Here's Every MTG Universes Beyond Set Ranked From Worst To Best

Wizards of the Coast originally released Magic: The Gathering crossovers at a slow and steady pace, but four Universes Beyond sets are coming in 2026 alone, meaning the floodgates have well and truly opened, for better or worse.

If you're looking for a comprehensive guide to all the Universes Beyond sets and major drops, including Commander precons, listed in order of worst to best, then we've got you covered. Each set is ranked based on the originality, quality of the cards, interest in the release, and the impact of the cards on the MTG landscape (in the case of Commander/Standard set releases).

Updated on August 18, 2026, by Niall Walsh: The Hobbit may be a smaller set, but it's mighty powerful. We've added this new Tolkien set to our list and updated some other entries based on their impact and outlook over the past few months. Reminder: This list now only covers full or limited sets, not Secret Lair products. As such, we've removed all Secret Lair products and are moving them to their own list.

11 Marvel's Spider-Man

Full Standard Set - 2025

Where do we even begin with the Spider-Man set? This disaster of a release didn't even make it to MTG Arena at first because of licensing issues, which led to widespread confusion in the community. On top of that, what was supposed to be a smaller set became a full Standard release, resulting in cards that felt rushed and uninspiring and that didn't synergize well with existing Standard sets or function well as a standalone product.

The straw that broke the camel's back was the fact that this set ended up pushing back the release of Lorwyn Eclipsed, a hugely anticipated original MTG set, and it came in the middle of a major ramp-up in new products, leaving players feeling burnt out and slighted by the expectation to invest in new products so often.

10 Doctor Who

Four Commander Decks - 2023

The Universes Beyond Doctor Who release brought with it four very strong Commander decks, each one designed around several iterations of The Doctor and their villains. The main release also came with three Secret Lairs: Dalek Lands, Weeping Angels, and Regeneration.

Despite the initial reaction to these Commander decks, some have become shelf fodder and are often available below MSRP. This sometimes happens when a product just isn't as widely appealing once its release window passes, or when the deck's reprint value is poor.

9 Assassin's Creed

Beyond Booster Set - 2024

A sort of mini-set within the greater Universes Beyond collection, the Assassin's Creed Universes Beyond contains 100 cards split across Beyond Boosters, a Starter Kit, a Bundle, and Collector Boosters, as well as two Secret Lairs. Beyond Boosters are a new type of Booster pack, and are not draftable but contain a mix of older cards with new artwork and original new cards designed with the Assassin's Creed games in mind.

The main thing working against Assassin's Creed is that it was released in the Eternal-only window for Universes Beyond, and this limited its potential to an almost redundant state. If given the proper Universes Beyond treatment in 2026, an Assassin's Creed set would be infinitely better and more relevant, but instead, this release is often forgotten.

8 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Standard Set - 2026

The TMNT Universes Beyond set's one major redeeming quality is its draftability. It's a fun set to draft, but beyond that, it has a minimal impact on Standard and Commander.

Artistically, the set was perfect for the property it represented, and it even had some very cool chase cards in the form of the Kevin Eastman Borderless Signature turtles, but as a Magic set, especially one legal in the Standard format, TMNT is a letdown.

What has worked well and truly against TMNT is that it is sandwiched between two highly anticipated sets, Lorwyn Eclipsed and Secrets of Strixhaven, and both ended up being absolute blockbusters, making TMNT look meek in comparison.

7 Marvel Super Heroes

Standard Set - 2026

This is easily one of the most divisive releases in Magic: The Gathering history, but at its core, it's shaping up to be a strong release in a few key ways. It's a highly draftable set, even if some of the ten combos are quite a bit stronger than others; it's still a fun set to build Limited decks with. Its Commander precon decks are also fairly impressive, with even the weakest of the decks being easily upgradable.

The impact of this set on Standard and Commander in general will form over the coming months, and the result of this may change the ranking considerably, but for now, the Marvel Super Heroes set is trending far more positively than we expected, and it's going to make Wizards of the Coast a truckload of money.

6 Fallout

Four Commander Decks - 2024

The extremely popular Fallout series joined Magic: The Gathering with four Commander decks. The four decks follow a different faction or characters from the games, including Caesar and his Legion, the various mutants that populate the wastes, and even your favorite companion, Dogmeat.

In 2026, these decks are highly sought after and, for the most part, quite valuable. Fallout is a very popular property, so this was expected, but the limited nature of these Commander decks has led to some artificial pricing, especially given the overall power of some of the decks; it's all a bit disproportionate.

Regardless, the decks are well-built and themed, so if you can get your hands on one, they're a lot of fun to play with.

5 Avatar: The Last Airbender

Standard Set - 2025

Love it, hate it, or simply don't care about it, the Avatar MTG set surpassed all expectations upon release in 2025 and was easily one of the most impactful Universes Beyond sets ever released, with the 2025 World Championship-winning deck largely featuring cards from the set in the Izzet Lessons archetype. Two of its biggest cards, Gran-Gran and Badgermole Cub, just got banned in Standard, too.

For Avatar fans, this set was a dream come true; for those with no attachment to the IP, it was a completely inoffensive crossover that produced unique card designs that became highly desirable in the print version of the game.

The Commander offering left a little to be desired, with no pre-con decks released, and a Commander's bundle available instead.

4 The Hobbit

Standard Set - 2026

Given its smaller size, The Hobbit isn't going to leave the same lasting impression as the Tales of Middle-earth set, but that doesn't mean it isn't packed with exciting cards, a decent draft experience, and some big Commander additions and reprints. It feels like a continuation of the previous Lord of the Rings set, only this time it's Standard-legal.

The lack of any Commander precons was disappointing, as was the general size of the set, but given that this was turned around less than three years following the release of Tales of Middle-earth, it's actually quite an impressive feat.

Time will tell whether this set has any major impact on the Standard format, but we don't foresee any groundbreaking archetypes rising from the set. However, be sure to keep an eye on Goblins and Dwarves, both of which just got much more playable in Standard with the release of this set.

Any Middle-earth sets are going to rank highly just because they feel like a true Magic-adjacent property, and the cards always look and play great for the most part.

3 Final Fantasy

Full Standard Set and Commander Decks - 2025

The Final Fantasy Universes Beyond crossover ended up being a huge hit with FF and MTG fans alike, largely because it was so clear to everyone that a lot of thought and planning had gone into the releases, and in reality, it was a hugely relevant deck in Standard at the time of release, with some powerful Mono-Green landfall and Gruul landfall decks still floating around using a few standout cards from the set.

On the Commander front, the FF VI Revival Trance deck is a major standout as one of the best Commander pre-con decks ever released, both out of the box and with minor upgrades.

There's a reason why this is the best-selling Magic set of all time, and while many purists may cringe at this fact, Final Fantasy will influence why Magic is the way it is for years to come.

2 The Lord Of The Rings: Tales Of Middle-Earth

Full Modern Set Release & Commander Decks - 2023

The first major set release in the Universes Beyond series, the Tales of Middle-earth set included a full set, four Commander decks, two Jumpstart versions, Secret Lair Drops, and more. The main set included 281 cards, the vast majority of which were original cards designed for the set.

Tales of Middle-earth is a straight-to-Modern release, meaning it was never legal in Standard. While the overall power level of the set was intended to be lower than that of other Modern-based releases, it still included some incredibly powerful cards like Orcish Bowmasters and The One Ring.