The 10 Best Properties For New Universes Beyond Collabs Ranked

Last updated on October 17, 2025

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Art

Universes Beyond is an integral part of MTG nowadays, whether we’re talking Commander sets or even Standard-legal sets. It’s how MTG represents characters from other Intellectual Properties (IPs) in cards, from Street Fighter to The Walking Dead. With adaptions of famous video games like Final Fantasy and Fallout, WotC’s been adapting more and more outside source material.

Today, I’m looking at 10 IPs I think would be a great fit to adapt to MTG, from TV shows to anime to video games. Some of them are easier to adapt, while others would require creativity.

With that in mind, let’s dive in!

What Is Universes Beyond?

Perception Bobblehead | Illustration by Marina Ortega Lorente

Universes Beyond can be described as MTG meets other Intellectual Properties (IP). That can range from video games like Fallout and Final Fantasy, to TV shows like Doctor Who and Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Universes Beyond began as a niche strategy to popularize MTG in other fandoms restricted to Secret Lair products with a handful of cards. Some years later, we got Universes Beyond Commander precon decks, full draftable sets, and even Standard-legal sets. 2023’s Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth and 2025’s Final Fantasy are two of the best-selling MTG sets of all time, and they were extremely well-received by MTG’s player base. However, that doesn’t mean that all Universes Beyond sets were equally well received or successful.

What Makes a Property Good for Universes Beyond?

My main take on this is that the source material should fit what MTG players expect from a regular set. MTG’s take on Lord of the Rings and Final Fantasy was so popular because these franchises and MTG share something in common: D&D. D&D takes so much inspiration from Lord of the Rings, and at the same time, inspired MTG and FF. All these franchises share common elements: Magic, mana, great heroic deeds, armies, factions, powerful objects, legendary characters, and earth-shaking monsters. Everything that makes MTG so great.

It's cool to see main characters from video games and TV shows represented in MTG cards, like Negan, Ryu, or even Sonic the Hedgehog. But when you try to make a whole set around Spider-Man, we have a huge disconnect between the IP and MTG, not to mention a small design space. Do we need five cards depicting Peter Parker, or Miles Morales, or three versions of Doctor Octopus? Do we even need that many legendary human spiders?

#10. Dragonball

With hundreds of episodes and different series (Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball Super, Dragonball GT, and more), not to mention many video games, Dragonball is one of the most well-known anime ever. I’ll leave our genius designers at WotC to figure out how to extract the essence of DB to a card game like MTG, because quite frankly, I don’t even know how to start. I love Dragonball and I’d buy Goku or Vegeta cards, but this property looks better suited to a Secret Lair drop than a full-fledged Magic set.

#9. Demon Slayer

I wasn’t including Demon Slayer at first, but judging by the numbers on its latest film, the manga/anime franchise looks very popular, and thus worthy of a MTG set adaptation. Demon Slayer is a Japanese manga/anime centered around Tanjiro Kamado, a boy whose whole family was killed by demons (Onis), while his sister Nezuko was permanently turned into one of them. He later joins the Demon Slayer Corp, composed of well-trained swordsmen capable of killing demons by beheading them. He then swears revenge on the big bad and demon creator Muzan Kibutsugi. Demon Slayer has all the characteristics to thrive in MTG, at least as Commander decks: martial arts training, charismatic heroes, powerful villains, and an ultra-powerful, nigh-immortal mastermind behind it all.  

#8. Cthulhu Mythos / Lovecraft

H. P. Lovecraft’s horror stories are 100 years old by now, and they still marvel people to this day. Yes, we had some of this in Shadows over Innistrad, but it doesn’t even scratch the surface. Lovecraftian influences appear in Duskmourn: House of Horror, too, but that plane was too focused on horror tropes from the 80s-90s. I’d like to see something much more related to the source material, like ”The Dunwich Horror”, or “At the Mountains of Madness”. Charles Dexter Ward’s story could be a cool saga, and it would be amazing to play with the elder gods themselves, like Dagon or Azatoth, not to mention Cthulhu itself.   

#7. A Song of Ice and Fire / Game of Thrones

A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIF), the book series that inspired Game of Thrones, is huge material for a card game like MTG. But it already has its own line of board games and card games. No matter how bad the ending for the TV show was, it’s undeniable that its rich lore, factions, kingdoms, and all sorts of political maneuvers would fit. Yes, MTG already has Conspiracy, but a Commander product focused on GoT would be all the rage. I’d expect a huge number of nice multiplayer mechanics, ways to plot with players and stab them in the back, and different gameplay possibilities coming from different legendary creatures. Considering that MTG loves top-down design these days, and flavorful legends, that’s GoT for you. I’m already thinking about a House Stark vs House Lannister precon battle.

