Summary

  • In a roundabout way, Universes Beyond is leading to more nostalgic, high fantasy sets.
  • Recent sets strayed from traditional fantasy, but players crave more of that core essence.
  • While crossovers like Final Fantasy are coming, expect future MTG sets to feel more like Magic's traditional high fantasy.

Ever since Universes Beyond came on to the scene in 2021, Magic: The Gathering players have been concerned about the decreasing amount of fantasy found in the game. This came to a head last year, with three of the five main sets released (Karlov Manor, Outlaws of Thunder Junction, and Duskmourn: House of Horror) eschewed high fantasy for more modern genre inspirations, and were highly criticised by the community for it.

Like them or loathe them, we're probably going to see fewer so-called 'hat sets', and, according to MTG's head designer Mark Rosewater, it's all because of Universes Beyond.

On his Blogatog blog, where he talks directly to players, head designer Mark Rosewater was asked about why The Brothers War failed, while this month's Tarkir: Dragonstorm has been a huge success.

The question may sound odd, but both sets play heavily into established Magic lore, with The Brothers War revisiting a key conflict on Dominaria, while Dragonstorm reinvents the beloved setting of Tarkir. Both are much more reliant on you knowing MTG lore than, say, Bloomburrow.

In his answer, Rosewater pinned it on the rising success of Universes Beyond, saying "my theory is that the increase of Universes Beyond has made players want in-Multiverse sets to be more nostalgic. In-Multiverse sets don't have to push the boundaries as much now we have a whole line of Magic sets that do exactly that".

Following some backlash from players, who felt like that answer precluded successful boundary-pushing sets like Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, Rosewater then clarified in a follow-up question that "nostalgic" was likely not the best word. He said "my word choice wasn't ideal". He then said that players are more craving for "In-Multiverse sets to feel closer to the core of what Magic is. In-Multiverse sets to feel 'more like Magic', centered in high fantasy, sticking closer to the feel of Magic sets of old."

"Feel More Like Magic"

Dragonback Assault by Ryan Pancoast

Recent sets not 'feeling like Magic' has been a common complaint. Murders at Karlov Manor was a murder mystery set, Outlaws of Thunder Junction a Western, Duskmourn modern horror, and Aetherdrift was focused on racing.

There have been very few straight, high fantasy sets released for Magic of late, with Bloomburrow's magical woodland creatures being the closest to it after Tarkir. In fact, Bloomburrow was cited by Rosewater as a "good example of a new world that has the proper feel". While it played in certain trope spaces surrounding magical animals, animal fantasy, and even furry culture, it was still primarily an undeniably fantasy set.

Foundations took from the entire multiverse and didn't have a story, though it did fit the fantasy aesthetic a lot closer than the surrounding sets.

In fact, Bloomburrow was cited by Rosewater as a "good example of a new world that has the proper feel". While it played in certain trope spaces surrounding magical animals, animal fantasy, and even furry culture, it was still primarily an undeniably fantasy set.

More Tarkir, Less Aetherdrift, But Still Lots Of Universes Beyond

Spider-man by Javier Charro

This is just the latest in a series of statements from Rosewater that suggests we could be returning to more fantasy-based sets. At least, when we're not doing crossovers. Late last year in his annual summary of the year's sets, Rosewater pointed at being too focused on tropes as one of the lessons learned.

Of course, we'll still also be getting plenty of Universes Beyond, with Final Fantasy launching next month and Spider-man and Avatar: The Last Airbender coming later in the year. Universes Beyond is still beating in-Multiverse sets in "every metric", meaning that, while the sets we get in the multiverse will be more like Tarkir and less like Aetherdrift, we should still expect plenty of crossovers in the works too.

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Magic: The Gathering

Franchise Magic: The Gathering Original Release Date August 5, 1993 Publisher Wizards of the Coast Player Count 2+ Age Recommendation 13+ Length per Game Variable Expand Collapse