Magic: The Gathering‘s first-ever crossover set with Dungeons & Dragons, Adventures in the Forgotten Realms, is out later this month and Wizards of the Coast wants to make sure players are up to speed on all the flavorful features making their debut alongside the expansion. Chief among these are dungeons, a brand-new card type debuting this summer intended to mimic the experience of delving into an enemy stronghold to defeat its monstrous dwellers and claim the loot inside. While only three of these will be discoverable in packs of Forgotten Realms, Wizards believes the trio will provide plenty of versatility and strategy in how to use each.
As for how one goes about embarking on a spelunking session, only companion cards bearing the key text “Explore the dungeon” will be able to grant entry, including creatures, sorceries and artifacts. While all of these have yet to be showcased, two more have been revealed today in the form of Yuan-Ti Malison and the aptly named You Find a Cursed Idol. Check them both out via the gallery below.
A novel and faithful tribute to D&D, no doubt, but it remains to be seen just how impactful dungeons will be on Magic‘s current metagame. In Standard especially, where the pool of available cards is more limited compared with Modern or Vintage, the hope will naturally be that Forgotten Realms‘ unique mechanic will give rise to new and interesting decks to diversify matchups, but fans will just have to wait and see what transpires when Magic: The Gathering‘s third expansion of the year arrives on July 23rd.
As for the remainder of 2021, Midnight Hunt and Crimson Vow, both of which mark a return to the Lovecraft-inspired plane of Innistrad, are scheduled for release in September and November respectively. See here for more details.
