With the Avatar: The Last Airbender Universes Beyond set right around the corner, interest in the set is at an all time high. Over at the r/magicTCG subreddit, on any given day, at least half of the posts are from disgruntled magic players complaining about Universes Beyond. Despite Mark Rosewater insisting that those kinds of posts make up a vocal minority, sometimes it’s hard to see good attitudes amongst the sea of complaints.
We reported previously that the Universes Beyond debate was alive and well. Still, amid the complaints like Jefrrey White comparing Universes Beyond fans to pigs and their slop, Mark Rosewater has held firm on his personal blog that Universes Beyond is printing money with the demand higher now than it’s ever been. He’s even made the claim that a Universes Beyond free format doesn’t have enough demand to be feasible.
It seems that Rosewater may have been correct. A quick look at the r/magicTCG subreddit this morning showed that nearly every post was someone wanting to talk about an Avatar: The Last Airbender card. Most were excited for cards being revealed during the ongoing spoiler season while others wanted to have specific discussions like u/SuperAzn727 who is convinced that the Avatar set is a Commander Masters set in disguise.
The scene is a bit different over in the r/mtg subreddit with most of those posts having to do with rules discussions, help in cEDH deckbuilding, and a smaller Avatar footprint. Still, even with Avatar’s release so close, there were a surprisingly small amount of Universes Beyond discussions happening.
In fact, looking for one caused me to fall for a joke by u/BrunoCPaula that said “I very much prefer UB over UW.” Like me, most people read that as Universes Beyond over Universes Within but expanding the post showed that it was about Blue/Black Dimir over Blue/White Azorius. The comment section was lighthearted and the little debate that happened as a result of people not reading the whole post, was being done respectfully. While respect is not typical of online debates, it did highlight the bigger point that people are either excited for Avatar: The Last Airbender or at the very least, not upset about its impending release as is often the case for Universes Beyond sets.
Whether you’re a Universes Beyond fan or not, it does appear that it’s here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future. With 4 of the 7 sets being released in 2026 being Universes Beyond, online attitudes may yet ebb and flow again. Avatar: The Last Airbender comes out later this month but then there’s only Lorwyn Eclipsed before we return to Universes Beyond with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in March .
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