Magic: The Gathering and Marvel have already crossed paths several times with Spider-Man and the Marvel superheroes last year. But for its third Marvel set, MTG gets spooky with Darkhold Destiny.
Rather than being based in a fairly mundane version of New York, Darkhold Destiny takes inspiration from Doctor Strange and the Asgardians and tells a more magic story (forgive me). What really sets this new set apart from the other two Marvel sets is that Wizards of the Coast was really able to write its own story with the Marvel characters and settings, making them feel less like a crossover and more like a part of the Magic multiverse.
With a new story written in-house, Wizards of the Coast was also able to give its artists more freedom to create their own versions of Marvel characters. For example, with Scarlet Witch in the Marvel Super Heroes set, she looks like a pretty standard version of her comic book appearance. But in the drawing I was shown for Darkhold Destiny, she looks much more like an MTG character, while retaining some of the iconic parts of her outfit – the mask is still there.
I was also given the outline of what the story was about. Essentially, Dormammu and Hela are using the Darkhold to invade the entire multiverse, and it’s up to Doctor Strange, Thor, and other Marvel heroes to stop them. Of course, due to the characters and, of course, the props that the story revolves around, the whole thing is heavily focused on spellcasting.
Thematically, spellcasting focuses on 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 will primarily be wielded by the villains of the ensemble, but some heroes, like Ghost Rider, will apparently use dark magic.
You can expect the focus to be on cool moments, sorceries, and “unique enchantments.” Wizards is even bringing back the Arcane subtype on instants and sorcery, which hasn’t been used since Saviors of Kamigawa in 2005. I even asked if WotC was bringing back the obscure “Splice Onto Arcane” ability that lets you combine different arcane spells, but unfortunately, it hasn’t.
Like any other recent set, there will be a whole range of different Darkhold Destiny products. Standard fare is everything 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)
- Son of Midnight (White/Black)
- Lords of Hel (Black/Red)
Each of these Commander decks will also have a Collector’s Edition available, which will be fully adorned with leaves. There will also be two stage boxes, each containing six mechanically unique cards. The Bundle and 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 they probably will.
Wizards of the Coast will give a first look at its original Marvel story in February with a comic produced alongside Image comics. Then another comic will be released closer to the set’s April 2027 launch.
Jackie Thomas is the senior technical editor at IGN and the queen of PC components. She’s been covering gaming hardware for over a decade for IGN, TechRadar, Gizmodo, PC Gamer and more. You can follow her @Jackiecobra
Gn entert
