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Corey is an Associate Editor with Polygon that oversees the Tabletop Gaming section with a special emphasis on Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons. A forever Dungeon Master who's built his own homebrew fantasy universe, Corey has also been playing Magic for more than 25 years. He's been writing about various forms of entertainment media for more than 15 years. Seven of those were spent at Inverse where he covered TV, film, and video games, eventually growing into the role of Associate Gaming Editor. Corey also has bylines at Kotaku, IGN, Vulture, Fanbyte, and more.
Night City broke your heart once. These cards are ready to do it again.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is coming to the Cyberpunk Trading Card Game in a big way. Developer WeirdCo officially announced the game’s second set and first expansion, Edgerunners: Burn Bright, on Tuesday morning. It launches in spring 2027, bringing characters, weapons, cyberware, and scenes from CD Projekt Red and TRIGGER’s Netflix anime to the tabletop. And judging by Polygon’s exclusive reveal of two new card illustrations, developer WeirdCo knows exactly how to sucker punch fans of the show with traumatic memories.
Our first look at the artwork for Caught in the Crossfire and Adam Smasher — Story Ends Here captures two very different expressions of Night City’s brutality. One features the franchise’s most recognizable walking nightmare. The other revisits the tragedy that set David Martinez on his path to becoming an edgerunner in season 1 of the Netflix series.
Caught in the Crossfire, with art by Studio Grafit, depicts David’s mother, Gloria Martinez. She's lying bloodied on the road, framed by shattered glass and a burning vehicle. Fans will recognize the aftermath of the highway crash from the anime’s first episode, when an ordinary drive home becomes a tragedy. The perspective is remarkably similar to the anime, as if the camera is looking through David’s eyes as his mother lies hurt on the road. This new depiction is not a one-for-one recreation of that moment in the show, however, since we're able to see Gloria’s face here. That's part of what makes this depiction that much more heartbreaking.
Before the crash, Gloria and David argue about his future at Arasaka Academy. She works herself ragged to keep him enrolled, hoping an education will give him a chance at a comfortable corporate life. David struggles to see a place for himself among his wealthy classmates. Then their car gets caught in a random shootout that has nothing to do with either of them.
The violence is arbitrary, but what follows makes it especially cruel. Trauma Team arrives and leaves them without treatment because they aren’t covered by its service. David gets Gloria to a hospital, but she later succumbs to her injuries. In a city overflowing with extraordinary technology, saving someone’s life still depends on what they can afford. And despite how hard Gloria works, the Martinez family is rather poor.
Adam Smasher, on the other hand, is less tragic and more violence incarnate. Illustrated by Erik Ly, Adam Smasher — Story Ends Here shows Arasaka’s prized cyborg standing amidst smoke and wreckage, with bodies crushed underneath his feet. At a glance, I thought this image might capture the aftermath of his encounter with David at the end of Edgerunners season 1, but that’s not the case. There appear to be three or more bodies strewn about the battlefield, even if the setting looks rather similar.
Pretty much every Cyberpunk story explores how a person can make a name for themselves to become a legend in Night City. “Story Ends Here” is a blunt counterpoint to that very attempt, because Adam Smasher is in the business of literally and figuratively crushing those dreams.
These are just art reveals, so we’ll have to wait to learn what either card actually does. It seems likely that Adam Smasher — Story Ends Here is Legend card whereas Caught in the Crossfire is a Program. Smasher sure feels like he belongs in Red since that’s the color of raw power and aggression. Caught in the Crossfire feels more flexible, but my hunch is Green as some kind of combat manipulation piece.
WeirdCo says Burn Bright will introduce new mechanics and competitive strategies, alongside foil and textured treatments and an all-new chase rarity that will be revealed later.
“The community reception to Cyberpunk TCG has been nothing short of incredible so far, so we want to deliver something even more exciting with Set 2,” WeirdCo co-founder Elliot Cook said in the announcement. “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners provides us so many opportunities to evolve this game in meaningful ways, both mechanically and artistically, and we can’t wait to share that with players.”
Edgerunners: Burn Bright will launch in English and French in spring 2027, with Chinese language support following later. Booster packs, booster displays, and prerelease kits will be available through specialist hobby stores, with prerelease tournaments taking place one week before the set’s retail release.