Picture it. Fall 2010. Scars of Mirrodin just released, and the Shards of Alara expansion sets all rotated out of Standard. I am in an LGS speaking to an employee talking about the fun I had with Bloodbraid Elf, and how I wish I could cascade into a Tarmogoyf with it. He mentioned the Legacy format as well as Extended, but at the time I was not interested in those formats and wished there was a non-rotating format where I could play my cards that rotated out of Standard. I also predicted that Tarmogoyf would be reprinted not at the end of the following “block” (which would have been Innistrad), but the one after that (which was Return to Ravnica but we did not know the name of it at the time). It turns out I not only got my wish with the creation of the Modern format I also (kind of) predicted Tarmogoyf’s reprint as it appeared in Modern Masters. For a long time Modern had been heralded as a great format for competitive and casual players alike, and this last decade stores have had players signing up to play the format and try out new cards brought into Standard.
…that era has come to a crashing end.
Hello everyone. I hope you are well. Today I want to touch on something that has been on my mind for several months, and I wanted to do it in a manner that would not be me smashing buttons on the keyboard attempting to accomplish something. Universes Beyond has been a sub-brand used by Wizards of the Coast to take other intellectual properties (IPs) and place them onto Magic: the Gathering cards allowing fans of those IPs the ability to play them using the Magic rule system. The first entry into this sub-brand came in 2020, and I’m going to go over what I feel are the good, the bad, and the ugly things that have come from this direction. Thank you all for reading.
How it began
In the fall of 2020 to tie in with the new season of The Walking Dead Wizards of the Coast (WotC) announced a special product in their (then) new Secret Lair series. This drop, which was only available directly from WotC directly, and for a limited time, included 5 brand new cards featuring characters from the show as well as a few tokens. These cards were mechanically unique meaning that these game pieces have not appeared elsewhere in Magic before, and this was the only way to obtain them. That previous April some of the cards from the Standard set Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths were given special treatment artwork to represent Kaiju (a term most often associated with giant monsters in films, usually with Godzilla). Many fans wondered why The Walking Dead cards were not given the same treatment. The argument was that this was a method to introduce new players to the game, and if the cards were popular in play then “in-universe” versions would be printed in a future Magic: the Gathering product. We eventually received those in packs of Wilds of Eldraine Set Boosters 3 years after they appeared in their Secret Lair drop.
Since then WotC has experimented a lot within this space, and multiple formats have been impacted. During this discussion I am going to include the Dungeons & Dragons cards with the Universes Beyond cards. I understand WotC calls them Universes Within, but they are not associated with the Magic: the Gathering story overall and this was named this way because WotC owns both IPs (Magic & D&D).
The Good
I can not deny that these products have introduced new players to Magic: the Gathering, connected with those curious about the game, and even reconnected to players who may have played in the past. Also these products will be bought by Magic players who are a fan of the IP now presented on a Magic card. I’ll admit I wasn’t going to buy any of these products, but I did acquire the Transformers Secret Lairs as I collect Transformers figures…so they got me (I still need to find the playmats too…maybe).
This product line also provides outlets for artists who may not currently work on Magic cards to provide their talents. I don’t think any of us can complain about seeing new art. Even if we aren’t going to buy it. The Doctor Who Commander Decks are a prime example of this as the art was so well done that it felt like storyboard images from the show were placed onto a Magic card. Even cards that are mechanically speaking a Magic card (such as Farewell) have art from the show. These Commander decks can be played as-is out of the box without any adjustments allowing the players to immerse themselves into the world of Doctor Who while learning the game mechanics of Magic: the Gathering. This was the only other Universes Beyond product I have purchased. I have yet to play the decks though.
Stores benefit from this product line as well when new customers come to buy the product for whatever reason, but we’ll circle back to this point later.
While there are some good things that have come about with the Universes Beyond product line a lot of these points are very straightforward, and are generally agreed upon by the community. Let’s dig a little deeper.
The Bad
When The Walking Dead cards were released they were legal in Commander, Legacy, and Vintage. This marked a moment where new cards were placed into these formats outside of a booster pack, or a Commander preconstructed deck. With each of the non-token cards from this Secret Lair drop being a Legendary creature that also meant these could be your Commander.
…but where are the rest of The Walking Dead cards in the deck?
It’s hard to be immersed in that world when your deck consists of multiple IPs. This has also happened with the Transformers cards, which oddly enough were included within packs of The Brother’s War Standard set release. Yet these were not Standard legal (nor legal in Pioneer, or Modern). More on that in a moment. With Commander being not only the largest player base in the Magic: the Gathering Community, but more often than not the entry point for a lot of players, being able to sell a $39.99 deck of cards featuring art from The Transformers would have been great. The Warhammer 40,000 decks and Doctor Who decks are a testament to that as both sets went through multiple print runs to meet demand, are still popular with fans to this day, and can be played right out of the box for the full immersion in the IP presented through the artwork. The disjointed nature of how Universes Beyond cards are presented can be confusing for new players who may not understand the lexicon yet.
