Magic: The Gathering's next major Universes Beyond crossover might be the biggest yet, as Wizards of the Coast ties its card game into Final FantasyTech19:03, 10 May 2025Updated 19:26, 10 May 2025This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn moreWizards of the Coast has tied 16 games into one set(Image: Wizards of the Coast/Square Enix)Magic: The Gathering is in a weird spot right now. Wizards of the Coast has taken a Fortnite-like approach of releasing a series of crossovers dubbed ‘Universes Beyond’, but one of its best sets in the last couple of years has been one of its own—Tarkir Dragonstorm.That means some in the community have ‘checked out’ until the next in-universe offering, but Wizards’ next big collab, with one of the longest-running and most beloved series in all of video games, might just be the one to silence the doubters.Magic The Gathering’s Final Fantasy crossover has clearly been worked on with a degree of care and attention that calls to mind the Lord of the Rings set from 2023. Here’s why it’s worth your time.Note: We were hoping to have some card images here, but expect Wizards to have a full gallery soon - we just didn't get any images at publishing time!Final Fantasy 6 is regarded by some as the best in the long-running series(Image: Wizards of the Coast/Square Enix)Universes Beyond is a pretty nebulous term, perhaps fittingly. On one hand, there are guest cards from Secret Lair offerings like Street Fighter, Arcane, or Stranger ThingsThen there are Commander-focused offerings like Warhammer 40K (which were great, by the way), and smaller sets like Assassin’s Creed. So, where does Final Fantasy fall?In essence, it’s one of the biggest, most ambitious sets—possibly even the most ambitious given its cards cover all sixteen games in the core franchise, a whole host of easter eggs, and much more.Ahead of a full PAX reveal, we got to see a series of cards, learn more about the new mechanics, and much more.The next Universes Beyond set is the Final Fantasy crossover (Image: Wizards of the Coast/Square Enix)One of the things Wizards kept pointing to was that there are very few fans of Final Fantasy who have the same love for every mainline entry, and yet, the whole set feels surprisingly cohesive.Naturally, there are characters and concepts that exist between multiple games, just as things like Chocobos and even Cid persist, but the team has gone deeper than I expected in making each card that is tied to a particular game feel like it belongs.Take Final Fantasy 7’s cards, for example. Not only is Sephiroth’s card artwork by the legendary Tetsuya Nomura, but he transforms into a One-Winged Angel version of himself.Aerith, on the other hand, has an effect that triggers when she dies, for obvious reasons that we’re still to traumatised to think about right now.For Final Fantasy X, Tidus can move counters around your creatures in a way akin to the Sphere Grid used to assign stats in the game, and Yuna, as a summoner, can bring back Summons from the graveyard.In short, if you have a favourite Final Fantasy game, it feels like it was someone on the design team’s favourite game, too, and they’ve done justice.Even Final Fantasy 1, which feels like a distant memory thanks to the sheer volume of games that followed it, is represented with a Job Select mechanic that lets you make 1/1 tokens and slap a bunch of equipment on them.Wizards has worked in MMO-like mechanics to the FF14 deck(Image: Wizards of the Coast/Square Enix)Magic’s mechanics and keywords must number in the dozens at this point, but the team hasn’t shied away from adding more complexity.From Squall’s ability to deal double damage when attacking solo, to Absolute Virtue from Final Fantasy 11 depicted as an endgame threat that can’t be countered, each card offers something special.Summons move upward through phases like Sagas, but other cards can transform entirely, like Kefka, the baddie of Final Fantasy 6, or Clive from Final Fantasy 16.Lightning from Final Fantasy 13 can stagger enemies, just like in that particular entry, dealing bonus damage, while Zodiark, Umbral God from Final Fantasy 14 has an MMO-like mechanic that you’ll need to get right to secure victory.Fang and Vanille, from the series’ thirteenth entry, and even meld into Ragnarok—a first for Magic, according to the development team.Tiered spells also debut, meaning you can cast Fire, Fira, or Firaga depending on your choices.It’s a lot of relatively small things across the set that layer on top of one another to make it clear that this is a bigger deal than, say, Assassin’s Creed.Finally, Towns will offer Land but with the Adventure mechanic tied to them, letting players experience the events of, say, Zanarkand in Final Fantasy X.Maybe I’m just an easy mark for Final Fantasy and Magic: The Gathering, having already preordered multiple items in the set, but if nothing else, I now feel confident it’s going to be a strong follow-up to Tarkir Dragonstorm.June 6’s prerelease event can’t come soon enough, with the Final Fantasy set launching on June 13.Article continues belowYou can preorder herePreview access provided by Wizards of the Coast.‌