Hour of ReckoningHour of Reckoning | Art by Games Workshop

To call the direction Magic has gone with its set releases “divisive” would be an understatement. There were multiple plotlines whose resolutions left fans frustrated. Some cards released were wildly stronger than others. The differing tones of the settings explored in succession didn’t mesh well.

And then, of course, there’s the Universes Beyond debate.

What Is Universes Beyond?

Despite the fact that Magic has its own lore, characters, and plotlines, it has since evolved to include cards from other properties. At the time of writing, the Final Fantasy set came out most recently. Your commander Cloud, Planet's ChampionCloud, Planet's Champion can fight against Sephiroth, Planet's HeirSephiroth, Planet's Heir, despite the fact that neither of the characters are original to Magic.

Many players find that incredibly exciting. And many players only started playing Magic because they were already familiar with Final Fantasy.

From Doctor Who to Fortnite to Marvel, many different universes have lent themselves to Magic sets. None of them are considered “canon,” but for the sake of interesting gameplay you can suspend your disbelief to have Starscream, Power HungryStarscream, Power Hungry curbstomp Nicol Bolas, God-PharaohNicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh.

Which is much more satisfying than someone like Heliod, Sun-CrownedHeliod, Sun-Crowned doing the same.

How It Works

Generally, a Universes Beyond set will involve both new mechanics as well as reprints of previous cards with artwork and flavor text referencing its source material. But not always! The specific distribution of original cards to reprints varies from set to set, with some being entirely original and others being entirely reprints.

Blasphemous ActBlasphemous Act existed before the Warhammer: 40,000 set, but it was given a reprint with artwork and flavor text to reflect the fact that Chaos in Magic is red- and black-aligned. Plus, the Chaos God Khorne’s holy number is eight, which just so happens to a part of the mana cost of this heretical card.

Nothing needs to change mechanically, so just change the art and you’re fine!

At the same time, Marneus CalgarMarneus Calgar is a mechanically unique card, made to flavorfully emulate the character it’s based on. It has names for its features in Master Tactician and Chapter Master as specific references, since no existing card would fit a representation of the character quite well.

And that’s just a single set.

By and large, Universes Beyond sets are an “excuse” to get to play cool characters from other properties and include them in your deck. Depending on how powerful they are, they might find wind up a staple. Or even a Game Changer!

So What’s the Issue?

To put it plainly, there’s a large number of players who think Universes Beyond has gone too far. Most people I know who have this opinion don’t even mind Universes Beyond as a concept; where their issues arise is almost entirely based on the sheer volume.

Why would that be the case? Let’s walk through the past few years of Universes Beyond for context:

• In 2020, The Walking Dead set was released prior to the cementing of Universes Beyond as a defined series. It featured entirely unique cards with no reprints.
• 2021 saw Universes Beyond solidified as a series which was non-canon, non-Standard-legal sets depicting characters from other properties. The Walking Dead was grandfathered into the series and both the sets Stranger Things and Arcane were released. The latter was entirely reskins of existing cards.
• This doubled to four sets in 2022, with a mixture of reskins and mechanically-unique cards. This was Street Fighter, Fortnite, Warhammer: 40,000, and Transformers.
• There was another doubling of releases into 2023 with eight Universes Beyond sets. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, The Lord of the Rings, Creepshow, Doctor Who, Evil Dead, Princess Bride, Jurassic Park, and Tomb Raider.
• The pace was maintained in 2024 with eight more Universes Beyond sets. Fallout, Hatsune Miku, Assassin’s Creed, Monty Python, Ghostbusters, Child’s Play, and Marvel. This year included multiple sets which were purely reskins. It was also announced that starting 2025, all Universes Beyond sets would be able to be played across all formats in order to simplify the game.

That’s certainly an upward trend over time.

But Wait, There's More!

Not every non-canonical Magic card is a part of Universes Beyond!

