Many of the world’s biggest trading card games have an animated series associated with them. Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokemon are iconic for this. Sadly, this is something that Magic: The Gathering is lacking. While the problem of IP strength has just been exasperated by the Universes Beyond project, Magic: The Gathering is making an effort to promote its original characters.
Aside from the coming Netflix animation about Magic, there’s also a Manga series about the card game. Destroy All Humans, They can’t be regenerated saw its first volume release in 2019. Following a duo of High School rivals in the 1990s, they become closer after playing games of Magic: The Gathering.
While the story in this Manga is relatable for many MTG players who have played from the beginning, there is an extra goodie in each of these books that may appeal to the average player: promos. Each Destroy All Humans novel comes with a foil reprint of a card – one that commonly appears in the story. Sometimes, these reprints have unique artwork attached, giving them a decent secondary market value. While these were all in Japanese for a majority of the Manga’s lifespan, the story finally has official English releases, which means that we also get official English promos!
The 17th volume of Destroy All Humans has just been announced. Alongside a new promotional card, the next volume appears to be available early next year.
Destroy All Humans, Volume 17
Thanks to the official Japanese Magic: The Gathering X account, the release date for Destroy All Humans, They can’t be regenerated’s 17th volume has been revealed. Expect this volume to hit shelves on January 24, 2025.
Of course, this concerns the Japanese release of Destroy All Humans. The English serialization only has one volume currently on the market.
With every new Destroy All Humans, we also get a new promotional card. It appears that, for the 17th edition, players will be able to collect a promotional copy of Ancestral Mask. For translation purposes, you can find the card’s text below:
- Ancestral Mask (2G)
- Enchantment – Aura
- Enchanted Creature gets +2/+2 for each other Enchantment in play.
As far as secondary market value goes, Ancestral Mask is only worth a couple dollars. This card has multiple uncommon printings across multiple MTG sets. That said, Enchantress players may be interested in Ancestral Mask. In a Commander deck lead by a legendary creature like Sythis, Harvest’s Hand, it’s easy to one-shot an opponent with Commander damage once your board has been developed.
Unfortunately, you need other enchantments in play for Ancestral Mask to show its power. This card is incapable of creating any value on its own, which makes it difficult for the card to see play past Commander – a format where players have lots of time to set up their board states.
While the secondary market value of Ancestral Mask is far from impressive, the promotional cards from Destroy All Humans commonly sell at a premium. One of the few existing English promos from Destroy All Humans, Diabolic Edict, currently sells for about $7. In comparison, the Jumpstart 2022 version of Diabolic Edict is only worth ten cents. Considering this, we wouldn’t be surprised if this Ancestral Mask sold for $10 or more, but only time will tell.
What About the English Promo?
If you’re interested in acquiring an English version of the Ancestral Mask promo, you’ll have to wait a while. Only the first volume of Destroy All Humans, They can’t be regenerated has its official release, while the second one has been announced. In other words, English volumes are about 15 books behind the Japanese releases. It’s tough to tell when, or if, the English print will catch up, but judging from the release cadence we’ve seen so far, it never will.
While the original release had some larger breaks, it appears that the English and the Japanese prints are following a similar release cadence of a few months between novels. The second edition of Destroy All Humans’ English print announcement reinforces this pattern. It releases on January 25, 2025. The last edition released on October 8 of this year.
Fortunately, Japanese variants of Ancestral Mask should be available to North American players who are willing to go the extra mile to acquire it. In our experience, Hareruya is one of the best places for MTG players to get Japanese exclusives shipped to them.
Considering how little screentime MTG’s original IP gets, anything related to the game is something that fans should celebrate. While this particular story isn’t about the development of the Multiverse with the Planeswalkers we know and love, it’s still an adventure that strives to capture the lifelong journey of a passionate player.
