Magic: The Gathering’sUniverses Beyond sets are a hot topic within the community, with some arguing that they’rediluting the game and taking focus away from in-universe sets, while others think they’re a great gateway to getting people into playing the game for the first time. There are a lot of differing opinions on the topic, but one thing which seems certain is that they won’t be around forever.
While it might seem like every single IP under the sun is fair game for a Universes Beyond set, with crossovers such asSpider-Man and Avatar: The Last Airbender on the horizon- and SpongeBob SquarePants in the past - it seems as though the franchises that would make good sets are finite.
In a new post on his personal blog, Magic: The Gathering head designer Mark Rosewater claimed that one of the biggest problems with Universes Beyond is that there isn’t an “endless number of properties” that would make good sets. He also says that there aren’t a finite number of “properties large enough that there are enough players who want it and would be excited by it”, explaining that the series is “not an endless well”.
Rosewater goes on to explain that this is why he believes creating in-universe sets is still really important, as it’s “a much larger resource” to pull from when coming up with new ideas to excite fans. But, of course, that doesn’t mean that Universes Beyond is going anywhere any time soon.
There are still plenty of properties out there that would garner a lot of attention, and it’s possible that Magic: The Gathering could revisit older ones, such as Lord of the Rings or the recent Final Fantasy crossover. Personally, I still have my fingers crossed we’ll get a FromSoftware crossover in the future. I would do unspeakable things for a Bloodborne Secret Lair.
