This week, Wizards of the Coast provided us with more info on its upcoming Marvel collaboration with its Magic: The Gathering TCG – and if I hadn’t already dropped Marvel Snap, I would now.
We’d already been treated to a few spoilers such as a first look at how Bruce Banner and the Hulk will appear in the game, but now we’ve been treated to the heroes (and villains) that are getting special treatment in the form of fully constructed decks; and they represent the fan favorites you’d expect from the MCU and comic book source material.
Avengers fans can assemble the team with a Captain America and Nick Fury-led build, honor Marvel’s first family with the Fantastic Four deck, showcase their Wakandan Pride with a deck led by T’Challa, the Black Panther, or become a villain with a deck starring Loki and Doctor Doom.
But despite riding high on MCU hype following the release of Wonder Man – I was so excited for this Marvel TV show, and boy did it deliver (and Daredevil: Born Again season 2 can’t come soon enough now) – these spoilers aren’t what’s got me hooked into Magic: The Gathering for another year. It’s the return to Strixhaven.
A magical education
I started playing Magic just after the first Strixhaven set launched, and it was the first pack I opened.
The cards all showcase characters and locations from the world of Arcavios, specifically its premier magical university, Strixhaven, and I adore how this setting represents the different ways spellcasting can be utilized outside of simply casting a giant fireball or animating an army of undead.
There’s your classic nature-obsessed druids in Witherbloom College, and the showoffy performers of Prismari, but also the poets and politicians of Silverquill, the mathemagicians of Quandrix, and the archaeologists of Lorehold.
I love this world so much that I recently ran a Dungeons and Dragons campaign there using the official Curriculum of Chaos D&D adventure book as a guide, and had an absolute blast.
And amongst its incredible cast, there’s my favorite character: Quintorius. An elephant mage from Lorehold, and the chief of the upcoming Lorehold Spirit deck.
I’ve already built a Quint-led deck using one of his previous cards, and it’s so much fun to play – I bury powerful artifacts that Quintorious can later use spirits to unearth and devastate my foes – and I can’t wait to enhance it with whatever Lorehold Spirit has up its sleeve.
It’s not just me who’s excited, either. I was playing with my local group last night, and every single one of them was also raving about the return to Strixhaven. Not simply for the setting, but also the beautiful Magical Archive reprints it features, which bring stunning new art to a selection of the most iconic spells from Magic’s past.
I’m already planning to go to every Strixhaven pre-release event I can.
Beyond this set, however, Magic does seem to be on a big upswing this year.
While the number of sets is a lot (seven in a year is madness), this allows for so much variety for all sorts of players. 2026’s Lorwyn, Strixhaven, and the Reality Fracture sets will appeal to enfranchised fans, while releases based on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Marvel Super Heroes, Star Trek, and The Hobbit will assuredly bring newcomers to the game, just like every Universes Beyond release we’ve seen before.
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hamish.hector@futurenet.com (Hamish Hector)
