Latest news with #MagicTheGathering
CNET
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CNET
Everything You Need to Know About the Sonic the Hedgehog Magic: The Gathering Drop
Magic: The Gathering hit a goldmine earlier this month when it released its Final Fantasy set based on one of the most popular video game franchises of all time. Final Fantasy was reportedly the best-selling Magic set before it even released, thanks to extensive preorders. Now Wizards of the Coast is hoping to repeat that success with Secret Lair drops themed around video game icon Sonic the Hedgehog, launching Monday, July 14. Wizards of the Coast/Sega Wizards of the Coast/Sega Wizards of the Coast/Sega Wizards of the Coast/Sega Depending on which century you were born in, you'll either recognize Sonic as the star of 1991's Sega Genesis video game Sonic the Hedgehog, or as the star of Paramount Pictures' Sonic the Hedgehog movies. (Or maybe you know him from Smash Bros. or Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, or any of the countless other places he shows up.) Now he's joining the storied Magic: The Gathering card game in a year where Magic is aggressively investing in crossovers with other properties. Those crossovers started years ago with The Walking Dead, which became an official Magic series called Universes Beyond when it released a Secret Lair drop for Stranger Things. We've gotten Magic cards for everything from Street Fighter to Lord of the Rings, The Evil Dead, Jurassic Park and even SpongeBob. Lord of the Rings was the first full Universes Beyond set, but it set the table for Final Fantasy last month, and we're getting full sets for both Spider-Man and Avatar: The Last Airbender later this year. The new Sonic Magic: The Gathering cards are different from the game's Final Fantasy set because these are Secret Lair products -- limited-run drops of a handful of cards, rather than a full set of hundreds of Standard-legal cards. That means you can't build decks for most tournament formats around Sonic. Like many Secret Lair crossover products, these cards seem aimed at the casual multiplayer Commander format that lets you build decks around your favorite characters and play with a group of friends. Sonic being a legendary creature with white mana, blue mana and red mana in his color identity, means that a Sonic Commander deck allows you to include his allies Tails, Knuckles and Amy Rose in the deck. Shadow costs red and black mana, which means he doesn't fit in a Sonic Commander deck, but he would fit in a Dr. Eggman deck. And, gang, these cards are kinda wild. Whenever Sonic attacks, he puts power-increasing counters on other creatures with flash or haste, which not-so-coincidentally includes all of the aforementioned allies that fit in his deck. And Sonic having the haste ability himself means he can attack the same turn you cast him, virtually guaranteeing one activation. Tails can draw cards when flying vehicles enter -- a nice nod to his plane, which first showed up in the late stages of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Knuckles has a lot going on, including the ability to create treasure tokens that can help you cast spells -- or just outright win the game if you have enough while he's on the battlefield. There's also some mechanical synergy between these cards and the new Final Fantasy cards. Amy Rose automatically attaches equipment when she attacks and then can buff the power of other creatures, making her a great fit for the Limit Break Commander deck led by Cloud (or Tifa), which cares about equipment and power stats! Wizards of the Coast/Sega Similarly, Dr. Eggman gets to draw cards at the beginning of your end step -- if you also control Y'Shtola Rhul from the critically acclaimed MMO Final Fantasy XIV, you get an extra end step, allowing you to draw two cards instead of one for the low, low cost of ending your turn. All of that adds up to mechanically fun Magic cards that feature a lifelong favorite character for me. And it'll add up financially if I can get my hands on either the foil Sonic: Friends & Foes collection ($40) or the non-foil collection ($30), the cards in which are less likely to warp from the foil treatment. There are two other Sonic Secret Lair drops announced, including one that focuses on reprinted artifacts like vehicles and equipment and another that rounds up existing cards that synergize with the new cards. Both will be available in $40 foil or $30 non-foil versions. All three Secret Lair sets go on sale Monday, July 14, at noon ET/9 a.m. ET. When they do, and I cannot stress this enough, you gotta go fast to get 'em.
