Wizards of the Coast originally released Magic: The Gathering crossovers at a slow and steady pace, but the four Universes Beyond sets aren't coming until 2026, which means the floodgates have well and truly opened, for better or worse.
If you're looking for a comprehensive guide to all the Universes Beyond sets, ranked from worst to best, then we've got you covered. Each set is rated based on originality, card quality, interest in the release, and impact of the cards on the MTG environment (in the case of a Commander/Standard set release).
Updated 21 June 2026 by Niall Walsh: The TMNT and Marvel Super Heroes sets have now been added to this list and we will no longer be adding the smaller Secret Lair drops as WotC pretty much ignored counting them as part of Universes Beyond for some time. If an IP receives a Secret Lair, but then comes back for a full UB set or other products, we'll add it to the list.
28
Marvel's Spider-Man
Complete standard set – 2025
Where do we even begin with the Spider-Man set? This disaster of a release didn't even make it to MTG Arena due to licensing issues, leading to widespread confusion in the community. Additionally, what was supposed to be a smaller set became a full-on version of Standard, resulting in cards that felt rushed and uninspiring and failed to synergize well with existing Standard sets or work well as a stand-alone product.
The straw that broke the camel's back was the fact that this set ended up pushing back the release of Lorwyn Eclipsed, the highly anticipated original MTG set, and it came in the middle of a big rush of new products, leaving players feeling burned out and scorned at the prospect of investing in new products so often.
Magic: The Gathering – Every mechanically unique secret lair card that has not been reprinted
Magic: The Gathering has a lot of mechanically unique cards that have only been printed once and there is no guarantee that they will be printed again.
27
Tomb Raider
Secret Lair Drop – 2023
Coming exclusively as a Secret Lair Drop, Tomb Raider Universes Beyond focuses on the remake of games in the long-running Tomb Raider series. The main attraction of this Drop is Lara Croft, the Tomb Raider herself. This mechanically unique card targets legendary artifacts and lands, bringing them back from your graveyard and banishing them with a discovery token, a new type of token included with this card. You can then play cards from exile if they have one of these tokens.
- Lara Croft, Tomb Raider
- Explorer's Heart // The Lost Valley
- The Yamatai Storm
- Grim Whisper
- Totec's spear
- Kitezh, Sunken City
- Treasure Token
The drop hasn't made it to Universes Within yet, so the only way you can play with the Lara Croft card is if you get it from this drop.
26
Guide
Secret Lair Drop – 2024
A rather interesting entry in the Universes Beyond series, Ravnica: Clue Edition is a multiplayer variant that allows you and three to four friends to get together and try to solve a mystery while playing a game of Magic.
- Guildmage Boddy
- Headliner Scarlett
- Commander Mustard
- Apothecary White
- Ambassador Green
- Senator Peacock
- Mastermind Plum
All of the characters from the original Clue game, including Mrs. Peacock and Colonel Mustard, make their way into the game, this time getting a fantastic makeover as if they were characters from Ravnica. Each of these Clue characters is a legendary creature and a mechanically unique card that complements a number of other mechanically unique cards mixed into the set.
25
Hatsune Miku
Secret Lair Drop – 2024
The incredibly popular Vocaloid Hatsune Miku joins the expanded Magic: The Gathering universe with three Secret Lair Drops. The artwork for these Drops features artwork from fans around the world, so each card has a unique style and feel.
|
Hatsune Miku: Sakura Superstar |
Hatsune Miku: Digital Sensation |
Hatsune Miku: Electric Entourage |
|---|---|---|
|
Shelter |
Devil teacher |
Miku, Divine Diva |
|
Miku's Sparkle |
Calling chord |
KAITO, the mysterious master |
|
Harmonize |
Mike, child of song |
Luke, The Traveling Sound |
|
Mike, lost but singing |
The song of creation |
Mike, Voice of Power |
|
Mike, Renowned |
Salt ring |
Len and Rin, Harmony incarnate |
|
The inspiring Vantage |
Thespian stage |
/ |
A fourth Secret Lair Drop is scheduled for release in 2024, but details on that release are limited.
All of these drops feature either alternate art reprints or card reskins; there are no mechanically unique cards between the drops. Interestingly, the Electric Entourage set features a Vocaloid named KAITO, who is a reskinned borderless version of Jace, the Unraveler of Secrets, and not Kaito Shizuki, the actual character from the Magic universe.
There are strong rumors of a new Hatsune Miku Commander pack arriving as part of the Secret Lair, which could increase the stock of this Universes Beyond crossover when it releases.
