A little while back, we covered an exciting crossover between MTG and Cowboy Bebop. The fan-favorite anime may have released way back in 2001, but many Magic players remember Spike’s ragtag team fondly.
While this crossover was exciting for many MTG players, there was one big detriment for North American fans: this appeared to be a Japanese exclusive. While the TCG industry is rather competitive in Japan, its a shame that these cards weren’t coming to the U.S. as well, especially considering the work had mostly been done for them already.
A new announcement, however, has North American Magic fans even more excited. It now appears that there are plans for the Cowboy Bebop promotion to come to North America, and it has players more excited than ever to try out the Standard Showdown events!
Cowboy Bebop Goes Worldwide!
In a recent post from DailyMTG, it was revealed that all of the Cowboy Bebop promotional cards will now be offered with English printings in WPN stores. Players can claim their own copies by competing in Standard Showdowns, a weekly event promoting the Standard format that offers promotional support.
Even though Standard Showdown events are already happening at many WPN and local game stores, you won’t be able to turn up to an event this week and grab a Cowboy Bebop promotional card right now. Each of the five traditional foil promotional cards will be offered at different time periods, and the earliest any of them will be available is in August. In case you missed them, here are the five promotional cards, and when they are being offered as promotional items for players:
- Ossification August 2 – September 19
- Disdainful Stroke September 27 – November 7
- Go for the Throat November 15, 2024 – January 30, 2025
- Lightning Strike February 7 – March 2, 2025
- Snakeskin Veil April 4 – May 29, 2025
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Wizards Listened
When seeing these Cowboy Bebop crossover cards for the first time, even players in the U.S. were incredibly excited. Even though the reprint selection is meant more for Standard players than Commander players, that did not sway players’ perspective on these reprints. These cards styled in the opening theme of Cowboy Bebop was an extremely elegant way to cross over these two popular IPs.
The biggest complaint from many players was that these cards were not available worldwide. This meant that North American fans of the crossover would have a difficult time getting their hands on these cards, and the prices for them, as a result, had a chance of going through the roof. As game pieces, these common and uncommon reprints do not have that much value, but as scarce crossover collectibles, they could be surprisingly expensive.
Fortunately, we no longer have to worry about skyrocketing prices as a result of needing to purchase these cards from Japan. Now, players that want them should be able to get their English counterparts when the time comes. We will need to wait a while, but the wait will be worth it. That’s not to say that these cards won’t be expensive, there is definitely still that possibility.
It’s great to see that Wizards of the Coast listened to the surprisingly popular reception of this Cowboy Bebop crossover. Now, players all over the world are excited to travel to their Standard Showdown events and get a crack at owning these incredible promotional cards.
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