The Gathering’s Third Universes Beyond Set For 2025

Wizards of the Coast closed 2024 with a bang across the board by releasing two handbooks of the revised 5e for Dungeons and Dragons, and Magic: The Gathering launched its Foundations set that will remain in Standard for five years at least, if not in semi-perpetuity. There are many changes coming to Magic: The Gathering over this year, and while sets like Bloomburrow and Foundations were very successful, the franchise’s popularity and sales have only gone up with the addition of the so-called Universes Beyond sets. These releases take characters, items, locations, and more from a given IP and make them into MTG cards. 2025 will have three Universes Beyond sets, and one of them has not yet been announced – though there are likely candidates for what it could be.

So far, it’s confirmed that Magic: The Gathering‘s Final Fantasy crossover will be released in June of this year, whereas the Spider-Man set has not been given a release date or window just yet. The last set of the year is also very much up in the air in terms of release date or window, but there are various possibilities regarding the IP it will cover.

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What to Expect From Magic: The Gathering in 2025

Magic: The Gathering is shaping up to have a rather busy 2025 with tight releases and plenty of new cards and products.

Why Magic: The Gathering’s Third UB Set is Likely to Be Avatar: The Last Airbender

The most likely candidate for Magic: The Gathering‘s next crossover may be the Avatar: The Last Airbender IP, which would make a lot of sense for various reasons. These are as follows:

• Avatar: The Last Airbender rights are owned by Nickelodeon, which would explain MTG‘s SpongeBob Secret Lair drop since SpongeBob SquarePants rights are also owned by Nickelodeon.
• Magic: The Gathering‘s Universes Beyond sets are typically released alongside something new for the IP they represent, such as Fallout products launching with the Fallout TV show and Lord of the Rings products being released after Rings of Power. The Aang: The Last Airbender movie was initially scheduled for the end of this year, which is around the time the third MTG UB set is expected to launch, but now the film is airing in January 2026.
• 2025 marks the 20th anniversary of the Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise, which would make a crossover release more impactful. In fact, the IP has had other crossovers with games, such as Overwatch 2‘s Avatar: The Last Airbender skins.
• Magic: The Gathering Arena recently put on sale cards themed around the four elements, which could be foreshadowing the collab. This would make sense considering that Arena has had sales themed around other 2025 sets recently, and the element-themed sales also featured cards like Distended Mindbender and Oswald Fiddlebender, which contain the word “bender.”

As such, it seems quite likely that Avatar: The Last Airbender will cross over with Magic: The Gathering, but there is no official confirmation just yet. Following past patterns, it’s likely that this UB set will be revealed sometime in Q2 of 2025.

Other Possible IPs For Magic: The Gathering’s Third 2025 Crossover

While this theory can seem convincing, there are other possible options for the IP that will get the third UB set of the year. For example, Magic: The Gathering‘s Foundations Jumpstart packs contained anime cards representing unique characters, with one of them being Taeko, the Patient Avalanche. This card is Legendary Creature – Turtle Ninja, and it represents a very TMNT-adjacent character. Considering that Nickelodeon owns the rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as well, the IP could cross over with MTG this year or in the near future. Another fan-favorite IP that would do well as Universes Beyond in the game is Star Wars, but there have been no particular hints to this hypothesis.

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Magic: The Gathering

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September 27, 2018

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Wizards of the Coast
, Wizards Digital Games Studios

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Wizards of the Coast

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