Despite Marathon’s status as the hot new game everybody seems to be talking about, Bungie still has a lot of developmental power invested in Destiny 2’s ongoing support. In addition to announcing the upcoming Guardian Games that begin on March 24, Thursday’s This Week in Destiny blog post also confirmed a surprising new collaboration for the game. But Destiny 2 x Magic: The Gathering is not the specific crossover content I am personally looking for.
“Destiny 2 is teaming up with Magic: The Gathering for a very special crossover that introduces armor sets inspired by legendary Planeswalkers alongside a collection of Exotic cosmetics celebrating both worlds,” Bungie says.
Titans get the Flamecaller Set inspired by Magic’s firebrand Planeswalker Chandra Naalar. It’s an inspired look, particularly with the goggles and the flaming hair. If I were a Titan, I would rock this in a split second and never take it off. For the Hunters, there’s the Mindsculptor set inspired by Jace Beleren, one of Magic’s major power-players who seems like he’ll wind up being a major villain later this year as part of the Reality Fracture set due out in October. Finally, Warlocks get the Death’s Majesty Set inspired by the necromancer Liliana Vess.
Also available as part of the crossover will be the Promised End exotic ghost shell inspired by Emrakul; Grand Praetor exotic ship; Voice of Hunter 7/6 exotic sparrow inspired by the Phyrexian Vorinclex; a finisher inspired by Magic’s iconic Overrun spell; a Sol Ring exotic emote; another emote that simulates igniting a Planeswalker spark; and a shader pack that focuses on Magic’s five land colors.
Bungie hasn’t released any previews of the emotes just yet, but transforming your Ghost into a tiny tentacled Eldrazi seems pretty fun. The land-based shaders also really pop. The Golden Plain shader makes the Mindsculptor hunter look just like Moon Knight. With some minor cosmetic tweaks, I’m sure we’ll see spot-on Moon Knight cosplays running around the Tower before long.
For Magic fans still playing Destiny 2 who love some of these specific Planeswalkers, it’s a welcome collaboration to see in the game. But it would be much more exciting to see a crossover moving in the opposite direction: I want a Destiny-themed Secret Lair with unique Magic cards, pronto. At a glance, it’s not a great fit for a trading card game so steeped in high fantasy, but Universes Beyond has already stretched the limits of what Magic is capable of including pretty far. Last year also gave us Edge of Eternities, a sci-fi set within the Magic multiverse.
This November will also mark the release of a Star Trek Universes Beyond set. Destiny 2 is arguably a much better fit for Magic than Star Trek or even previous crossovers like Fallout. At least Destiny 2 has a bunch of magic already. Here’s to hoping that this is just a prelude to an even bigger and better collaboration sometime in the near future.
The various Magic: The Gathering cosmetics will be available in Destiny 2’s in-game Eververse Store starting March 24.
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