Latest news with #Strahl
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Magic: The Gathering Unveils Three New ‘Final Fantasy' Cards, Wizards of the Coast Team Breaks Down Collection (EXCLUSIVE)
Magic: the Gathering has unveiled three new cards from its upcoming 'Final Fantasy' set and Variety has the exclusive first look at the preview images from Hasbro's Wizards of the Coast. The three new cards part of the collection made in collaboration with 'Final Fantasy' game developer Square Enix include: The Strahl (an overlay of Smuggler's Copter), Luka Stadium (Strixhaven Stadium), and Tidus, Zanarkand Fayth (Thrasios, Triton Hero). The will be released with the rest of the set on June 13, which is now available for preorder. More from Variety Magic: The Gathering Unveils First Look at Two New 'Foundations' Cards (EXCLUSIVE) Marvel's Magic: The Gathering Cards Featuring Wolverine, Iron Man, Storm and More Revealed; Spider-Man Set Coming in 2025 'Magic: The Gathering' Netflix Series Taps Terry Matalas as New Showrunner 'The Strahl, a.k.a. Smuggler's Copter. During the previews, we showed you Balthier and Fran, and they care about vehicles, that's kind of their mechanic,' principal designer and set design lead for Magic's 'Final Fantasy' collection Gavin Verhey told Variety. 'And the Strahl is their ship, and we wanted to get the Strahl somewhere in the set. But it wasn't really making sense with what the main set was trying to do, we couldn't quite get it in there. But we thought, let's put it on this bonus sheet, so that way you can have Balthier and Fran and the Strahl side by side with each other, interacting. So that was kind of a fun little nod for us. Smuggler's Copter, of course, is a Magic card with a lot of pedigree. So that's pretty cool.' 'Gavin was so polite when he was like, people were trying to find a place in the main set — that was me,' principal game designer Dillon Deveney said. 'Every day I was like, 'I think we have to have this somewhere. It's so iconic to 'Final Fantasy.' People love these sky pirates in the game, they do this legendary shit. And so eventually, Gavin was like, I think I found the perfect spot on the bonus sheet and then it could be Smuggler's Copter. And honestly, it's even better at this point in time that we found that connection back to Magic. Smuggler's Copter is obviously a very famous card in Magic history, but also just the flavor of Smuggler's Copter being, in the original set, for a pair of sky pirates. I was just like beside myself. You found my dream, Gavin.' 'Thrasios is a really fun example of a card that we really collaborated with Square Enix on,' Verhey said. 'We were working out what cards we might want to use, and we sent Square Enix over an initial list of some ideas to show them. And they were really excited about Thrasios, right? I want to really emphasize, it's not just us going to them, they love Magic tons and tons. And we have weekly calls with them where they play tons of Magic, tells about what they think about Magic. And when we were over there playing with them and hanging out at the Square Enix offices doing work, after hours, we'll play a commander or play Magic together. So they love cards, too. And we mentioned Thrasios, they got really excited. So OK — we love it, they love it, let's put it in the set.' 'So this was just all encompassing passion of, 'Final Fantasy X' is my favorite game of the series, my personal favorite game,' senior game designer Daniel Holt said. 'Everybody asked, 'Is there going to be Blitzball? Is there going to be the laughing scene?' etc. But Blitzball just kept coming up over and over on 'Fantasy 10,' which, you will get some of that in the commander deck. But a lot of fans, once they learned we were doing this collaboration, were like, 'What about Strixhaven Stadium as Blitzball stadium?' People asked for this specifically, and I designed the original Strixhaven Stadium, too. So I designed this card. We got to apply it to my favorite game with this overlay. And it goes in the deck because it uses counters, so like Tidus in the deck and everything, it'll just slot right into the deck. It was just a perfect fit in every way possible.' Releasing June 13, Magic: The Gathering's 'Final Fantasy' collection will include cards based on the sixteen mainline games in the video game franchise. Per MTG's description for the collection, 'Cast powerful spells, call upon classic summons, and even visit your favorite locations on the back of a chocobo. Countless elements from the games are here for you to weave together your own story!' 'Magic has existed in Japan since 1995,' executive producer Zakeel Gordon said. 'We've had a lot of positive market signals and excitement from our Japanese community for distribution and retailers for this IP. There are a couple of special promotions that we will be doing in Japan as a celebration of this moment. So as a whole, I would say it's obviously very good for Japan, but more than anything, it's just trying to lean into the authenticity of what it represents to that market — what the history is with respect to video gaming culture in that region, and making our players globally excited.' Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz Oscars Predictions 2026: 'Sinners' Becomes Early Contender Ahead of Cannes Film Festival
USA Today
01-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Spartans expected to add Columbus Blue Jackets draft pick to roster in wake of goalie news
Spartans expected to add Columbus Blue Jackets draft pick to roster in wake of goalie news There has been a lot of talk about goalies and Michigan State hockey to open the month of April, and that trend is going to continue. With Trey Augustine's decision to come back to MSU for 2025-26, and Luca Di Pasquo's subsequent decision to transfer, Michigan State is expected to add another goaltender to the roster. Current Spartan commit, and a 2023 5th round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Melvin Strahl is expected to join Michigan State as a backup goaltender to Augustine in 2025-26. A native of Solleftea, Sweden, Strahl spent his first year playing hockey in the United States as a member of the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL. He posted a 30-12 record with a 2.48 goals against average and a .900 save percentage. Strahl will now gear himself up to be the goaltender of the future for the Michigan State hockey program. Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Cory Linsner on X @Cory_Linsner
