Cataclysm Arcade exclusive TCG previews reveal 3 new Endlings cards

Back in 1986, the mysterious battle called the Cataclysm didn’t just destroy one world. In the upcoming trading card game Cataclysm Arcade, the disaster collapsed an entire multiverse, leaving behind a single surviving timeline known as the “retroverse.” It’s the reason the game’s post-apocalyptic setting includes such wildly different types of characters that transcend genres. There are Synths, Mystics, Shifters, and Survivors from realities that no longer exist. And they’re all pitted against one another in a death battle that takes place throughout the decaying New York City subway system.

“That’s where all of these synthetics and magic-users and shapeshifters come from,” David-Marshall said. “People from these other worlds tried to escape the destruction and landed here.”

Every character that players encounter in an immediately playable booster pack is both survivor and refugee. While various Bosses that lead any given deck have subtypes like Warrior or Berserker, the rest of the deck’s playable characters are Fighters. Those are always associated with some kind of gang, alliance, or other kind of group. The Endlings is one of many groups of Fighters in the game.

On the cusp of Cataclysm Arcade’s Kickstarter launch on June 2, Polygon can exclusively reveal three new Endlings from the Founders Edition: Crawling Through the Wreckage set.

No group embodies the tragedy of displacement in the multiverse more than the Endlings. They’re a moody alliance of synthetic beings, aka various kinds of robots and androids. Each is seemingly the final surviving member of their species — and, in most cases, their entire universe. So each Endling riffs on a wildly different style of robot from across various time periods. The Endlings have also formed a kind of mutual preservation pact: Whenever one of them dies, the memories and knowledge of their destroyed world are passed on to the others, ensuring various civilizations are never completely forgotten.

“They are very much the Island of Misfit Toys of this retroverse,” David-Marshall said.

Dreyver, Terminarch is described as an art deco-inspired synth matriarch that David-Marshall said is one of the Endlings’ leaders. Mechanically, Dreyver reduces the costs of abilities used by allied Synth Fighters and Bosses, giving her a distinct tactical edge when working with her fellow Endlings, as well as other members of the Synth faction.

Notamotua, Deathpunch is a boxy robot inspired by old-school sci-fi machines, almost like a Dalek from Doctor Who. David-Marshall described the character simply as “VERY classic 1950s boxy robot,” and the card itself lives up to that promise. Equipped with Armor to prevent one damage dealt to it each turn, Notamotua also has an execution-style activated ability that allows it to eliminate any Fighter dealt damage this turn.

Our third reveal is Vengeance de Milo, a sleek and silver synth that looks like a female Silver Surfer. Vengeance lost her arms to a werewolf during the original Cataclysm and now uses hardlight replicas of that same werewolf’s arms in battle. Vengeance and Notamotua seem to have some great synergy: When Vengeance enters, she deals two damage to target Fighter or four damage if they’re a Shifter (probably because she holds a grudge against werewolves). If her target survives, Notamotua’s two-cost activated ability can destroy them outright.

Previous reveals from the Endlings faction include Ada, Relict Fighter; ‘Lique, Clockwork Hunter; and The Blue Gelati. Ada is described as a highly analytical female corporate research synthetic that picks up +1 Attack for each enhanced Boss and Fighter on your team, but she can also be played under another Synth to boost their health with the Fortify ability.

‘Lique is described as “a male Victorian automata that looks like it could have stepped out of a clock in Switzerland” with a weathered porcelain face and exposed clockwork mechanisms in his torso. He carries a large hammer that “looks like the kind that would strike a bell in that clock.” ‘Lique enters with two +1 Attack counters and then loses one of those counters at the start of each level — a mechanic that already feels like the ticking of a clock.

The Blue Gelati is a crystalline synthetic who can morph his body. He was “lost in time” before being taken in by the members of Murder Inc. in Brooklyn and trained as an assassin. For a cost of one when he attacks, you can boost his attack by an amount equal to any weapon in play, essentially simulating him transforming his own arm into a weapon he can see. Instead of dying, he fortifies a Synth ally similarly to Ada.

To give the Endlings a cohesive visual identity, all six cards were illustrated by comic artist Jason Masters. Cataclysm Arcade’s release cycle will include quarterly TCG sets and comic book releases in between those focusing on the game’s characters. David-Marshall has confirmed that there’s a comic story focused on the Endlings in the works. It’s unclear when that might be published, but David-Marshall said the hope is that Cataclysm Arcade will launch at retail by the end of 2026, so the game’s first comic might arrive sometime in the first half of 2027.

We still don’t know much about the Cataclysm that brought about the end of the multiverse in Cataclysm Arcade, but this tragic little group of robot survivors from dead universes definitely seems like one of the more interesting narratives within the echoverse so far.