Magic: The Gatheringmay have stealthily revealed an upcoming collaboration with theAvatar: The Last Airbenderfranchise. In 2025, Wizards of the Coast will releasesevenMagic: The Gatheringsets, beginning withInnistrad Remasteredin late January. Wizards has revealed six of the seven sets so far.Innistrad Remastered, Aetherdrift, Tarkir: Dragonstorm, andEdge of Eternitieswill all take place in various officialMagic: The Gatheringplanes, while theFinal Fantasyfranchise andMarvel’s Spider-Manwill be represented in Universes Beyond sets. Also in the works is a third Universes Beyond set, featuring an unknown IP.
A new theory suggests thatthis unknownMagic: The Gatheringset will feature theAvatar: The Last Airbenderfranchise. The theory notes that Wizards has been teasing upcoming Magic sets via Daily Deal sales onMagic: The Gathering Arena, with the last daily deal referencingAvatar: The Last Airbender. While the theory may seem farfetched, the theory actually makes a ton of sense and is supported by comments previously made by the set’s lead designer, Chris Mooney. If true,Magic: The Gatheringwould enter into one of its most surprising crossovers yet, but one that feels like a good match for the card game.
Did MTG Tease An Avatar: The Last Airbender Set?
Daily Deals For Magic Arena May Have Steathily Teased The Year-End Set
Amy theAmazonian’s theory (via YouTube) is tied to some very subtle teases onMagic: The Gathering Arenaover the past few days. Since January 1,theArenadaily deal has featured cards that somehow reference upcoming 2025 sets. The race-themedAetherdriftwas represented by vehicle cards, dragon cards teasedTarkir: Dragonstorm, and the sci-fi-themedEdge of Eternitieswas represented by some cards with “Star” in the title. The Final Flare card represented theFinal Fantasyset and some spiders helped tease theMarvel’s Spider-Manset.
On January 6,MTG Arenadiscounted Into the Fire, Waterknot, Earth Cult Elemental, Airdrop Aeronauts, the Distended Mindbender, and Oswald Fiddlebender.That’s a not-so-subtle tease referencing the four elements featured in theAvatarfranchise,along with two cards with “bender” in their names. Considering that every other Daily Deal up to that point was a reference to otherMagic: The Gatheringsets coming out in 2025, it seems like a pretty big hint that anAvatarset is on the way.
Why Avatar MTG Cards Make Sense
Although theAvatarfranchise skews a bit younger than most other franchises covered in Universes Beyond crossovers, it feels like a natural fit for aMagiccollaboration card set.Each ofAvatar’s elements fit nicely with one of Magic: The Gathering’s five colors, with Black feeling like a good fit for some of the weirder elements of theMagiccard universe. It would also be interesting to see whether only Avatars like Aang and Korra would serve as Legendary, and how the game would incorporate various bending styles either through game mechanics or as enchantments and instant spells.
10 Franchises Magic: The Gathering Should Collaborate With After Marvel
Magic: The Gathering has ramped up the number of Universes Beyond crossover sets that it will be releasing, and these franchises would be perfect.
Plus, theAvatar: The Last AirbenderUniverses Beyond theory is supported by comments made by Chris Mooney, the lead designer for the unannounced set. In anannouncement poston X (formerly Twitter) revealing that he was the design lead for the upcoming set,Mooney said that it was a “lifelong dream come true.”
That curiously lines up with acomment Mooney madeearlier in the year, when he said that it was “one of [his] life dreams” to play or make anAvatarvideo game. That could just be a coincidence, but Mooney’s fandom ofAvatarisn’t exactly a secret, which seems to further support a newAvatarset.
When Will Avatar Cards In MTG Be Confirmed?
Expect An Announcement In The Next Two Months
If Wizards of the Coast is already working on anAvatarUniverses Beyond release, there could be a formal announcement sometime in January. However,it’s also possible that Wizards is holding the announcement until MagicCon Chicago in February. Since the existence of the unknown Universes Beyond set was announced at the last MagicCon event, it stands to reason that Wizards is holding the announcement of the next set until then. It doesn’t benefit Wizards to wait too long, though. If anAvatarset is planned for this year, Wizards will want to ensure fans spend a few months hyping up the new set.
While there are plenty of franchises thatMagic: The Gatheringcould cross over into,it will be interesting to see how the Universes Beyond concept grows in the future. Wizards has already hit many of the biggest fantasy and video game franchises in previous sets, so it’s hard to imagine what it can do to grow the concept even more. Will the company find big cartoon franchises likeAvatar: The Last Airbender? Or will it attempt to cross over into science fiction with the likes ofStar TrekorFarscape? Whatever direction it goes in, expect this next Universes Beyond set to provide a big tease as to whatMagic: The Gatheringplans to do in the future.
