Magic: The Gathering and Marvel have already crossed over a couple of times with Spider-Man and the Marvel Super Heroes set last year. But for its third Marvel set, MTG is getting spooky with Darkhold Destiny.
Rather than being based in a fairly mundane version of New York, Darkhold Destiny is taking the likes of Doctor Strange and the Asgardians and telling a more magical story (forgive me). What really separates this new out-there set from the other two Marvel sets is that Wizards of the Coast was really able to write its own story with Marvel’s characters and settings, which makes them feel less like a crossover and more like a part of Magic’s multiverse.
With a new story written in-house, Wizards of the Coast was also able to give its artists more license to create their own takes on Marvel characters. For instance, with Scarlet Witch in the Marvel Super Heroes set, she looks like a pretty standard take on her comic book appearance. But in the art I was shown for Darkhold Destiny, she looks much more like an MTG character, while still retaining some of the signature parts of her outfit – the mask is still there.
I was also given broad strokes of what the story is about. Essentially, Dormammu and Hela use the Darkhold to invade the entire multiverse, and it’s up to Doctor Strange, Thor, and other Marvel heroes to stop them. Of course, because of the characters and, well, props that the story revolves around, the set is focused heavily on spellcasting.
Thematically, the spellcasting is focused on what’s essentially three different ‘schools’ of magic: Arcane, Divine, and Dark. Arcane magic will be themed around Doctor Strange and his allies, while Divine magic will be wielded by the Asgardians and other similar… entities. Dark magic is primarily going to be wielded by the villains of the set, but there are some heroes, like Ghost Rider that will apparently be wielding Dark magic.
You can expect a lot of focus on cool instants, sorceries and ‘unique enchantments.’ Wizards is even bringing back the Arcane subtype on instants and sorceries, which hasn’t been used since Saviors of Kamigawa all the way back in 2005. I even asked if WotC is bringing back the obscure ‘Splice Onto Arcane’ ability that let you combine different arcane spells, but sadly, it is not.
Just like any other recent set, there will be a whole lineup of different Darkhold Destiny products. The standard fare is all here, Booster Packs, Collector Boosters and Bundles; but there will also be four commander decks.
- Strange Academy (White/Blue/Black)
- Gods of Asgard (White/Red/Green)
- Midnight Sons (White/Black)
- Lords of Hel (Black/Red)
Each of these commander decks will also have a collector’s edition available, which will be completely decked out in foils. There will also be two scene boxes, each with six mechanically unique cards. Both the Bundle and the special Gift Bundle will also come with a mechanically unique promo card, and I just hope they don’t skyrocket immediately on TCGPlayer, but I know that they probably will.
Wizards of the Coast will be giving the first glimpse of its original Marvel story in February with a comic produced alongside Image comics. Then, another comic will come out closer to when the set launches in April 2027.
Jackie Thomas is the Senior Tech Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. She’s been covering gaming hardware for more than a decade for IGN, TechRadar, Gizmodo, PC Gamer and more. You can follow her @Jackiecobra