While there were plenty of exciting high points throughout 2025, it’s hard to say the year was perfect. Between MTG Spider Man, multiple ban-worthy cards, and dubious art decisions, the year certainly had its fair share of controversies. Even though it escaped our end-of-year list, Aetherdrift was definitely in contention.
Not only did this MTG set have a controversial death race theme, but some players were repulsed by the set’s artwork. As if this wasn’t bad enough, the unique “Travelogue” format that mashed three planes into one wasn’t exactly perfect. Between major details being glossed over and a fan-favorite plane barely getting attention, it’s no wonder it’s now considered a mistake.
Muraganda Missed Out
Wizards of the Coast really didn’t do themselves any favors with MTG Aetherdrift. Having to showcase three planes in one set was always going to be a struggle, but tons had happened in the interim. Avishkar, for instance, got a brand new name and went through an entire revolution, basically none of which we got to see.
As if one revolution wasn’t enough, Amonket also went through its own transformation, which easily deserved its own set. The same is true for Muraganda, which was visited for the first time in Aetherdrift after years of teasing setup. While this plane did get 74 cards in Aetherdrift, it felt like it barely scratched the surface.
Frustratingly, this wasn’t exactly a problem until Wizards leaned into Muraganda’s worldbuilding. Previously, while we knew Muraganda was the Vanilla Matters plane, there wasn’t a ton of depth to explore. In the set’s Planeswalker’s Guide, however, it was revealed that the plane had a ton of tribes, biomes, and unique creatures.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, Wizards repeatedly teased the return of Garruk within Aetherdrift. With his silhouette appearing clearly in art, fans rejoiced, predicting his return after five long years. Thanks to only getting so much space in the set, however, Garruk never materialized, not even in the follow-up Alchemy set.
Due to all of this missed potential, it’s no wonder that MTG players weren’t exactly happy with the first real appearance of Muraganda. In hindsight, it now seems that Wizards of the Coast feels the same way. Responding to a recent comment on Blogatog, MTG’s Head Designer, Mark Rosewater, effectively called Muraganda’s first real visit a mistake.
“Not Something We’ll Do Lightly”
“We learned a lot from doing Muraganda. Making new worlds with less than a full set’s worth of resources is difficult. It’s not that we’ll never do it again, but it’s not something we’ll do lightly.”
Mark Rosewater
Understandably, given the reaction to Muraganda in Aetherdrift, it seems Wizards isn’t in a rush to repeat this design decision. Having to set up a full set in a third of the space, unsurprisingly, leaves things feeling undercooked. Even though our first proper taste of Muraganda was just meant to be a teaser, it still didn’t do it justice.
Curiously, judging by Rosewater’s statement, it doesn’t seem that Travelogue sets are off the table entirely. Instead, it seems more likely that if we get another one, it’ll be returning to a trio of known and established planes. In theory, this could allow more space to show the unique interplane interactions, so long as Omenpaths are still around.
Realistically, while Muraganda definitely got the short end of the stick, this may have more to do with the set than the concept. Given that this should be a solvable problem, it makes sense that Wizards isn’t saying they’ll never try it again. Thankfully, for MTG players miffed about Muraganda at least, Rosewater has already confirmed a full return is almost inevitable.
Since we already know the full 2026 MTG release calendar, the very earliest we could see one of these hypothetical sets is 2027. Even after that, we’re only getting three Magic Multiverse sets per year nowadays, so it’ll take a while to get to new ideas. Considering all the buzz going on around Alara right now, Muraganda may end up on the back burner.
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