One of the consistent complaints about Universes Beyond sets is that they don’t advance the Magic story. They turn what can usually be a lore-rich game into just a slideshow of nostalgia bait. So, here’s a novel concept for you. What if, instead of a Marvel set advancing the Magic story… A Magic set advances a Marvel story?!
Marvel: Darkhold Destiny is the latest set announcement from Wizards of the Coast, and I’d just like to say to all my Magic friends, called it! We are getting Marvel Magic (the archetype, not the card game… but in the card game). Marvel and WotC are collaborating to tell an all-new, original story from the Marvel universe in that distinctly Magic way, hitting shelves in April 2027.
Darkhold Destiny follows a new original character (debuting in February digitally and April physically) in a dimension-hopping, godly adventure. Nerds of a particular flavour will know the Darkhold to be a vessel of great power, recently tied to Scarlet Witch, representing the Dark Dimension and general used as an all powerful Magic artifact mcguffin when you need a sorcerer to look concerned about attaining great power from a nefarious source.
Story aside for a second though, we should be expecting Scene Boxes, Commander decks, fresh Booster Fun treatments, and more for the first UB set announced for 2027. I’m also delighted to be able to show you some freshly revealed cards for this upcoming set (though please don’t lose your excitement for the currently live Reality Fracture cards, because those are super cool too)!
Magik, Illyana Rasputin // Darkchild, Demon Uncaged
I’m sure lots of you will recognise this mutant menace from Marvel Rivals, and the real ones might even show some rep for Midnight Suns, but this deadly X-Man has been on the scene for much longer than that, and now we finally have a Magic card for her to strut her stuff.
Showcasing her demonic side, Illyana has an excellent transformation effect, but both sides focus on giving you access to more of your library through exile. This plays into the classic black/red way of accessing your spells, and plays wonderful homage to her connection to Limbo.
Temple of Khonshu
Assumedly part of a new cycle of lands, the Temple of Khonshu is the first card we see to make mention of the subtype “Dimension”. For a set that is set to feature 30 of them, we have yet to see exactly what form they’ll take, but regardless, another set of dual lands will never go amiss.
The Darkhold
Ah yes, the titular book. Commit sins, pay life, and get access to powerful spells. The flavour here is on point, truly. Combine that with an 8-cost bomb that can quickly end a game (sadly at sorcery speed, but that shouldn’t be too much of an impediment) and this is probably going to be one of the more influential Mythics of the set (and one surely to feature a lot of art treatments).
Those three cards aren’t the only ones we saw for this upcoming set, so I’ll drop the rest in a little gallery below, but it’s safe to say we are in for an absolute treat next year!
Thanks for tuning in, and I can’t wait to start breaking this set down as we get more reveals (mixed in with all the fantastic Universes Within sets we already have shown.)