The Minds Behind Magic The Gathering Say Theyre Making It For Anyone Not Everyone

There's a simple mantra that permeates every interview or question and answer session conducted during the MagicCon weekend: Magic is for everyone, but that doesn't mean everyone's going to love everything the team puts out. While universal acclaim would be great, the creative teams say that this simply isn't possible.

At MagicCon Atlanta, two key panels laid bare the company's short- and long-term plans for the decades-old card game. The Preview Panel announced all but one of the expansions coming to the game in 2026--four of which will be Universes Beyond collaboration sets--while the Secret Lair panel announced over a dozen new limited-time drops set to launch throughout the month of October, featuring names like Jaws, Furby, Iron Maiden, The Office, and multiple PlayStation franchises.

While the reaction in the room for these panels was marked with excitement, the deluge of Universes Beyond collaborations mixed in with the in-universe Magic fans love led to a fair bit of trepidation among the fanbase. One viral post from a competitive Magic player leaned heavily on the in vogue insult "slop," while the YouTube content creation community made their thoughts known acros smultiple videos.