Wizards of the Coast Announces “Universes Beyond: Magic: The Gathering”
RENTON, WA — Earlier today, Wizards of the Coast’s corporate team proudly announced an upcoming set for 2027: “Universes Beyond: Magic: The Gathering.” It’s quite a departure for the company’s usual design space, and it has players asking the question–how will an old, storied property like Magic: The Gathering fit within the now extremely varied and modern setting of Magic: The Gathering?
“It’s just so strange,” says local game store frequenter Jon Boringman, who has been playing the game “since like late 2023–when Dr. Who came out?” When asked to clarify, he continued, “I’m just not sure about the direction of that decision, from an aesthetic standpoint. I mean, how the heck am I supposed to run a card like Lightning Bolt in my Tenth Doctor deck? It really doesn’t fit his character at all.”
Lead game designer Gavin Verhey was more optimistic. “We’ve done a lot of wild and wacky Universes Beyond sets lately, and we’re really excited to explore a world as old and varied as the ones found in Magic: The Gathering,” he said. “Obviously, just like with Final Fantasy, we won’t be able to fit in absolutely everything that our design team wants to touch on, but we’ll definitely be hitting a lot of the old favorites, like Ravnica and Dominaria. We might even have the space to visit some of the newer stuff, like Duskmourn and even Bloomburrow. It’s gonna be a great time overall–if we can get the shareholders to agree!” He then laughed nervously, loosening his shirt slightly, and one of our reporters noticed a red dot briefly appear on his forehead before vanishing once he apologized profusely to shareholders who were, ostensibly, not present for the interview. “Either way, we’re excited to see how this new set will shake up the Standard and Commander formats, which the set was exclusively designed for!”
When asked about whether this set was designed with any other forms of play in mind, like drafting or the Pioneer format, Verhey had this to say: “The what format? You made that one up, I’ve never heard of that.” The set will also only be draftable in the four-player, pick-two draft format created for Universes Beyond: Marvel’s Spider-Man, which Verhey says was an idea really well-received by everyone whose opinion he and the rest of the design team are permitted to see and incorporate into future designs.
Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks is similarly bullish. “This move was definitely a hugely popular one in the shareholders’ call, and that’s the most important place when it comes to our design feedback,” he said. “A game like Magic: The Gathering has such a storied history, and it’s been growing all the time. It was tough to negotiate a deal with those hardasses at Hasbro, but we managed to cut a deal that will be very profitable for us at Hasbro, them at Hasbro, and hopefully no one else.”
As Magic: the Gathering is of course a property owned by a company different than Wizards of the Coast, the standard premium price of booster packs and other sealed product will certainly apply, and some players are feeling that strain. But for many, it is also an investment opportunity.
“I had to sell my kidney to afford the collector versions of all four commander decks,” says Ryan Indebt. “I only really wanted ‘War Crimes,’ the Urza precon, but I figure that the others’ll go up in value by next year, so I’ll keep them sealed and sell them later on. Maybe then I can pay off my mortgage!”
This reporter did also attempt to purchase the recently-announced Secret Lair: Between Jace Beleren’s Couch Cushions, but unfortunately, she waited in line for four hours only to find the product sold out.
