Like most MTG fans, I'm skeptical by default about Universes Beyond crossovers, but roll over like a delighted puppy the moment one pops up for a franchise I love. Marvel and Ninja Turtles? No thanks, what a shameless cash-in. Lord of the Rings and Warhammer 40k? Where is the 'buy all the cards' button? I'm a hypocrite, but I'm an honest hypocrite. So, honestly: today's hint that a Magic The Gathering x Destiny release (most likely a Secret Lair) could be on the cards has me in puppy mode.
That's largely because Wizards' teaser points towards the Hive (my favorite Destiny baddie) and specifically Crota, a boss from Destiny 1 (my favorite of the games). Let's be clear: Wizards of the Coast hasn't yet announced a Secret Lair or any official MTG sets themed around Destiny or Destiny 2. But it has just launched a Destiny 2 collab with Bungie, and that's what kicked off this wave of speculation.
Starting Tuesday, March 24, you'll be able to buy in-game armor sets themed around the MTG Planeswalkers Chandra Nalaar (Flamecaller Set), Jace Beleren (Mindsculptor set, no prizes for guessing that pun), and Liliana Vess (Death's Majesty set).
There's a bunch of other Magic: The Gathering cosmetics joining the game, the best ones being:
- A Ghost shell that turns your little floating AI pal into Emrakul.
- A Sol Ring emote (probably won't give you mana, sadly).
- Five armor shaders themed around the Basic Lands.
For MTG fans who don't play D2, that's kind of whatever. But what's got spellslingers talking is Wizards' social media response: a teaser image with four MTG cards, the titles spelling out "Eyes up, Guardian, Imprisoned in the Moon".
We don't know that Destiny themed MTG products are coming. The official MTG account might just be Doing a Bit, as massive company social media accounts are wont to do. But, naturally, it has Magic fans howling for (and, of course, against) a Destiny Secret Lair, or even a fully fledged Destiny Universes Beyond set.
I can see it happening, to be sure. There's at least as much overlap between Magic fans and players of Bungie's MMO FPS as there was with, say, MTG Fallout - and that UB set produced Wizard's best selling Commander decks to date. Plus, Destiny's been going for 11 and a half years, and it's stacked with recognizable characters nerds will want to be their Commander - not to mention more than enough memorable locations, scenes, and memes to rebrand a whole set's worth of spells.
Which brings me to my theory on bad old Crota. Wizards' teaser post shows the Enchantment Imprisoned in the Moon most prominently - the other three are just there to reprise Destiny's now incredibly tired marketing slogan 'Eyes up, guardian'. That card's art shows the planeswalker Tamiyo battling the Eldrazi titan Emrakul - a story which ends with Emrakul willingly imprisoning itself in the moon.
There's not a direct parallel in Destiny - but the story of Crota, prince of the Hive, does rhyme with it. Like the Eldrazi, the Hive are an incredibly ancient alien species that survives by destroying worlds and feeding on the life forces of their inhabitants. And, like Emrakul, Crota's story is closely tied to a moon.
He won a great victory by slaughtering Guardians on Earth's moon, but then (for reasons best left to those interested in delving into Bungie's Deep Lore) returned to the Hive's 'Ascendant Realm'. Crota left behind a soul crystal deep under the moon's surface, so he could come back and batter humanity some more later on. The whole plot of Destiny 1's The Dark Below expansion follows the quest to smash that crystal, thus breaking the link and, er, technically, imprisoning him in the moon. Coincidence?
As always, I might be reading too much into Wizards' choice of card here. They might have picked Imprisoned in the Moon purely because the Moon is a place in Destiny, and the card features Emrakul, one of the Magic characters featured in the Destiny 2 cosmetics promo.
But if we can't pursue wild fan theories in MTG release schedule speculation, where can we? I personally would dig a full Destiny Magic set - what about you? Come share your takes (and your dream Destiny Commander picks) in the free Wargamer Discord community. Mine is that, with all due respect to the giant that is Nolan North, Peter Dinklage should have stayed on as the voice of the Ghost. No, I will not take questions.