#6. Star Trek

Starship Enterprise | Illustration by Dofresh

Editor's Note: This article was written before the announcement of Star Trek as a UB set for 2026. We'll leave this and the following entry intact to show the speculation leading up to those reveals.

We know that the chances of getting Star Wars in MTG are null considering that Fantasy Flight exists. Star Wars has many game adaptions, but what about Star Trek? The franchise that spawned many TV show seasons, both the original and the Next Generation, as well as several movies, has plenty of material to adapt. If MTG handled science-fiction in Doctor Who and Edge of Eternities, Star Trek can’t be ruled out. MTG and Star Trek have something in common: pushing the boundaries of what can be done, be it with exploration in space or in game design. We also have different factions like the Federation, the Klingon Empire, and even something bizarre like the Borg. Considering MTG’s current state of design, planets and spaceships aren’t that far-fetched.

#5. Marvel Universe

Marvel Super Heroes promotional art | Illustration by Chris Rallis

Editor's Note: Marvel Super Heroes has been confirmed for 2026; the confirmation came after this article was written and submitted.

We already know for a fact that MTG’s getting more Marvel-related sets. Although the reception to Marvel’s Spider-Man was lukewarm, the Marvel universe is immense. Magic has dipped its toes in Marvel’s deep waters, with Iron Man and Captain America cards. If MTG decides to embrace the Avengers and the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole, the potential is absurd, with plenty of memes, action scenes, memorable battles, heroes, and villains.

#4. Diablo

Everything in Diablo makes sense in MTG. Different weapons, magic wielders. Heroes. Monsters. Freaking endgame demon bosses. Treasure. Some Innistrad cathars mixed with angels. Equipment, gems, soulstones. And NO legendary creature plague here, please, besides the main Diablo brothers, or maybe an iconic character like Deckard Cain, as a normal 2010's MTG set would have been. But knowing WotC, in this case they'll make a Legendary Creature: The Barbarian. Or something like this.

#3. Starcraft

Starcraft is the famous Activision Blizzard’s Real-Time Strategy franchise. If I had to explain Starcraft to MTG players, there are three different races: Zergs are Boros aggro go-wide, with an aristocrats touch, Terrans are equipment/auras or something crazy like machines/vehicles, and Protoss are Esper control, with some spectacular planet-destroying wraths. Although when I put it in these terms, WotC will probably think that there aren't enough themes to build a full set. Maybe a Commander deck for each of the three factions would be enough.

I'd love to play with Zerglings, Siege Tanks, and Protoss Carriers. And of course, if you want to build a Zerg + Terran deck, there's always the legendary creature: Kerrigan and Raynor, March of the Machine style.

#2. Elder Scrolls

Elder Scrolls is the most tailor-made franchise for Universes Beyond and MTG. We have five games with the sixth coming, not to mention the online entries, and huge, unending lore. Flavor text galore, lots of monsters, factions, weapons, magic, and yes, dragons. With a little tinkering, we could have something very popular, akin to what the first Ravnica set was. We even have guilds that can be tied to MTG’s color pairs.

Elder Scrolls has the potential to be what Final Fantasy was, but with a lesser downside: You don't have to cover 16 games plus spin-offs in a single MTG set. I know that there’s already an Elder Scrolls game, but if WotC’s already worked with Bethesda for Fallout, why not this one?

#1. The Legend of Zelda

The Legend of Zelda – MTG edition would be the easiest money WotC’s ever made if Nintendo would ever agree to let WotC use the IP. It’s a video game franchise as old as MTG, with fans of all ages, old and new. Zelda is synonymous with fantasy games, exploration, puzzles, and it’s currently at an all-time high, with the last two games selling more than 20 million copies. It’s also an opportunity to make something lighter, like the Lorwyn or Bloomburrow sets.

Cloud and Sephiroth dominated MTG’s sales in 2025, so imagine what Link and Ganondorf would do. Besides, I’d like a Time Warp with Ocarina art, please. Or a Majora’s moon wincon. Or Treasure tokens as rupees. With the 2027 Zelda movie coming up, it’s possible that Nintendo wants to promote the movie even further, and I can’t see a better way.

Wrap Up

Gandalf, White Rider | Illustration by Ekaterina Burmak

That concludes my Universes Beyond wishlist. I know many of your favorite franchises weren’t mentioned (and mine, too, but not everything fits MTG that well). Universes Beyond is a controversial issue. While I don’t like the slow dilution of Magic’s original concepts, it’s irreversible, so let’s pray that they keep doing a good job and adapting our favorite franchises in strong and memorable ways.

What franchises and properties would you like to see next in Universes Beyond? Let me know in the comments section below, or on our Draftsim Discord. And if you hate UB, please let us know as well. Thanks for reading, guys, and stay safe out there.