CNET
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CNET
Someone Help Me, I Also Need These Sonic the Hedgehog Magic: The Gathering Cards
Magic: The Gathering hit a goldmine earlier this month when it released its Final Fantasy set based on one of the most popular video game franchises of all time. Final Fantasy was reportedly the best-selling Magic set before it even released, thanks to extensive preorders. Now Wizards of the Coast is hoping to repeat that success with Secret Lair drops themed around video game icon Sonic the Hedgehog, launching Monday, July 14. Wizards of the Coast/Sega Depending on which century you were born in, you'll either recognize Sonic as the star of 1991's Sega Genesis video game Sonic the Hedgehog, or as the star of Paramount Pictures' Sonic the Hedgehog movies. (Or maybe you know him from Smash Bros. or Mario and Sonic at the Olympic games or any of the countless other places he shows up in.) Now he's joining the storied Magic: The Gathering card game in a year where Magic is aggressively investing in crossovers with other properties. Those crossovers started years ago with The Walking Dead, became an official Magic series called Universes Beyond when it released a Secret Lair drop for Stranger Things, and we've gotten Magic cards for everything from Street Fighter to Lord of the Rings, The Evil Dead, Jurassic Park and even SpongeBob. Lord of the Rings was the first full Universes Beyond set, but it set the table for Final Fantasy last month, and we're getting full sets for both Spider-Man and Avatar: The Last Airbender later this year. The new Sonic Magic: The Gathering cards are different from the game's Final Fantasy set because these are Secret Lair products -- limited-run drops of a handful of cards, rather than a full set of hundreds of Standard-legal cards. Like many Secret Lair crossover products, they seem aimed at the casual multiplayer Commander format that lets you build decks around your favorite characters and play with a group of friends. Sonic being a legendary creature with white mana, blue mana and red mana in his color identity means that a Sonic Commander deck allows you to include his allies Tails, Knuckles and Amy Rose in the deck. Shadow costs red and black mana, which means he doesn't fit in a Sonic Commander deck, but he would fit in a Dr. Eggman deck. Wizards of the Coast/Sega Wizards of the Coast/Sega And, gang, these cards are kinda wild. Whenever Sonic attacks, he puts power-increasing counters on other creatures with flash or haste, which not-so-coincidentally includes all of the aforementioned allies that fit in his deck. And Sonic having the haste ability himself means he can attack the same turn you cast him, virtually guaranteeing one activation. Tails can draw cards when flying vehicles enter -- a nice nod to his plane that first showed up in the late stages of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Knuckles has a lot going on, including the ability to create treasure tokens that can help you cast spells -- or just outright win the game if you have enough while he's on the battlefield. There's also some mechanical synergy between these cards and the new Final Fantasy cards. Amy Rose automatically attaches equipment when she attacks and then can buff the power of other creatures, making her a great fit for the Limit Break Commander deck led by Cloud (or Tifa), which cares about equipment and power stats! Wizards of the Coast/Sega Similarly, Dr. Eggman gets to draw cards at the beginning of your end step -- if you also control Y'Shtola Rhul, you get an extra end step, allowing you to draw two cards instead of one for the low, low cost of ending your turn. Wizards of the Coast/Sega All of that adds up to mechanically fun Magic cards that feature a lifelong favorite character for me. And it'll add up financially if I can get my hands on either the foil Sonic: Friends & Foes collection ($40) or the non-foil collection ($30), whose cards are less likely to warp from the foil treatment. There are two other Sonic Secret Lair drops announced, including one that focuses on reprinted artifacts like vehicles and equipment and another that rounds up existing cards that synergize with the new cards. Both will be available in $40 foil version or $30 non-foil versions. All three Secret Lair sets go on sale Monday, July 14 at noon ET/9 a.m. ET. When they do, and I cannot stress this enough, you gotta go fast to get 'em.
