Magic: The Gathering is continuing where it left off in 2025, rolling out a whopping four crossover sets under its Universes Beyond branding in 2026: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Marvel Super Heroes, The Hobbit, and Star Trek.

That’s quite the mix, but at a time when fans are crying out for some consistency and continuity, Wizards of the Coast is about to make the same mistake it made with last year’s marketing cycle.

In short, it feels like it can’t wait to get Secrets of Strixhaven out of the way, forgetting why many people play Magic in the first place.

Magic’s Universes Beyond Sets Shouldn’t Come At The Cost Of Its Own Identity

There’s a running joke that Magic crossovers are the worst thing about the game until it’s a franchise you love, and as a longtime fan of Peter Parker’s adventures, I admit I bought into the Spider-Man hype last year.

It was easy to do, too, since Wizards started revealing cards and products super early, trampling over the Edge of Eternities set in the process. The rest, as they say, is history: Spider-Man was inarguably Magic’s most disappointing set of at least the last year (maybe longer), and Edge of Eternities was much more well-received but invariably didn’t get its chance in the limelight.

While I was hoping that Wizards would take some lessons from it, we’re now entering a 2026 roadmap with seven full sets planned. Lorwyn Eclipsed is great, and only just launched, but that’s January’s set. Preorders are now live for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Secrets of Strixhaven, and even Marvel Super Heroes.

That last set, by the way, is around five months from launch. While I appreciate that a company needs a line on a graph to go up to show success by bringing in new players, it’s starting to feel like Wizards of the Coast is trampling on Magic’s own legacy in its desperation to talk about crossover sets.

Lorwyn Eclipsed should be a celebration, a chance to return to a beloved Plane full of classic creature types, and instead, we’re getting close to the Turtles landing on store shelves. Looking past Strixhaven to a Marvel crossover, this early (and with the taste of the Spider-Man set still lingering), is just a bad look.

Please, Wizards – don’t let Secrets of Strixhaven suffer the same way Edge of Eternities is. It’s almost unavoidable with such a packed release calendar, but if you can’t pay enough time to your own universes, the ones that have captivated players for over three decades, does that not tell you a change is required?

Honestly, all of this is moot anyway – I’m part of the problem. I’ve pre-ordered some Marvel Superheroes products, and you can bet your Bilbo Baggins that I’ll be first in line for The Hobbit.

For more on Magic’s current set, Lorwyn Eclipsed, be sure to check out our list of the best chase cards in the set right now, as well as a look at all eight creature types in the new set.

Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He’s a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife’s dismay.