The second preview card we have for Magic:The Gathering’s Western-themed Outlaws of Thunder Junction is the reprint Fractured Identity, courtesy of Wizards of the Coast.
Yeah, we had not just one, but two cards for the preview season of Outlaws of Thunder Junction, with the second getting the set’s special Breaking News treatment, which aims to pay tribute to the old-school newspapers of the Wild West.
For three generic mana, one white mana and one blue mana, Fractured Identity is a mythic rare sorcery which exiles any target nonland permanent.
In return, each player other than the controller of the target nonland permanent creates a token that is a copy of the target nonland permanent.
What is the Breaking News set in Outlaws of Thunder Junction?
Fractured Identity is one of the many reprints that form the Breaking News bonus sheet set, and the new Breaking News treatment complements the theme of eyebrow-raising crimes in the plane of Outlaws of Thunder Junction.
Players can open cards from the Breaking News bonus sheet in both Outlaws of Thunder Junction Play boosters and Collector boosters, while the raised foil eclipse treatment can only be opened in Collector boosters.
Cards from the Breaking News bonus sheet come with the set code OTP (instead of the code OTJ for cards from the main set of Outlaws of Thunder Junction). And while they are not Standard legal, you can use them in Limited formats, like opening them in a Draft or Sealed game with Outlaws of Thunder Junction Play boosters.
Fractured Identity was first printed in Commander 2017, before it was subsequently reprinted in a Secret Lair, as well as part of the Universes Beyond Doctor Who set.
Now, considering that Fractured Identity was first printed for the multiplayer Commander format, this card is not meant for you to remove one of your opponent’s threats because you are just giving your other opponents a copy of the threat you are intending to remove.
This card is far better when you have absurd cards on your board, like Phage the Untouchable or Transcendence. When you exile these cards from your battlefield, you give each of your opponents a copy of said card, and these cards usually result in your opponents losing the game immediately.
You might have to jump through some hoops with Transcendence, like having less than 20 life and your opponents having more than 20 life each, but it is not the most difficult thing to do.
Otherwise, you can also cast an Immortal Coil, cast a Fractured Identity, and then give each of your opponent a copy of Immortal Coil.
You can then remove all of your opponents’ graveyards with cards like Rest in Peace or Sentinel Totem to trigger each of your opponent’s Immortal Coil’s second triggered ability, and your opponents lose the game immediately because they do not have any cards in their graveyards.
All of these combos listed above however require a lot of mana and set-up, but honestly if Fractured Identity is not answered immediately, your opponents are going to lose the game in a blink of an eye, and it can be pretty satisfying to win out of the blue just like that!
Pre-release for Outlaws of Thunder Junction begins on 12 April.
Jay is a content creator who likes to hoard vintage photographic lenses, and loses too often in Dota 2 and Magic: The Gathering after work.