Gizmodo
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
Sonic the Hedgehog Is Speeding Into ‘Magic: The Gathering'
With the success of the Final Fantasy set transitioning Magic's collaboration era truly into the mainstream, Wizards of the Coast is running full speed ahead with its latest collaboration: a new Secret Lair drop that will bring Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends to the game. Rather than being reprints of old cards with new art, like the case of the SpongeBob Secret Lair or the recent benefit for the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures, the new Sonic cards, revealed by Variety today, will bring seven completely newly designed cards to life. Each one features art from a litany of famous Sonic artists, bringing Sonic, Shadow, Tails, Amy Rose, Knuckles, and Doctor Eggman to the game, alongside a legendary enchantment representing the super state gained by unleashing the power of the Chaos Emeralds. The card designs themselves are all pretty fun—naturally, a lot of them are based around quickening mechanics from across Magic's ruleset, like haste, flash, or first strike. Amy can easily attach equipment to herself (yes, give her the Buster Sword, you know you want to), Tails can make vehicles you play into flying vehicles, and Eggman forces players to either discard cards or let him bring more constructs, robots, and vehicles to the battlefield. But of course, Sonic is perhaps the standout, not only because he gets more powerful the more he attacks (as do other cards with Haste or Flash), there's a risk/reward element too: if Sonic or any of your other cards with Haste or Flash are damaged while he's in play, Sonic creates tapped treasure tokens, representing the fountain of rings that explode out of the poor hedgehog whenever he's hurt in the video games. It's perhaps not going to stop the grumbling about Universes Beyond's proliferation into the game—which won't be stopping any time soon, with Spider-Man and Avatar sets on the way later this year, alongside original sets like the upcoming Edge of Eternities. But if you prefer to keep your Magic away from the collaborations, at least as a Secret Lair the Sonic cards won't be as common in play as the new standard-legal UB sets are. The Sonic the Hedgehog Secret Lair drop will launch at 12pm ET/9am PT on July 14 with three drops: a standard set of all 7 cards for $30, a set of foil variants for $40, and a bundle of both. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Geek Tyrant
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Legendary's Live-Action MAGIC: THE GATRHERING Movie Will Be Written By Noah Gardner and Aidan Fitzgerald — GeekTyrant
It looks like the long-gestating live-action Magic: The Gathering project is finally starting to take shape. According to Deadline, screenwriters Noah Gardner and Aidan Fitzgerald have closed a deal to write the feature film adaptation for Legendary Entertainment and Hasbro Entertainment. While representatives for both companies declined to comment, the attachment of Gardner and Fitzgerald marks a big development in Legendary and Hasbro's plan to kick off a Magic: The Gathering cinematic universe. The film was first announced in February as the starting point for a broader film and TV franchise built around the massively popular card game. As of April, BlackBerry filmmaker Matt Johnson was reportedly the top choice to direct the project, though it's unclear if a deal has officially gone through. Regardless, this latest update signals forward momentum on a project that fans have been waiting years to see materialize. First released in 1993, Magic: The Gathering has evolved into a full-blown cultural phenomenon. 'Marking Hasbro's first $1 billion brand, Magic: The Gathering is recognized as the world's first trading card game, having connected with more than 50 million fans worldwide since 1993.' Players assume the role of powerful planeswalkers who wield spells, summon creatures, and battle across fantasy worlds in an ever-expanding multiverse. That multiverse has grown far beyond the tabletop, with Magic embracing serialized storytelling through card sets, novels, and crossovers with iconic franchises like Dungeons & Dragons and The Lord of the Rings . The built-in lore makes the IP a prime candidate for an epic fantasy franchise, and one that could stand apart from the usual genre fare if handled right. Gardner and Fitzgerald previously teamed up with Hasbro on a now-shelved Power Rangers movie that had Jonathan Entwistle attached to direct. They also worked on The Trench , an abandoned Aquaman spinoff developed for Warner Bros. and DC with James Wan and Peter Safran, and were behind The Patient , a psychological thriller produced with Maximum Effort, Vertigo Entertainment, and 20th Century Studios. The gears are finally turning on this project and longtime Magic fans will be watching closely to see if this adaptation can cast the right spell. Source: Deadline
Gizmodo
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
‘Magic: The Gathering' Unveils Its First ‘Avatar: Last Airbender' Card
Magic: The Gathering has been doing crossover packs with various IP, and later this year, Avatar: The Last Airbender is joining those ranks. During this weekend's MagicCon, Wizards of the Coast showed off its first card from the set dropping in late November. Naturally, that card is a Legendary featuring Aang manipulating water, fire, earth, and air while in the Avatar State. On the flip side is him looking up at his Avatar Spirit, with artwork for both sides drawn by Airbender co-creator Bryan Konietzko, a process you can see below. For Magic players, the 'Avatar Aang' side lets them draw a card whenever they bend one of the four elements and transform into Avatar Aang if all four are drawn by the current turn. Conversely, the 'Master of Elements' side lets them 'gain 4 life, draw four cards, put four +1/+1 counters on him, and he deals 4 damage to each opponent' at the start of each upkeep. Coming November 21, 2025https:// — Magic: The Gathering (@wizards_magic) June 20, 2025In its blog post, Wizards teased the Avatar set will let players 'take a ride on a sky bison, channel the memories of past Avatars, and explore a world of untold wonders.' It follows the Final Fantasy set released earlier in June, which was already successful before it even hit stores, and the Spider-Man set dropping in September. Wizards plans to unveil more information on Magic'sAvatar: The Last Airbender set Tuesday, August 12, including mechanics and other cards from the set. The full collaboration will hit shelves Friday, November 21. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
