The final Magic set of 2025 is quickly approaching, and players will soon be able to add Avatar Aang, Zuko, and Badgermoles to their decks with Universes Beyond: Avatar – The Last Airbender. At this point, many long-time Magic players, myself included, are tiring or have already grown tired of the barrage of Universes Beyond and “non-Magic” products that have been released, and regardless of the cool cards that may be in a new set, to which Avatar looks to have some exciting offerings already, are turned off by the departure from what they feel is “real Magic.” For myself, I sit somewhere in the passive acceptance range, understanding that at the end of the day, Wizards of the Coast is a business, and UB just brings in way too much money to pass up. Some sets hit harder for me than others, which I’m sure is the case for everyone, and while I very much enjoy the shows, I have been fine sitting on the sidelines and just enjoying watching others who are more excited. I’m still riding high from the Final Fantasy anyway.
That said, something about this new Avatar set irked me somewhat, and that was the fact that how could a set based on a property that was so perfect for a line of preconstructed decks not be getting any? It was silly to let that sour my view of the set, but after listening to the designers a bit at a recent preview, I realized I was looking at Avatar through the lens of what I thought a UB set should be. In actuality, just like how not every Magic-specific set is for the same purpose, why was I expecting these to be too? After that, my outlook did a 180-degree turn.
Just about a year ago, Wizards of the Coast released “Foundations,” its Beginner Box and Jumpstart products, aimed at providing an onboarding ramp for new players to dip their toes into the planes of Magic: The Gathering. I wrote about the Foundations product line and said I could see myself using it to help me teach my own son how to play this game I love, and that sentiment remains. Magic is a daunting game to get into, and trying to teach the game, even for the most experienced players — perhaps even more so — is a challenging task and skill unto itself. I still adore the concepts of the Beginner Box, a release of set staple cards like Foundations, and the Jumpstart line of booster packs that let you grab a couple of packs, smash ’em together, and boom, you have a fun beginner game on your hands. And guess what — Avatar: The Last Airbender is a great property to use for a “Universes Beyond Foundations” building block.
Chris Mooney, the set’s design lead, said it best during the meeting: “One of the things that we heard constantly from all of the fans we surveyed was that Avatar felt like one of the best ways of them getting their family members or their friends into Magic, because they know how much their family and friends loved the show, and they think that it’s such a good fit for Magic. A big part of that decision of going with Jumpstart was the fact that it’s a little bit more streamlined, a little bit simpler, and just quicker and snappier. It was really important that we wanted to have that offering so that for all of the people who said they want to get their family and friends to start playing Magic using Avatar, we had this product that was geared directly toward that.”
This sentiment struck home for me and completely shifted my expectation of what the set was. Things clicked into place. I remembered my joy and how brilliant it was when I first heard about Foundations, thrilled by the prospect of having a tool that I could use to help introduce this game I love to my son, my nephews, and my wife (still working on this one — I have a sealed box of Bloomburrow still for when she gives me the green light). Having an Avatar-themed on-ramp is brilliant, and while it may not feature everything I would have hoped for the set, it’s still got some awesome cards and some sweet new dragons for my Scion deck. Oh, and we have confirmation that the cabbage guy will be making an appearance, along with his own Secret Lair release.
Universes Beyond – Avatar: The Last Airbender is releasing on November 21, 2025, with prereleases beginning on November 14 and its Arena debut on November 18. The Play Boosters, Bundle, Scene Boxes, Beginner Box, and Jumpstart Boosters are all now available for preorder over on Amazon, and be sure to check in with your local game store for any additional prerelease details and preorders!
Here are some awesome cards for you to check out!
