seven Magic: The Gathering sets, beginning with Innistrad Remastered in late January. Wizards has revealed six of the seven sets so far. Innistrad Remastered, Aetherdrift, Tarkir: Dragonstorm, and Edge of Eternities will all take place in various official Magic: The Gathering planes, while the Final Fantasy franchise and Marvel's Spider-Man will be represented in Universes Beyond sets. Also in the works is a third Universes Beyond set, featuring an unknown IP.

A new theory suggests that this unknown Magic: The Gathering set will feature the Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise. The theory notes that Wizards has been teacoming Magic sets via Daily Deal sales on Magic: The Gathering Arena, with the last daily deal referencing Avatar: The Last Airbender. While the theory may seem farfetched, the theory actually makes a ton of sense and is ed by comments previously made by the set's lead designer, Chris Mooney. If true, Magic: The Gathering would enter into one of its most surprising crossovers yet, but one that feels like a good match for the card game.

Did MTG Tease An Avatar: The Last Airbender Set?

Daily Deals For Magic Arena May Have Steathily Teased The Year-End Set

Amy the Amazonian's theory (via YouTube) is tied to some very subtle teases on Magic: The Gathering Arena over the past few days. Since January 1, the Arena daily deal has featured cards that somehow reference 2025 sets. The race-themed Aetherdrift was represented by vehicle cards, dragon cards teased Tarkir: Dragonstorm, and the sci-fi-themed Edge of Eternities was represented by some cards with "Star" in the title. The Final Flare card represented the Final Fantasy set and some spiders helped tease the Marvel's Spider-Man set.

On January 6, MTG Arena discounted Into the Fire, Waterknot, Earth Cult Elemental, Airdrop Aeronauts, the Distended Mindbender, and Oswald Fiddlebender. That's a not-so-subtle tease referencing the four elements featured in the Avatar franchise, along with two cards with "bender" in their names. Considering that every other Daily Deal up to that point was a reference to other Magic: The Gathering sets coming out in 2025, it seems like a pretty big hint that an Avatar set is on the way.

Why Avatar MTG Cards Make Sense

Avatar Is A Big Franchise And Beloved By The Set's Lead Designer

Although the Avatar franchise skews a bit younger than most other franchises covered in Universes Beyond crossovers, it feels like a natural fit for a Magic collaboration card set. Each of Avatar's elements fit nicely with one of Magic: The Gathering's five colors, with Black feeling like a good fit for some of the weirder elements of the Magic card universe. It would also be interesting to see whether only Avatars like Aang and Korra would serve as Legendary, and how the game would incorporate various bending styles either through game mechanics or as enchantments and instant spells.

Plus, the Avatar: The Last Airbender Universes Beyond theory is ed by comments made by Chris Mooney, the lead designer for the unannounced set. In an announcement post on X (formerly Twitter) revealing that he was the design lead for the set, Mooney said that it was a "lifelong dream come true."

That curiously lines up with a comment Mooney made earlier in the year, when he said that it was "one of [his] life dreams" to play or make an Avatar video game. That could just be a coincidence, but Mooney's fandom of Avatar isn't exactly a secret, which seems to further a new Avatar set.

When Will Avatar Cards In MTG Be Confirmed?

Expect An Announcement In The Next Two Months

If Wizards of the Coast is already working on an Avatar Universes Beyond release, there could be a formal announcement sometime in January. However, it's also possible that Wizards is holding the announcement until MagicCon Chicago in February. Since the existence of the unknown Universes Beyond set was announced at the last MagicCon event, it stands to reason that Wizards is holding the announcement of the next set until then. It doesn't benefit Wizards to wait too long, though. If an Avatar set is planned for this year, Wizards will want to make sure fans spend a few months hyping up the new set.

While there are plenty of franchises that Magic: The Gathering could cross over into, it will be interesting to see how the Universes Beyond concept grows in the future. Wizards has already hit many of the biggest fantasy and video game franchises in previous sets, so it's hard to imagine what it can do to grow the concept even more. Will the company find big cartoon franchises like Avatar: The Last Airbender? Or will it attempt to cross over into science fiction with the likes of Star Trek or Farscape? Whatever direction it goes in, expect this next Universes Beyond set to provide a big tease as to what Magic: The Gathering plans to do in the future.

Source:Amazonian/YouTube, Chris Mooney/Twitter (1, 2)