Saddle Up for MTG's Wild West Adventure: Outlaws of Thunder Junction

Welcome to Thunder Junction: A New Frontier in MTG

Welcome to the land of opportunity... for crimes!

“Yeehaw” and howdy partners! A new frontier is upon us as we venture out west to Magic: The Gathering Outlaws of Thunder Junction. This new Western-themed set reveals to us a brand-new plane of dusty deserts, showdowns, saloons and Stetson hats. But beware, MTG Outlaws of Thunder Junction is an outlaw’s paradise, where the biggest, baddest villains from across the Multiverse have gathered to seek their fortune and rustle-up some trouble.

Let’s saddle up, ride out, and see what this Wild West set has to offer us.

Release Date and How to Gear Up Early

MTG Outlaws of Thunder Junction has a global release date of April 19. However, all you cowboys and cowgirls that can’t wait for that are in luck – spoilers have already begun and will conclude on April 5th with the unveiling of the brand-new Commander decks.

For those who just can’t wait to get their hands on the goods can take part in pre-release events from April 12 at their local game store, while digital (MTG Arena) players can also get the cards a little early – April 16 – a few days before the global launch.  

The Good, The Bad, and the Magical: Key Themes and Features

As with many Magic: The Gathering sets, MTG Outlaws of Thunder Junction has two main themes going on. Firstly, and most obviously, it’s a Wild West inspired set, so expect magic’s interpretation of everything we’ve come to love from the genre – hats, horses, snakes, deserts, and even (kind of) guns in the form of ‘thunder blasters’.  

The other key theme is villains. Thanks to the Omenpaths, non-Planeswalkers are now able to travel between worlds like never before, meaning it’s possible – as we have in this set – for all of the Multiverse's biggest, meanest villains to all converge in one place at the same time.  

The set takes place on Thunder Junction – which is a plane and not just a place – that was uninhabited before the Omenpaths opened. Riveteers from New Capenna have built a railway, while Ral Zarek has arrived from Ravnica to set up relay towers in order for planes to communicate across Omenpaths.

First Look: Spoilers and Anticipated Cards

The first reveals happened at MagicCon Chicago and now we’re in full-on spoiler season! So let’s take a look at some baddies…
 

Oko, the Ringleader 

We knew from when MTG Outlaws of Thunder Junction was first announced that the infamous Planeswalker Oko was here based on the key art. Oko first appeared in Throne of Eldraine with what is widely considered to be the best Planeswalker card of all time, leading to its banning in almost every format – from Standard to Legacy. A villain both in lore and the game itself, Oko makes his triumph return as Oko, the Ringleader. A powerful shaping-shifting Planeswalker, Oko does a bit of everything – he can copy a creature, loot cards, make elks (his favourite), or create tokens of your entire board.

Tinybones, the Pickpocket 

Ever since we first met Tinybones in Jump Start, he’s been a fan favourite. That is, a favourite as a cute little skeleton – his first card was an annoying discard nightmare! This second iteration of the character is a one-mana mythic rare, something that always needs careful consideration. A deathtouching 1/1, Tinybones, the Pickpocket allows you to cast permanent cards from your opponents’ graveyards so long as he’s dealt them combat damage – you either take down whatever they block with, or steal something. A card that’s likely to see competitive play, and no doubt a very powerful commander.

Hell to Pay 

Hell to Pay is the latest red ‘X’ spell which, while only letting you target creatures, has the powerful ability of creating treasure tokens – either for a further burst of mana the following turn, or for other artifact, treasure or token synergies.

Duelling Dynamics: New Mechanics and Card Types

Now that we’ve entered spoiler season, we know exactly what Wild West mechanics we’ll be saddling up with this April!

Outlaws

Seeing as MTG Outlaws of Thunder Junction is a villain set, of course ‘Outlaw’ needed to be a mechanic. A common issue with ‘creature-type-matters’ decks is having enough of that creature type without needing to dip into Changlings. Outlaws brings together a number of loved-but-under-represented creatures types in one name – with ‘Outlaws’ meaning Assassin, Mercenary, Pirate, Rogue, and/or Warlock. So if a card says ‘if you control an outlaw’, any of those creature types count.

Committing a crime

While you can argue over whether it’s a good idea to encourage your players to commit crimes, ‘committing a crime’ is certainly a flavourful mechanic for a set about villains and outlaws. You’ve committed a crime if you cast a spell, activated an ability, or put a triggered ability on the stack that targets one or more of the following:

• An opponent
• A spell or ability an opponent controls
• A permanent an opponent controls
• A card in an opponent's graveyard

If the spell or ability doesn’t target any of those, it’s not a crime, whether you like what happened or not. Many cards in the set, including Oko, the Ringleader, refer to whether you’ve committed a crime, and provide additional benefits if you have.

