Universes Beyond

Universes Beyond (abbreviated as UB ) is a “sub-brand” of Magic: The Gathering that exists in addition to, and alongside, the regular line of products. The series was announced by Chris Cocks in February, 2021 during the Hasbro 2021 Investor Event.

The sets featured in this series are never Standard-legal.

Description
Universes Beyond is a series that combines the gameplay of Magic: The Gathering with worlds, characters, and stories of other IPs. The series is branded slightly differently from regular products and has a specific look as a result. These are still Magic cards, but the card frame will be distinct and has a triangular holofoil stamp that denotes them as the non-canon cards. This holofoil stamp was first seen on cards of the Secret Lair Drop Series: The Walking Dead, and that set was grandfathered in into the Universes Beyond-series. Another border color for UB cards was dismissed, because R&D (and Sales) feared that the UB sets wouldn't get treated as “this is a different subset of Magic”, but rather as “this isn’t a real Magic card”.

Distribution
Universes Beyond products will not only be found in Secret Lairs, but will be sold in the whole range of Magic products. Wizards of the Coast may occasionally do associated Secret Lair products related to the main release, like the Secret Lair Godzilla lands when Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths came out. There will also be the occasional standalone product like The Walking Dead, but the intention is to typically make Universes Beyond as available as any other Magic product.

Appearance
Wizards of the Coast announced that on occasion they could utilize the treatment from the Ikoria Godzilla cards (existing Magic cards skinned with the alternate universe). But mostly, the sets would be like The Walking Dead (alternate universe cards that stand on their own). According to Mark Rosewater, it was not feasible to have a Magic version for every new UB card, but R&D have the ability to make Magic versions of any UB card if the need arises. The other way around, Universes Beyond may feature straight reprints from original Magic sets with the same card name (but new art) and same mechanical cards but with a new name. It depends on how well the name fits the IP.

Secret Lairs
In June 2021, the statement above was amended for Secret Lairs. It was announced that for upcoming Universes Beyond Secret Lairs, Wizards of the Coast planned to:
 * Create and print versions of the mechanically unique Secret Lair Universes Beyond cards that are set in Magic 's Multiverse approximately six months (the exact time may vary) after their release in Secret Lair.
 * Make the in-Magic versions available on The List, findable in Set Boosters for as long as players are still interested in opening them. To start, they'll appear on The List more frequently than other cards to make them easier to find.
 * Possibly reprint those cards in other products.
 * Consider the non-canon cards and the canon cards equivalent game pieces, meaning you can only play four copies (or one copy) of either the Magic version or Universes Beyond version in your deck. There will be a special card treatment that indicates that the cards are related.

WotC does not plan to go back and do this for the cards from The Walking Dead. Neither does this treatment extend to the larger, non-Secret Lair, product releases. However, implementing something similar to this with The Walking Dead isn’t off the table in the future.

Non-canon
The Magic story will not be told through any of the Universes Beyond sets.

List of featured brands
Note that the 2021 Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms is not part of Universes Beyond, because Wizards of the Coast owns both the Magic and Dungeons & Dragons IPs.