Vivi OrnitierVivi Ornitier | Art by Toni Infante

From Innistrad Remastered to Avatar: The Last Airbender, it's certainly been a year to remember for Magic: The Gathering fans. 2,020 new and unique cards were printed this year, making this the fourth year in a row with over 2,000 new cards printed. There were some... controversial cards, like Vivi OrnitierVivi Ornitier, powerful spells, like Stock UpStock Up, and even a new Tezzereta new Tezzeret! But, after seven sets, was 2025 a good year for our game? Let's take a look!

The Good

Tarkir: Dragonstorm and Edge of Eternities

While it's difficult to look at an entire Magic set and deem the whole thing "good" or "bad," these two sets certainly brought some great cards into our game.

Each of Tarkir's five clans did a fantastic job of modernizing the mechanics of the old Tarkir block. They didn't feel entirely derivative of the old mechanics, but they paid homage to KTK, FRF, and DTK quite well. This set's uncommon cycles say a lot about how well it's designed. The Monument cycle, focused on mana fixing, fit extremely well into the plane's ludonarrative. I also really enjoyed both the Omen and nondragon cycles. These cards weren't all extremely powerful, but they provided a great on-ramp for new players to understand what Tarkir's all about. Although I wasn't a huge fan of this set's headliner, Mox JasperMox Jasper, I think Dragonstorm is exactly what Magic needs. It's a fun, grounded, in-universe set that provides interesting designs to players who want to learn more about the amazing worlds that Wizards of the Coast creates.

I was on the fence about it initially, but Edge of Eternities has won me over. While I don't love the "space opera" flavor of Edge, I have to admit that the cards printed in this set were cool. From instant staples, like Icetill ExplorerIcetill Explorer and Umbral Collar ZealotUmbral Collar Zealot, to unique designs, like Ragost, Deft GastronautRagost, Deft Gastronaut and CosmogoyfCosmogoyf, this set had a little something for everyone, including tons of cards that slotted right into popular archetypes, like TerrasymbiosisTerrasymbiosis, Weftstalker ArdentWeftstalker Ardent, and Cosmogrand ZenithCosmogrand Zenith. I didn't expect it, but this set featured heavily in my recent article focused on the best nonlegendary creatures of 2025. Edge of Eternities' setting certainly turned some people away from the set, but it ended up being a successful release.

Final Fantasy and Avatar: The Last Airbender

While Universes Beyond isn't every Magic player's favorite part of the game, it has been an objectively good business decision. The program has brought tons of players to the game and has given us some great cards to play with.

Final Fantasy reportedly broke Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth's sales record in just one day. It took LTR six months to produce $200,000,000, and FIN made that much in just 24 hours. That's truly remarkable.

But finances aren't everything. A set may do well because players are chasing specific cards, but that doesn't mean that booster pack purchasers will become Magic players. With that acknowledged, I still think that Final Fantasy was a good release. There were some innovations, like Adventures on landsAdventures on lands and Saga creaturesSaga creatures, which provided unique tools to Commander players. There were also some individually powerful cards, like Starting TownStarting Town and Buster SwordBuster Sword, alongside the Crystal cycleCrystal cycle. There were some power outliers that I'll address later, but this set injected some fun into Commander while bringing more financial success than any set ever had.

Avatar: The Last Airbender was also well received, even if I'm speaking on it just slightly after its official release. The set "felt like Magic," as many people said, and I was personally very pleased with how Wizards of the Coast integrated into a world very obviously dominated by . It felt much more elegantly done than Assassin's Creed, for example, where felt like somewhat of an afterthought. This set captured some of the lowercase-m-magic present in Avatar's world, while providing some awesome cards like Badgermole CubBadgermole Cub, Wan Shi Tong, LibrarianWan Shi Tong, Librarian, and Redirect LightningRedirect Lightning. If this set had altered names and artwork, I could be convinced that the cards were from a cohesive in-universe Magic set. That's not necessarily the best metric, but I view it as a good marker of a successful UB set.

The Bad

Aetherdrift

Our return to Avishkar (formerly known as Kaladesh) was not as successful as our return to Tarkir. This was a "hat set," where it felt like we were watching Magic's characters playing dress-up as race car drivers for a few weeks. Chandra, Spark HunterChandra, Spark Hunter doesn't have the same je ne sais quoi that Chandra, Awakened InfernoChandra, Awakened Inferno does, and it felt strange to see this traditionally high fantasy game venture into the death race genre. If you'll forgive the pun, this set lacked the "Magic"of Magic, and it didn't have cards powerful enough to make up for that feeling. There were a few individually powerful designs, like the Verge cycleVerge cycle of lands and Monument to EnduranceMonument to Endurance, but it was difficult for me to be enthusiastic about even the best cards from Aetherdrift. This set felt like a shadow of other in-universe sets, and Avishkar didn't feel nearly as fleshed out upon our return as I had hoped. I think the problem lies with the choice to venture into the death race genre, rather than with the plane itself.

The "Fortnite-ification" of Magic

There was less Magic in Magic this year than there ever had been before. We had just three Standard-legal in-universe sets (Aetherdrift, Tarkir: Dragonstorm, and Edge of Eternities). One of them (Aetherdrift) was a hat set, one of them took Magic to a new genre entirely (Edge of Eternities; space opera), and one was a return to a beloved plane from 10 years ago (Tarkir: Dragonstorm). That's an OK mix, but many players were frustrated to see this spread of sets alongside three Universes Beyond product drops. Avatar: The Last Airbender, Marvel's Spider Man, and Final Fantasy all brought external IPs to the game, and many voiced their concern about the dilution of original Magic story for the sake of sales.

