The Fallout franchise is one of the most popular post-apocalyptic settings, and with a new Amazon TV adaptation set for release in April, the series is on our collective radar. Fallout is joining the multiverse of Magic: The Gathering, with four new Commander decks originally announced in August. Polygon has your exclusive look at one of the first complete decklists, as well as new card reveals.
Image: Wizards of the Coast
Image: Wizards of the Coast
The Scrappy Survivors decklist looks like it’s built around having a few cheap creatures that can be buffed up with powerful auras and enchantments. The Fallout franchise is all about the fusion between old-world tech and post-apocalyptic ingenuity; for every guy in a full set of power armor, there’s a dozen raiders wearing stuff they’ve found in scrapyards and dumpsters.
The Scrappy Survivors deck might look like a pushover at first, but once the player builds some momentum, they’re able to take cards like Mister Gutsy, a new legendary artifact creature, and snowball some big hits. There are also a few heavy hitters, like Cass, Hand of Vengeance, whose ability to recycle dead creatures’ auras and equipment feels both thematic and powerful. Cass is best known from her role as a companion in Fallout: New Vegas, and it’s good to see her back in action.
Image: Wizards of the Coast
Image: Wizards of the Coast
There couldn’t be a Scrappy Survivors deck without some scrap to make use of. Wizards made a clever move, repurposing the well-regarded Mantle of the Ancients aura (which first appeared in 2022’s Dungeons & Dragons-themed set, Adventures in the Forgotten Realms) into a take on the classic Vault suit. But it’s not just any Vault suit. This is the Holy Vault Suit, the same torn and tattered outfit worn by the original character from 1997’s Fallout and once again, this time by The Wanderer, in Fallout 2.
In addition to giving this set of cards the three-letter PIP naming convention to set it apart from all other Magic sets that have come before, Wizards also gave the iconic Pip-Boy some love. While the Pip-Boy 2000 was first introduced in the original Fallout, this card shows Bethesda’s own Pip-Boy 3000, which serves as the menu system and user interface in the Maryland-based company’s modern incarnation of the video game franchise.
Image: Wizards of the Coast
Perhaps the most interesting card in the preview is Vault 21: House Gambit. Vault 21 is another location from New Vegas, a former Vault Tec survival bunker overhauled into a hotel and gift shop. It’s part of Mr. House’s great empire built along the New Vegas strip, and the best roadhouse around for tourists to lay their heads between bouts of gambling.
Appropriately, there’s a bit of a gamble associated with the House Gambit. The player discards a card, draws a card, and then reveals up to five non-land cards from their hand. For each of those cards that has the same mana value as another card revealed this way, they can then create a Treasure token. This is a ploy that absolutely could backfire if the mana values don’t line up — but if things come together, the Scrappy Survivors player could walk away with a big score.
Between Cass and the House references, the Scrappy Survivors deck seems to be strongly aligned with New Vegas, one of the most interesting Fallout titles. The Mojave Wasteland is being fought over by the NCR, Caesar’s Legion, Mr. House, and the independent peoples of New Vegas. Some folk in New Vegas get to enjoy the riches afforded to them by Caesar’s conquest or Mr. House’s utopia, but others are left out in the dark. Sometimes, citizens of the Strip can gamble on a hand and walk away laden with riches — and sometimes, the game is rigged from the start.
The Scrappy Survivors deck is full of nods and homages to the other Fallout games in the series, including Preston Garvey from Fallout 4 and Fallout 76’s Duchess, proprietor of the Wayward bar. There are also three other decks: Science!, Hail, Caesar, and Mutant Menace. Expect to learn more about those decklists soon.
Below you’ll find the complete decklist for Magic: The Gathering’s Scrappy Survivors Commander deck:
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- Source: https://www.polygon.com/24072016/fallout-magic-the-gathering-scrappy-survivors-decklist-reveal
