Magic: The Gathering Head Designer, Mark Rosewater, joins Magic Untapped to take a look at the next 12 months or so for Magic: The Gathering.
Specifically, what's in store for the upcoming in-universe releases for the collectible card game as, in addition to the Magic I.P. releases, there will also be a number of non-Magic I.P. sets released in the "Universes Beyond" sub-brand.
Starting with Magic: The Gathering Foundations, which releases Nov. 15, the CCG will see a total of five in-universe sets including the Jan. 24 release of the all-reprint Innistrad Remastered.
Of those sets, Foundations is one of those that Rosewater, who just celebrated 29 years at Wizards of the Coast, is looking forward to the most.
"What Foundations is trying to do is show why Magic is cool and it's really leading in to what about Magic makes it so cool," says the game's Head Designer.
The set, which is full of evergreen and deciduous mechanics as well as a good number of reprints from Magic's 30-plus year history and a number of new cards (it's roughly a 50/50 split), is being billed as something that new players can dive in with initially, then build from there.
"Through 2029, this is gonna be legal in Standard," he says. "And it could be legal more than that, but at least until 2029."
After Foundations, the next new in-universe Magic expansion is Aetherdrift, a set that had been previously known by it's nickname of the "Deathrace Set."
VIDEO: Talkin' MTG with WotC's Mark Rosewater: Looking ahead at the next year for Magic: The Gathering
Aetherdrift, which carries a Feb. 14, 2025, release date, is an expansion that spans a number of planes all in one set -- something that's rarely done in a Magic set. Two of the planes explored will be ones seen before in Magic. The third set, reportedly, is one that has never before been seen in a Standard-legal "Premier" set. The company has not yet confirmed what the three worlds officially are as of yet, though.
"One of the worlds really likes vehicles, one of the worlds really likes dinosaurs," teases Rosewater. "So, you can sort of go through and piece together what they are."
As should come as little surprise for a set themed around racing, there will be a number of vehicle cards contained within. In fact, Rosewater says Aetherdrift will feature the most vehicles ever in a single set to date.
"The very first meeting we had we sat down and said what's the most amount of vehicles we can have -- what's the most number of vehicles we can put into a set and not cause problems," Rosewater explains. "One of the issues with vehicles is how many can you put into a deck and so we tried a lot of different things."
Following Aetherdrift is Tarkir: Dragonstorm, which is scheduled for release on April 11. It will be the game's first full trip back to the plane of Tarkir since Dragons of Tarkir in 2015.
Wizards of the Coast says they are trying to combine the best features of the sets Dragons of Tarkir and Khans of Tarkir based upon fan reaction to the original Tarkir block roughly a decade prior.
"Our mantra for this set is the best of both worlds," Rosewater states. "For reasons in the story, the clans sort of reemerged...we have new dragons and so it is all of the wedge play that you love, all the dragons you love, but now all together in the same set."
Then, on August 1, the set Edge of Eternities comes out.
A science fiction inspired set, not a ton is yet known about it aside that it takes place (basically) in space and features antagonist Tezzeret. Rosewater says it's a set that lets WotC stretch what the fantasy genre can be.
"Part of what Magic has really thrived at is finding lots of different ways and blending fantasy with different genres," he comments.
Rosewater says that Magic players can expect planets, aliens, spacecrafts, and a number of the other trappings that come from being in outer space.
"But it's still grounded in Magic -- the five colors are important and just actual magic is important," he stresses. "We did a really cool way of taking a genre that people love but wrapping it in a sort of Magic wrapper, if you will.
Of all of the soon-to-come Magic sets coming out over the next twelve months, Rosewater confesses that Edge of Eternities just might be his favorite.
"I'm a big science fiction fan," he comments. "I really love when we combine fantasy with science fiction."
After Edge of Eternities, as far as is known at this point in time, the only other releases coming out in the remainder of 2025 fall under the Universes Beyond banner, including a set based upon Marvel Comics' Spider-Man and a yet-to-be unveiled second Universes Beyond set of some sort.
Beyond that, early 2026 will see the game of Magic returning to the Lowryn-Shadowmoor plane, though not much is yet known about that.
