Last updated on September 27, 2025
Thrill of Possibility – art by Dave Rapoza
Wizards of the Coast revealed Magic's 2026 release schedule on Friday at MagicCon: Atlanta, showing off a return to Lorwyn and Strixhaven, a new set called Reality Fracture, as well as The Hobbit, Marvel Super Heroes, Star Trek, and one more unannounced Universes Beyond release.
That's a big year full of more than a few big sets. One question that was on everyone's mind after the reveal was, “How do players not get fatigued?”
WotC's answer? It just isn't as big of a problem as people make it out to be online.
Universes Beyond Fatigue
Strength Bobblehead – art by Nikola Matkovic
Question: How do you juggle releasing so many additional Universes Beyond sets while not overwhelming players?
Blake Rasmussen, Communications for Wizards of the Coast: “Different players want different things. Where we see Universes Beyond [complained about] the most is honestly online. Whereas when you go to a game store, when you go around and talk to people selling Magic cards on the show floor, there isn't actually people fatigued,” he said.
“There's what people say online and then there's what they actually do. And what we're seeing with what they do, Final Fantasy, is a great example. Nobody was talking about Universes Beyond fatigue, and that came out a few months ago. That's not to discount people that feel that way, people obviously do feel that way, and we talk to them and we listen to them.”
Rasmussen went on to say that they're not just abandoning the main Magic story, and that they're continuing to invest more in that storyline outside of mainline Magic sets, like with their film and TV deal with Legendary.
“If [Magic's story] is what you love and that's what you want, we are finding more ways to put that out there,” he said.
Roy Graham, the story lead at Wizards of the Coast also said that the TV show and movie was just, “the tip of the iceberg,” and that more story-driven content was on the way and a larger focus than most players think.
Sealed Product Prices
Tidus, Yuna's Guardian – art by Nijihayashi
Continuing the Universes Beyond discussion, WotC also discussed the increasing prices of collector boxes, how they're doing the best they can, and that they're not as worried as some players may think.
Question: There is a lot of Universes Beyond coming next year. As we saw with Final Fantasy and Spider-Man, collector booster boxes were over $1,000 USD at release. Is this something WotC is concerned about, and what are you doing to try and meet the print demand?
Blake Rasmussen: “It's a complicated question. We set MSRP and we print what we can. We've said this a number of times: we had our printers running overtime to print Final Fantasy and we still couldn't keep up. It's a good problem to have, but it is [a problem],” he said. “We want our players to be able to play with the cards they want, to be able to get them, so it's something we talk a lot about, but … we keep printing more cards and people want more and more.”
Daniel Holt: “If a player wants to collect a certain card, collector boosters don't offer any unique cards compared to [play boosters],” he said. “Collector boosters are [meant to be] just a fancier version of those cards.”
More Cards, More Problems
Kenrith, the Returned King – art by Kieran Yanner
If there was one takeaway from day 1 of MagicCon: Atlanta, it was that Wizards of the Coast simply can't print enough Magic cards. That's represented both in their ability to physically print and distribute the cards to match players demand as well as for the fact they're doing an additional UB set in 2026, and it doesn't seem like they'll be out of partner IPs any time soon.
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7 Comments
Then that exec. Only talked tona few people. Most of us at my local shop have talked endlessly abouy how the game isnt for players anymore and that’s sad.
Unfortunately the way execs and the way players look at the game/product is always going to be different.
Why would we trust an executive who likely has never built a magic deck, let alone purchased a pack of cards?
These guys are so out of touch with the whole “what people say vs what they do” bs. People are still buying because the game is fun and they want to be able to compete on an even playing field. You can both enjoy the game and be frustrated with the pace of release at the same time. The idea that these two things are mutually exclusive is moronic and dismissive.
Good way to sum up the feelings that a lot of the player base has right now.
Last time I checked, Play Boosters didn’t contain Commander variant cards.. At least learn your own product before you defend your crap.
I mean, that’s true, but also not really what the quote’s getting at, since they’re referring to Collector Booster’s not having anything you can’t get a version of elsewhere. Not a particularly strong defense of rising Collector Box prices either way.
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