New Jurassic World card adds fall damage to MTG

Swooping Pteranodon is a real menace in MTG Universes Beyond: Jurassic World, introducing opponents’ creatures to the ground at great speed.

Universes Beyond: Jurassic World is bringing dozens of dangerous dinos to MTG. From Cresting Mosasaurus to Indominus Rex, Alpha, these cards will make a perfect companion to The Lost Caverns of Ixalan’s powerful dinosaurs.

Now, MTG’S Universes Beyond team has outdone itself, introducing a new card that accurately recreates the idea of ‘fall damage’ in Magic: The Gathering.

Swooping Pteranodon facilitates fall damage in MTG

Fall damage is a basic gameplay concept included in many video games, where the player character will sustain damage and potentially die after falling a significant distance. Some games may allow PCs to plummet from the sky and sustain no damage upon landing, but fall damage is included in a wide array of games.

Swooping Pteranodon is a new red/white dinosaur with flying and haste. Its abilities tell the story of unlucky park patrons being grabbed, swept up into the air, and ultimately dropped to their untimely demise. This is where the fall damage comes in.

Swooping Pteranodon pays off playing as many flying dinosaurs as possible, allowing you to snatch up your opponent’s creatures, use them as your own for the turn, and then drop them back off, dealing damage in the process.

As Reddit commenter likesevenchickens pointed out, ‘”Target land deals three damage to target creature” is the best representation of fall damage.’ Lands in MTG are typically mana sources with no inherent ability to deal damage. But Swooping Pteranodon effectively scoops up and drops opposing monsters, allowing the land to deal the fall damage instead of the dino.

Universes Beyond tells stories in a unique way

MTG’s Universes Beyond products have excelled at accurately recreating story moments from famous fictional properties through their card design. Universes Beyond: Jurassic World is perhaps the most successful translation of a franchise’s story into mechanics yet.

With unique and exciting cards like Swooping Pteranodon and Welcome to // Jurassic Park, the future of Universes Beyond and its creative card design is looking bright.

If you click on a product link on this page we may earn a small affiliate commission.