Magic: The Gatheringrecently sent out some preview cards for its upcoming Secret Lair Commander deck toinfluencers, and one of the previews revealed the surprising return ofUniverses Within. Originally,Universes Withinwas promised to be a more widespread way forMagic: The Gatheringto handle some of the issues players had with the game’sUniverses Beyondsets. However, asUniverses Beyondexpanded, its counterpart seemingly got swept under the rug, and I assumed it was going to die there.
Universes Beyondstarted out small with a few promo cards like thePonies: The Gallopingcrossover withMy Little Pony, and Secret Lairs likeThe Walking DeadandStranger Things. This started to ramp up with the fullLord of the Ringsset, and last October, it was revealed thatthree fullUniverses Beyondsetswere planned for 2025.The state ofUniverses Withinwasn’t mentioned at allduring the announcement, but it has now made a subtle return in the form of a single card.
Universes Within Was Supposed To Cover All Universes Beyond Cards
Universes Beyond Cards Were Supposed To Be Reworked Into Cards Fitting Magic’s IP
Initially,Universes Withinwas planned to be a way forMagic: The Gatheringto convert itsUniverses Beyondcards (AKA cards featuring characters from other IPs) into cards set in theMagic: The Gatheringuniverse. For example, Eleven fromStranger Thingsbecame Cecily, Haunted Mage in herUniverses Withinconversion, andthe card featured artwork of a character who seemed more in line withMagic’s existing world. This way, players who wanted to useUniverses Beyondcards for their functionality, but weren’t fans of their IP invadingMagic, had an alternative version of the card to play.
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There were four printings ofUniverses Withincards, remaking the Secret Lairs forStranger Things,The Walking Dead,Street Fighter, andD&D: Honor Among Thieves. However, players became skeptical once thefullLord of the Ringssetwas announced thatMagic: The Gatheringwould continue to print in-universe versions of all its cards.AsUniverses Beyondcontinued to make up a larger percentage ofMagic’s releases, it became increasingly unrealistic to expect aUniverses Withinversionof every new card. While I thought this meantUniverses Withinwas done for good, that apparently isn’t the case.
Magic’s Upcoming Secret Lair Commander Deck Is Printing A Universes Within Card
The Lord Of The Rings Card Raise The Palisade Is Getting Reprinted
Magic: The Gatheringhas begun teasing an upcoming Secret Lair Commander deck calledEveryone’s Invited. As part of the promotion for it, they sent out several preview cards, one of which immediately caught my attention.Magic: The Gatheringstreamer CovertGoBlue posted an image onTwitterof the card Raise the Palisade’s new art treatment fromEveryone’s Invited. While Jordan Speer’s art on the card is beautiful, and the card itself is decent, I was much more excited for another reason.Raise the Palisade is a card that has only been printed once before, in theLord of the Ringsset.
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This is significant for a couple of reasons. First,it means thatMagic: The Gatheringis allowed to reprint cards from theLord of the Ringsset(though it’s unclear how long they have license to printLord of the Ringsimagery or characters on them). Second, it means thatUniverses Withinmight not be as dead as I had assumed. While this wasn’t a rework of a specificLord of the Ringscharacter into aMagiccharacter, it is still aUniverses Beyondcard being reworked into something that feels more at home aesthetically withMagic’s IP.
There’s Still Hope Universes Within Could Return For Some Cards
Universes Within Reprints Can Help Keep Prices Reasonable
Now, I’m not trying to make any sweeping claims that allUniverses Beyondcards will eventually be reprinted in aUniverses Beyondstyle. I honestly don’t think it would be feasible at this point, and some cards, likeFinal Fantasy’s Cactuar, feel so rooted in their original IP that it would be weird to see aMagicversion. Still,this does at least mean that we could seeUniverses Withinversions of cards fromUniverses Beyondsets printed in one-off productslike this. This may not fulfill the initial promise ofUniverses Within, but I do think it’s better than nothing.
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What’s exciting about this revelation is that it meansUniverses Beyondcards aren’t destined to grow prohibitively expensive the further we get from their initial printing. A competitive card like Orcish Bowmasters, originally from theLord of the Ringsset, could therefore be reprinted at some point, and hopefully fall from its current $40 price point. Such reprints are integral to keepingMagic: The Gatheringcards within an affordable price range, so it’s good to know thatUniverses Beyondcards are not exempt from getting reprinted with new in-universe art treatments.
