We’ve been following the lead-up to Magic: The Gathering’s second major release of 2024 with a key eye and enthusiasm. Set in the brand-new Wild West-inspired plane of Thunder Junction, the set heavily riffs on many of the best-known thematic touchstones of the genre. Whether it be quick-draw showdowns at high noon, heists on banks and locomotives, or even the amusing inclusion of its own off-brand Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote, I was amused to see that the set doesn’t go hard on gunpowder and firearms. That’s not to say they’re not here, but rather than relying heavily on six-chambered side-pieces, Wizards is instead interested in putting its spin on pulpy rootin’ tootin’ shenanigans and bringing spells to its gunfights.
Another surprise here is that despite featuring a poster-friendly cast of criminals led by frontman Oko and featuring such cute criminals as Tinybones, The Pickpocket, Magic is continuing its recent trend of in-universe crossovers. While major franchise crossovers have been successful courtesy of its Universes Beyond line that has recently featured Doctor Who and Fallout, Magic’s proprietary characters are continuing to cross between realms and show up in sets we wouldn’t expect.
If you’ve been playing through Magic’s major sets over the past year or two, you might be surprised to see some major players from Magic’s established settings making surprising cameos in Thunder Junction. See, before the excellent March Of The Machines which saw an Infinity War-like collision of the various Magic worlds in a grand conflict, it was typically only a select number of heroes known as Planeswalkers that crossed between the sets. The fallout of the MOM canonically means that rifts called Omenpaths are now open to allow powerful creatures to wander between planes, a privilege previously reserved for the game’s powerful Planeswalker characters. If you’re more of a collector and aren’t immediately enamoured with this plane’s theme, you may instead be drawn in by the opportunity to get some of your favourite creatures from other sets, this time with a complimentary cowboy hat. This means players can look out for established and beloved creatures such as Eriette from last year’s Wilds Of Eldraine or the demon Rakdos who appeared as recently as Muders At Karlov Manor. Omenpaths are also responsible for cowboy vampires that have taken root on this plane as well, which is pretty damn cool.
Further tickling collectors or newcomers looking to round out their sets with some heavy hitters are extensive reprints and alternate art treatments also bundled into this expansion. Look out for Breaking News cards that can be found in Play Boosters, featuring top-tier reprints of classics framed as newspaper highlights for the periodical of the main town, Prosperity. Here you can find valuable reprints such as Mana Drain. Then there are The Vault cards, which thematically represent mythic rare artifacts that our Outlaws will be desperate to obtain. This is a fun way to depict powerful items in the set such as the Simulacrum Synthesizer or Worldwalker Helm, that can also be drawn in a special borderless vault treatment.
All this talk of crime, but at the end of the day Wizards Of The Coast expects you to haul up some cash like a responsible citizen if you want to check out this criminal expansion. For those MTG players who want to reliably make a single purchase and be set for a good time with mates, be sure to check out the four new Commander pre-constructed decks. While Commander is our favourite way to dive into a set’s new mechanics, deck builders and collectors also have Play and Collectors Boosters for rounding out their standard legal decks and binders respectively. If you desire a little extra value for your money, be sure to hunt down a pre-release or gift bundle. For any of the above, check out EB Games and Gameology. Be warned, stocks are seemingly becoming more limited in retail availability with each new Magic release if Aussie online catalogues are anything to go by.
Do you have the charisma to let out a wild “Ye-haw” upon pulling a decent mythic rare from your next booster? Let us know in the comments or social media.
