The long fabled western inspired set, Outlaws of Thunder Junction strolls into town starting with the prerelease April 12th with a worldwide launch April 19th. With Outlaws of Thunder Junction we will see the return of many familiar faces from across the multiverse, but with a common theme. These aren’t the do gooders or the heroes, these are the villains of Magic: The Gathering and they’re here to steal something.

Oko is here and he’s got a posse to back him up. Oko has gathered a unique gang of villains from all around to pull off a heist from the Vault at the center of Thunder Junction.

For those following the Magic storyline you know that Kellan has been traveling the multiverse in search of his father Oko. He’s clearly found him and I wonder how that’s working out. You can check out the Magic story line for Thunder Junction here.

New Mechanics

Outlaw

The new mechanics for Outlaws of Thunder Junction are all about being the villain of your own story with the first new mechanic called Outlaws.

Outlaws are any creatures that are Assassins, Mercenaries, Pirates, Rogues, or Warlocks. Similar to the Party mechanic from Zendikar Rising, the Outlaw mechanic will reward players for having their own rogue’s gallery.

Crime

The next new mechanic is Crime. A Crime is any spell or ability that targets an opponent, their permanents, spells, or cards in their graveyard. We’ve all been committing crimes for years, but now at least we’ll get extra value from them!

Plot

Villains are always plotting something and thus Plot is another new mechanic. With Plot you may pay the Plot cost to exile a card from your hand. You may then cast the card on a later turn without paying its mana cost at sorcery speed.

Spree

The last new mechanic fitting the villain flavor is Spree. Spree is a twist on modal cards where the player can pay for each mode individually.

Mount and Saddle

As we are on a western inspired plane, we have Mount and Saddle. Similar to Crew introduced in Kaladesh, a player may tap any number of creatures to reach the required power and the mount becomes saddled until end of turn. Unlike Crew, a creature with Mount and Saddle can still function normally even when not Saddled.

Lands

The lands of Thunder Junction are no slouch either featuring a reprint of the enemy colored fastlands.

Last but not least, I have some mostly unrelated cards to show off. Holy Cow is just a funny name and likely a good card in limited. And… we have Jace disguised as Ashiok, I’m sure that’s not important at all.

Exciting Extras

The List

The List for Outlaws of Thunder Junction also has exciting new things to steal. The Vault a.k.a. The Big Score cards have been added to The List for Thunder Junction. These are some of the very things Oko and gang are trying to acquire. Special Guests also return with new artwork for selected reprints.

Bonus Sheet (Breaking News)

Outlaws of Thunder Junction will even have a bonus sheet. These cards will always commit a crime and come in the new Breaking News frame.

Commander Decks

Four new Commander decks arrive alongside Thunder Junction. These Commander decks will have a unique new offering in the form of Bounties.

Bounty Minigame

Each Commander deck will come with three bounty cards. If you have at least six bounty cards you can play with the Bounty minigame. At the beginning of the starting player’s third turn, the top bounty card is revealed. This card can now be captured by meeting the requirement on the card. If the player is able to meet this they collect the current reward level. If they do not the reward level increases. Once a bounty is claimed the next card is revealed.

Borderless Commanders

One small change, the face commanders for Thunder Junction come in the borderless frame which I think is a positive change.

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