The Gathering Crossover Was Notably Absent From MagicCon

Magic: The Gathering’s recent MagicCon event in Las Vegas just wrapped up on Sunday. The event included events for Magic’s Pro Tour, and a variety of panels discussing the game’s latest set, and looking ahead to what is to come. While there was a lot of information shared about what’s coming later this year for Magic: The Gathering, there was one upcoming set that was notably absent from the proceedings.

Now, Magic: The Gathering does have a lot in the works. Its upcoming Edge of Eternities set, which will introduce the new Spacecraft card type, is the next set that will be released, so naturally many of the previews focused on it over other upcoming products. We also got a brief glimpse of the Avatar: The Last Airbender set, a look at art from next year’s Lorwyn Eclipsed, and the announcement of a return to Strixhaven sometime next year. However, we didn’t get a look at a set that will be coming sooner than most of the ones previewed.

Spider-Man Didn’t Appear At MagicCon, But Avatar Did

Avatar Comes out After Spider-Man

The next Magic: The Gathering set that will be released after Edge of Eternities is the Spider-Man Universes Beyond crossover. It is set to be released on September 26, 2025, nearly two months before Magic’s Avatar: The Last Airbender set. Although we have seen some initial previews of Spider-Man, I was a little surprised that MagicCon Vegas’ preview panel skipped over talking about it to focus on Avatar and the sets coming next year. In fact, the Spider-Man set wasn’t even mentioned during part of the panel.

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The Marvel sets will not be coming to Magic: Arena or Magic: Online, with mechanically identical sets released as a replacement starting in September.

Now, I’m sure that this doesn’t mean anything negative about the set’s development. Magic: The Gathering sets take years to develop so, this close to Spider-Man’s release date, a lot of the set’s design is probably already figured out. However, I still found it a little strange that we didn’t hear anything about it at the convention, especially given the treatment of other Universes Beyond sets. Looking at the most recent example, Final Fantasy, the preview schedule between it and Spider-Man seems pretty different.

Final Fantasy Had More Previews This Close To Release Than Spider-Man Does

We’ve Only Seen Six Spider-Man Cards So Far

We got our first look at Final Fantasy’s Magic: The Gathering set all the way back in February, about four months before the set released. We got a look at a variety of cards, including the double-sided Sephiroth, and all four face commanders for the set’s preconstructed decks. In total, this initial run of previews showed off 22 cards from the set.

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Magic: The Gathering Spider-Man Set – Release Date, Prices, Confirmed Cards, & Legality

Magic: The Gathering has revealed first details of its upcoming Marvel’s Spider-Man crossover set, including its release date, bundles, and new cards.

Although Spider-Man was previewed in March, which was farther out from its release date, we only saw six cards from the set. Now, only three months from its release date, we have still only seen those initial previews. Because of rolling previews released by Square Enix on certain Final Fantasy characters’ birthdays, the total number of previews was up to 24 cards at this point during the wait for that set.

Although still a little late, MagicCon Vegas would have been the perfect time for Magic’s Spider-Man previews to catch up with where the Final Fantasy ones were this far out from release. Additionally, Marvel hasn’t provided any rolling spoilers the same way Square Enix did between official announcements from Magic: The Gathering. That said, there could be a good reason why Wizards of the Coast chose not to share new Spider-Man cards during MagicCon Vegas.

Why Spider-man Might Be Previewed Later

MTG Could Be Worried Spider-Man Would Overshadow Edge Of Eternity

When Magic: The Gathering released its extensive preview of Final Fantasy, and as we continued to get drip-fed spoilers along the way, it did have the unfortunate side effect of somewhat overshadowing Tarkir: Dragonstorm. The return to Tarkir represented a massive effort by Magic’s designers to recapture the feel of the original set while also correcting some issues with the flavor of the original set. I could easily see Magic: The Gathering being hesitant to repeat this in the lead up to the Spider-Man set.

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Magic: The Gathering Is Returning To A Second Fan-Favorite Plane Next Year

It was recently revealed at MagicCon Las Vegas that Lorwyn won’t be the only fan-favorite plane that the game will be revisiting next year.

Edge of Eternities takes place in a brand-new setting for Magic: The Gathering, and it’s one that a lot of care and effort has clearly been put into. I could easily imagine Wizards of the Coast not wanting to jeopardize the success of this new setting by overshadowing it with Spider-Man news. Spider-Man being a massively popular IP, it probably doesn’t need as much build-up as an in-universe set anyway, so we may have to wait a bit longer to see more cards from it.

Release Date

August 5, 1993

Created by

Richard Garfield

Video Game(s)

Magic: The Gathering, Magic the Gathering Commander, Magic: The Gathering – Battlegrounds, Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012, Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers, Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012, Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013, Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014, Magic: The Gathering Arena

Character(s)

Jace Beleren, Chandra Nalaar, Liliana Vess, Garruk Wildspeaker, Nissa Revane, Ajani Goldmane, Nicol Bolas, Teferi, Gideon Jura, Sorin Markov, Ral Zarek