Dungeons & Dragons cards are not part of Universes Beyond. However, the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves set is part of Universes Beyond. The 2021 and 2022 Dungeons & Dragon sets aren’t counted in the aforementioned list.

Similarly, “skinned” cards such as the Godzilla set aren’t necessarily considered part of the Universes Beyond, despite the fact they're non-canonical to Magic’s lore. They’re entirely aesthetic changes to cards. Even the main name is considered “flavor text" for rules purposes.

Though keep the discussion of aesthetics in mind.

Going Further Back

Bringing in extra-universal characters or lore to Magic is almost as old as the game itself.

Arabian Nights, based on the stories contained within the real-life public domain story Thousand and One Arabian Nights, was one of the first expansion sets released. Back in 1993! There are players who were fine with it at the time. Others took issue with “forcing” characters or locals like AladdinAladdin into the game.

Some things never change.

So it’s not as if Magic is suddenly changing how it approaches including properties in its releases. What has changed is the volume and variety of the properties it’s drawing on.

You’ve seen the Universes Beyond releases of the past few years. Magic is different than it was a decade ago.

The Issue Is Largely Aesthetic

As technological as a plane like Kamigawa is, it’s steeped in mysticism. Kami and spirits are integral to both the mechanics of the sets revolving around it as well as the plotlines taking place there. As a result, it feels less “sci-fi” than “magitech,” something that causes much less friction flavorfully with the rest of Magic’s planes.

The Phyrexians, shown most clearly in the blue-aligned Progress Engine, utilize a fusion of magic and technology to emulate sci-fi body horror. But it still ties itself back to “fantasy” at its roots and in its aesthetics.

In short, both of these examples are distinct from “typical Magic” without actually breaching the bounds of what Magic involves.

Doctor Who or Transformers are fully sci-fi, which means placing their cards next to Archangel ElspethArchangel Elspeth doesn’t look consistent. Warhammer: 40,000 is so visually distinct that it feels incompatible with Innistrad, even though both involve demons. Hatsune Miku taking over Dominara feels less coherent with the setting of Magic than the Phyrexians even though both are alien to that plane.

They don’t “feel” like Magic. Because, fundamentally, they aren’t. They’re Doctor Who or Transformers or Hatsune Miku. To a lot of players, Universes Beyond makes Magic feel less like Magic even if the mechanics of those cards are interesting.

Universes Beyond Isn't "The Problem"

This article isn’t saying that Universes Beyond is “ruining” Magic, it’s more so just shining a light on a discourse that crops up every time there’s a new Universes Beyond announcement.

Many Magic players love the lore, and there will always be a tension between those that want it to remain at the forefront of the game and those who want to bring in other properties. At the end of the day, Magic is a game that needs to walk a balance between being faithful to its core and being willing to experiment to draw in new players.

Even in-universe, canon sets still breach the bounds of what came before. Aetherdrift is a high-tech racing “travelogue set,” as described by Wizards Head Magic Designer Mark Rosewater. Outlaws of Thunder Junction was a western with magical gunslinging.

It’s not Universes Beyond that people are upset about, it’s the drifting of what makes Magic feel like its own unique identity. It’s just that Universes Beyond is the most clear and easily pointed-to example of how far that drift can reach.

There's Good And Bad

The growth of Universes Beyond is an indication Magic has been growing larger and stronger. But like all things that grow beyond their original vision, does that damage its integrity? And if it does, is that a bad thing if the game is still fun?

That’s really up to you and your pod.

Perhaps The Walking Dead cards fit your playgroup fine while Marvel characters are a bridge too far. Or maybe Fortnite is so ridiculous it loops back around to being playable.

It doesn't matter what artwork a card has or which universe it’s tied to. The mechanics of a card are what matter. Conversations about power creep are usually independent of conversations about identity drift.

So go ahead and run a combo utilizing three vastly different universes that grants you protection from everything. At that point, the fact they're all from different universes will be the least of everyone's problems.