Dungeons and Dragons is easily our favourite game here at Apotheosis Studios, but it's not the only game we “main”. With the exception of D&D and Genshin Impact, I almost exclusively play card games. Titans of the genre like Yu-Gi-Oh and Flesh and Blood as well as under appreciated digital gems like Legends of Runeterra, Skyweaver, Mythgard, and Kards. I've shuffled them up and dealt myself hands of all of them!

There is however, one game I know better, have a bigger collection for, and love with the biggest taste of nostalgia: Magic the Gathering. Magic, has been a part of my life for almost as long as Dungeons and Dragons. Ever since the very sweaty head of the University Gaming Society sat me down with his Mono-Black Vampires deck, I've been gathering cards and brewing decks ever since.

A little while ago, D&D and Magic had their first cross over. Adventures in the Forgotten Realms replaced the 2021 Core Set, and gave us entry level mechanics, the Dungeon mechanic, and a lot of amazing call backs to The Forgotten Realms. Now we're going back!

Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate

We're expecting to see the second Commander Legends set with a grand Dungeons and Dragons feel coming to friendly local game stores on June 10th.

Last November we got a set full of value reprints and highly anticipated new Legendary creatures for the most popular format in Magic. Cards featuring the Encore mechanic became a lot of fun as a bigger, meaner cousin to cards with Unearth. An immense plethora of Legendaries were printed, including a vast number of potential Partner commanders. On top of that, we also got The Prismatic Piper which still counts as one of the weirdest cards I've ever seen.

Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate is looking to bring that same level of Legends support and commander multi player dynamics, with a strong Dungeons and Dragons flavour. Perhaps this is the place for the designers to bring out some powerful concepts intended for Adventures in the Forgotten Realms that may have been a little too strong for Standard.

Though June is a long long way from now, we have started to see the first few cards. So let's take a look!

Lightning Bolt and Fireball are both classic spells in Magic, but also in Dungeons and Dragons. Every 5th Level Wizard has to at least consider adding these to their spell books through the power of meme alone. Having these cards meet both the D&D and Magic feel is a real master stroke in card reprint choice. Getting them both in the alternate art work will make them hotly collected for Modern and Legacy players alike. It's worth noting that Fireball and Lightning Bolt are the first spell cards we've seen given the classic Monster Manual alternate card style. We've only had creatures given this treatment, but truly iconic spells deserve this rework and I'm happy to see them.

Everyone's favourite Legendary arcane focus is back as an Artifact card. Wand of Wonder has lead to some particularly funny moments for the few player characters that ever wielded one. In this Magic the Gathering iteration, Wand becomes a fun chaos style card. The odds of hitting relevant Instants and Sorceries on it is pretty low, but playing extra cards for 4 mana, outside your turn is a fun and powerful effect. I know that past Forgotten Realms Commander Prosper, Tome Bound, would benefit from more cards played from exile style effects. It's also nice to see this card given another artwork treatment for the Bundle Box. It's the only place you'd ever open a unique Wand of Wonder like that.

We now go live to the sound of two big scary seven mana Black creatures.

The figure of strange dread that leads the Mind Flayers through their scheming is that of the Elder Brain. It's been a figure in Dungeons and Dragons flair that has always fascinated and frightened me. In its new Magic card form, it fits the flavour and function perfectly. A late game threat that strips away the mind of whoever beholds it, granting you all that knowledge. I mentioned Prosper, Tome Bound earlier, who is a Fiend Warlock in the flavour text described in the card, but possibly he's a Great Old One Warlock now, swearing to draw power from the Elder Brain as it allows him to generate Treasure from the stolen secrets of other, feeble minds. We haven't seen the Monster Manual style artwork for Elder Brain yet, but I'd be very surprised if there isn't one coming soon. That said, the extended art on Elder Brain looks so good. All those floating bodies of the minds the Brain has feasted on is so terrifying; it reminds me of screen shots from Control; one of my all time favourite video games in which a similar otherworldly force feasts on the will of mortals.

