Magic: The Gatheringis no stranger to video game-themed crossovers, both in its Secret Lair drops and in the Universes Beyond sets, but theFinal FantasyMagic: The Gatheringset has been one of the most successful at bringing new players into the fold. After 5 years of careful work designing the mechanics of the cards and pulling in some of the best artists to illustrate them,Magic: The Gathering’sFinal FantasyUniverses Beyond set arrived to unprecedented levels of success, partly because of the merging between two significantly large fandoms and partly from the fact that theFinal Fantasyset is the first standard legal Universes Beyond product. But there’s anotherMagicset that, even though it’s not standard legal, shouldn’t be slept on by new players.
Released back in 2022 as an eternal legal Commander-centric expansion,Magic: The Gathering’s Battle for Baldur’s Gate set features characters and creatures from both the widerDungeons & Dragonsuniverseand from the trilogy ofBaldur’s Gategames, even including some nods to characters fromBaldur’s Gate 3back when it was still in Early Access on PC. While it’s not a direct tie-in withBaldur’s Gate 3, the set contains a ton of excellent new and mechanically unique cards, along with some absolutely stellar reprints ofMagic: The Gatheringstaples that are perfectly tailored toward beginner-friendly casual Commander.
Magic: The Gathering’s Battle for Baldur’s Gate Set Ticks a Lot of the Same Boxes as Final Fantasy
Compared side-by-side, the Battle for Baldur’s Gate andFinal Fantasysets actually have a lot in common, at least when it comes to the composition and general theme of each set. Again, Battle for Baldur’s Gate is not standard legal like theFinal Fantasyset and can only be used in eternal formats like Commander, but the cards themselves share a good bit in common with what many players love about theFinal Fantasyset. Namely, players can expect to find plenty of excellent references to the events and characters of all threeBaldur’s Gategamesin the Battle for Baldur’s Gate Cards, both in terms of their artwork and how their mechanics are thematically relevant to the games.
Despite being aUniverses Beyondset,Final Fantasyalso connects nicely to the widerMagic: The Gatheringuniverse, which can also be said about Battle for Baldur’s Gate. Wizards of the Coast owns bothMagic: The GatheringandDungeons & Dragons(hence, why Battle for Baldur’s Gate isn’t a Universes Beyond set and instead a Commander Legends set), and that allowed the company to really hone in on what players appreciate about each property in the design of the cards. Plus, it’s worth pointing out that Battle for Baldur’s Gate andFinal Fantasyare each home to some highly valuable reprints of classicMagic: The Gatheringcards that immediately stand out as staples (and even share some reprints in common).
Commander-Centric Sets Are Perfect for Players New to Magic: The Gathering
Even without it being standard legal, the Battle for Baldur’s Gate has experienced a massive surge in player interest years since its release, and it’s largely due to the increasing popularity of the commander format. Wizards of the Coast has been clear about the intention of the Universes Beyond line being to bringnew players toMagic: The Gathering, which has resulted in each new set in the UB line featuring a focus on commander products like preconstructed decks and set boosters.Final Fantasyis unique as the first Universes Beyond set to be standard legal, but that hasn’t stopped some of its most popular products from being the four new commander decks.
There’s a good chance that a large portion of the newMagicplayers whose gateway to the hobby wasFinal Fantasywill try out their precon decks at their LGS’s commander night, and with the right pod, they might find that they’re fully invested in the game. If that’s the case, it’s only a matter of time before the next step of building some new commander decks to try out, and Battle for Baldur’s Gate is a great bridge to connect new players to the widerMagic: The Gatheringuniverse while still featuring avideo game tie-in.
