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For better or for worse, Universes Beyond is fully integrated with Magic: The Gathering now. The game can now be used to model a fight between Spongebob SquarepantsSpongebob Squarepants and Sonic the HedgehogSonic the Hedgehog (apparently, Spongebob trounces Sonic; who knew?). The Magic multiverse now contains multitudes.

You may have already read Cooper Gottfried's piece regarding 5 video games that would make great Universes Beyond sets. If not, you should definitely check it out. It wouldn't be surprising to see any of the characters in the games that Cooper discusses making their way over to Local Game Stores wrapped up in slick booster sleeves.

Video games are great, but then so are books. In this article, we'll look at five fantasy book series that would make for great MTG crossovers. Why fantasy? Well, fantasy is the genre that's most compatible with Magic.

There are also plenty of sci-fi stories that could comfortably be adapted, but past that point, things get quite murky. The Great Gatsby is a fantastic work of fiction, but I'm not really sure what a Nick Carraway card would look like. A series of Commander decks based on Jane Austen novels would be wonderfully weird, but doesn't seem terribly likely.

Just like in the initial article, we're looking for works that feature plenty of iconic characters to make into legendaries for players to brew around. We also want series that can be translated into Magic's mechanics and its color pie easily.

The list below is far from exhaustive, and also isn't a top five. Any of these series would work just as well as the next if adapted into the game. Let's begin...

5. A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones

A Song of Ice and Fire, or Game of Thrones to use the name of its televised adaptation, is one of the most recognizable fantasy franchises of all time, second only to The Lord of the Rings, which Magic has already adapted. Game of Thrones was an international sensation and was completely inescapable from 2011 until its ignoble end in 2019. The franchise remains relevant though with its spin off House of the Dragon currently airing and a variety of other stories set in the same universe in development.

While it's very popular, several things make adapting A Song of Ice and Fire difficult. It's more adult than Magic typically is. While Magic is no stranger to dark themes (some of the cards on Innistradsome of the cards on Innistrad are downright nightmarishare downright nightmarish), the game has never been quite as graphic as George R.R Martin's sordid imagination.

Additionally, the series is currently incomplete, and fans have been waiting for The Winds of Winter for more than 14 years now.

Nevertheless, it's by far the most famous series in this article, and there is plenty of material to adapt into a TCG. In fact, there has already been a Game of Thrones card game.

The politicking and backstabbing that characterizes life in Westeros would translate comfortably into a set of commander decks. Since the characters come presorted into noble houses, deciding on who to group together for Commander decks is incredibly easy.

All of the plotting to seize the throne ensures that we'd definitely be seeing the monarch mechanic return. Sacrifice mechanics, like exploit, could also convey the ruthless nature of the setting. Not to mention that there are Dragons, ice Zombies, and fire worshiping priests to keep the set feeling magical.

4. Discworld

Where Westeros is stark, austere, and cold, Terry Pratchett's Discworld is warm, vibrant, and colorful. This comical British fantasy series is beloved by fans for the heartwarming verve and humanity that effortlessly flows through Pratchett's writing.

With just over 40 Discworld books in total, there is a huge amount to adapt. Not only that, but the books are all centered around different factions, from the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, to the arguing academics of the Unseen University, to the series' surprisingly amicable depiction of the Grim Reaper and his associates. This means there is no shortage of legendary characters to include, and there are convenient ways of splitting them into factions for the purposes of EDH Precons or Limited.

Not only that, but Discworld is, as its name would imply, a living, breathing world (suspended atop the back of a colossal space turtle). This means that there will be plenty of iconic locations to adapt into lands, from the bustling, crime-ridden streets of Ankh-Morpork, to the zealous theocracy of Omnia, to the jungles of Klatch.

In terms of mechanics, it would make sense to emphasize the wacky nature of the series through effects like the newly introduced mayhem mechanic from Spider-Man. Mechanics could also be used to define the gameplay of the different factions. The City Watch could investigate and use Clue tokens to solve crimes. Meanwhile, the wizards of the Unseen University could bring back lesson and learn from Strixhaven.