Ancient Brass Dragon - Images by Scryfall

Ancient Brass Dragon is a very, very fun design. For big reanimator style decks, resurrecting an average of ten creatures from any players' graves just feels like a very strong effect that players will have to put creatures in front of. I have a Teneb, the Harvester Reanimator Dragons tribal deck that would absolutely adore an this big brassy friend. The only thing I take exception to is the flavour. The Brass Dragon is known for being a friendly conversationalist and seeker of Magical Items. This immense power of resurrecting many fallen friends may seem a little out of character. However, now that I think about it, maybe this particular Brass Dragon has access to levels of Necromancer or some other power from the Swamps it lives in to help revive more friends that it can have a nice chat with. The alternate artwork on it makes it seem truly fearsome, but the Monster Manual style art is too good to ignore.

What would an adventure into Baldur's Gate be without heroes? Minsc and Boo have had a real rags to riches growth in the wider Dungeons and Dragons canon. They've now become welcome heroes on two different cards in Magic. Their original Legendary in Adventures made real strides in Standard and now they're a Planeswalker: the Timeless Heroes! I like my Planeswalker commanders to bring consistent value, rather than represent an uber powerful win condition, and the card designers at Wizards appear to agree. Fewer Teferi, Temporal Archmages, more Daretti, Scrap Savants please.

As for the man and his hamster, he appears to be a value driven Planeswalker, and that's something I can definitely get behind. The passive ability to consistently summon Boo to his side is very on flavour for a powerful Ranger and a loyal animal companion. The plus ability strengthens Boo, but also any creature with Red and Green's favourite keywords. Some of the cards which care about Modified from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, or Proliferate effects will love effects like this. The minus can spell out a sudden win to a player beaten low by your beasts or efficient burn removal to a troublesome permanent. Don't feel bad about sacrificing Boo (Magic's only Hamster without effects that change creature types), he'll be back on your next Upkeep. The contrast in his two artworks is a nice touch, with the main set printing leaving the two looking pensive while the extended art shows them in action.

The biggest part of Magic gameplay is drawing your power from the land itself. Reflecting Pool is getting a worthwhile reprint. The Lorwyn rainbow land was once the pinnacle of a four colour control deck that abused the power the Vivid Lands. Most three plus colour decks have to at least consider using Reflecting Pool, so the regular and extended artworks are both very welcome for many players.

An even more worthwhile reprint is the ally colour cycle of Battlebond Lands. Battlebond of course being the Two-Headed Giant set which was made of many many value cards for Commander, it released a cycle of lands like this which enter Untapped if you're in a multi player game. Their value to commander players was felt immediately, and prompted Wizards to complete the cycle in the first Commander Legends. I truly hope these lands will always be in ongoing Commander Legends sets, like the Fetch Lands in Modern Horizons. Not only that, these reprints sport new artwork fitting the Dungeons and Dragons setting. An opulent Zhentarim Luxury Suite and endless cloudscape in Sea of Clouds. Snap these up. There will always be a Commander that could use a land like this.

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Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate is coming to game stores June 10th. So long from now! As more cards are revealed, expect us to report about them right here on Apotheosis Studios.

Now we want to hear from you. Which legends of the Forgotten Realms are you hoping to see translated into Magic? Which cards are you hoping to pick up? Would you like more Magic the Gathering or TCG news from us? Let us know in our discord server or in the comments below.

Adam Ray contributes much for adventurers here on Apotheosis Studios. As co-founder of fantasticuniverses.com, they write all kinds of gaming press, while they write news about the League of Legends Card Game on RuneterraCCG. On Youtube, they can be found game mastering for No Ordinary Heroes, or editing the antics on The Hostile Atmosphere. Find where they dwell by climbing their Linktree.

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Dungeons and Dragons Returns to Magic the Gathering in Commander Legends

Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate

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