These days, the Magic: The Gathering World Championship is being held in Las Vegas, the biggest competitive event of the game of the year. The best Magic players in the world face off against each other to determine who is this year’s world champion for the honor, a trophy, a quite generous amount of money, and the chance to be immortalized forever on a card.
But during the World Championship, it is also when Wizards of the Coast presents its roadmap for the entire following year of Magic: The Gathering. Presenting which collections will be released, what their names and themes are, it’s a peak moment for the game’s fans. Because both at a competitive and collectible level, there is no more magical weekend than this. And while we wait to find out who the next world champion is, we already know everything that is coming in 2025. Or at least, a small glimpse of it.
The foundation of a new standard
For many, the most important part is the collections that will make up the new standard. Those that will form the new canon of competitively playable cards in all formats and that also, make up the narrative of the Magic: The Gathering universe. And they, in this 2025, will not feel disappointed.
On February 7, Death Race will be released, a new collection where vehicles will be the focus of everything as it will be about races across the multiverse. Due to the portals that opened after the fall of Phyrexia, many people have now set up a deadly race across various worlds. And the best racers in the multiverse will compete in it to prove their worth. Shortly after, on April 4, we will return to Tarkir with Return to Tarkir where there will not only be a great predominance of dragons, but also the conclusion of the current Magic story arc.
Everything for the people, but with collaborations
As summer approaches, two things will arrive with it: the heat and Universe Beyond. The Magic: The Gathering collections based on universes outside of Wizards of the Coast, created in collaboration with other companies. And while we can expect to see some smaller collections that we don’t know about yet, which will be presented with less notice, the two major collections this year are very large. Because if last year we had The Lord of the Rings, this year we have Final Fantasy and Spider-Man. With a big novelty: from now on, all these collections will be legal in all Magic formats.
Final Fantasy will arrive on June 13th to Magic: The Gathering as a complete collection for the game with drafting in mind. Spanning the 16 main video games, but with nods to all the games in the franchise, Wizards of the Coast has been working directly and closely with Square Enix to maintain the originality and impact of the franchise. This includes working with some of Square’s artists and illustrators, who will make their appearance here by illustrating some of the cards.
For his part, we will have to wait a little longer for Spider-Man. Still without a specific date, Wizards of the Coast has decided that their collaboration with Marvel, which will extend over the years with several collections and in various forms, will be formalized here with a collection dedicated entirely to Spider-Man. And although they have not given many details about it, they have wanted to emphasize one thing: this collection will be based on the Spider-Man from the comics and not from the movies. So they have more than enough material for one (or several!) card collections if they wish.
The future of Magic: IPs everywhere
Although this is all they have detailed this time, in 2025 there will be much more Magic: The Gathering. To begin with, we already know the last two standard collections of the year: Edge of Eternities and a third unannounced Universe Beyond collection. Confirming that from now on there will be six standard collections, three from Magic: The Gathering and three from Universe Beyond, and that the highly anticipated collection where we will return to Lorwyn will be delayed until 2026. This is not to mention that, before the end of the year, the Marvel Secret Lair is still to be released on November 4th, and the last standard collection of 2024, Foundations.
What do we mean by all this? That Magic: The Gathering has a long way to go. And that it’s okay if something in particular isn’t for you, because it’s certain that at least two other things have been made with you in mind. Because if nothing else, right now Magic: The Gathering has something for everyone. Almost, almost literally.
