A sharp-eyed Magic: The Gathering fan has spotted evidence which seems to suggest that the final, currently unannounced Universes Beyond set of 2025 might be a crossover with Avatar: The Last Airbender. Heads up, when we begin this explanation, it might sound totally tinfoil, but we think there’s something solid here. It all comes down to the MTG Arena deals page… No, wait! Come back!
Over the last few days, MTG Arena has released a page of card style deals related to each set on the 2025 MTG release schedule and the final one in the series has some clear connections to the cult classic Nickelodeon cartoon.
First up in this series of deals was a bunch of vehicles, linked to MTG Aetherdrift: the first mainline Standard set of the year, which comes out in February.
Then there was a batch of card styles for various MTG dragons, matching the second Standard set, Tarkir: Dragonstorm.
After that came a bunch of crystal cards for Final Fantasy, eight cards with ‘star’ in the title for Edge of Eternities, and eight spiders for Marvel: Spiderman.
The sixth and final Magic: The Gathering set of 2025 is an unannounced Universes Beyond product. And as Reddit user Lunarian_13 points out, on January 6, MTG Arena put a very telling collection of card styles up on sale: Into the Fire, Waterknot, Earth-Cult Elemental, Airdrop Aeronauts, Distended Mindbender, and Oswald Fiddlebender
In case you didn’t spot it, that’s one card related to each of the four Avatar/Classical elements and two cards with bending in the title. Coincidence? If just one of the cards didn’t line up with this theory, we could perhaps dismiss it as such, but this is just too perfect a fit. Either it’s a subtle clue about the true identity of the final MTG set of the year, or someone on the MTG Arena team is messing with us.
There are many reasons why an Avatar: The Last Airbender set seems plausible for 2025. For starters, Avatar takes place in a fantasy world of magic users and strange creatures. It’s a setting many nerds adore, but a more natural fit for Magic than Marvel, Fallout, or Doctor Who.
For main course, Avatar has already done loads of crossovers with other franchises, so we know this is the sort of thing the licence holders are up for. Avatar skins are replete across the video game landscape, found in Smite, Fortnite, and most recently Overwatch 2.
And for dessert, we already know Wizards of the Coast has been making licensing deals with Nickelodeon. Hey, if a Spongebob Secret Lair is the price we have to pay for an Avatar set, then fetch me a quill, I’m signing that Demonic Pact right away.
While 2024’s live action Avatar series was met with measured ‘mehs’ and the animated movie that was meant to come out this year has been pushed back, I can see both why Nickelodeon would be seeking as much marketing as possible, and why Wizards would assume the time was ripe for a tie-in set.
Right now my own personal Avatar hype levels have seldom been higher, as I recently finished my first full rewatch of the show. This time I lightly badgered my girlfriend into joining me, and it was fun to see her transform from begrudging viewer to a bigger fan than me, to the point where she’s now grabbed us tickets to see an orchestral performance of the soundtrack.
So perhaps I’m predisposed to believe this theory and am setting myself up for disappointment. But the clues do seem solid. What do you reckon?
To stay current with all things Magic: The Gathering, check out our list of all the best MTG Arena decks. You should also see our recommendations for the best MTG commander picks.
Source: Wargamer