The Dungeons & Dragons cards have a unique issue. First we had a Standard set titled “Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms“. This was released in the summer of 2021 in the slot where we would normally receive a Core Set. Many players in the community also play Dungeons & Dragons (or maybe used to play), and many Dungeons & Dragons players may have tried Magic: the Gathering at least once. This felt like a huge success. Many of us always wondered what D&D Magic cards would look like, and we finally had them. Magic: the Gathering was intended to be played casually prior to playing Dungeons & Dragons so this product made sense. However it’s inclusion in Standard took away from progressing the Magic: the Gathering story, and those not interested in D&D were left wondering who the characters on the cards were or why they should care. Losing out on a Core Set also denied us an opportunity for reprints (or perhaps new cards) that could have addressed any in-game issues with Standard at the time, and perhaps provide reprints for the Pioneer format which was still in it’s infancy at the time. The Commander decks released with this set also provided D&D cards not legal in Standard, Pioneer, or Modern, and all of the art from these decks were not based on D&D leading to a disconnect among players. The Standard set covered many different eras of D&D, and while that may sound appealing a more focused approach on current stories and characters could have been more beneficial. It would not be long before we tapped into D&D again.
A year later Magic: the Gathering returned with a D&D set in the Commander Legends sub-line (a relatively new one at time of release) titled: “Commander Legends: Battle For Baldur’s Gate“. This set, targeted at Commander players, provided a draft experience as well as new cards focused in and around the city of Baldur’s Gate on The Sword Coast in the Forgotten Realms. Some of the characters included in this set were unfamiliar to a lot of players unless they were playing in the closed beta of Baldur’s Gate 3. This great video game has taken the gaming world by storm, and redefined what an excellent video game can be. Imagine if this Magic set and the video game released at the same time. How great would that have been? Unfortunately this set did not do well, and by the time the video game was released many players have moved on. What was also unfortunate about these two releases is one could not build a deck with only the D&D cards and expect to do well. Not only is there the issue that the first D&D set was released into Standard, and the second one was not, but there were not enough cards to support something D&D has that is also found in Magic. Guilds. Imagine if one could have built a deck based on the Zhentarim? Or the Lord’s Alliance? Or any of the other factions within the D&D game? The Commander decks for each of these sets could have provided a starting point to play as one of the many factions in the game, and had support from cards in the booster packs. A missed opportunity all around.
While there were other Universes Beyond products that were released I won’t cover them all. You can read about them here though.
There were quite a few opportunities with these products that would have made them shine, but sadly were missed. Could this been due to a rush in production, an oversight, or people working on them that may not be familiar with the IP to see the opportunity presented? I do not know, and we may never know to be honest. I hope if they make another attempt at a D&D set that they seize this opportunity, and perhaps lean into the Party mechanic that we saw in Zendikar Rising. Many of us felt like this was a slam dunk inclusion, and were disappointed by its omission.
The Ugly
Now we get to talk about Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle Earth. Perhaps the largest IP that will ever be made in the Universes Beyond line, and an IP that very many people of all ages are familiar with. The stories of Tolkien have been told for generations, and are essentially our mythology. Elves, dwarves, dragons, orcs, and more grace these stories and many people imagine what you speak of when using these names without even participating in any popular culture around fantasy fiction. The reach of Lord of the Rings is immense, and this set captured the attention of many fans both within and outside of Magic. While the art decisions have been discussed ad nauseum, and caused anger and division within the community, there is one greater issue that needs mentioned.
It’s inclusion into Modern.
This should never have happened. Ever. In fact this decision is not only inexcusable, but is the cause of players leaving either the Modern format, or the game altogether. It’s already bad enough that Universes Beyond cards have had such an impact on Legacy that it doesn’t feel like you are playing Magic: the Gathering anymore, but now another competitive format has been impacted. It has turned Magic: the Gathering into Monopoly where the rules are relatively the same, but a new skin is placed upon the game pieces. While sales do indicate this set has done extremely well I have not seen an increase in players participating at local FNM style events (the one I attend is on Thursdays) since we returned to stores. If the goal of these Universes Beyond products is to obtain new players wouldn’t you want them to come into the store and keep coming back? You can’t (clearly) build a Modern deck of just Lord of the Rings cards, AND by having this product released in the summer at a time a Core Set would have released we went 5 months (April to September) without a Standard set. Five months. How can WotC claim they care about Standard when they left it on the vine for that long? Inexcusable.
Also it should have been very clear after the first Pro-Tour event with these cards that both The One Ring and Orcish Bowmasters needed to be banned. With more than one Banned & Restricted announcement passing without addressing either of these cards it is clear that they feel banning a card would negatively impact booster sales. The only thing that negatively impacts booster packs sales is time. Once a new product comes out the focus is on that, and Lord of the Rings cards are yesterday’s news. The longer these cards remain legal in any competitive format the more players will choose to go elsewhere. If Standard does not feel supported then they could wind up leaving the game altogether.
These cards were also included on Magic Arena, and eventually had their game mechanics altered in the online client as they were deemed to powerful. If that happens in Arena it’s a clear indicator that the card should be banned in paper, and having two distinct versions of the card causes confusion, and frustration among the players. Your customers.
