Magic: The Gathering Brings Jurassic Park's Dinosaurs, Samuel L. Jackson to Lost Caverns of Ixalan (Exclusive)

The characters and creatures of Jurassic Park and Jurassic World come to Magic: The Gathering in the upcoming Lost Caverns of Ixalan set, and ComicBook.com has an exclusive preview of some of those crossover cards. One may think there's not much in common between the largely fantasy-based gameplay of Magic: The Gathering and the cinematic thrills of the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies. However, the plane of Ixalan shares one thing in common with Isla Nublar and Isla Sorna: dinosaurs. Those dinosaurs are a big focus of Lost Caverns of Ixalan, presenting the opportunity to bring iconic dinosaurs from the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World trilogies to Magic: The Gathering's tabletop.

ComicBook.com is previewing two cards based on the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World series. The first is Swooping Pteranodon, a Creature–Dinosaur card that costs 3RW to play. Swooping Pteranodon is a 3/3 with flying and haste. Additionally, whenever a Swooping Pteranodon or another Dinosaur with flying enters the battlefield under its controller's control, that player gains control of an opponent's creature until the end of the turn. That creature untaps and gains flying and haste until the end of the turn. Then, at the beginning of the next end step, a target land deals three damage to that creature. (Imagine the Pteranodon swooping down and catching that creature in its claws, then hurling it back to the ground.)

Next, we have Permission Denied, an instant counter spell that recreates the iconic "You didn't say the magic word" moment from Jurassic Park. For WU, in addition to countering a target noncreature spell, Permission Denied also states that opponents can't cast any more noncreature spells for the remainder of the turn.

ComicBook.com also has a preview of two of the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World-themed 
basic lands that are a part of the Lost Caverns of Ixalan set. These lands are unique in that they are double-sided, with one side showing a dinosaur in captivity and the other showing the same creature after it escapes. You can see both sides of the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World-themed Island and Swamp cards below.

Jurassic Park and Jurassic World come to Magic: The Gathering in the Lost Caverns of Ixalan set

In addition to bringing Jurassic Park and Jurassic World to Magic: The Gathering, Lost Caverns of Ixalan also continues the ongoing Omenpath arc of the Magic story, occurring one year after the Phyrexian invasion, as competing expeditions attempt to reach an unexplored world hidden below Ixalan's surface in the hopes that vast riches are hidden there. As with previous Ixalan sets, vampires and merfolk feature heavily in Lost Caverns of Ixalan, as well as Kellan, a major character in the Omenpath story introduced in Wilds of Eldraine. However, the dinosaurs are the stars of the set, allowing for the celebration of the Jurassic Park film franchise's 30th anniversary.

Lost Caverns of Ixalan will be released with booster fun cards themed on the world of Ixalan and the Meso and South American cultures that inspired its aesthetic and story. Borderless Oltec cards will be used to display the plane. Lost Caverns of Ixalan prerelease events in Wizards Play Network stores begin on November 10th, and the set's worldwide release date is November 17th.