Fallout Was Magic: The Gathering's Most Popular Commander Set Ever

Wizards of the Coast opened the vault and released their Fallout themed Commander decks for Magic: The Gathering just last month, perfectly timed before the Prime Video series premiered and sent interest in the franchise skyrocketing. The four sets making up Magic: The Gathering – Fallout feature many fantastic icons from the franchise including Dogmeat, Mothman, Gary Clones, familiar landscapes, deathclaws, and more, overall featuring things seen in Fallout video games since 1997. Per Hasbro's CEO Chris Cocks, these decks were the "best-performing Commander set ever."

The announcement was made during an earnings call with investors, reportedly speaking quite extensively on the potential regarding the Universes Beyond initiative which has included additional franchises like Doctor Who, Warhammer 40,000, and Lord of the Rings which is unsurprisingly the best-selling set ever for the franchise. It was important to note that while Fallout has sold incredibly well for a Commander deck, it's still no where near the likes of a Premier set like Lord of the Rings which generated more than $200 million in revenue.

But it's still another massive indicator to Fallout's popularity right now, something Cocks is aware of as a fan himself. In full, the CEO noted (per Polygon), "I would say Fallout has been a great set. I'm a little bit of a fanboy, so I'll try not to preen a little bit too much – I've been playing it since the '90s – but it's probably our best-performing Commander set ever, whether it's a Universes Beyond set or not," he began on the positive note before continuing. "However, Commander sets tend to be quite a bit smaller than our overall premier sets, so you have weight that accordingly."

The Future of Universes Beyond

These Universes Beyond sets, while popular, are almost certainly costly for Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro, who in turn have to pay Bethesda Game Studio (in Fallout's specific instance) for the licensing, so it's important the collaborations are selected and released with popularity in mind. As for the future of Universes Beyond sets, there is still an Assassin's Creed set planned for this year, with 2025 offering two additional, massive franchises with Marvel (owned by Disney) and Final Fantasy (owned by Square Enix).

In regards to what Cocks anticipates the 2025 sets will bring in, he optimistically states, "I think Final Fantasy and Marvel are going to be pretty significant sets. I would put them in the same league, at least, as what we saw with Lord of the Rings." Marvel, of course, has a massive international fandom that will be drawn toward Magic: The Gathering multiple times thanks to a signed multi-set agreement, and Final Fantasy has a fantastic presence in the U.S. and an even more impressive fandom in Japan. Cocks believes the Japanese sales for Magic: The Gathering – Final Fantasy will be significant.

"Our sales in Japan will probably dwarf what we did with Lord of the Rings, because of the resonance that [Final Fantasy] has in that market – which, you should remember, is the No. 2 market for Magic and the No. 2 market overall for trading card games."

Hasbro didn't specify exact numbers on how well the Fallout collaboration performed. If you'd like to experience the decks for yourself, the vaults are still open for the Magic: The Gathering – Fallout decks and deck bundle, which you can still find available here.