While “Magic: The Gathering” is home to multiple planes and worlds for the card game to take place on, sometimes they take the Planeswalking all the way into a different franchise. We first saw this with the “Walking Dead” Secret Lair, but the “Universes Beyond” series of tie-in cards has expanded in recent years to include “Warhammer 40,000,” “Lord of the Rings,” and even “Transformers.”
While players eagerly await more news on the “Doctor Who” set, Wizards of the Coast announced even more upcoming sets at Gen Con.
Jurassic World
“Magic: The Gathering” has plenty of dinosaur cards, including a dino-centric plane called Ixalan. As such, when the game returns to the setting in the “Lost Caverns of Ixalan” set, the company is leaping on the opportunity to cross-over with the “Jurassic Park” franchise.
This will include a Secret Lair crossover set (where players can purchase cards with special themes and artwork for a limited time from the Secret Lair website), as well as mechanically unique “Jurassic World” cards appearing in Set and Collector boosters for “The Lost Caverns of Ixalan.”
This is similar to how the “Transformers” cards were released, with a Secret Lair set featuring reprints of popular cards with “Transformers” artwork, and new cards based on the franchise available in packs of “The Brothers War” set.
“The Lost Caverns of Ixalan” will be released in November 2023.
Fallout
No, not the fallout of the announcement. One of the first newly-announced crossovers is with the “Fallout” video game series. These will be released as a set of four Commander decks, similar to the recent “Warhammer 40,000” Commander decks.
According to Wizards, the set will include “bloodthirsty raiders, towering super mutants, irradiated monsters, and retro-futurist robots,” although the specifics of the themes, factions, and cards have not been revealed. Previous Universes Beyond Commander decks have included multiple brand new cards, as well as reprints of Commander staples with new artwork, so it is likely that the “Fallout” decks will do the same.
The “Fallout” decks will be released in March 2024, with more information revealed as it gets closer.
Assassin’s Creed
The “Assassin’s Creed” series will also be crossing over into Magic’s Universes Beyond, with a set of Modern-legal themed boosters. This will include both new and reprinted cards, all with “Assassin’s Creed” artwork.
No new Commander decks or Secret Lair drops have been announced for this tie-in yet. While the “Lord of the Rings” Universes Beyond set also included booster packs (including Collectors Boosters that had a chance of including a one-of-a-kind One Ring card, which recently sold for over $2 million), that set also included preconstructed Commander decks. It is currently unknown if there will be any other tie-in releases.
The “Assassin’s Creed” Beyond Boosters are set to release in July 2024.
Final Fantasy
As Magic is a card game rooted in, well, magic and fantasy, it was only a matter of time until the “Final Fantasy” franchise entered. This set is marketed as the next “Universes Beyond tentpole Booster release,” and will encompass the franchise spanning from the first “Final Fantasy” game to “Final Fantasy 16.” This was originally announced back in October 2022, but we’ve just begun getting new information about the set.
The set will include both booster packs for the tabletop game and the online MTG Arena. Tentpole sets are the six main sets released each year, typically including Commander decks as well as Draft, Set, and Collector boosters.
The “Final Fantasy” set will be released in 2025, so expect more news as it’s made available.
What’s Next?
Currently, Magic players who enjoy the Universes Beyond sets are eagerly awaiting the “Doctor Who” set, which is set to be released October 2023. The set will feature four Commander decks, including multiple Doctors, companions, and antagonists. The decks also include new Planechase cards, designed to bring players from world to world as they go through the game.
The “Doctor Who” set will also include Collector boosters, which will include serialized versions of each Doctor (meaning only a limited number are printed, although certainly more than the one-of-one copy of The One Ring).
Speaking of “Lord of the Rings,” Wizards of the Coast also announced an upcoming Secret Lair will include new artwork for cards from their Middle Earth set. So far, the only card revealed is “Sauron, Dark Lord,” but considering the recent LotR-themed Secret Lair drop just featured four common and uncommon cards with screenshots from the animated movie used for the artwork, players are saying this is already a step up.
Beyond that, what series will cross-over next is anyone’s guess. Fans have been making their own speculations and wishlists for franchises they’d like to appear in “Magic: The Gathering,” so keep an eye on G33k-HQ and see if your favorite series is next.
