Magic: The Gatheringis entering the nuclear apocalypse inUniverses Beyond: Fallout. The world as we know it ended after the great powers bombed nearly every metropolitan center, with most of the survivors succumbing to starvation, disease, or the ravages of mutation. And in a world without a functioning economy, everything is priceless.
Well, most things are priceless. These Fallout-inspired cards, however, definitely have a price tag. So verify you’ve got a high perception score as you crack open boxes of Universes Beyond: Fallout. You wouldn’t want to let one of these pricey picks pass through your Power Fist.
All prices are taken fromTCGplayer.com. As this is a brand-new set, prices are still fluctuating and may not be accurately reflected in this article.
Price
$49.24
Crucible of Worlds has always been an expensive card in Magic. Being able toplay lands directly from your graveyardhas empowered quite a few strategies in Magic, most notably Legacy Lands and Vintage Workshop, but you’ll occasionally see it in Modern Golgari decks too.
Universes Beyond: Fallout’s versionrefers to the G.E.C.K.(Garden of Eden Creation Kit), which would bring back the land’s fecundity after having been scoured by nuclear flames. A fitting parallel with Crucible of Worlds.
$50.00
The Master of the Super Mutants is perhaps one of the most disgusting creatures to come out of the nuclear apocalypse. A combination of the radiation and an overdose of the Forced Evolutionary Virus caused several dozen creatures and a whole computer system to morph intoa terrifying monstrosity bent on turning the last remnants of humanity into mindless super mutants.
One suspects that The Master will be quite a popular commanderin Magic’s most popular casual format, and that popularity has pushed the ultra-rare extended art foil version to its current $50 price tag.
$56.99
A timeless Commander classic, Arcane Signet isthe second-best mana rockyou can get. Almost every Commander deck that runs more than a single color has one, and even a few mono-colored decks too. You just can’t ignore the power of Arcane Signet’s cheap ramp.
Most Arcane Signets can be acquired for just under 50 cents, but theborderless Fallout Signets have unique artthat refers to a beloved artifact of the Fallout universe, the Pip-Boy. Curiously, the actual Pip-Boy 3000 artifact isn’t nearly as expensive.
$57.45
Believe it or not, Ravages of War is actually a reprint of a card initially printed in Portal Three Kingdoms, which itself is an alternate version of another card, Armageddon. Ravages of War is much more expensive, as ithasn’t been reprinted nearly as often as Armageddon.
The borderless version from Universes Beyond: Fallout isn’t as expensive as the original Portal Three Kingdoms version, but it’s still got a high price of close to $60. That’s a lot of money to spend ona card that will just make your playgroup hate you.
$59.98
Radstorm is one of those cards that just seemsso full of potential. Storm lets you combo this card with a number of cheap blue cantrips, then proliferate your way to an army of Drake tokens eager to eat your opponent alive. Or Thopters, or Pirates, or Ninjas, or Pirate Ninjas flying on Thopters.
Whatever you do with Radstorm, just note that the showcase surge foil version is the most expensive, probably because itlooks like the view you’d get from the original Fallout’s pause screen. Note that this player has max XP and quite a few hit points too.
$59.99
It’s not entirely clear just what the Fog Crawler is. It’s certainly a crustacean of some kind, but you’ll see elements of mantis shrimp, crab, and crayfish. You’ll mostlyfind them off the coast of what was formerly known as Maine, terrorizing the local survivors with their deep, throaty vocalizations.
In Magic, thisreprinted Vigorstands in for the terrifying Fog Crawler. It’s a little out of character as Vigor prevents critters from dying due to damage and the Fog Crawler definitely could die when fed enough bullets, but it’s at least gotthe same butt-clenching vibe as the Fallout Fog Crawler. You’ll get that same butt-clenching sensation when you look at the showcase foil’s price tag.
There’s no better feeling than wandering the wastes in your trusty T-45 Power Armor. Protection from radiation, mutants, bullets, and anything else that the world of the post-apocalypse can throw at you, aT-45 is a former vault dweller’s best friend.
The Magic version is also a fairly interesting card, although you’ll need to figure out a way of keeping it supplied with energy. You’ll also need to spend60 bucks on one if you want the extended art surge foil version. Might be worth saving your bottle caps, but maybe you’ll get lucky and find one.
$82.47
If Arcane Signet is the second-best mana rock, then Sol Ring is theabsolute and undisputed champion of mana rocks. One mana turns into two the first turn you bring it into play, and then you just get two colorless mana every turn thereafter. So powerful it’s banned in Legacy and restricted in Vintage, but in Commander, it’s a must-have card.
Fallout’s version of Sol Ring isessentially the opening of a vault’s door revealing the first rays of sunshinea vault dweller likely has ever seen with their own two eyes. At least, if you get the borderless version. And if you get the foil version, you’ll even have a decent artificial recreation of what those sunbeams might look like.
$89.01
A new black board sweeperis always a reason to celebrate, and theaddedrad countersare just radical (if you’ll pardon the pun). Each rad counter represents a life point and a milled non-land card, plus however many milled land cards are in between. It can even be helpful for certain recursive strategies, provided you’ve got something like Crucible of Worlds to replay all those discarded lands.
You can get Nuclear Fallout in a few different versions, butthe priciest is naturally the showcase surge foilfeaturing the classic Pip-Boy view. Those irradiated skeletons sure look like they were about to have a decent feast before the bombs fell.
$99.90
Despite being a mere uncommon, the borderless art version of Nuka-Cola Vending Machine isthe most expensive card in Universes Beyond: Falloutas of the time of this writing. The card itself is remarkable for enabling token strategies, but the key here might be just how it can easily turn a Commander game into just how much Nuka-Cola you’re able to guzzle in a turn. Then turn that Nuka-Cola into treasure tokens to power out whatever spells you want.
Even the normal version of the Nuka-Cola Vending Machine is pretty expensive for an uncommon, but theborderless art version featuring the Vault Boy mascot will run you close to $100. That’s a lot of bottle caps, so you better start saving.
