Worlds Collide – Final Fantasy arrives in Magic: The Gathering

It’s a demonstrable fact that world-renowned trading card game Magic: The Gathering is no stranger to crossover events; from Assassin’s Creed to Doctor Who, there have always been unique variations available alongside their standard fantasy offerings, but none have come close to the sheer scale and popularity of the upcoming Final Fantasy collaboration.

Founded and released by Wizards of the Coast in 1993, Magic: The Gathering is an ever-popular trading card game in which players cast spells, summon creatures and outwit opponents using an ever-expanding set of rules, abilities and card types to try and bring their opponent’s life total to zero.

The game utilises a simple ebb and flow mechanic, requiring players to draw and play various land cards, which can then be ‘tapped’ to produce one of 5 different colours of mana – this can then be paid to bring powerful cards onto the battlefield and face your opponent in glorious battle; it’s safe to say this is a gross oversimplification of the game, but explaining 32 years of rules and gameplay changes would take more words than any sensible editor would ever allow – despite this, the game is fairly accessible for newcomers.

Throughout the years, sets have been released that take place in various different universes, or ‘Planes’, of Magic’s expansive world, allowing players to explore everything from Innistrad’s gothic glory to the warring spirits of Kamigawa, but things took a strange turn in 2021 when Hasbro (the current owners of Wizards of the Coast) announced the launch of Universes Beyond, a new, non-canonical sub-type of card that expanded into existing worlds.

For nearly half a decade, unique sets based on existing IPs have appeared as new worlds, making an astonishing and often mismatched variety of creatures and cards available to Magic players, beginning with Warhammer 40,000 and its familiar Space Marines before bringing together that beloved band of hobbits for the release of The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle Earth.

Universes Beyond wasn’t the first time unique art styles or even other IPs had been introduced to Magic, with the Secret Lair subset of cards bringing more abstract styles or artist spotlights to the fore and even showcasing a series of Godzilla-themed cards a year before Universes Beyond became a reality, but it brought a shift from small, high-cost prints to mass-market boosters and decks that used each IP to the best of its ability.

With each new set, popularity grew despite them not being considered ‘legal’ in the standard formats of the game, largely being employed in casual formats such as ‘Commander’ or as showcase pieces to be mounted in a binder; Dungeons & Dragons, Fallout and a number of Secret Lair sets, including the likes of Stranger Things, Evil Dead, Jurassic Park and, in an unusual twist, The Princess Bride, soon followed, and the Universes Beyond brand grew exponentially.

Four years later, the announcement of Final Fantasy as the latest Universes Beyond set rocked the Magic community, with pre-orders vanishing staggeringly quickly and leaving local game shops with more gaps on the shelves than supermarket toilet paper aisles during the Covid-19 pandemic: it was clear from the outset that Final Fantasy would be the most popular Universes Beyond release yet.

For fans of Final Fantasy, the leap to Magic is a sensible one; both games take place in worlds where each iteration brings together new settings, abilities and stunning artistic details that all manage to feel both familiar and unique with each new entry – it doesn’t matter whether you stumble into a technical dystopia or whimsical fantasia, you will always feel at home, something the Wizards of the Coast card designers leaned into with abandon.

Cards from the Final Fantasy set are incredibly varied, featuring brand new artwork recreating familiar moments or stylish character designs set into stunning borderless prints – even classic scenes and pieces of concept art can be found as special cards in each pack. Each 15-card booster is bound to feature series staple creatures and equipment, as well as characters all the way from Alphinaud to Zack.

Despite the variety on offer, some games have clearly received more favour than others, with Final Fantasy VI, VII, X and XIV all seeing much bigger volumes thanks to their preconstructed ‘Commander’ decks – the latter of the four having a whopping 70 new cards, more than any other title in the series. Fans of the first three games in particular will be disappointed to hear they have the smallest offerings, but this is more than made up for by the original Final Fantasy’s ‘Dragon of Mount Gulg’ and its impressive £70 price tag at the time of writing.

It would be easy to sing from the hilltop about the set, talking for hours about serialised golden Chocobo cards and the five-figure bounties on them, or how the card ‘Inspiring Call’ effortlessly replicates Final Fantasy X’s infamous laughing scene (it would be remiss of me not to mention that the caption on the card is simply “Hahahahaha!”) But it isn’t the design of the set that warrants attention; instead, it is the way it has changed the future of Magic.

In October 2024 it was announced that Universes Beyond would no longer be confined to casual players, officially being accepted into standard formats; at the time it was unknown just what sets we could expect to see join the world of Magic, but there could be no better way to kick things off than with Final Fantasy.

It’s not clear what this could mean for the future of Secret Lair – despite many cards in these sets existing as in-universe cards with altered art and names, some unique cards are still produced that remain outside of standard card legality, leaving their future undetermined. For now it seems Deadpool, Rainbow Dash and Lara Croft will have to stay on the sidelines until their fate is decided.

With future sets including Marvel’s Spider-Man in September and Avatar: The Last Airbender on the way in November, as well as an in-universe offering taking us to the ends of space and time with Edge of Eternities in August, it’s clear that Magic won’t be slowing down any time soon (although the idea of Sephiroth going toe-to-toe with Miles Morales while Aang cheers them on from atop a space-whale will certainly take some getting used to).

Summarising this article feels like an insurmountable task – how do you end a discussion about whether or not Optimus Prime should be able to beat up Spongebob Squarepants in a game where sharing expensive cardboard rectangles among friends can bring entire communities together? The introduction of Final Fantasy into this ever-expanding world not only gives existing players of both Final Fantasy and Magic: The Gathering a glimpse of each other’s worlds but also fortifies the fact that fantasy can take many forms, but telling great stories can be as easy as shuffling up and playing with friends.

Pre-release sales and events are already underway at local gaming stores, with the Final Fantasy Universes Beyond set launching in its entirety on June 13th. For more information, visit their website