MaRo Confirms New Marvel Commander Precons Are Coming

Last updated on September 4, 2025

Taxi Driver – art by Nestor Ossandon Leal

One might argue that Commander players have had more than their fair share of attention when it comes to specialized Magic products and the design team’s focus lately. But that didn’t stop Commander enthusiasts from feeling shafted when they found out there would be no Commander precons for either Spider-Man or Avatar: The Last Airbender.

These upcoming Universes Beyond sets have Commander tie-ins, but none of the precons people have come to expect from a Standard set release. However, looks like that’s changing in the near-future, as Head Designer Mark Rosewater confirms there will be Commander precons for some number of upcoming Marvel sets.

Wait… More Marvel Sets?

Captain America, First Avenger | Illustration by Ryan Pancoast

In case you missed the news, yes, there will be more Marvel sets in Magic’s future, likely as soon as 2026. With a confirmed three Universes Beyond sets per year now, it’s not unlikely that at least one of next year’s sets will be Marvel-themed, if not more than one. But at least Commander players can expect their coveted precons in a couple of those sets.

Source: Blogatog

On Blogatog, Mark Rosewater’s personal blog where he answers questions related to Magic: The Gathering, user happycalderatempest expressed disappointment in the lack of Spider-Man precons, and asked if we can expect one down the line. Rosewater’s answer was surprisingly straightforward: “We are definitely doing Marvel Commander decks, and a future Spider-Man one isn’t off the table as a possibility.”

That’s about as affirmative as you can get, so expect a more direct Commander precon tie-in for some upcoming Marvel sets. When and which ones, nobody knows, but Rosewater’s answer is a pretty decisive confirmation.

How Many Marvel Sets Should We Expect?

Storm, Force of Nature | Illustration by Magali Villeneuve

Here’s where things get very tricky. Players knew for quite a while that there would be a Marvel crossover of sorts, but when it was revealed to be specifically a Spider-Man set, that broadened the picture and made it clear that there wasn’t going to be just one Marvel set, but many.

Then they revealed The Soul Stone as a card in the main Spider-Man set, which raised even more questions. In Marvel lore, there are six “infinity stones“, and The Soul Stone is the only one in the Spider-Man set. Rosewater has confirmed that Magic will be producing cards for all six infinity stones, which raises the question: Should players be expecting at minimum five more Marvel sets?

It doesn’t have to be a hard and fast rule that there’s only one infinity stone per Marvel set, but assuming that’s the case, Magic would need to cover at least six Marvel sets total to get all the stones into existence. They could certainly print more than one new stone per set, but Marvel is so expansive (and lucrative) that there’s a good chance MTG has actually planned out another five (or more) sets in this crossover universe.

And that spirals into another question: How many Marvel sets will there be each year? It definitely feels like a once-per-year type thing, but there’s nothing stopping MTG from using two, or even all three of their Standard Universes Beyond slots on Marvel properties. We could very well see some combination of X-Men, The Fantastic Four, or Iron Man in 2026 alone, just as a speculative example. That would crowd out other opportunities for UB crossovers, so it’s unlikely, but it’s clear MTG has bigger plans with the Marvel universe than what players initially expected.

Future Spider-Man Precons

Spider-Man Promotional Art | Illustrated by Javier Charro

The real interesting part about MaRo’s Blogatog response is that he mentions a Spider-Man Commander deck isn’t off the table. There’s zero chance MTG does another Spider-Man set, but that doesn’t mean Spidey can’t appear in other Marvel sets. He could show up as a cameo character elsewhere, though that wouldn’t really warrant a full Spidey-themed Commander deck.

More likely, MTG has a sort of “Avengers” set in the works, way down the line, which will combine many of the heroes we’ve already seen into one big Marvel set, and if that’s the case, a hero like Spider-Man could be big enough again to justify a full precon, even if most of the Spiderverse real estate has been used up in the Spider-Man set already. MaRo’s answer seems to imply that it’s possible, but don’t expect it. Rather, expect to see the character of Spider-Man appear in a future Marvel crossover somewhere, whenever that may be.