Magic: The Gathering, long revered as the gold standard of collectible card games, has undergone a significant devolution in recent years—both in terms of gameplay and storytelling. One of the most notable shifts is the increasing integration of external intellectual properties into the game, from The Lord of the Rings and Doctor Who to Fallout, Assassin’s Creed, and Final Fantasy. While these Universes Beyond sets have generated excitement and brought new players into the fold, they’ve also sparked debate within the core MTG community—particularly among those who value the game’s original, richly built multiverse and its decades of lore.
Universes Beyond: A Commercial Triumph
On paper, the business rationale is clear. Universes Beyond sets have been financial juggernauts. The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth set was a commercial success, attracting Tolkien fans who might never have picked up an MTG deck otherwise. These crossovers allow Wizards of the Coast to tap into well-established fandoms, leveraging nostalgia and mainstream appeal to drive sales.
For Hasbro, WotC’s parent company, this aligns perfectly with a broader strategy of brand synergy and franchise expansion. It’s easy to see why IP integration is being pursued aggressively: more attention, more players, more profit.
But the cost of this success may be coming at the expense of Magic’s own identity.
A Lore Once Legendary
For decades, MTG prided itself on its self-contained universe. From the Brothers’ War and the fall of Serra’s Realm, to the rise of the Gatewatch and the Eldrazi invasions, the game told its own stories—ambitious, complex, and uniquely tailored to the mechanics and flavor of the cards themselves. The lore wasn’t just a backdrop; it was a living, breathing narrative that evolved with each set.
Characters like Urza, Nicol Bolas, Liliana Vess, and Chandra Nalaar weren’t guest stars—they were foundational. Planeswalkers were once rare, god-like figures whose very presence shaped entire planes. Now, amidst a flood of crossover characters, the weight of these original icons seems diminished.
The tone and style of MTG’s worldbuilding once maintained a consistent mythopoeic flavor. Whether dark and gothic (Innistrad), nature-infused (Lorwyn), or science-fantasy (Mirrodin), there was always a feeling that you were exploring one cohesive multiverse. Today, pulling a Vault Boy or Ezio Auditore out of a booster pack can feel like fan fiction made canon.
A Diminishing Narrative Center
Worse still, as Universes Beyond occupies increasing design and storytelling bandwidth, the cohesion of MTG’s original plotline has suffered. The recent March of the Machine arc, meant to be a grand multiversal climax, fell flat for many fans—rushed, bloated, and emotionally shallow. Planeswalkers lost their spark (literally), Phyrexia was defeated without payoff worthy of its decades-long menace, and the Gatewatch, once central, has all but disappeared.
Meanwhile, the space once used to develop homegrown characters and planes is now filled with franchise crossovers. The once-captivating promise of new worlds to discover—Regatha (where Chandra trained), Vryn (Home of Jace), or the long-missing Karlov Manor—feels postponed indefinitely in favor of more marketable settings.
Brand Synergy vs. World Integrity
The core issue isn’t that crossovers exist. MTG has always flirted with other genres—Un-sets, parody cards, and silver-bordered experiments are nothing new. The problem is priority and balance. When more design and marketing weight is placed on external IPs than internal development, the game risks becoming a vessel for other stories, rather than a storyteller in its own right.
Magic: The Gathering is now in danger of becoming Magic: The Platform—a kind of cardboard-based Netflix, curating content from other properties rather than cultivating its own, they’re not enriching Magic’s internal narrative core. These cards and stories exist outside the continuity that made the game resonate so deeply with its longtime players and fans.
The Way Forward
Wizards of the Coast still has the chance to strike a better balance. IP crossovers need not come at the cost of MTG’s soul. A renewed focus on the mainline sets—deeper stories, stronger characters, and interconnected arcs—could reinvigorate the fan base and honor the legacy that brought the game this far.
Perhaps the answer lies in treating Universes Beyond like seasonal events rather than permanent fixtures. Or in re-investing in narrative design that allows Magic’s original planes and protagonists to shine with the same energy lavished on guest IPs.
One solutions Wizards has flirted with, but has not fully committed to is Universes Within. Having in universe versions of cards that were originally printed in Universes Beyond. This may be a great solution for some players aesthetic preferences if released en masse, but does not address the core issues discussed earlier.
At its best, MTG was more than a game—it was an ever-evolving legendarium. And if Wizards can remember that, there may still be room for both crossovers and continuity.
But if the current trajectory continues, MTG may lose what once made it magical.
Osogladiator 