MTG’s Lead Designer Mark Rosewater has given fans reason to be hopeful for further in-universe reprints of Universes Beyond cards.
While they were regarded as something of an unwelcome novelty not too long ago, the overwhelming success of sets like Tales of Middle-earth, Fallout, and Warhammer 40K has proven that Universes Beyond is here to stay.
These crossover sets adapt popular properties to the mechanics of Magic: The Gathering, and have swiftly become a major part of Wizards’ release schedule alongside in-universes sets like Bloomburrow and The Lost Caverns of Ixalan.
While these crossovers have introduced many new players to the hobby, many MTG players feel somewhat locked out of Universes Beyond sets, whether by being unfamiliar with a given property or preferring to build with MTG’s original worlds and cards exclusively.
However, regardless of players’ familiarity with these franchises, the Universes Beyond sets themselves often contain powerful cards that would find a perfect home in a variety of Magic decks.
Thankfully MTG’s Lead Designer Mark Rosewater has given crossover-averse players reason to believe that they won’t have to miss out on unique and powerful Universes Beyond card designs forever.
Addressing a fan on his personal blog, Rosewater responded to their question “Can you reprint Universes Beyond cards as is? (ie: not a Universes Within version of it)”
Rosewaster told the player: “It depends if the name is property specific, but yes we can print some Universes Beyond cards as is. Obviously, it would need to have in-universe Magic art.”
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MTG fans on Reddit were quick to discuss which Universes Beyond cards would be the best fit for regular MTG sets without any change bar the art.
One commenter pointed out a Doctor Who card sharing a name with Magic’s beloved golem Planeswalker, something Principal MTG designer Gavin Verhey is all too aware of: “If they manage to print Sisterhood of Karn within a Magic set I’ll laugh so hard.”
Other players pointed out that cards like Sisterhood of Karn have been designed with future in-universe reprints in mind: “I’m pretty sure the reason that it’s creature type is just “Cleric” and not “Alien Cleric” is because Gavin (Verhey) specifically wanted to find somewhere in the future to reprint it with MTG flavor.”
One of the standout positives of Universes Beyond is how well the designers at Wizards manage to adapt a property’s identity and stories into MTG mechanics. But while these cards may lose something in translation, thankfully the vast majority of them would still function perfectly well as in-universe cards too.
These reprints wouldn’t be wholly uncharted territory either. Universes Within already exists as a way for Universes Beyond Secret Lairs to be reprinted as in-universe Magic cards, with The Walking Dead, Stranger Things, and Street Fighter having been adapted thus far.
While Rosewater has previously made a full Universes Beyond reprint set seem unlikely, as the number and variety of Universes Beyond cards continue to grow, seeing reprints here and there – perhaps as Special Guests – could well come to pass.