Magic: The Gathering’s head designer, Mark Rosewater, has responded to complaints that he previously said that the tabletop game wouldn’t get involved with crossovers,while also sharing some positive feedback about the upcoming Marvel sets.
Over the past few years, Magic: The Gathering has become known for its crossovers with other franchises like Doctor Who and Warhammer: 40,000 through its Universes Beyond sets. That wasn’t always the case, though as, aside from Secret Lairs sets, MTG was mostly focused on its own world and characters.
Perhaps the most well-known crossover to come out of Magic: The Gathering is its recent Lord of the Rings set,which included a one-of-a-kind One Ring card that was eventually bought by Post Malone.
Recently, however, those crossovers have started to pile up, with sets based on Fallout, Assassin’s Creed, Final Fantasy, and now Marvel planned to release over the next few years. That has caused some ire among MTG fans, especially considering head designer Mark Rosewater previously claimed that Magic: The Gathering was always going to be “one cohesive game” and not a “hodgepodge of different things”.
Despite those claims being made a long time ago and things clearly having changed since then, some MTG fans have confronted Rosewater about what he previously said in regard to crossovers. In response, Rosewater responded to the criticisms over on his Tumblr blog and explained why crossovers are now a thing, noting that he “100% believed the things I said when I said it”.
“My goal on this blog is to share with you my best sense of where Magic design is at that moment”, Rosewater said. “Often Magic moves in directions I can’t predict. If you asked me ten years ago, as many people actually did, I wouldn’t have predicted Universes Beyond. But now that I’m knee-deep in it, and I’ve seen a lot of data based on the ones we’ve released, I’m a convert. I believe it is something that will bring lots of happiness to Magic players. For example, I was in a playtest for a Marvel set the other day and it was one of the most fun playtests I’ve had in years.”
“I’ve never lied to you, but I have said things that I didn’t think would happen that did. Saying something not knowing the future isn’t lying. I 100% believed the thing I said when I said it.”
After addressing his previous claims, Rosewater specifically talked about the Marvel crossover, which seems to have been the straw that broke the camel’s back for many players. Despite this, Rosewater had some positive thoughts to share about the 2025 set, noting that his time playtesting was “one of the most fun playtests I’ve had in years”.
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