Would a Universes Beyond format be possible?

That's a lot of stuff aggregated together, totaling over 2,400 cards, with many of them having never been planned to be in the same constructed environment and/or were released without any intention of having their own format, and that number should expand to around 3,000 with Spider-Man and Avatar this year.

If we categorize it as "anything from Universes Beyond goes", in addition to the Secret Lair-exclusive cards that would be a pain to acquire if they were relevant, there would also be some cards that came from Secret Lair drops, special slots from main sets, or reprints from Commander decks that would perhaps prove too powerful for the setting.

At a quick glance, these are the ones that stand out the most in terms of power level.

Would we really want Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer and the Evoke Elementals that came in Final Fantasy? Given its history in Modern, would it be fair to ban The One Ring even though it is such an important part of The Lord of the Rings lore? While we can mostly agree that Sol Ring and Mana Vault (which was released in a Secret Lair in Fallout) are definitely a no-go, can we agree that Wasteland would be bad in a format without fetch lands to play around it?

That's not to mention the perhaps hundreds of cards in Commander decks that were not designed for 1v1 play and could be an issue in the long run, as well as clear examples like Skullclamp, which definitely cannot enter a non-multiplayer constructed format without breaking it.

In that case, one could even consider only the main slots of booster sets as legal, but we would be taking away both the viability of some essential universes like Warhammer or Fallout, while also greatly reducing the scope of legal reprints that these products offer: cards like Preordain and Brainstorm, or even more generic and conditional pieces like Destroy Evil and some duals.

In the past, it would be possible to identify the validity by the triangular symbol in the bottom corner of the card, but Wizards decided that, starting with Spider-Man, all cards would use the same oval symbol, removing one of the main charms that Universes Beyond had in terms of design.

The fact is that just defining what should be legal is already a challenge on its own, and since Wizards probably no longer has any interest in establishing these rules and creating an exclusive format, it would require a lot of discussion to establish these standards.

In a way, this is also part of Universes Beyond's charm. Pauper, for example, hardly has any cards designed for it: most of the inclusions that the format has gained over the years are designed for Limited rather than specifically for a common card Metagame. In this same way, we could see Universes Beyond's inclusions — regardless of where they come from — as a side effect, where players need to adapt or interventions with bans need to be assertive and fast.

On the other hand, Timeless follows the same pattern of "include everything that comes out", including Special Guests, and its Metagame is one of the most troublesome in the long term that I have ever seen due to the sheer power level of some cards, that doesn't compare to the quality of answers, and the same could happen under other circumstances as well: what if the answers were too good for the threats?

It would also be advisable to avoid the aesthetic factor at all times. Think about Premodern — which is almost the antithesis of everything we’re proposing here — where while there’s a charm to playing a deck full of cards with the retro Magic frame, and that’s caused a dozen price hikes for cards with that frame, there’s no practical difference whether you use a Meddling Mage from Invasion or a Double Masters. Likewise, it shouldn’t matter whether your Death’s Shadow is from Worldwake or Diabolos from Final Fantasy VIII.

There are two possible routes that serve as a starting point for considering this type of format: in the first, only full sets would be legal. While this considerably reduces the scope of cards today, the format will expand with three sets coming out each year while maintaining some level of resources parity and power level between them.

There are some discussions we need to have — especially about bonus cards like Through the Ages — but overall, the format could fix itself and balance itself with little intentional maintenance and relatively few banned cards: a starter list, without Through the Ages, would probably include The One Ring and Orcish Bowmasters.

This route, however, feels too exclusionary. The number of 300+ card sets in Commander decks would disappear, and with them, a number of improvements to the mana base that would allow for more color diversity, as well as a number of other cards that would expand the scope of options in the maindeck and sideboard, while also giving fans of those brands room to express themselves in new ways.

The second option, and perhaps the ideal and most exciting for a wider audience, would be to put Commander deck sets in the middle, assess what works and what is a problem, and intervene and ban as needed. Cards like Skullclamp and Sol Ring are clearly no-goes in these circumstances for 60 cards, and if we're expanding the card pool that much, it would make sense to consider Through the Ages and the like in the middle, since many of its cards are on par with the power level of what we find in Commander decks.

Following that logic, this would be a good starting point for a “Watchlist,” with potential preemptive bans on almost all the pieces mentioned above, including some specific pieces that are treated as “Lord of the Rings Commander” for identity purposes, like Wasteland and Ancient Tomb.

The only thing I'm sure of is that Secret Lair cards should be left out. There's a lot of collateral damage in including them, whether it's because of powerful reprints that may have unwanted interactions (Dark Depths came out in a Monty Python Secret Lair while Thespian's Stage came out in a Hatsune Miku drop), or because of the difficulty of acquiring a specific card like Deadpool, Trading Card — furthermore, none of these drops were originally intended to be played together, but rather to serve as collectibles.

There is, however, a bigger problem when it comes to Universes Beyond: these sets are already priced like premium products in Magic: The Gathering, and one of the biggest complaints from both the target audience of these brands and Standard players is that these sets are expensive.

For the regular player, keeping up with Final Fantasy prices is becoming slightly maddening when cards like Vivi Ornitier start to hit the R$500 (or US$70) range, and the same can be said of several iconic cards and characters from the series that have seen their prices spike due to the combination of high viability in competitive formats combined with the fanbase itself seeking out these cards.

This means that Universes Beyond as a format would be equally expensive — probably as much as Standard — and, at the same time, if it became popular, it would further increase the competition for staples that everyone coveted, which would increase prices when a new set came out, or even set another precedent for Wizards of the Coast to consider a second price increase on the product, instead of reducing its cost to make it more affordable.

On the other hand, the difference would probably not be that great. There are already a huge number of people looking for Sephiroths or Vivis and a dozen scalpers opening or accumulating Collector Boosters or buying Surge Foils to “invest in the future”. The TCG culture is already self-predatory by nature, and the creation of another format based on Universes Beyond would not worsen it further.

It is worth mentioning that this text is merely theoretical. A mental exercise to evaluate whether, with Universes Beyond legal in Standard, it would still be interesting to see the series gain its own format, as was expected for an installment when the Lord of the Rings set came out — and the answer is yes, there are good reasons and an extensive card pool that would make this an interesting scenario to work with and explore possibilities within and outside your favorite brands, with potential for growth based on the number of new IPs that enter the format each year.

On the other hand, this format would be the complete antithesis of Premodern: the tradeoff between preserving Magic's sense of identity and completely abandoning it in terms of lore while enjoying its game system with your favorite brands and series, and the tradeoff between stability regarding changes and the possibility of always having something new because, now, we have three Universes Beyond sets per year.

What both have in common, however, is charm. An objective sense of identity that goes beyond just the demand for not playing with what you don't like, a purpose for existing that makes it unique and capable of fun and/or even absurd things.

I have been emphasizing on our YouTube channel the need to connect with others through our hobbies in a world where human experiences are increasingly individualized, and if Universes Beyond offers anything good, it is this exact possibility of connecting with others through Magic: The Gathering — a way to discover their passions, understand these distinct universes and share stories with each other.

And for ourselves, and for the others around us, we should not waste this opportunity.