24
Monty Python
Secret Lair Drop – 2024
The iconic humor of Monty Python and the Holy Grail might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the Universes Beyond set, but these two Secret Lair Drops contain a total of nine swipe cards, each depicting a different scene from the film.
|
Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Vol. 1 |
Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Vol. 2 |
|---|---|
|
Tim the Witcher |
Bridge of Death |
|
Bring out your dead! |
Sir Bediver's Scales |
|
But that's a scratch! |
Aaargh Castle |
|
African swallow // European swallow |
The black beast of Aaargh |
|
We want… CURVE! |
/ |
Perhaps the deepest notch of all Secret Lair or Universes Beyond is the inclusion of Tim the Enchanter, which is a reskinned version of the Prodigal Sorcerer. This card was nicknamed Tim because its original design resembled the Witcher character Tim from the movie.
23
Ghostbusters
Secret Lair Drop – 2024
The ten drawn cards form two Ghostbusters Universes Beyond Secret Lair Drops based on the classic comedy starring Bill Murry, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson and Sigourney Weaver.
|
Ghostbusters: Slimer |
The real ghostbusters |
|---|---|
|
A slimmer, voracious apparition |
Careful study |
|
Slimmed down |
Total containment failure |
|
Slimer's holiday |
Answer the call |
|
Escape from containment |
Ghostbuster's Patch |
|
A pernicious act |
Ecto-1 |
Oddly enough, Ghostbusters Secret Lairs doesn't actually feature any of these actors. Instead, Slimer features five cards based on the voracious green ghost, while The Real Ghostbusters Drop is based on the cartoon.
22
Child's play
Secret Lair Drop – 2024
Horror fans got another Universes Beyond with the release of Child's Play Secret Lair Drop. This series of horror films focuses on a Chucky doll that becomes possessed by the soul of a serial killer after a voodoo ritual transfers his soul into the doll to escape death.
- Chucky
- Sorry Jack… Chucky is back
- Tiffany, Bride of Chucky
- A friend until the end
- Play Pals Factory
This five-card Secret Lair features modified cards and features two legendary creatures: Chucky, which is a modified version of Kardur, Doomscourge, and then one of Tiffany, which is a drawn-out Barragoth, Bloodsky Sire.
21
SpongeBob SquarePants
Secret Lair – 2025
Sadly, this SpongeBob-themed Secret Lair featured no original cards, and while the artwork was fun, it felt more like a money-making meme release than something that would have any long-term impact on Magic.
|
Theme card |
Real card |
|---|---|
|
Plankton, the little bully |
Skrelv, Defector Mite |
|
Mr. Krabs, Penny Pincher |
Charix, Furious Isle |
|
Squidward, the sarcastic snob |
Grazilaxx, Illithid Scholar |
|
Gary, the snail |
Toxrill, caustic |
|
Sandy Cheeks, combat astronaut |
Toski, bearer of secrets |
|
Patrick Star |
Barktooth Warbeard |
|
SpongeBob SquarePants |
Jodah, the Unifier |
20
Jurassic Park / Jurassic World
Secret Lair Drop & The Lost Caverns Of Ixalan Packs – 2023
This Universes Beyond collection is divided into several editions. You can find a lot of mechanically unique cards in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan booster packs. These cards include some very cool dinosaurs like Blue, Loyal Raptor and Indominus Rex, Alpha as well as some powerful spells in Permission Denied and Don't Move.
|
Jurassic World: Life Breaks Free |
Jurassic World: Dr. Ian Malcolm |
|---|---|
|
Tyrannosaurus Rex |
Chaotic Chaotic |
|
Velociraptor |
Malcolm's Mercurial Mirth |
|
Indominus Rex |
Ian, the convalescent magician |
|
Triceratops |
Dr. Ian Malcolm |
|
Spinosaurus |
Egg token |
The two Secret Lair Drops have taken some of the most famous dinosaurs from the movies and turned them into modified versions of classic magic cards, while Dr. The Ian Malcolm Secret Lair is a lair dedicated exclusively to Jeff Goldblum's character from the movies.
19
The princess bride
Secret Lair Drop – 2023
A mix of reimagined cards and alternative art, The Princess Bride Universes Beyond collection features nine cards featuring both characters from the film, such as Princess Buttercup and Westly, as well as some of the most iconic scenes, including the Battle of Wits between Vizzini and Dread Pirate Roberts.
- Buttercup, provincial princess
- Silence
- A battle of wits
- Vizzini, the master criminal
- Rodents of unusual size
- Westley, Dread Pirate Roberts
- Fezzik, The Rhyming Fig
- Inigo, Swordsman of Vengeance
- Miracle Max, unemployed
Each card has flavor text that is a quote from the movie, such as Inigo Montoya's classic: “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”
