Magic: The Gathering x Transformers Cards Images & Details

Via an article in IGN we have images and details of the recently revealed Magic: The Gathering x Transformers cards. 

Recently revealed at the Hasbro Pulse Con 2022 event, Wizards of the Coast announced that the cards will be featured as the first Universes Beyond set that exists within another normal expansion. Six characters were revealed so far:

• Optimus Prime, Autobot Leader / Optimus Prime, Hero
• Goldbug, Scrappy Scout / Goldbug, Humanity’s Ally
• Starscream, Seeker Leader / Starscream, Power Hungry
• Soundwave, Superior Captain / Soundwave, Sonic Spy
• Flamewar, Streetwise Operative / Flamewar, Brash Veteran
• Slicer, High-Speed Antagonist / Slicer, Hired Muscle

There will be 15 double-sided Transformers cards (robot and alt mode) in total but each one is available in two different styles: G1 and Shattered Glass. They’ll be spread randomly throughout The Brothers’ War set boosters, collector boosters, and the Bundle Box, but will be distinguished by special Universes Beyond frames and holofoil stamps.

You can read the complete article with more details and information about the cards here or a plain text version after the jump together with all the new cards images. Click on the discussion link below and share your impressions on the 2005 Boards!

MAGIC THE GATHERING
Exclusive: Optimus Prime and Other Transformers are Joining Magic: The Gathering
Wizards of the Coast reveals the first six Transformers cards in the upcoming The Brothers’ War expansion.
By Ryan Dinsdale

Optimus Prime and other Transformers characters are becoming Magic: The Gathering cards in the upcoming The Brothers’ War expansion.

The crossover was revealed at Hasbro’s PulseCon, with Wizards of the Coast announcing that the cards will be featured as the first Universes Beyond set that exists within another normal expansion.

Six characters were revealed:

Optimus Prime, Autobot Leader / Optimus Prime, Hero
Goldbug, Scrappy Scout / Goldbug, Humanity’s Ally
Starscream, Seeker Leader / Starscream, Power Hungry
Soundwave, Superior Captain / Soundwave, Sonic Spy
Flamewar, Streetwise Operative / Flamewar, Brash Veteran
Slicer, High-Speed Antagonist / Slicer, Hired Muscle

There will be 15 Transformers cards in total but each one is available in two different styles. One depicts the G1 1980s-style characters, and the other depicts the latest Shattered Glass comics in which Autobots are evil and Decepticons are good. Where the newer characters didn’t exist previously, they’ve been reimagined in the classic aesthetic.

Each card is also double-sided, with one side showing the Transformers in robot mode and the other in vehicle mode. They’ll be spread randomly throughout The Brothers’ War set boosters, collector boosters, and the Bundle Box, but will be distinguished by special Universes Beyond frames and holofoil stamps.

Given their unique mechanics, the Transformers cards are only playable in Commander, Legacy, and Vintage formats despite appearing in a standard set. Two new keywords will be introduced in the Transformers cards: More Than Meets the Eye and Living Metal.

“It was important we find a seamless way of integrating our Transformers characters into the world of Magic the Gathering while ensuring the cards remained true to both brands. Our characters have both a robot mode and an alt-mode, so making each card double-sided allowed us to feature one of our brands most important and fun elements: duality of form,” Hasbro’s Head of Action Brands Jenny Whitlock says.

“We’ve been looking for a place to put Transformers, and in a world full of giant mechs and sweet artifacts, it made sense.”

The former allows players to cast them on the backside for an alternate cost while the latter makes all Transformers in vehicle mode also count as a create and does not require it to be crewed.

“Normally in Magic, you crew your vehicles with your creature,” Gavin Verhey, principal game designer at Wizards of the Coast tells IGN. “But nobody hops in and drives Optimus Prime. So, we solved that with the final Living Metal mechanic, which also plays into the fact that they’re robots in disguise on your opponent’s turns.”

Verhey also explained why these cards would be included in The Brothers’ Arms set and not included separately like its previous Universes Beyond expansions such as Fortnite and Street Fighter.

“There are so many fan-favorite Transformers characters, not to mention the Shattered Glass versions too, that we wanted to make sure we could launch many of them,” he said, “and 20 cards is outside of the scope of what we’ve done so far.”

Verhey continued, “The Brother’s War is an incredible set that retells one of the most classic stories of Magic,” Verhey said. “There’s a lot for established players to dig into here, but we wanted to have something that might catch the eye of someone who didn’t have the background of Brother’s War to get them excited about the set. And finally, as mentioned before, we’ve been looking for a place to put Transformers, and in a world full of giant mechs and sweet artifacts, it made sense.”

As for what’s ahead, Verhey couldn’t confirm whether or not these Transformers cards would get versions created for the Magic: The Gathering’s Standard format, but did say that Wizards of the Coast is open to the idea.

“There are currently no plans to create in-universe versions, but we absolutely have the technology available to us to print in-universe versions if we need to,” he said. “For example, if one breaks out as a very popular card and we need to reprint an in-world version at some point.”

Transformers isn’t the only popular IP that Magic: The Gathering has partnered with recently, most recently announcing a Warhammer 40K collection. That’s not all though, as Doctor Who, The Walking Dead, and Netflix’s Arcane have also had special sets.