Magic: The Gathering is a game that has its own multiverse. Integrating within it many different worlds, known as planes, this gives it the possibility to create all kinds of collections. It can make expansions based on specific themes, popular genres, or even crossovers with other licenses, such as Dungeons & Dragons, Doctor Who or Fallout. This time, the new collection of the game is called Outlaws of Thundercross, it will be released on April 19th and it is, as you can imagine from its name, an entire collection dedicated to the western genre.
Thunder Cross is an unknown map until now that is defined by being a world based on the tropes of the Wild West. There are deserts, crimes, rewards, and a few brave souls wanting to do what’s right. That’s why it shouldn’t surprise us that this collection has little heroism and a lot of villainy.
One thing that characterizes Cross Thunder Outlaws is that it is a collection that focuses on villains. Both new and old. With a whole array of new characters ranging from anti-heroes to pure villains, including many previously known faces such as Rakdos, Vraska or the adorable Bones, this collection puts the spotlight on the eternal forgotten ones. The bad guys, or at least those who don’t always act under a pristine moral compass.
How is all of this translated in terms of gameplay? As usual in Magic, through its mechanics. Because something that is surprising about this new collection is that it has a much greater number of new mechanics than we are used to. And while almost all of them are relatively simple, they are the kind of mechanics that we will surely continue to see in the future on a regular basis.
To begin, let’s talk about mechanics that already existed in one way or another, but now they receive their own name. That’s the case with Outlaws and Crimes. When a card mentions causing an effect or an extra effect when we control one or more Outlaws, it refers to us controlling any card of the types that are now considered Outlaws. These types of creatures are assassins, mercenaries, pirates, rogues, and witches. All of them are Outlaws. And if we have a creature of any of these five classes, it will be assumed that we are in control of an Outlaw.
The mechanics of Crimes is even simpler, because it has also involved giving a name to something that has been done since the beginning of Magic. A crime is committed when a spell or ability targets the opponent, their permanents, their spells, or the cards in their graveyard. In this way, when a card has any effect if we have committed a crime, it will refer to whether we have interacted in any way with the opponent or their cards.
These are the mechanics that are associated with aspects of the game that are already present. And given how common both are, it would be logical for us to start seeing them regularly in future collections. Now, there is also a lot to unpack regarding entirely new mechanics.
Of the new mechanics, potentially the most interesting one is Scheming. As its name suggests, when we scheme something, we are planning something for the future. That’s why cards with scheming allow us to exile them for an alternative cost, the cost of scheming, and cast them at instant speed on a later turn. Why are they so interesting? Because it allows us to pay their cost in advance and many cards are interested in us casting two or more cards. And also because some cards have particular effects when schemed. Adding spice to the mix.
Another mechanic is Spree. Although we don’t know its translation into Spanish yet, the mechanic is very simple. They are modal spells where you have to choose at least one mode, and you can choose any number of them, but each mode has an associated cost. In other words, it’s a card that we have to pay its cost and the cost of at least one of its effects. This makes them very interesting cards due to their particular flexibility and longevity, as they don’t lose usefulness as the game progresses.
The latest of the new mechanics is Saddle and it comes with a new creature class, Mount. Mount creatures have a saddle cost and, as with vehicles, it is paid by tapping N creatures with a power equal to or greater than the saddle cost. By doing so, the mount creature will gain a series of extra benefits, because, in narrative terms, it will be ridden by the creature we tapped.
All of this is the essence of the new collection, although as usual, it is accompanied by new material for those who play the most popular multiplayer mode of Magic: Commander. In this case, there are four different decks, one of outlaws, another of card draw, another of discarding and sacrificing lands, and another of playing other players’ cards. All of them representing classic game villains and new characters from Thundercross.
But that’s not all. Because at Wizards of the Coast they have decided to create a new mini-game, completely optional, for Commander. Something that is reflected in the Rewards.
If you decide to play this optional minigame, all players will play with a shared deck of rewards. The rewards are cards that on one side indicate what we will get when we claim them and on the other side, what we need to do to do it. In this way, at the beginning of the third turn of the first player, a random reward card will be drawn. If the player meets the described condition, they will claim the reward. If they don’t, the reward will pass to the next player, increasing its value by one. If after four turns no one manages to claim it, that reward goes back to the deck of rewards, a new reward is drawn, and it starts again. And the same happens, from the following turn, if someone claims a reward.
Finally, like all collections, Outlaws of Thunder Crossing comes with reprinted cards with their own artwork inspired by the plane in which it takes place. This time with the inclusion of a handful of extremely rare cards from past collections, some of them highly valued, which all have something in common: they are either outlaws or commit some kind of crime.
That’s why we hope you’re ready to commit all sorts of crimes at the gaming table because Wizards of the Coast has gone all out with this collection. Embracing the Wild West genre like never before.