Spree

Spree encourages you to have it all. It’s a new keyword found on several modal cards in the set, granting up to three modes all with additional costs (a new ‘kicker’ if you will). Each mode can only be chosen once, but it still provides a huge amount of flexibility in terms of effects and how much you want to pay. Spree cards have a slightly different frame with a ‘+’ by the mana cost, to provide a helpful reminder of the additional costs that can be paid. This is my tip for the most impactful mechanic in the set.

Mounts and Saddle

A Wild West inspired set simple HAD to have some kind of horse-riding mechanic. Many thought we may see a return of Horsemanship, but really there’s little use for what is basically another variation on flying. Firstly ‘mount’ – mount is a new creature type that has no specific rules to go with it but is where you’ll find creatures with ‘saddle’ (so it’s just about the flavour, really). Saddle itself is very similar to ‘crew’ in that you tap creatures with a certain specified power to activate it, and at which point the creature becomes ‘saddled’ and gains additional abilities specified on the card. Unlike crew, an unsaddled creature is still a creature, and saddle can only happen at sorcery speed – so no surprise saddle blocking.

Plot

What do all good villains do? Plot cunning plans… ‘Plot’ is a new keyword that enables you to pay the cost for a card upfront, and then exile it from your hand. This card then becomes ‘plotted’ meaning you can cast it without paying its mana cost on a future turn, at sorcery speed. At first, you’d question why you’d ever want to do this – why pay a cost and not get a card – but what plot enables you to do is store up a number of cards to then cast at the perfect time, or in quick succession together. There’s a chance ‘plot’ sees little play, or is one of the most beloved mechanics of all time for its gameplay options. Time will tell! I think it may have been more interesting if one of the benefits of plotting is that you could play the cards at instant speed, allowing interesting play with creatures and sorceries appearing at any time, but I assume in testing that was either too good, or led to too many feel-bad moments.
 

Bounties

Bounties are a fun mini game that have been included in the Commander decks. Players share a bounty deck, which sets up fun mini challenges to complete for a reward. If you like the variety of gameplay that Planechase brings, you’re sure to love bounties too.

Villains’ Gathering: Characters to Watch

While being careful not to spoil the story of the set, in short, if you can name a villain, they make an appearance in this set! We find out early on Oko has got a crew of well-known villains together including both warlocks Gisa and Geralf, Tinybones, the pirate Malcolm, the giant demon mercenary Rakdos, and the gorgon assassin Vraska, amongst others. And we’re starting to see more too, Magda is here, Marchesa, Riku, and even the Gitrog Monster as a mount! Want to see your favourite bad guy in a cowboy hat? Look no further!

Where to Stake Your Claim: Getting Your Hands on the Set

MTG Outlaws of Thunder Junction is already available to pre-order at Magic Madhouse. Whether it’s the bundle, commander decks, play or collector boosters, or even singles, there’s a huge selection of Outlaws of Thunder Junction available to pre-order today to be shipped at launch.

If you can’t wait, the only way to get your hands on cards a little earlier is at pre-release events, so check what’s happening at your local game store.

Plotting the Course: Story Implications and Set Impact

MTG Outlaws at Thunder Junction is the final set of the ‘Omenpath arc’ story, which has looked at the impact of the Omenpaths on the multiverse after the Phyrexian invasion and has seen the fae Kellan travel to a number of planes in search of his father, Oko, who he’s about to meet. We don’t yet know how it’ll end, but we know Oko is plotting something big with some of the Multiverse’s most infamous Villains, while Niv Mizzet and Ral Zarek are looking to establish greater communications (and therefore control?) between Ravnica and the other planes. This element will surely be a focus moving forward.

How the set will impact the metagame is yet to be seen. Cards seem powerful, but we’re in an especially large Standard environment at the moment, and so it may not be until rotation that we see the set’s true potential realised.

Lock and Load: Preparing for the Outlaws of Thunder Junction

There’s plenty to brew on with MTG Outlaws of Thunder Junction. Firstly ‘outlaw’ will be a great addition to the Commander decks that care about those creature times – pirate, assassin and mercenary especially come to mind. I’m also fascinated to see how good ‘plot’ will be once we get to play with it. While certainly not at the power level of the storm mechanic, I could imagine some pretty wild turns of firing off several ‘free’ plotted cards that all interact together, so long as the payoffs are there. But the sure-fire winner must be spree – we already know modal cards are great, especially in Commander, and spree seems to offer more flexibility than we’ve ever seen before. I can’t wait to jam them into my Commander decks.

Echoes in the Canyon: Community Reactions and Expectations

The MTG community is always a mixed bag, and I’ve seen almost every reaction possible. Some people are loving the story, while other content creators have given up on it. Some players love the fun, sometimes even silly, Wild West flavour, while others think it’s gone too far when you have ‘holy cows’ and roadrunners with protection from coyotes! One thing is for sure, the cards look powerful and great fun to play, and I can’t wait to get plotting, go on a wild spree, and commit a few crimes (in a perfectly legal way, of course).