Over a year and a half ago—in February 2021, to be exact—Wizards of the Coast announced that it would release a Magic: The Gathering x Warhammer 40,000 crossover as a part of its Universes Beyond product line. Since then, fans of both franchises have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of cards from the resulting four Commander decks and three Secret Lair drops.
That wait is finally over this week, as Wizards will reveal all of the cards from the four Commander decks throughout the week. They kicked things off today by previewing legendary creatures of a few popular 40k characters as well as a few cards from the Tyranid-themed deck, “The Tyranid Swarm.”
Marneus Calgar
Marneus Calgar is the Chapter Master of the Ultramarines, one of the most popular chapters of the Space Marines—which, in turn, are one of the most popular factions in the 40k universe. As his two abilities would indicate, he commands a large army of Space Marines Astartes Warrior tokens and will play well with any go-wide strategy.
Be’lakor, the Dark Master
Be’lakor, the Dark Master was the first Chaos-worshipping human-turned-Daemon Prince created by the Chaos Gods. These gods (Khorne, Tzeentch, Nurgle, and Slaanesh) inhabit 40k’s psychic dimension called the “warp.”
Be’lakor is an absolutely massive creature—its latest 40k model measures almost 7″ tall, with a wingspan of 8″—and generally rides into battle alongside hordes of other Chaos Daemons.
Imotekh the Stormlord
Imotekh the Stormlord is a Necron Overlord. The Necrons are robotic skeleton creatures with Egyptian stylings—they are organized into dynasties (Imotekh is a phaeron of the Sautekh Dynasty), inhabit tomb worlds, etc—that were in hibernation for millions of years before awaking an terrorizing the current-day 40k universe.
Magus Lucea Kane
Magus Lucea Kane appears to be a new character in the world of Warhammer 40k. She is a Magus of the Genestealer Cult, a group of humans that worship (and are controlled by) the Tyranid Genestealers. They are used by the Tyranids to overthrow Imperial worlds and call the Tyranid swarm to come and consume the world.
Noise Marine
Noise Marines are a personal favorite unit of mine. These Chaos Space Marines are worshippers of the Chaos God Slaanesh—the God of Pleasure, Sensation, Excess and Desire—and they use sonic weapons (like crazy space guitars!) to wage psychological warfare against their opponents. Think the high-flying guitarist from Mad Max: Fury Road and you’re pretty close!
The Tyranid Swarm
Wizards also showed off a few cards from The Tyranid Swarm Commander deck.
First up is the legendary Old One Eye, an infamous Tyranid Carnifex that can regenerate itself and seemingly come back from the dead. Then there is the First Tyrannic War, which depicts the Tyranid’s invasion of the Ultramarine home world of Macragge, as well as the Tyranid Broodlord that helps buff your swarm of smaller creatures.
There are also a few reprints, like Abundance and Hardened Scales, the later of which features a Tyranid Carnifex tanking a bunch of lasgun shots. A fitting reprint to support the +1/+1 counter theme of The Tyranid Swarm.
There are also three variants Arcane Signet (one for each Commander deck except for The Ruinous Powers)…
…and three variants of Command Tower (Necron Dynasty will not get a copy).
Stay tuned throughout the week for the full reveal of all four Commander decks: The Tyranid Swarm, The Ruinous Powers, Necron Dynasty, and Forces of the Imperium.