Magic the Gathering Universes Beyond Series to Have a Crossover With Warhammer 40,000 this August 2022

Magic the Gathering just unveiled details on its upcoming chapter for its Universes Beyond series. The focus this time will be Warhammer 40,000, Age of Sigmar, and Blood Bowl.

Magic the Gathering’s Universes Beyond Series to Have a Crossover With Warhammer 40,000 this August 2022

The Universes Beyond (commonly referred to as “UB”) is Magic the Gathering’s way of bringing heroes, villains, settings, and themes from other popular franchises into the collectible card game.

Through this spinoff series, Wizards of the Coast was able to feature series such as The Walking Dead, Stranger Things, Arcane, and Street Fighter. Aside from Warhammer 40k, they intend to release cards for Fortnite and The Lord of the Rings in the upcoming months.

The Magic the Gathering Warhammer: 40,000 Card Decks

Players will be able to purchase 4 Themed Commander decks starting the global release on August 12, 2022.

The first deck will be the Green, Blue, and Red focused Tyranid Swarm. Next will be the Forces of the Imperium, who command the powers of White, Blue, and Black. We also have the mono Black Necron Dynasties. Last, but not least come The Ruinous Powers of Chaos who have a mix of Blue, Black, and Red.

Deck Details

Each Commander Deck will consist of 100 cards and will be entirely playable out of the box. This means that it should contain everything a player needs to start playing, lands for mana and all.

A special Collector’s Edition version of all of the decks will be available. This will make it that all the included cards will be foil versions. That’s not all, as these are “never before seen special surge foil” cards.

All of the cards being introduced in the Magic the Gathering Universes Beyond collaboration will be entirely legal. This means that each card can be used in the Commander, Legacy, and Vintage formats.

Secret Lair Drops

Additionally, there will be three smaller “Secret Lair” drops later on. The first set will still feature Warhammer 40,000, but highlight the Orks as an additional race. Next up is the Warhammer Age of Sigmar, the fantasy branch of the Warhammer series. Lastly, we will be getting a set of Blood Bowl, a soccer game based on the spinoff universe from the Warhammer fantasy series.

Magic the Gathering Warhammer: 40,000 Card Teases

So far there have been only 4 cards revealed to us for this Universes Beyond collaboration. More previews begin on July 26. Let’s take a look at what’s currently been revealed!

Abaddon the Despoiler

Abaddon

First off is The Ruinous Powers’ commander, Abaddon the Despoiler. This Legendary agent of Chaos truly exhibits his power in his card’s effects. Spells cast by the player during their turn will have Cascade depending on how much life their opponents lost that turn. Cascade is a keyword that allows the player to reveal cards from their deck until they can cast extra spells whose cost is lower than the value of Cascade. He also has trample.

Abaddon is the only Commander revealed at the moment.

Blood for the Blood God

Blood for the Blood God Instant Spell

We also get the ever-popular battle cry “Blood for the Blood God” embodied into a Black and Red instant spell. The legions that serve the Chaos God Khorne let loose gratuitous amounts of blood in his honor. Blood for the Blood God exemplifies this effect, as this huge damage nuke spell is cheaper to cast the more creatures died this turn.

Vanguard Suppressor

Ultramarine Vanguard Suppressor

The first card that represents the Imperium of Man is the Vanguard Suppressor. The mighty Space Marines, or Astartes, fight best when doing battle beside their brothers in arms. Vanguard Suppressor shows this off, as it can summon copies of itself, forming a small Squad.

Fabricate

Limited Edition Fabricate

While not included in any deck, Fabricate is a promo card exclusive to those who attend the in-person Magic the Gathering Launch event for Universes Beyond. Fabricate features a prominent Techpriest, Belisarius Cawl. As such, this card lets players search their deck for a specific Artifact card that they need, and put it instantly into their hand.

Command Me

We’ve mentioned the “Commander” keyword a lot in this article, and for those who aren’t familiar, this is a specific game mode in Magic the Gathering. This is a special multi-player format wherein players make use of 100-card decks. Players have about 40 life (instead of the standard 20) and is usually a free-for-all format.

Each deck should contain 99 normal cards and one “Commander” card. There can be no duplicate cards in this deck, and each of them needs to have color alignments that are a subset of the Commander’s colors. The commander is usually a Legendary Creature or Planeswalker.

All About War(hammer)

In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war. This is the famous tagline of the tabletop game, Warhammer 40,000. Humanity’s future is bleak in the 41st millennium, filled with death and strife daily. Forces of Chaos and their demonic cults, ravenous alien Tyranids, and immortal undead robot Necrons are just some of mankind’s problems.

It is only through the heroic Astartes Chapters and the protection of the Emperor that mankind is able to flourish. Powerful Psykers and warriors such as the Grey Knight Daemonhunters are enough to turn the tide against the darkness.

Want more real-life card games? Be sure to check out our coverage of Sorcery: Contested Realm from the creators of Path of Exile. You can also check out more Warhammer in our Warhammer 40000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters Overview, the turn-based tactical RPG.

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