Magic: The Gathering’s wildly successful Universes Beyond series has opened the floodgates to every property. With the likes of Final Fantasy and The Lord of the Rings having already proven to be the best-selling sets in the history of the TCG, and more Marvel sets almost certainly on the way, it feels as if no IP is off the table. Magic: The Gathering has opened its doors to all possibilities, and while that irks a lot of fans, it is a logical move that’s bound to bring in even more players and make Wizards of the Coast money.
Of course, with Universes Beyond doing so well and many of MTG’s very best collaborations proving to be smash hits with fans and newcomers alike, many have begun wondering which properties could be adapted next. Many, naturally, have looked to Harry Potter, a franchise that’s not completely unlike the in-universe world of Strixhaven, which has also not gotten its own dedicated TCG and is therefore ripe for the picking. However, apparently it is not quite as simple as some may have thought, and the potential crossover between MTG and Harry Potter has ruffled a few feathers.
In a recent Tumblr post by Magic: The Gathering’s head designer Mark Rosewater, it was made pretty clear that the chances of Magic: The Gathering getting a dedicated Harry Potter Universes Beyond set are practically zero. Rosewater, replying to a fan, shot the idea down, stating that the crossover was “very unlikely,” without explaining why. Of course, there are several reasons why Wizards of the Coast would want to stay away from the Harry Potter brand, the biggest of which being the transphobic comments from its creator, J.K. Rowling, which have led to many boycotting the series altogether.
It’s also entirely possible that Warner Bros. has plans for a Harry Potter trading card game, especially considering that some of the best TCGs currently available are recent releases based on popular IP, such as Disney’s Lorcana. Regardless of the reason, it is clear that MTG won’t be getting any Harry Potter cards any time soon, at least within a full-blown Universes Beyond set (a Secret Lair is always possible). This has, naturally, gotten the MTG community discussing the topic, with many taking to Reddit to share their opinions.
Even under Rosewater’s original Tumblr post, users were remarking on how the lack of a collaboration is a good thing. User radueriel simply stated, “GOOD,” with user dasebeleren sharing a similar sentiment, writing, “always good to hear.” Over on a Reddit post discussing Rosewater’s comments, user ItsMorthosBaby agreed that it would be too controversial a set, explaining, “Way too much potential for controversy there. I don’t know if it’d cause serious problems for WotC or not, maybe they don’t either, but I bet they aren’t willing to find out.“
One has to remember that Wizards of the Coast, at least on a purely superficial level, has made great strides to appear as inclusive as possible and is well aware of its rather large transgender community. There are also many outspoken people within the transgender community who work at WotC, who would likely not be happy should the crossover happen. Wizards of the Coast also stated in a Reddit thread back in February that it has no plans to visit other magical schools beyond Strixhaven in any of its sets.
It’s also worth noting that when the significantly smaller company CGE recently revealed it was creating a Harry Potter-themed expansion for its popular game, Codenames, it received a substantial amount of backlash due to J.K. Rowling’s continued affiliation with the franchise. As user Zemmip so colorfully wrote on Reddit, making the Harry Potter UB Magic: The Gathering set is “Not worth the PR s*** storm. There are plenty of other UB properties they could easily collaborate with instead.“
- Video Game(s)
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Magic: The Gathering, Magic the Gathering Commander, Magic: The Gathering – Battlegrounds, Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012, Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers, Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012, Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013, Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014, Magic: The Gathering Arena
- Created by
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Richard Garfield
- Main Genre
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Fantasy
- Release Date
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August 5, 1993
- Character(s)
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Jace Beleren, Chandra Nalaar, Liliana Vess, Garruk Wildspeaker, Nissa Revane, Ajani Goldmane, Nicol Bolas, Teferi, Gideon Jura, Sorin Markov, Ral Zarek
