CounterspellCounterspell | Art by Pauline Voss

Magic has taken more and more steps towards involving non-native properties in the game. Regardless of how players feel about this, these Universes Beyond sets have become a regular occurrence for card releases.

Designed with the expectation of bringing new players into the game, Universes Beyond sets out to have an immediate appeal for those new players. Spider-Man, Deadpool, and Wolverine all have had appearances in Magic for that exact reason.

Recognizability is important to the designers when it comes to choosing which properties and characters will be printed as cards. This ultimately ties back to popularity. And with the popularity of things like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s no surprise the aforementioned characters were the first up.

Though it’s also not a strict correlation.

Mainstream heroes such as the Hulk or Cyclops weren’t printed despite their recognizability. Meanwhile, a character such as Namor gets to cameo in the background of card art despite his comparative obscurity.

Now the web-head himself has an entire set devoted to him and his rogues gallery. And there’ll be more Marvel sets after Spider-Man. So it raises the question:

Which characters or teams should get the dedicated set treatment next?

Characters Already Printed

During the Marvel Secret Lair Superdrop, Captain America, Iron Man, Wolverine, Storm, and Black Panther each had a unique commander card designed around them. Then as with most Secret Lair drops, they each got a few cards to support them. Some were mechanically unique while others were reprints with updated art.

This also included some alternate art showcasing Baby Groot and a later April Fool’s Day Deadpool drop. Again, with a mixture of unique and reprinted cards.

Doctor Strange even managed to star in the art of everyone’s favorite blue spell during a promotional drop.

It’s really up to personal taste as to if any of these characters should have a set devoted to them and their team.

On the one hand, they’ve already had cards devoted to them and adding more feels like bloat. Why waste the opportunity to show off other, more obscure characters who haven’t had the time to shine yet?

Or to simply focus on in-universe storylines and cards?

On the other hand, these characters contain multitudes that can reasonably be explored via different mechanics. The core of Universes Beyond is recognizability, so making the “faces” of a property like Marvel have different mechanics maximizes the chances of new players connecting with the game.

But that’s not a satisfying answer for existing players.

Focus On New Characters

It’s best to avoid devoting a set to the already-released characters. They might show up in a larger set if they’re relevant, particularly in artwork. But they won't be granted new mechanics or cards focused on them.

So no Civil War precons.

The following is a list of a few teams that would work as future Universes Beyond sets. The mechanics for the characters mentioned are suggestions to capture the vibe of the character, as opposed to specific listings of what they should or should not do.

Fantastic Four

One of the most famous teams Marvel has to offer, the Fantastic Four could quite easily take up each color of Magic. Assuming they’re all monocolored, Mister Fantastic would be blue, Invisible Woman white, Human Torch red, and the Thing green.

But the set would need to account for black. But none of the Fantastic Four fit that color. They each have a pretty clear niche.

Which is why their nemesis Doctor Doom would be a perfect fit.

Some Examples

Mister Fantastic would have the keyword reach to account for his… reach. Aside from that, his genius intellect is his strongest weapon, granting card draw or scrying to reflect him planning ahead.

Invisible Woman’s would grant a low-costed ward or shield counters to other creatures you control to represent her barriers. She herself would have hexproof or the inability to be blocked to represent invisibility.

Human Torch would be flying and have haste. He would either have the ability to deal damage to any target based on a trigger, or he’d grow in power and toughness to reflect him burning brighter. Either way, he’s all about direct damage.

The Thing would have menace and high base stats, particularly his toughness. Though he’d be a reasonable threat on his own, he would apply stun counters to any creature that blocked him to disrupt your opponent’s board state.

Doctor Doom would have to have some sort of affinity for artifacts, likely creating a doombot artifact token as an enter-the-battlefield (ETB) effect. His petty schemes could force opponents to discard cards or he could act as a mastermind utility piece with cost reduction. He could even sacrifice artifacts to increase his own power.

X-Men and Mutants

There are more than enough X-Men outside of those already printed that an entire set devoted to mutants would still have characters unaccounted for. Professor X, Magneto, Jean Gray, Cyclops, Mystique, Emma Frost, etc.

No matter how many characters are included, there will always be some left out. Which is unfortunate for players who wanted to see their favorite character included.

Though as a card game, an X-Men Magic set would absolutely need Gambit.

Some Examples

Professor X would be blue and white given his personality. As a telepath he could see your opponent’s hand and force them to discard a card on a trigger. Or just make them mill cards. Similarly, his mind control abilities could allow for anything from applying stun tokens to tapped creatures to choosing which creatures can block him.

Magneto would be black and white, given his sinister but principled approach. Though depending on his presentation, I see him as having a third of either red or blue. He’d be able to destroy and/or manipulate artifacts, likely having protection against them.

Gambit would be red, given his carefree attitude. He’d deal a small amount of damage every time you draw a card and give you a means to draw more cards. Not very complicated, but effective once you get it going.

Jean Gray would be red and blue, potentially with black depending on if she had the Phoenix Force. Either way she’d have prowess to indicate her psychic abilities with some additional effect to reflect her skills. Without the Phoenix Force, it’d be card draw or milling an opponent. With the Phoenix Force it’d be creature destruction, scaling based on how many instants and sorceries you can cast on your turn. She might even be a two-faced transforming card.

Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D.

Though two of the most famous Avengers have already been printed, that’s not to stop the rest of them from having their time in the spotlight. Particularly if focusing on a distinct but separate organization such as S.H.I.E.L.D.

That could involve a number of spy and rogue cards that are simply S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives acting in the background. Or it could entirely revolve around the heroes, since there's already a ton to get through.

Some Examples

Bruce Banner would be a two-faced transforming card with some minor utility function but weak stats. Upon transforming into the Hulk, he would gain +1/+1 counters every time he took damage in addition to naturally having the trample keyword. Bruce Banner strikes me as blue with a potential mix of green, whereas Hulk strictly strikes me as green and red.

Thor would be red and white with first strike and an ETB effect to bring an Equipment card from your graveyard back to your hand. Of course, Mjölnir would have to be a card as well, granting flying to whomever has it equipped alongside a bonus to their power.

Black Widow would be black and blue with the ability to not be blocked by creatures with power greater than hers. When dealing damage to an opponent, they would have to either discard or mill, reflecting her sabotaging their plans.

Nick Fury would be white, black, and blue, given his shady means of ultimately achieving good ends. The directions for his mechanics could vary wildly. He'd likely make it so that one or more of your creatures are unblockable each turn. He himself wouldn’t be a very large threat, but he would have hexproof or protection from certain colors.

Plenty Of Paths To Choose

Many of these proposed mechanics have some degree of overlap with existing creatures. In those cases, a reprint is all that’s necessary. Either in a Secret Lair drop or otherwise.

But assuming there's more sets to come, will the Avengers get new cards with a new Captain America and a new Iron Man? Will there be a set focusing on the X-Men and Brotherhood of Evil, the Inhumans, or even more cosmic faces like the Guardians of the Galaxy?

What do you think? Comment below which characters you think will be focused on in the next Marvel set. Or which ones you’re hoping for!

More Universes Beyond: