To Universes, and Beyond!
A deep dive into the wonders and problems of Magic’s foray into other IP’s
by Thijs Miedema
Introduction
It’s the year 2020, Covid-19 has crippled the world and people are struggling to find ways to get through this unprecedented situation. Amidst this, Wizards of the Coast publishes a
couple of cards in their Secret Lair sub-brand that will shake the Magic community to its very core.
The Walking What?
The presentation of Rick, Daryl, Glenn, Michonne, Negan and a bloody baseball bat named
Lucille was met with astonishment. Because what were characters from ‘The Walking Dead’
doing in Magic: the Gathering? Wasn’t this a game with its own unique worlds and
characters? And wasn’t Negan a vicious murderer? Add to that the fact that it was a set with a limited printing, so if you didn’t buy them right away, wouldn’t they spike in price afterwards?
Needless to say, these cards sparked a lot of controversy. Over 27000 Redditors voted for an auto-ban of this set in Commander (which was not accepted by the Rules Committee). It also became the best-selling Secret Lair product of all time and set a sales record. It attracted collectors and even brought in new players. Today, the cards are still valuable, with Rick going for at least $50 in aftermarket sales and the full set fetching at least $80. As I was not playing Magic at that time, I look at them now and must say they’re actually quite good.
One-off, surely
In 2021, after the dust had settled and everyone had sort of moved on towards greener
pastures, there was another surprise, when in October a Secret Lair Drop was announced
with cards that featured characters from yet another television show, Netflix’s fan favorite
‘Stranger Things’. Again, there was controversy, again they sold really well. Wizards did
announce that they would print ‘Universes Within’ cards, which would be the same cards in
a Magic shell (Michonne suddenly became Enkira), but that didn’t really change the overall
sentiment.
Fast forward to 2023. In the meantime, we’d seen even more iterations of Universes Beyond, like Warhammer and Transformers. This year however, would mark the shift towards both acceptance of the format and a deep divide between players, when the next set was announced: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth. It was, to be fair, a fantastic set. The cards made an impact everywhere they were played. Post Malone spent $2 million on a unique One Ring card. Hordes of non-Magic players were attracted to the game. One ring to rule them all, one ring to bind them. This set was an absolute slam dunk. It was high fantasy at its best – because who did it better than Tolkien? – and the art and mechanics were really well-designed.
Apparently, this Universes Beyond thing was here to stay. But it would be limited to formats
outside of Standard, as per Wizards’ promise on February 25, 2021. Right?
The New Era
After the mediocre results of Assassin’s Creed in 2024 (Max Bassil from Wargamer.com even wrote an article with the ominous title ‘MTG Assassin’s Creed feels like a set made for no one’) it seemed like Universes Beyond was still looking for its final place within the game. It would stick around, but where and how? Magic itself was trying to find new corners of the Multiverse to develop (cowboys in OTJ, cute critters in BLB, horrors in DSK) so it seemed like there was a lot of unrest. Our beloved card game was developing and trying to find a new identity, but the future was still a bit vague.
And it didn’t end there.
In February of 2025, just before MagicCon Chicago, Wizards announced the presentation of a new Universes Beyond set: Final Fantasy. Not only was this another full set (the second one since LotR), it was to become a Standard legal set.
Controversy, yet again. What was going on? When were the game designers going to make
up their minds? When were they going to choose a final direction for the game’s future
development? Final Fantasy became Magic’s best-selling set of all time. Collector booster boxes spiked to $1000 and prices haven’t come down yet. It was well-received, by players from inside and outside the game. Final Fantasy fans loved the art and the fact that there was something cool to collect. Magic fans loved the new mechanics and the overall design. Several cards started to make their way into Standard (especially Starting Town seems to be doing well) and it was almost as if this was a ‘normal’ Magic set. Even the more critical voices seemed to remain silent, as FF seemed to attract even more new players to the game.
And Beyond?
With Spider-Man now only a few weeks away from releasing (and Avatar on the horizon as
well), it seems unclear where we go from here. Edge of Eternities – which in my opinion is a fantastic set, with great power and interesting new mechanics – hardly had a second to shine before we were bombarded with news about Peter Parker and his foes. Furthermore, Spider-Man already seems to be overshadowed with spoilers from Avatar. What’s next?
Wizards seems to have chosen the path of the consumer. They’re pumping out products at
high speed and trying everything they can to make as much profit as possible. I’m a bit
hesitant to call it a bubble, but that’s what it feels like. I’m having a hard time keeping up and I’m not the only one. The problem with a bubble is that it’s probably going to burst at some point. IP’s don’t come in unlimited supply and are certainly not cheap. That means more investment and more product to sell. There has been a massive power creep over the years and speeding up that process will render older sets useless at an increasing rate.
It looks like these developments are in full effect. It’s hard to predict what the future holds.
Our little kitchen table card game has transformed into a powerful brand and that means a
lot of pressure on the design team.
Moving forward also means that there will probably not be a way back. We can’t unplay
Universes Beyond, we can’t un-buy our cards. Wizards will not turn back the clock and will
make continued attempts to grow into a universal brand that attracts players from all over
the world (and all over the spectrum of gaming).
As for me, I’m skeptical but also intrigued. I’ve put several Universes Beyond cards in my decks (Cast Into The Fire is great against Affinity decks) and I have collected all the Doctors from Dr. Who. Maybe there are kids today who grow up with a Deadpool commander deck and are loving it. That counts for something as well.