First Look at Spider-Man’s Magic: The Gathering Crossover Revealed

Did you spot our uncover of Magic: The Gathering’s Final Fantasy crossover past week and deliberation to yourself, “video games are each good and good, but wherever are the superheroes?” Well past bash I person large quality for you: Today we’ve got a archetypal look astatine six caller cards from Magic’s upcoming Spider-Man set, arsenic good arsenic each the products and packaging that volition travel it.

Click done the representation assemblage below to spot each the Spider-Man cards from its Commander-focused Scene Box, booster packs, Welcome Decks, and more, and work connected to perceive astir the acceptable from Wizards of the Coast.

Arriving September 26, Marvel’s Spider-Man volition beryllium the 2nd afloat draftable, Standard-legal acceptable successful Magic’s Universes Beyond enactment of products aft Final Fantasy, and the 3rd wide aft 2023's Modern-legal Lord of the Rings set. It won’t person immoderate preconstructed Commander decks similar you mightiness expect, but the cards successful the Scene Box shown supra won’t be Standard-legal, and are alternatively designed with Commander successful mind.

While a Secret Lair with Wolverine, Captain America, and much was the archetypal measurement Magic took into the Marvel beingness past year, Spider-Man volition besides beryllium the archetypal afloat acceptable inspired by the comics truthful far. Wizards of the Coast Executive Producer Max McCall says that’s due to the fact that they conscionable wouldn’t person had country for each of the characters and moments they wanted to see from Spider-Man if they had made a smaller merchandise instead.

“Spider-Man needs a afloat acceptable to bash justness to the character, and incorporated the galore villains he’s travel crossed implicit the years,” McCall explains. “Picking characters from the Spider-Man canon arsenic portion of a wider acceptable would permission acold excessively galore characters connected the cutting country floor. We could astir apt person recovered country for Gwen Stacy and Miles Morales successful a non-Spider-Man circumstantial set, but determination wouldn’t person been country for Aunt May.”

McCall says that designing for a Universes Beyond acceptable “flips the worldbuilding connected its head,” successful that a emblematic Magic acceptable needs its cards to laic the groundwork of its determination and mounting portion besides being amusive to play with successful bid to get players connected board, whereas astir radical already person immoderate familiarity with a quality similar Spider-Man. “When we marque a paper that speaks to large powerfulness bearing large responsibility, there’s country to adhd mechanical complexity due to the fact that folks recognize the communicative the paper is telling. We don’t person to marque Universes Beyond cards that are ‘simple’ - we conscionable person to prime moments that are recognizable, and they’ll beryllium casual for fans to understand.”

As for however precisely they construe those moments and the satellite astir them into a Magic set, Head Designer Mark Rosewater tells maine Magic’s colour pastry “is robust capable that we person the quality to amusement heroism and villainy successful each 5 colors.” As an example, Rosewater says Spider-Man would beryllium white, blue, and greenish (although the circumstantial mentation successful the Scene Box supra is lone those archetypal two).

“Spider-Man feeling obligated to usage his powerfulness to assistance radical is halfway to him being portion of the achromatic colour pie. Spider-Man is besides the merchandise of science, being bitten by a radioactive spider. This, and Peter’s aptitude for subject and invention (like his web-slingers) is precise blue. Finally, Spider-Man's powers are based connected an animal, and the comics person shown that determination is simply a definite destiny to his transportation to some spiders and the Spider-Man universe, which is each halfway green.”

In summation to the Scene Box, the acceptable volition person the accustomed Play Boosters, Collector Boosters, Bundles, and Prerelease Packs, each of which tin besides beryllium seen successful the assemblage supra with much details. And portion determination won’t beryllium immoderate preconstructed Commander decks, this volition people the instrumentality of Welcome Decks – those are themed introductory decks typically fixed retired by crippled stores for escaped truthful that caller players tin person a low-pressure mode to larn the game.

In summation to this year’s Final Fantasy set, Wizards of the Coast besides precocious announced a acceptable themed astir Avatar: The Last Airbender. There volition besides beryllium 2 much in-universe sets earlier that successful Tarkir: Dragontsorm and the space-themed Edge of Eternities.

Read connected for the full, unedited interrogation with Wizards of the Coast’s Max McCall and Mark Rosewater:

IGN: Wizards of the Coast evidently has large semipermanent plans for Magic: The Gathering’s collaboration with Marvel, but wherefore did you commencement with Spider-Man erstwhile it comes to the archetypal afloat acceptable successful that universe?

Max McCall, Executive Producer: Spider-Man needs a afloat acceptable to bash justness to the character, and incorporated the galore villains he’s travel crossed implicit the years. Picking characters from the Spider-Man canon arsenic portion of a wider acceptable would permission acold excessively galore characters connected the cutting country floor. We could astir apt person recovered country for Gwen Stacy and Miles Morales successful a non-Spider-Man circumstantial set, but determination wouldn’t person been country for Aunt May. We could see Green Goblin, but not the afloat Sinister Six. Spider-Man has truthful galore iconic moments and characters that we wanted to marque definite we got arsenic galore arsenic imaginable onto the cards, and a Spider-Man acceptable was the champion mode to bash that.

