Godzilla Is Coming toMagic: The Gathering, and He’s Bringing Friends

Spend two mana , tap Godzilla : Player may stand up and yell one “ SKREE - ONK ” into the melodic phrase .

Jokes away , no prank : Hasbro , Wizards of the Coast , andTohohave team up to create a special series of Kaiju cards celebrating decades of Godzilla ’s titanic scraps within the next expansion prepare for Magic : The Gathering . Which is fitting , because said expansion — Ikoria : Lair of Behemoths — is all about players visit the titular plane of gargantuan beasts and summoning their own monstrous titans to do battle , alongside the PlaneswalkerVivien Reid and a cryptic man named Lukka , who forged a out bond with one of Ikoria ’s giant beast and became an outcast of his high society .

So how does Godzilla of all affair accommodate in ? Well , aside from the giant monster intake behind the scope , the Riley B King of All Monsters ( and a few of his best friends ) will actually be arriving in Lair of Behemoths as serial of specialalternate art notice — an idea actually put forward by Magic ’s Nipponese team when work on Ikoria start .

You’re gonna need a bigger playing field.

You’re gonna need a bigger playing field.Image: Lius Lasahido (Wizards of the Coast)

“ From the very scratch , one of the central goals of this set was to create a sorcerous experience that fork over the building - scale giant action we uprise up watching in place like the Godzilla flick , ” Magic : The tuck product designer Mark Heggen exclusively told io9 over e-mail . “ The team was partway through creating our own human beings full of giant freak when the group that manages Magic : The Gathering in Japan came to us with the approximation to really include Godzilla in the circle . It kind of tout our minds at first , but we just could n’t stop smile at the mind — it was such a perfect tantrum ! The next thing we knew , they ’d fly to Japan and started a great relationship with Toho Company . ”

Get a Load of the Glorious Kaiju Art Stomping Into Mondo ’s New Godzilla Gallery

Toho were more than eager to help make it all happen . “ Toho was marvelous . As shortly as the collaboration start , they start up sending over tons of options and reference materials , ” Heggen go forward . “ There were always plenty of enceinte idea to work with . We form together from both sides , and arrived on a net card that worked well for gameplay and also delivered the characters that Toho knew would speak to hard-core Godzilla fans . ”

Vivien and a few of Ikoria’s big beasties.

Vivien and a few of Ikoria’s big beasties.Image: Viktor Titov (Wizards of the Coast)

verbalize of which , check out one of those cards below , making its debut exclusively here on io9 : The Titanoth Rex , whose alternate artistry variant is none other than Godzilla , Primeval Titan !

Other than the inherent absurdity that this , in good order here , is factual Godzilla on an Actual Magic notice , what clear Lair of Behemoth ’s Godzilla cards fun is that , because they ’re alternative art card for normal batting order in the bent , these are fully legal in a tournament Magic circumstance . Players will still be able to tell what board the Godzilla versions are based on and they portion out the same rules and costs .

“ We have created promotional crossover cards a few times before but those have always been silver - frame in , which think of they ’re for casual play only and not effectual in most wizard data formatting , ” Heggen noted , referring to preceding conventionality - exclusive big money like the specialHasbro plaything crossovercards . “ Given the themes of this set and how naturally Godzilla and his friends correspond in , after a wad of conversation and thoughtfulness we decided that it was at last time to receive new face into tourney - effectual sorcerous cards . ”

A Trip to Godzilla ’s plate , Toho , Made Us Want to Stomp Through Its Amazing bent

There ’ll be 16 substitute artwork visiting card in the serial in total , along with three bonus cards that will only be available in the Japanese marketplace , all reflecting different takes and ERA of Godzilla ’s long cinematic history . “ There ’s just so much keen source material when it comes to Godzilla , we did n’t want to limit ourselves , ” Heggen narrate us . “ We ’re approaching these card as playfulness alternate version rather than a cohesive Godzilla storyline , so we were able to showcase all kind of great epoch of elephantine monster action rather than induce to pick just one . ”

If you want a chance at beget them , they ’ll be found in Magic ’s special Lair of Behemoths Collectors Boosters ( and not in the standard individual “ Draft ” supporter packs ) , each of which will comprise two random Godzilla Series Monster cards , while purchasing a full certain draught booster pack display will also clear you one random Godzilla Series Monster wit . And you wo n’t miss out if you play Magic : The assemblage through Arena — whizz of the Coast ’s online version of the physical circuit card game — because they ’ll also appear there as special new placard style . If you purchase bundle of six or more Ikoria : Lair of Behemoth digital booster packs inside Arena ’s client , you ’ll receive the style as a bonus .

Image: Lius Lasahido

Image: Lius Lasahido (Wizards of the Coast)

Being able to field an iconic founding like Godzilla himself in Magic is a wonderfully fun idea , but it ’s also a big potential turn period for the plot . While Heggen would only say that Wizards of the Coast ’s collaboration with Toho strictly concerns Ikoria : Lair of Behemoth , he did say that succeeding crossovers like this could potentially , become a new average for Magic .

“ Honestly , we ’re not certain what the future holds , ” Heggen said of player potential response to the newfangled Godzilla wag and other crossovers . “ We ’ll never force something , but if our buff enjoy this experimentation and the ripe chance comes along with a succeeding stage set , we ’d sure enough consider trying this kind of matter again . ”

Godzilla stomps into Magic : The assemblage when Ikoria : Lair of Behemoths launches in Magic : The Gathering Arena April 16 , before its oecumenical physical release on May 15 .

Image: Svetlin Velinov