MaRo Confirms Fewer Legendary Creatures Coming to In-Universe Sets

Last updated on February 21, 2025

Glorious Gale | Illustration by Ekaterina Burmak

Magic: The Gathering’s lead designer, Mark Rosewater (MaRo), has confirmed that in-universe Magic sets will feature fewer legendary creatures. In a succinct response to a fan question on his Tumblr blog, Rosewater replied “Yes” when asked if the high volume of legendary creatures in Universes Beyond (UB) MTG sets would lead to a reduction in in-universe sets.

Rosewater had already hinted that Wizards of the Coast (WotC) were starting to trend downward the number of legendary creatures they include in in-universe sets, but now he has clarified that the reason is connected to UB crossovers like Final Fantasy – it seems very clear that UB sets will get the lion's share of legends, while Magic sets based around MTG's own IPs will have a much lower head count.

A Trend Reversing?

Tale's End | Illustration by Randy Vargas

If implemented this year, Rosewater's announcement would signal a shift in design philosophy that would revert a noticeable increase in legendary creatures over the years. Influenced in large part by the sustained growth of the EDH format, Magic has steadily increased the output of commanders.

During 2000-2010, there were around 300 new legendary creatures printed in the whole decade. Wizards of the Coast (WotC) Doubling Seasoned it to roughly 650 new legendaries in the following 10 years (2011-2020). But in 2021 alone, WotC printed about 200 new commanders. And by 2022 and 2023 they doubled it to 400 new legendaries per year.

One simple reason for this huge increase was that we just got more Magic cards overall (WotC released around 8,800 cards, all told, in the 2000-2010 decade… yet by 2022 they were pumping nearly 6,000 cards in a single year). But legendary creatures have largely increased their share of the “New Cards” pie: Twenty years ago, legendary creatures represented a bit less than 5% of all new cards printed. In contrast, by 2021 their share rose to 10%, and peaked at about 20% (1 out of 5) legendaries among new Magic cards in 2023.

As seen in the graphs above, though, the trend reverted in 2024 (there were 341 new legendary creatures last year, compared to around 400 both in 2022 and 2023), and Mark Rosewater's posts confirm that this is intended.

“We are consciously trying to lower legendary creatures in premier sets,” he said in September 2024, answering to positive feedback about Duskmourn when compared to the Outlaws of Thunder Junction legendary bonanza. And he had earlier noted that Commander has influenced the number of legendary creatures they make per set, but that they were starting to trend downward in in-universe sets.

Aetherdrift further supports Rosewater's claim, with only 34 new commanders between the main set and the Commander precons. We know pretty much nothing(*) thus about the other two in-universe Standard sets left for 2025 — Tarkir Dragonstorm and Edge of Eternities — but by MaRo's post we should expect similar numbers.

(*) WotC's holding a panel about Tarkir Dragonstorm later today, so stay tunned!

Less Is More… Planeswalkers?

The reduction in legendary creatures coincides with Wizards of the Coast’s broader effort to release fewer Magic sets…

… and scale back on Commander preconstructed decks; Rosewater has explicitly acknowledged that set fatigue is a concern.

“Complaining here is helpful,” Rosewater wrote back in January, to a poster wondering how to convey to WotC that Magic is becoming too much of a good thing. “This is a message that is being communicated by many players and it is being conveyed (by me and others that interact the most with the public) to the people making the calls about how many products we produce.”

An interesting side effect will be how this all affects the number of planeswalkers in in-universe sets. Mark Rosewater has already said that WotC is reviewing their “Just One Planeswalker per Set” rule, and has many times confirmed that planeswalkers are the one line in the sand that UB sets shall not pass.

“Planeswalkers only appear in sets which occur in the Magic multiverse,” he wrote a few months ago, stating that Universes Beyond sets will not have planeswalkers.

In other words: In-universe sets may get fewer legendaries, but on the other hand they'll get all the planeswalkers.

Community Reactions: The Good, the Bad, and the Cynical

The Magic community has shown mixed reactions to this new shift . Some players welcome the reduction in legendary creatures, arguing that it allows non-Commander formats to breathe while making legendary cards feel more meaningful.

“Sounds like a win for everyone,” writes u/DeLoxley. “People don't like the rare times a named character in UB has been portrayed as non legendary, and people don't like how every set seemed to have a dozen random named bozos for Commander.”

Others, however, believe that UB sets will simply absorb the excess. The Final Fantasy x MTG crossover will cover all 16 Final Fantasy video games, and Magic's designers have pretty much confirmed some characters will have several versions (so expect Cloud, Wielder of This Sword; Cloud, Wielder of That Other Sword; and Cloud, Got More Swords on Top of My Swords), just like LotR had several Gandalfs, Sarumans and Frodos. And it's hard to think how the Spider-Man UB crossover won't have at least a couple of dozen versions of the title character alongside a wide, multi-version assortment of villains, allies, and romantic interests, ensuring legendary creatures galore.

“The cynical part of me thinks this is so Commander players will be more inclined to buy UB sets, so that those will sell well,” wrote u/kjeldor2400. “The not-so-cynical part of me sees this as a step in the right direction. Not every product should be designed for Commander.”

Does This Design Shift Have Legs?

Price of Fame | Illustration by Winona Nelson

It does seem clear that Wizards of the Coast is listening to player feedback (at least in this case…) and making adjustments accordingly, and seems reasonable to expect that Tarkir Dragonstorm and Edge of Eternities, and the return to Lorwyn (slated for 2026) will roll back on the number of legends.

But it remains to be seen if this design shift will indeed be a decrease overall, or it will be more like a reshuffle.

Fewer legends in in-universe sets? Rosewater has already said “Yes.”

But fewer overall? Not sure you'd be wise to bet on it.