Hot off the heels of Modern Horizons 2, and the (literal) upheaval that caused to many Modern decks and collections having another set of “must run” cards is just too much. Even casual play at FNM level events is negatively impacted as it becomes an arms race to acquire the most powerful cards just to scratch out a few dollars in store credit that would not even be enough to get you one half of a single copy of these cards.
On top of the (many) issues with the Lord of the Rings set there is the issue of format legality. If I were to ask a player what formats the first D&D set was legal in upon release they would be able to tell me. Then we have the second set which was legal in only some formats. The Transformers cards no one knew what formats those were legal in, and Lord of the Rings dropped a nuclear bomb on Modern. If the goal is to have as many players play these cards as possible then have all Universes Beyond (and D&D) cards be legal in all formats. If not all then at least Modern. That format obtained it’s identity when the border changed in 8th Edition to the “modern” border. Nothing says “I’m never coming back” like showing up to an FNM level event with your Rogue tribal deck backed by Black Market Connections. It doesn’t matter how infrequently this happens (and those in the community having that response is a bit elitist) it is the fact it happens at all. I can understand the new player perspective as a card like Black Market Connections doesn’t appear on the Modern banned list, but there’s no clarity to what truly is legal in the format. In fact on the site it states: “This format lets you dive deeper into Magic’s history, allowing cards from Eighth edition to today”. Read it like that one could conclude that Commander Legends: Battle For Baldur’s Gate is legal in the format when it in fact is not. On top of that cards available in Set Boosters (and soon Play Boosters) that are not legal in Standard could be viewed as legal in Modern even though they are not. So when viewing the Lord of the Rings set as Modern legal, but other non-Standard sets as not, one could feel confused and simply return to The Kitchen Table League. That does not help attendance at stores, and it is that attendance that is needed to keep the sales flowing (and more importantly the store open). Other card games competing for the players dollars have much simpler format construction. In fact my LGS where I attend Thursday night Modern has events for Pokémon, YuGiOh, Lorcana, and One Piece. Magic: the Gathering may be 5th place on that list. Being able to open a card from a pack, and immediately put it into your deck, seems to work for them. Why does Magic: the Gathering have to make it more confusing? It can’t be due to power level of the cards because of the powerful cards already seeing dominant play in Modern. In fact having all cards with the “modern border” legal in Modern would allow any playtesting to focus on that format, and address any issues before the cards hit the store shelves. This is assuming the staff have time to playtest anything with how quickly new sets, Commander decks, and Secret Lair drops are released.
Beyond all of that there is something we need to prepare ourselves for. It’s that Universes Beyond cards will eventually be released into Standard. Coming next year there will be a Final Fantasy booster set release, as well as the first of multiple (two? three? who knows) Marvel booster set releases. You can not tell me that neither of these will end up being Standard (and with that Pioneer) legal. With how large the Marvel IP is, and the first MCU movies for The Fantastic Four as well as the X-Men hitting theaters in a few years getting players into Standard (instead of Modern) could help add to the overall player base, and provide a new generation of Magic players…but will they attend events at the stores? Only time will tell.
However with all of that said there is one negative impact these sets have had. It has devalued Magic: the Gathering cards. Why even consider buying into Standard when once those cards leave the format they will see zero play outside of it? Modern decks are mostly constructed of cards from sets printed directly to it causing the format to rotate (somewhat) once every few years. While reprint sets have hurt the value of other cards as well not having them be a viable choice in an older format leads to them sitting in boxes at the store not played. It leave the player who had them without any value to trade them in to acquire newer “must run” cards. Yet even with all of that these choices to include Universes Beyond also negatively impact the Magic: the Gathering story. We know how Lord of the Rings happens. Many of us want to know the impact of Karn’s violent behavior at the end of March of the Machines, or where Elspeth went. Is Jace alive? What’s happening on Zendikar? …and so on. Instead the game Magic: the Gathering has turned into The Ship of Theseus. While I understand the game does change and evolve over time there is a big difference between evolution and being unrecognizable. It’s more about who has the bigger bank account and not about skill in the game, and all of the lore and characters carefully crafted and built over 30 years has been pushed aside for a cash grab. If I knew this was the direction the game was going to go I would have left years ago after playing since 1994, and I know I’m not the only one that feels that way.
In Conclusion
While I understand every product may not appeal to everyone the fact that format legality for Universes Beyond cards is more confusing than figuring out the contents of a Collector’s Booster is not lost on me. There have been products along this journey that have proven by focusing them to Commander players (as with the Warhammer 40,000 and Doctor Who releases respectfully) that Universes Beyond can be an enjoyable experience with it’s desired intent. However things have gone too far, and polluted multiple competitive formats taking one out of the immersion in the many unique and diverse worlds of Magic: the Gathering. The only solutions would be to make everything legal, or restrict these cards to be legal to Commander only. I doubt anyone will have the courage to make that decision.
Next Time
While this blog post addressed one issue on my mind as of late there is still another I want to address: The community. In the meantime you can follow me on Twitter. Thank you again all for reading.
Until then…
TAP MORE MANA!!!
The Arcane Sanctum 