3. Redwall

The Redwall books are a fantasy series about animal folk going on adventures, battling it out in wars, and cooking yummy feasts. Although these books are targeted at children, many adults remember the series fondly, or are cracking the books out again to read to their own kids. Given that 2024's Bloomburrow bears a lot of aesthetic similarities to Redwall, many MTG players assumed that a crossover would be on the cards and were surprised when this wasn't the case.

Much like Final Fantasy, many of the Redwall stories are self-contained. There are 22 Redwall books, and they can be read in any order, with a few exceptions, as some of the books serve as direct sequels. Additionally, characters from older stories often pass into legend, with their actions inspiring future generations. Many of the books are set in the titular Redwall Abbey, which gets attacked innumerable times by a variety of malign mammals.

With the series taking place over several generations, the cast is as colossal as it is cuddly, so there will be no shortage of characters to adapt into legendary creatures.

The most logical way to integrate Redwall with Magic either be to give it its own Secret Lair, or to include Redwall characters as bonus cards, just as Transformers were included in The Brothers' War booster. These cards could be mechanically unique depictions of the book's cast, or reskins of pre-existing MTG legends.

2. The Witcher

The Witcher is best known now thanks to its wildly successful video game adaptations and its Netflix series. Initially, though, it existed as several short stories that were published in the Polish speculative fiction magazine Fantastyka. These stories later evolved into full-length novels, and those novels are still being published today. The most recent Witcher book, Crossroad of Ravens, is due to be released internationally next month.

Witchers are magically enhanced monster slayers. They roam the land, striking down beasts in exchange for coin, inspiring bards, and wooing more maidens than they probably should along the way. Like A Song of Ice and Fire, The Witcher is a fair bit grittier than Magic. Still, I suspect that just about every Magic player out there has played at least a few hours of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, so this crossover makes sense.

What might a Witcher set look like? The monster-hunting nature of the series could be executed either by using double-faced cards to demonstrate the cunning disguises that the monstrous prey of Witchers often conceal their true forms behind. Alternatively, the monstrosity mechanic from Theros could serve a similar purpose, having the monsters gain +1/+1 counters as they bear their fangs and attack.

As for the Witchers themselves, they're known for their supernaturally fast reflexes, their monster-slaying, and their silvered arsenals of tools and trinkets. Their reflexes could be demonstrated by granting them abilities typically used to demonstrate speed, like flash, haste, and first strike. Their monster slaying nature might grant them a bonus when they go into combat against non-human creatures. Finally, their gear could be demonstrated by giving them artifact synergies.

Could Magic players be convinced to toss a coin for some Witcher cards? It certainly seems possible.

1. Mistborn

Brandon Sanderson is a prolific fantasy writer and a known Magic: The Gathering fan; he was even on an episode of Game Knights. Sanderson finished the Wheel of Time series, and also authored other books like The Stormlight Archives, Elantris, and Warbreaker. It would have been possible to fill this entire list with Sanderson stories.

The Mistborn books, while not his first works, were the series that made him a household name (at least in households that have an abiding love for fantasy literature). Without delving too deeply into spoilers, the Mistborn books begin as a dystopian hellscape. Ash and soot blanket the skies, mist cloaks the world, grass grows only in a sickly shade of brown, while flowers fail to bloom. The world is ruled over by a sinister, seemingly immortal being known as the Lord Ruler. Far from a happy world, but a world bursting with potential to be adapted into a Magic set.

Mistborn's magic system makes it distinct. Mages in Mistborn are known as "Allomancers". They ingest metals and then "flare" them to fuel their spells. This would be challenging to adapt into a Magic, with more than 10 metals to "flare" each of which provides different powers. It wouldn't be impossible, though. Mistborn has already been adapted into a deckbuilding game and a strategic war game. If other games have been able to adapt Mistborn's complex alloy-based arcana, then Magic can definitely unearth something inspiring.

Conclusion

So there are five fantasy book series that could be adapted reasonably seamlessly into Magic: The Gathering. I'm sure that you have some alternative options rattling around in your mind. Perhaps you'd rather see The Wheel of Time than Mistborn? Maybe you're a major Earthsea stan? Perhaps you love all of these properties dearly, but just want to keep them away from MTG. Feel free to share your views down in the comments.