Yes, these Universes Beyond sets sold well and ostensibly brought new players to Magic. But, I like the parts of this game that are unique. Magic's story and original flavor text was one of the biggest draws for me as a new player, and we're seeing less of that with each passing year. It's true that I haven't been a fan of any of the external IPs that Wizards of the Coast has selected for Universes Beyond, and that's likely influencing my thoughts, but I prefer the original designs that Wizards' talented designers create. This is a personal statement that I can't back up with any tangible facts, but I feel like in-universe designs often have more "soul."

The Ugly

Marvel's Spider-Man

This set was extremely poorly received. The community is typically somewhat disapproving of Universes Beyond sets, but Spider-Man got a particularly sour welcome. I think it was partially due to the fiasco with the digital rights to these cards, as Wizards released in-universe versions of many Spider-Man cards for use on Magic: The Gathering Arena. Known as Through the Omenpaths, these cards gave original names and original artwork to a ton of Spider-Man cards. Many players were frustrated at the card knowledge issues that would arise from this, and many more were concerned about what this meant for the future of Magic's collaborations with large corporations like Marvel. It's now twice as difficult to understand each card in Spider-Man, as each card has two names and two pieces of art. That means that players who were introduced to the set through Arena would struggle at in-person events (and vice versa). This card game is incredibly difficult to play, and Through the Omenpaths only complicated it further. Additionally, if Wizards of the Coast can't gain access to the digital rights for Spider-Man, that sets a bad precedent for future UB sets.

Putting the Omenpaths fiasco aside, though, this set wasn't all that interesting. There were a few cool cards in this set, like Spider-PunkSpider-Punk and Peter Parker's CameraPeter Parker's Camera, but nothing that blew the player base's hair back. This set was, easily, the lowest point of the year.

Controversial Cards

This year did have a few cards that sparked debate in the community. Wizards of the Coast certainly did not shy away from printing powerful cards in Universes Beyond products.

No card epitomizes this better than Vivi OrnitierVivi Ornitier, a ridiculously powerful mana advantage engine that can become a fantastic card draw engine with the addition of CuriosityCuriosity. Even without Curiosity, though, this creature is just ridiculous. While it hasn't fully taken over Commander, it sits as a low Tier 1 or high Tier 2 cEDH deck. It did pose a significant problem to 60-card formats, to the point where it was banned in Standard shortly after its release. In an interview, Gavin Verhey even told me that the team may have gone a bit overboard when designing Vivi. I hope that this Wizard's power is an outlier and not the start of a trend in UB design.

And, although they didn't receive the same attention that Vivi did, I still feel the need to comment on Choco, Seeker of ParadiseChoco, Seeker of Paradise and The Soul StoneThe Soul Stone. These cards are strong, so much so that they actually define Commander just by existing. Choco is the most powerful Bird kindred commander currently available, and The Soul Stone is the best two-mana rock currently available. While the niches carved out by these cards are small, Commander players cannot build "optimal decks" without their inclusion. If you want to build the best Bird kindred list possible, it's likely going to be helmed by Choco, and if you want to build the best -based deck possible, you're likely going to include The Soul Stone.

One of the biggest arguments that Universes Beyond supporters make in favor of the program is that "if you don't like Universes Beyond, you can just choose not to engage with it." To an extent, I agree. Every product isn't made for everyone. But, when Universes Beyond sets are printed at the same frequency as in-universe sets (or at an even higher frequency than in-universe sets), it becomes difficult to ignore them. When cards like Choco and The Soul Stone are printed, it becomes impossible to ignore them.

Magic players want to play with the best cards. They want to make the decks that they spend their precious time constructing and hard-earned money buying as good as possible. But, they don't always want to engage with external IPs. Now, they have no choice. If a Magic player wants to play the game as well as possible, they must engage with the Universes Beyond project. If they choose not to include these cards in their decks, they're imposing a limit on their decks' effectiveness. Is this a good thing for Magic? That's a difficult question to answer, and it's one that I'll leave for you to ponder, o' reader mine.

In Conclusion

With all the facts laid out in front of us, was 2025 overall good or bad for Magic? As I see it, this year was a net negative for the game. The external IPs that were brought in to boost the game's player base had mixed reception, at best, and one of the in-universe sets was a straight-up dud. I even forgot that Innistrad Remastered released this year, and I had to remind myself to include it in this write-up. The set had very little impact on the game, and was overall disappointing. All told, Tarkir: Dragonstorm and Final Fantasy were the brightest parts of a down year for the game.

So, what's next? If Wizards of the Coast plan on having an even split between in-universe and Universes Beyond sets, they need to ensure that Universes Beyond sets still feel like Magic. That's one of the biggest reasons that Spider-Man failed while Avatar: The Last Airbender succeeded. The external property that had a power system similar to Magic's jived very well with our mana system, while the external property based on superheroes felt like a forced inclusion. The only thing more important to Magic's continued success than good selection of external IPs for Universes Beyond is the creation of good in-universe sets. Both Strixhaven and Lorwyn are fan favorites, and I'm excited to see how Wizards of the Coast handles their return. I hope it's closer to Tarkir than Avishkar.