Transformers is the latest property to cross the streams with Magic: The Gathering, with official Magic cards featuring Autobots and Decepticons revealed over the weekend at Hasbro’s PulseCon. The cards will tie in with the upcoming set, The Brothers’ War, relying on the fact that – as you can see from The Brothers’ War spoilers shown off so far – the set has a hell of a lot of robots and mechs.
There are 15 Transformers cards in total, including Megatron, Optimus Prime, Starscream, Goldbug, and more. As you might expect for Transformers, these are all double-faced cards, with one side showing their vehicle form, and the other their robot self. The new ‘More Than Meets the Eye’ keyword lets you cast the cards in either form, and you can also convert them during the game. The final new mechanic, Living Metal, lets the Transformers act as creatures as long as it’s your turn.
Whereas previous Universes Beyond products have been found in Secret Lairs (like the Stranger Things Secret Lair) or sold as standalone products (like the MTG Warhammer 40k Commander decks), the Transformers cards will be showing up inside The Brothers’ War collector and set boosters. This is the first time Universes Beyond cards will be appearing inside regular Magic sets.
Compare this to the Godzilla cards from 2020’s Ikoria and you can see how Wizards of the Coast has changed its approach to third-party partnerships in the past two years. Not only was each Godzilla card a reskin of a Magic-universe card, they were also less prominent within the Ikoria set – only available as box toppers.
Though found within The Brothers’ War booster packs, the Transformers cards are not an official part of the set. (The clue is their unique set badge.) Indeed, like most Universes Beyond cards, they’re not legal in Standard, and can only be played in eternal formats and Commander.
Each Transformers MTG card has two versions, the regular type showing the ‘Generation 1’ version of the character, and a ‘Shattered Glass universe’ version, which shows the Transformers in a topsy-turvy world, where the heroes are villains and vice versa.
There are currently no plans to make Magic-universe versions of the Transformers cards, but Wizards’ head designer Mark Rosewater has said on Tumblr that: “We do retain the right to do Magic versions of Universe Beyond cards if later we need functional equivalents of popular cards.”
Transformers wasn’t the only Magic product revealed at Hasbro PulseCon. We also got to see the rest of the Chibi planeswalker Secret Lair teased earlier last week: Li’l’er Walkers.