As the next premier set on the horizon, hype has unsurprisingly been building for Outlaws of Thunder Junction. Thanks to the set’s First Look and more recent leaks, players have been enjoying their first taste of the set. Sure, Bloomburrow may be stealing the set’s thunder somewhat, but there’s nonetheless still a lot to enjoy about Thunder Junction.
Unfortunately, heading into this week, it seemed like MTG players had quite a wait before Outlaws of Thunder Junction. In the meantime, only bans were announced to tide players over until the 18th of March. Despite this expectation, yesterday, MTG players were surprised by “An Offer of Revenge.”
Seemingly out of the blue, Wizards released the first Outlaws of Thunder Junction story chapter yesterday. Not only has this unexpectedly jump-started the set’s hype train, but it appears that even more reveals could be happening early!
Update: Wizards didn’t get their dates wrong! During the most recent WeeklyMTG livestream, Blake Rasmussen clarified their previous statement, explaining that they misspoke. While Outlaws of Thunder Junction’s story may have started early, the Debut livestream is still on the 26th of March, 2024.
Wizards Got Their Dates Wrong?
During the massive Preview Panel at MagicCon: Chicago, Wizards revealed all the dates for four MTG sets. While this is nothing out of the ordinary for a First Look presentation, it now seems some mistakes were made. Since Outlaws of Thunder Junction’s story has already started, some dates appear to have moved up!
Previously, Outlaws of Thunder Junction’s story wasn’t due to start until the 18th of March. Curiously, this date is still listed as the story start date in Wizards’ article all about Outlaws of Thunder Junction. Despite this, obviously, the first story chapter is out and more are expected throughout this week.
From this, it seemed that the dates for Outlaws of Thunder Junction had moved somewhat. This was even confirmed by MTG’s Blake Rasmussen during last week’s WeeklyMTG livestream.
“We will be back next week to talk about the B&R announcements [that happen] on Monday of next week. We’ll jump on the show to talk about it the day after. And then, following that, the week after is the debut of Outlaws of Thunder Junction.”
Blake Rasmussen
While this seems very clear-cut, Blake Rasmussen has since revealed they misspoke when making this statement. According to Rasmussen, the Outlaws of Thunder Junction Debut livestream will take place as planned on the 26th of March. On the 19th, Rasmussen will be joined by some of the Arena team to discuss changes to premier play on the platform.
Rootin’ Tootin’ Cowboy Shootin’ Reveals
Beyond the confusion caused, Outlaws of Thunder Junction’s story started with a major bang. In the first chapter alone there is a trio of stunning reveals that have gotten players talking. Out of this trio, the smallest, but nonetheless important, reveal is the debut of Annie Flash.
First seen many moons ago during Gen Con in 2023, Annie Flash was first seen on unnamed art. Now that we know who they are, we can expect to see a lot more of this new character. Even from chapter one alone, it’s clear that Annie Flash will be an integral part of the set’s story. Whether or not they’ll appear again once Thunder Junction is over sadly remains to be seen.
As if one exciting character reveal wasn’t enough, Outlaws of Thunder Junction also debuted Akul. As you can see above, Akul is an incredibly menacing figure and one of Thunder Junction’s dragons. With claws, legs, wings, and a cowboy hat, Akul really has it all. It’s no wonder they’re the leader of the Hellspurs.
Sadly, while Akul is an incredible awesome figure that MTG players already love, there’s no telling if they’re any good. Ultimately, we’re just going to have to wait until spoiler season begins to find out that all-important detail. Hopefully, Akul won’t be another awesome-looking MTG card that’s surprisingly meh to play…
Last but not least, arguably the most important reveal from Outlaws of Thunder Junction is the appearance of Ral Zarek. Turning up at the end of the story, Ral is researching ways to harness and control the Omenpaths that have opened up. In theory, this could completely open up multiversal travel, letting any important character planeswalk at will.
Wait and See
Unfortunately, while the first story chapter for Outlaws of Thunder Junction has revealed a lot, there’s a lot we don’t know. Since only one chapter has been revealed, there’s no telling which way the story is headed. All we can presume is that Ral’s Omenpath shenanigans will lead to them turning up on Bloomburrow somehow.
Thankfully, while Outlaws of Thunder Junction is steeped in mystery, we should know more soon. Not only will more story chapters be revealed each day, but now we have some extra clarification. All that’s left to do now is wait patiently until the 26th and enjoy the story chapters in the meantime!
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