Wizards of the Coast Writes Its Own Marvel Story for MTG’s ‘Darkhold Destiny’ Set

Magic: The Gathering is teaming up with Marvel again for its third crossover set, Darkhold Destiny, which departs from the grounded New York setting of previous sets in favor of a more mystical tale featuring Doctor Strange and the Asgardians.

The new set distinguishes itself by letting Wizards of the Coast write an original story using Marvel’s characters and settings, making it feel less like a crossover and more integrated into Magic’s multiverse. This in-house narrative also gave artists greater license to reimagine Marvel characters, with art showing Scarlet Witch rendered much more like an MTG character while retaining signature elements such as her mask.

Dormammu and Hela use the Darkhold to invade the entire multiverse, and it’s up to Doctor Strange, Thor, and other Marvel heroes to stop them.

Jackie Thomas

The story centers heavily on spellcasting, organized around three schools of magic: Arcane, associated with Doctor Strange and his allies; Divine, wielded by the Asgardians and similar entities; and Dark, primarily used by villains though some heroes like Ghost Rider will also employ it.

Wizards plans to focus on instants, sorceries and unique enchantments, bringing back the Arcane subtype on instants and sorceries for the first time since Saviors of Kamigawa in 2005. However, the obscure Splice Onto Arcane ability will not return.

The set’s product lineup includes Booster Packs, Collector Boosters and Bundles alongside four commander decks: Strange Academy (White/Blue/Black), Gods of Asgard (White/Red/Green), Midnight Sons (White/Black) and Lords of Hel (Black/Red).

Each commander deck will have a foil collector’s edition, with two scene boxes offering six mechanically unique cards each. Both the Bundle and special Gift Bundle will include a mechanically unique promo card.

The first look at the story arrives in February via a comic produced alongside Image Comics, followed by another comic closer to the set’s April 2027 launch.

@Jackiecobra