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31, Oct, 24

MTG Designer Denies The Possibility Of Universes Beyond Planeswalkers

No planeswalking between Intellectual Properties.

It’s been a hell of a week in the world of Magic. With the absolute deluge of Foundations spoilers we’ve seen in the last few days, it’s easy to forget that it’s only been a week since some of the most controversial announcements in MTG history. Some players are still very much raw about the upcoming Universes Beyond changes. As part of his efforts to allay their concerns, MTG Head Designer Mark Rosewater has promised that no Planeswalkers will appear in Universes Beyond sets going forward. While this is a positive move, many members of the community are less than convinced.

A Shaky Promise

“Planeswalkers only appear in sets which occur in the Magic multiverse, so no, Universes Beyond sets will not have planeswalkers. Being Standard-legal was never the line.”

Mark Rosewater

This statement came in response to a question from azetsu222 on Blogatog. They simply asked if Universes Beyond sets will include Planeswalker cards now that they’re Standard-legal. It’s a totally fair question. Since Universes Beyond will now make up half of the Standard-legal sets released, there will be a lot less room in Magic IP sets for Planeswalkers. Adding them to Universes Beyond sets would ensure a steady stream of ‘walkers in Standard.

Despite this, Rosewater’s answer above makes it clear that this won’t be the case. Planeswalkers will only appear in “Magic multiverse” sets going forward. For those who have been playing Magic for a few years, this will immediately raise some question marks. Didn’t we already see Universes Beyond planeswalkers in the MTG Dungeons & Dragons set? Yes we did, five of them in fact.

These cards weren’t particularly controversial at the time, despite being planeswalkers from outside the traditional Magic universe. The fact that D&D is a fellow Wizards property with a similar feel likely helped that a lot. Though these cards were generally considered fine by the player base, Wizards doesn’t think too fondly of them.

“We consider the D&D planeswalkers a mistake in retrospect. We want to keep them a core Magic thing.”

Mark Rosewater

Though the D&D planeswalkers retroactively contradicted Rosewater’s promise, this new statement likely means Wizards is serious about maintaining the divide. For the many fans disappointed by last Friday’s announcements, this is undoubtedly a good thing. Keeping core Magic and Universes Beyond distinct is a good way to maintain the game’s own identity, after all. That said, many are greeting this good news with skepticism based on Wizards’ recent history and track record.

Press X To Doubt

Universes Beyond Planeswalkers MTG Cynical Loner

“MaRo, have you ever heard of The Boy Who Cried Wolf?”

themagecommander

In response to Rosewater’s statement, many players took to the comments to express their cynicism. As Imnimo put it, “I feel like this kind of answer is just noise at this point. Reading it does not make me think it’s any more or less likely that we will see planeswalkers in a UB set in the future.” Akunokai felt similarly: “Sorry but I don’t believe a single thing they are saying at this point. None of their promises hold any value anymore.”

While these reactions may seem strong, they aren’t unwarranted. Last week’s Universes Beyond changes have shaken the faith of long-time core Magic players. The game many bought into and played for years has fundamentally changed, in ways they don’t agree with. It doesn’t help that these changes directly contradict a previous promise made by Wizards in the past.

“That said, Universes Beyond cards will not be Standard legal. We strive to make Magic cards that are widely useful, but Universes Beyond will be above and, well, beyond our normal Standard releases. So nothing much is changing with our normal cadence of releases for Standard. This is purely a cool thing we’re doing in addition to all the other cool things we’re already doing.”

Wizards of the Coast, February 2021

There it is, plain as day. Rosewater even doubled down on this position later in the year, stating that “Future sets with non-Magic properties will not be premier sets” in an August 2021 Blogatog post. This promise was made and trusted by players, and now Wizards has broken it in pursuit of greater growth.

Every game needs to evolve over time in order to stay relevant, especially competitive games like Magic. Following lucrative trends like Universes Beyond is understandable from a business perspective, but making sweeping promises only to break them later erodes player trust in a way that’s difficult to repair. Maybe Wizards will stick to their guns and keep planeswalkers out of Universes Beyond going forward. Based on current trends it’s hard to see them doing so if player sentiment starts leaning towards it, however.

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