What happens when you combine magical fantasy with a world ravaged by the unchecked power of technology? Set centuries into the future, Fallout chronicles a world that has been ravaged by nuclear destruction and radiation. Mutated monsters lurk among the ruins, while the human survivors struggle for scraps both under and above ground.
On 8 March 2024, you’ll get to take Fallout from the desktop to the tabletop with Magic: the Gathering’s Universes Beyond. Use Dogmeat to attack your opponents, or sit back as military dictator Caesar as you control the board. There are over 100 new cards to collect, and thanks to Wizards of the Coast, we’ve got an exclusive preview of a rare from the wastelands – Struggle for Project Purity!
Struggle for Project Purity is a blue Enchantment that costs one blue and 3 generic Mana, and will be found in the Mutant Menace Commander preconstructed deck. When it enters the battlefield, you get to select between Brotherhood or Enclave:
Brotherhood can be an invaluable card draw engine, easily drawing 3 cards during your Upkeep in the early game. Each opponent gets to draw a card (not a good thing), but you are effectively getting 3 times the benefit.
Choosing Enclave will provide a little deterrence to opponents attacking you, as any attacking player will receive twice the number of Rad counters as attacking creatures. Enclave will make perfect sense if you’re playing Struggle for Project Purity with The Wise Mothman, one of the preconstructed Commanders that focuses on distributing Rad counters.
So What are Rad Counters?
If you’re wondering what Rad counters are, these are brand new and designed specially for this Fallout crossover set. At the start of your first Main Phase, if you have Rad counters, you will Mill that many cards (putting cards from the Library into the Graveyard). Every non-land card Milled this way makes you lose 1 life and 1 Rad counter. It fits the slow and painful death of radiation poisoning, though in this case it is a one-time effect unless you are hit with more Rad counters.
Choosing Brotherhood or Enclave – Which is Better?
To us, Brotherhood is the clear winner, especially in the early game. Drawing up to 3 additional cards during your upkeep is immense, and while this also accelerates your opponent’s game plan since they each get to draw a card, all those extra cards you’ve drawn should give you the edge. Brotherhood starts to get less effective when you’re down to a single opponent. Both of you are drawing an extra card, so it’s 50-50 on who will benefit from it more.
Enclave will do wonders in a Rad-focused deck, such as a Fallout-themed deck build or one of the Mutant Menace preconstructed Commander deck. That’s when you can utilise Rad counters as your main winning strategy. That way, Enclave serves 2 purposes – deterring opponents from attacking you, while also providing an additional source of Rad counters.
Struggle for Project Purity is a close cousin of Monastery Siege, and that’s a good thing! They’re both Enchantments that let you choose between 2 effects. Monastery Siege is also a draw engine with lesser upside but no drawbacks, while the second option protects your stuff with Ward 2. It’s an understated card in Commander, but highly effective, and you can expect Struggle for Project Purity to be the same.
End Step
Struggle for Project Purity is a decent card that we believe will see use in plenty of Commander games even long after Fallout is released, since it does what blue loves to do – drawing more cards and stopping attacks. If you’re a fan of Fallout, it will slip in nicely to any deck that revolves around Rad counters. If you’re not, nevertheless hold on to it as it will come in handy for future decks.
Magic: The Gathering Fallout Universes Beyond sets roll out from 8 March 2024 onwards so be sure to get those preorders in before it’s too late!
Ted Chen is the founder of Tap & Sac, a website with a dream of making Magic: the Gathering more accessible and inclusive to a whole generation of new players. It offers learning guides for beginners, all the way to advanced videos for seasoned spellcasters. Everyone can have fun in the gathering!
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