Welcome to an epic trading card game 65 million years in the making! The ever-popular Magic: The Gathering’s latest card set, The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, is officially here—and I’ve got my hands on some of the gorgeously illustrated Jurassic World cards that are included in this Universes Beyond release. Read on for my in-depth impressions of this exciting cross-over, including an HD gallery and where you can find these cards to build your own collection!
When it comes to Magic: The Gathering, I know going in that the artwork is going to be top-notch. But with The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, they’ve raised the bar even higher. And that goes for all the cards I’ve laid eyes on, not just Jurassic World! Outside of my favorite franchise’s dinosaurs, there are other prehistoric creatures galore along with distinct takes on the fantasy classics like ancient vampires, undead pirates, and a menagerie of other beasts and beings. Each illustration seems more imaginative than the last, and the cards themselves introduce countless new play abilities to Magic’s base game. There really is something for everyone here, with the Jurassic World cards bringing new collectors like me into the fold only to be fully immersed in the mysterious wonders of The Caverns of Ixalan.
The full lineup of Magic: The Gathering’s new set releases is quite expansive, however for those solely looking for Jurassic World cards you’ll want to stick to Collector Boosters and Set Boosters. The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Draft Boosters and Commander Decks are still packed to the brim with incredible cards, but you won’t find Jurassic World included in those packs. With Collector Boosters, each pack is guaranteed to include at least one Jurassic World card among the 15 cards inside—though I pulled two cards at once out of a couple packs myself! On the other hand, when opening Set Boosters with 12 cards inside, one can expect to find one Jurassic World card for every dozen packs opened. Across both The Lost Caverns of Ixalan assortments, I opened over 40 packs with the hopes of building out my Jurassic World card collection. And what did I pull? BINGO! Dino DNA.
While I had already collected a handful of these Magic That Gathering Jurassic World cards before this massive unboxing, I was thrilled with some of the new additions to my deck that I unwrapped—18 cards in total including some premium foil variants that are considered even rarer than the base cards. Jurassic World’s double-sided Land cards offer fresh perspectives on iconic film locales across Isla Nublar and Isla Sorna, with the “Forest” card being my favorite. We not only see Jurassic Park’s Velociraptor Paddock in all its pre-breakout glory, but also a new rendering of the scene at night with some Raptor’s making their escape. Speaking of Jurassic Park, the other cards set within the first film are among my most treasured here. The “Ravenous Tyrannosaurs” card is a true stunner, especially with the foil finish. The metallic effect pops the light beautifully around Rexy, perfectly capturing Jurassic Park’s cinematic finale. “Ellie and Alan, Paleontologists”, “Welcome to Jurassic Park” and the Barbasol cryo-can themed “Treasure cards are all the more fantastic in their foil editions, as well. Elsewhere in my newly established Jurassic World Magic card collection, there are plenty of familiar faces of both the human and dinosaur variety. Ian Malcolm makes an appearance of course, but we also have other franchise heroes (and anti-heroes) like Owen Grady and Henry Wu. But the true stars continue to be the genetically engineered attractions we all know and love: Dilophosaurus, Spinosaurus, Mosasaurus and so many more dinosaurs all make great subjects for Magic’s captivating approach to trading card artwork. So where does my Jurassic World card collection stand now? Even with all the new cards I pulled from these The Lost Caverns of Ixalan packs, I still have more to track down—and I can’t wait to find them!
Including Jurassic World was clearly a well-played move on Magic’s part here, drawing in collectors like myself to check out everything The Lost Caverns of Ixalan has to offer beyond featuring these beloved movie characters and scenes. If you’re tempted as well, there’s plenty more dinosaur-inspired awesomeness across the full card collection alongside other fantastical creations and concepts that only Magic: The Gathering could cook up. Start building you’re The Lost Caverns of Ixalan deck—Jurassic World specialized or otherwise—by grabbing some card packs now.
Want to see more? Check out my full unboxing video and subscribe to the Collect Jurassic’s YouTube channel to stay up-to-date on the latest Jurassic collecting updates, previews, and reviews!
As a Magic: The Gathering Partner, additional The Lost Caverns of Ixalan cards packs were provided for this product feature.
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