please fans of both when it releases later this year in March.

Magic The Gathering

Magic the Gathering is a tabletop and digital collectable card game created by Richard Garfield and released in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Players take on the role of a Planeswalker and use various cards to battle other players by casting spells, summoning creatures, or utilizing artifacts. It features two main rule categories, constructed or limited, and can be played by two or more players at a time.

Franchise

Magic: The Gathering

Original Release Date

1993-00-00

Publisher

Wizards of the Coast

Age Recommendation

13+