The New Cards of Magic: The Gathering Are Violating a 25-Year Pattern
Magic: The Gathering has been branching out over the last few years and adding outside IPs in their game; their most recent cooperation will bring back something the game hasn't done since 1999. The Universes Beyond products of Magic have received conflicting feedback. Still, most gamers are content as long as Wizards of the Coast chooses to provide cards for an IP the players are interested in.
Magic has now ventured into video game crossovers featuring games like Fortnite and Fallout. Magic's crossover with the hit Assassin's Creed Franchise marks the next joint release. This joint project was probably meant to create buzz for the forthcoming Assassin's Creed Shadows. Already, some of the cards from the set have been shown to players, exposing a breach with a long-standing Magic tradition.
Assassin's Creed Cards from Magic: The Gathering Show Historical Figures
The franchise known as Assassin's Creed has always experimented in historical fiction. This includes actual people like Leonardo Da Vinci, Edward Teach—better known as Blackbeard, and Yusuke, who will be one of the playable heroes of Assassin's Creed Shadow. The Magic: The Gathering tie-in set for Assassin's Creed likewise reflects this utilization of historical people; several of the new cards feature Da Vinci and the pirates Mary Read and Ann Bonny.
Although some Universes Beyond items have shown the likenesses of actual persons, usually they portray actors in their roles, with the fictional figure on the card. For instance, the card Edgin, Larcenous Lutenist shows an artist's portrayal of Chris Pine, a Tie-in with the Dungeons & Dragons movie. Though Magic used to do more in its early years, the Assassin's Creed cards are the first time in a long time Magic is producing new cards including historical people.
Magic Has not Included Fresh Historical Figures Since 1999
Early in Magic's life, the game was still searching for a clear identity. That meant cards featuring historical people like Nebuchadnezzar and stories like Aladdin. Though not a creature card, Albert Einstein also showed up in the artwork for the card Presence of the Master.
Based on the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history, Magic's Portal Three Kingdoms set had the most references to actual history. Among the historical personalities in the set were Xiahou Dun, Lord of Wu, Sun Quan on the card Sun Quan, Released back in May 1999, Portal Three Kingdoms has been nearly 25 years since Magic published a set with fresh historical personalities on their cards.
Play Magic: The Gathering: Techniques
Players of the collectible Card Game Magic: The Gathering battle each other using cards representing creatures, spells, and artifacts. Starting with a life total of 20, each player aims to zero out your opponent's life total. You can call forth creatures to attack your opponent, cast spells to damage or impede your opponent, and employ artifacts to provide you an advantage.
Played in turns, the game has each player drawing a card, playing a land, then calling forth creatures or casting spells. Mana allows players to activate features on their creatures or objects as well. One can play the game competitively in tournaments or leisurely among friends.
Magic: The Gathering: Examining the Universes Beyond
Products from Magic: The Gathering's Universes Beyond highlight characters and settings from other media. Usually issued as special sets, these products feature cards with artwork and mechanical inspiration derived from the highlighted series. Mixed reactions have been received for these sets; some players are thrilled to see their beloved properties represented in Magic while others worry that the emphasis on outside IPs will compromise the central gameplay.
But given the Universes Beyond's ongoing popularity, Magic: The Gathering is obviously dedicated to broad appeal and expansion of its reach. These sets provide current players an opportunity to discover new worlds and characters as well as new players to the game. The forthcoming Assassin's Creed set is an illustration of how Magic: The Gathering may employ its Universes Beyond products to produce thrilling and creative gameplay experiences, therefore stretching the bounds of the game and bringing fresh players into the Magic universe.