You’ve spoken antecedently astir however you spot Universes Beyond arsenic a large mode to present caller players to Magic, and Spider-Man seems primed to beryllium an particularly bully illustration of that. With that caller subordinate acquisition successful mind, did you attack this acceptable otherwise than you would a Universes Within acceptable successful immoderate ways?

MM: Designing Universes Beyond sets is an absorbing situation due to the fact that it flips the worldbuilding connected its head. Cards designed for a caller satellite similar Bloomburrow person to present folks to the satellite successful summation to being amusive crippled pieces. Cards designed for Spider-Man don’t person to present radical to Spider-Man – everyone's acquainted with Spider-Man astatine immoderate level – but they bash person to wage disconnected folks’ conception of the characters and the large canon moments.

That is simply a immense accidental erstwhile designing for an acquisition assemblage – caller players are going to admit the communicative moments we enactment connected cards. So, erstwhile we marque a paper that speaks to large powerfulness bearing large responsibility, there’s country to adhd mechanical complexity due to the fact that folks recognize the communicative the paper is telling. We don’t person to marque Universes Beyond cards that are ‘simple’ - we conscionable person to prime moments that are recognizable, and they’ll beryllium casual for fans to understand.

Can you speech a spot astir however you acceptable Spider-Man’s characters oregon themes into Magic’s colour pie?

Mark Rosewater, Head Designer: In presumption of Magic’s colour pie, Spider-Man is white, bluish and green. Spider-Man feeling obligated to usage his powerfulness to assistance radical is halfway to him being portion of the achromatic colour pie. Spider-Man is besides the merchandise of science, being bitten by a radioactive spider. This, and Peter’s aptitude for subject and invention (like his web-slingers) is precise blue. Finally, Spider-Man's powers are based connected an animal, and the comics person shown that determination is simply a definite destiny to his transportation to some spiders and the Spider-Man universe, which is each halfway green.

Are determination immoderate challenges to keeping those colors some absorbing and close successful a Super Hero universe?

MR: The colour pastry is robust capable that we person the quality to amusement heroism and villainy successful each 5 colors. Every colour has affirmative and antagonistic qualities allowing america to person a batch of nuances to however we usage them.

I ideate “spider typal” Commander decks are astir to get immoderate unexpected caller toys crossed this acceptable - bash you instrumentality immoderate peculiar considerations into relationship erstwhile a communal Magic carnal benignant holds a precise antithetic meaning successful the discourse of a Universes Beyond setting?

MM: Specifics substance a batch with issues similar this. Often, we’re playing successful the aforesaid trope abstraction arsenic our Universes Beyond partners – things similar ‘assassins’ are seldom an issue. Spider-Man volition of people incorporate galore Spiders, but a batch of the deckbuilding hooks for those characters volition cardinal much into the Hero carnal type.

The Final Fantasy acceptable is going to agelong crossed galore antithetic games and stories, but should we expect this acceptable to person a circumstantial Spider-Man story, oregon are you treating it arsenic a showcase of fashionable characters, events, and locations from the comics?

MM: Spider-Man features characters and stories from crossed its past – we're not limiting ourselves to immoderate 1 tally oregon series.

Marvel comics are beloved by a immense audience, but there’s nary denying that the MCU has dominated the nationalist cognition of these characters successful caller years. Was it tricky to plan astir the comic publication versions with that successful mind, oregon did you bask getting backmost to immoderate of their roots instead?

MR: The Marvel expansions are based connected the comics, but we’re ever alert of the movies’ impact, truthful we find overlap erstwhile we can. Luckily, the immense bulk of the movie worldly was based connected the comics.

With the Spider-Man country box, wherefore did you spell the way of including 4 legendary creatures this clip alternatively than gathering a container astir a azygous quality arsenic a small Commander starter battalion of sorts similar the erstwhile ones were?

MM: Scene boxes archer ocular stories. Spider-Man's storytelling is precise character-driven and has a large rogue’s gallery, truthful we wanted to see arsenic galore characters arsenic possible. You’re mostly not going to person Spider-Man and villains successful the aforesaid Commander deck, truthful erstwhile we committed to tons of characters, we knew that meant you wouldn’t beryllium putting them each successful the aforesaid deck, and truthful that made for a large accidental to marque each villain much chiseled and stress their antithetic goals and methods successful the paper designs.

Spider-Man is going to beryllium included, of course, but however did you onshore connected the different 3 characters for this debut?

MM: Doc Ock, Venom, and Green Goblin are of people mode up determination erstwhile you’re making a database of iconic Spider-Man villains, but the quality of those characters makes it easier to gully a country wherever they each get adjacent ocular weight. Green Goblin connected his glider doesn’t get successful the mode of Doc Ock’s tentacles, and Venom tin beryllium lurking anyplace for a accidental to onslaught – they each person their ain abstraction successful the country to shine.

Is it freeing to plan cards for a merchandise similar this since they don’t person to acceptable into the discourse of a larger acceptable oregon preconstructed deck?

MM: Yes – the extremity is exciting, appealing cards, preferably airy capable connected substance that the creation tin truly radiance passim the scene. Not having mechanical constraints makes this overmuch easier – they don’t person to wage disconnected the remainder of the set’s themes oregon mechanics, and that gives them country to beryllium made charming and delightful of their ain accord.

Tom Marks is IGN's Executive Reviews Editor. He loves paper games, puzzles, platformers, puzzle-platformers, and tons more.