Magic: The Gathering’s 2027 lineup is taking shape, with half of the six sets revealed. From a return to Kamigawa to afrofantasy and underwater adventures, we’re just waiting for our first look at Universes Beyond sets to fill out the calendar.
We’ll likely get our first look at MagicCon Atlanta in November, but for now, there’s no harm in some fun predictions on what could be coming up next.
What We Know So Far
In a recent quarterly earnings report, Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks noted feedback on recent Universes Beyond sets, which have run the gamut from two trips to Middle-Earth, just as many visits to New York City, every single Final Fantasy, and, soon, Star Trek.
“The one thing I’ll say on the Universes Beyond partners that we have next year is they’ll probably be a bit more fantasy-adjacent,” he explained.”
“And I don’t think any of them will take place in New York City because we definitely have gotten that feedback from some fans.”
We know there will be three new Universes Beyond sets, with one in April, one in August, and one in November. So, there are a lot of potential crossovers that would be fun for Magic: The Gathering, but the idea of refocusing on fantasy IP certainly is interesting.
Here are some that make some sense, all of which you can consider part of our Universes Beyond wishlist for 2027. Let’s take a look.
The Legend of Zelda
Ooo boy, this would be big. Hasbro has already partnered with Nintendo to make The Legend of Zelda toys, but could that extend to Magic, too?
The core identity of a grand, fantasy adventure is a great fit, and the Final Fantasy set showed that Magic can take an IP that covers multiple stories, realities, and timelines and do each justice.
A Master Sword you can equip to Link, Bokoblin creatures to amass, and multiple powerful versions of Ganon make this an obvious fit. We’ve got the live-action Zelda film coming up soon as well, so this could be another big move for the series… if Nintendo allows it.
The Witcher
Sticking with fantasy video games, albeit much dirtier, grim, and morally gray ones, The Witcher series will return in the coming years with a fourth entry. There’s an absolute ton to pull from already, and Wizards of the Coast could even pick from the book series as well if its so inclined.
The main cast of characters would be easy to build a focus around, but there’s also such a deep bestiary that you can then add the griffin, the leshen, and much, much more. Saga cards based on iconic quests like The Bloody Baron would also be a fun way to relive some of Geralt’s most famous adventures.
Let’s not forget that CD Projekt Red has also already dabbled in the card game space with Gwent: The Witcher Card Game, so there’s also a bunch of fun concepts Wizards could riff from, and plenty of brilliant artists to call upon again if needed.
Mystical Marvel
Yes, OK, it’s hardly swords and sorcery, but we know more Marvel sets are coming, so why not make it more about spellcraft than spandex, right?
Give us a Marvel’s “Midnight Suns” set that incorporates the likes of Blade and Doctor Strange, or take us to Asgard for some cardboard gods. It’s fantasy through the lens of Marvel, sure, but it’d be a nice break from the webslingers and the shield-wielders of the IP.
Warhammer: Age of Sigmar
One of my most treasured Magic items is a set of all four Commander decks from the Warhammer 40,000 run in 2022. They’re annoyingly expensive now, but play brilliantly.
I bring this up because the other side of the coin is a “Warhammer: Age of Sigmar” set of Commander Decks (or maybe more) that leans into the Games Workshop brand’s more high-fantasy setting that includes existing Magic archetypes like duardin (dwarves), aelves (elves), and orruks (orks) among others.
Look, I’d be happy with more 40K races, too — give us the T’au, Astra Militarum, and Adeptus Mechanicus. Age of Sigmar just makes sense to explore, as well.
Game of Thrones
Despite the TV show’s controversial ending, Game of Thrones remains an IP that’ll be pulling in cash as long as George R.R. Martin has yet to finish the book series.
Game of Thrones (or A Song of Ice and Fire) now has multiple spinoffs, comic books, video games, and even a standalone card game itself from Fantasy Flight Games, so why not add a Magic: The Gathering set into the mix as well?
It could include content from the prequels like Fire and Blood (and riffing on House of the Dragon), as well as deeper cuts like Lady Stoneheart… Or it could just be reskinned Tarkir: Dragonstorm with its various factions and big, fire-breathing creatures.
Either way, this could be the perfect crossover waiting to happen.
FromSoftware/Elden Ring
This has been mooted for years to the point where I feel we’re at least going to get a Secret Lair out of it, but a FromSoft collaboration would be massive.
Consider the medieval fantasy vibes that run deep from Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls, to Elden Ring. The sheer volume of fantastic bosses would make for a great character list, like Ornstein and Smough, Knight Artorias, Nameless King, and more.
Then there’s Bloodborne to consider as well, packed with memorable moments and such a powerful cosmic-horror, gothic vibe that stands alone from the rest of the studio’s creations. In all honestly it probably deserves a set on its own, even if we do have that animated film to look forward to.
Still, it feels as though Elden Ring is perhaps the most likely to get its own set. The game sold by the bucketload, has a live-action Hollywood film coming soon, and is likely many people’s first introduction to FromSoft’s unique brand of mechanical masochism. Yeah, I can see this happening, for sure.
Blizzard Entertainment
Wizards of the Coast has already confirmed a Dungeons & Dragons expansion based on World of Warcraft, so it’s not too much of a jump to suggest its massively successful MMO could come to Magic, too.
Still, that could cause some issues with the likes of Hearthstone butting up against Magic Arena, so why not something a little different? While I’d be very pleased to see an Overwatch Secret Lair drop with some of the hero shooter’s iconic heroes, I reckon we’ve got more chance of a full set for Diablo.
The loot-filled title is all about demons and hellfire, and that’s something Magic already has in spades. Factor in equipment cards based on Mythic items, and you’ve got a neat Voltron deck idea as you build your class-specific Commander in fun ways.
Those are some of our predictions, but what are you expecting? Let us know in the comments!
Latest MTG Deals
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He’s a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife’s dismay.
This article contains contributions from Robert Anderson.
