Wizards of the Coast has officially revealed the ultimate crossover between Magic: The Gathering and Capcom franchise Street Fighter, which includes a total of nine black border cards playable in Eternal formats.
Featured in the MTG Secret Lair February superdrop, nine characters from Street Fighter and Street Fighter II are playable in Eternal Magic formats like Commander, Legacy, and Vintage. Each of the nine crossover cards has the Legendary Creature type, with their design focused mainly on gameplay within the Commander format, according to Mark Heggen.
The Secret Lair drop captures the flavor of each Street Fighter character, from the untap symbol on Ryu paying homage to the quarter-circle joystick motion that prompted his Hadōken ability, to Dhalsim having Reach, and Ken gaining +1/+1 stats each time a noncreature spell is cast during that turn.
From Ryu and Ken to Chun-Li and E.Honda, here are the nine Magic: The Gathering and Street Fighter crossover cards from the February Secret Lair superdrop.
Ryu, World Warrior
Ryu, World Warrior is a 2/4 human warrior with the MTG Training mechanic and his own Hadōken ability, from the original Street Fighter arcade game. The Hadōken ability has a mana cost of 4R and requires its controller to discard a card. Ryu, World Warrior gets to untap after the cost is paid and deals damage equal to his power to any target. If there is excess damage from Hadōken, you draw a card.
Blanka, Ferocious Friend
Blanka, Ferocious Friend captures the flavor of the being formerly known as Jimmy. First appearing in Street Fighter II, the Human Beast Warrior has Haste and two special abilities.
- Rolling Attack: Gives Blanka, Ferocious Friend Trample until the end of the turn if you have cast three or more spells that turn.
- Electric Thunder: Upon getting targeted by a spell, Blanka, Ferocious Friend gains +2/+2 stats until the end of turn and deals two damage to each opponent.
Chun-Li, Countless Kicks
Chun-Li, first featured in Street Fighter II, has the MTG mechanic Multikicker, allowing her controller to pay the Kicker cost an number of times. She has base stats of 3/3 and is Blue and White. The Multikicker cost is a Hybrid mana cost of either one White or one Blue mana, to be paid when Chun-Li, Countless Kicks enters the battlefield. Her Lightning Kick ability triggers upon attacking, synergizing with her ETB ability.
- Multikicker ETB: Upon entering the battlefield, exile up to “X” Instant cards from your graveyard with “X” equalling the number of times her Multikicker was paid. Each Instant MTG speed spell gains a kick counter on them.
- Lightning Kick: Upon attacking, create a copy of each exiled card with a kick counter on it. You can cast the copies.
E. Honda, Sumo Champion
Playing into the big butts matter thematic within Magic, E. Honda, Sumo Champion has base stats of 0/7. When on the battlefield, each creature deals combat damage via their toughness stats as opposed to their power stats via Sumo Spirit. Upon attacking, E. Honda, Sumo Champion activates his Hundred Hand Slap ability, providing up to 100 target creatures +0/+X until the end of the turn, with “X” equalling the number of cards you have in hand.
Dhalsim, Pliable Pacifist
Able to stretch his body in Street Fighter II, Dhalism, Pliable Pacificst has the MTG Keyword Reach and is a 1/3 in the colors Green and White. The human monk supports other cards with Reach by essentially giving those creatures the Vigilance keyword upon attacking. He also prevents creatures with greater power from blocking them during that turn. The human monk also has two other abilities.
- Teleport: Upon attacking, Dhalsim, Pliable Pacifist has Hexproof, preventing players from targeting him with most removal spells.
- Fierce Punch: When one or more creatures you control deal combat damage to a player, you draw a card.
Ken, Burning Brawler
Friend and rival to Ryu in the original Street Fighter, Ken, Burning Brawler becomes the better fighter he strives to become via the MTG mechanic Prowess. It gives him +1/+1 in stats every time you cast a noncreature spell, and the boost persists until the end of that turn. The human warrior has 4/2 stats in the color Red and gains First Strike until the end of turn via a Hybrid mana cost of either one White or one Red being paid.
Ken, Burning Brawler’s ability is Shoryuken, allowing its controller to cast a Sorcery spell from hand with a mana value less than or equal to the combat damage from Ken without paying that spell’s mana cost.
Guile, Sonic Soldier
Guile, Sonic Soldier is a 4/4 in the MTG colors Blue, Red, and White. The Human soldier has charge counter synergy, gaining one upon entering the battlefield and upon attacking. Removing a charge counter can activate Sonic Boom or Flash Kick.
- Sonic Boom: Guile, Sonic Soldier deals four damage to any target.
- Flash Kick: Guile, Sonic Soldier gains Lifelink and Indestructible until the end of the turn.
Zangief, the Red Cyclone
Zangief, who earned the name Red Cyclone as a national hero in the Soviet Union, is a 7/4 in the MTG colors Black, Red, and Green. Upon attacking, an opponent must block the Red Cyclone. His Iron Muscle ability gives the human warrior Indestructible if it’s your turn. Spinning Piledriver forces an opponent to sacrifice a noncreature, nonland permanent when Zangief deals excess damage to a creature that is blocking him.
Hadōken Lightning Bolt
Lightning Bolt is one of the most powerful cards in MTG. It is also the bonus card within the Street Fighter Secret Lair crossover with Magic as Ryu’s spell Hadōken. Primarily played in Mono-Red Burn decks, the one-cost spell deals three damage to any target.
