Brandon Sanderson, the New York Times bestselling fantasy author known for The Mistborn Saga and The Stormlight Archive, recently gave an update on the possibility of a Magic: The Gathering Universes Beyond offering based on his fictional universe where many of his books take place.
Sanderson held a Q&A session at Dragonsteel Nexus 2024, a convention celebrating the worlds and works of Sanderson that coincided with the much-anticipated release of Wind and Truth, the fifth book in The Stormlight Archive, and a fan asked him if we can ever expect a Universes Beyond: Cosmere set.
Sanderson, a big MTG fan who wrote the Children of the Nameless Magic novella and even appeared in videos with The Professor from Tolarian Community College, has mentioned such a collaboration before, but gave more detail in his answer at the convention held the first weekend of December. The short answer from Sanderson is that it is probably something that will happen, but the “when” of it happening is unknown.
“I would be open to the idea,” Sanderson said. “In fact, when they [Wizards of the Coast] were first exploring Universes Beyond, before we kind of knew where they were going, they came to me and said, ‘Hey, would you ever be interested in doing one of these?’ And I wrote back and said, ‘Yes, absolutely, gimme, gimme, gimme,’ but maybe a little more professional. Then I didn’t hear back from them, which is not uncommon from them, Wizards is a very big company.”
Sanderson continued with his answer, giving his theory on how everything went down.
“I think — this is only Brandon fan-theory time — I think they did this to a bunch of people, including some very large IPs, and I think all of them said yes, too,” Sanderson said. “So, when you’re going, ‘Hey Brandon, would you like to? Hey Marvel, would you like to? Hey Lord of the Rings, would you like to?’ my yes, maybe is a yes that goes pretty far down on the list. And so, I am eager for them to work through all of the other properties that would make decent Magic sets and eventually come to me.”
He also noted that the Cosmere would require a full set, so Sanderson wouldn’t be satisfied with a Secret Lair drop or mini-set.
“I would, I have decided, hold out for a full set, not just a few cards, I would want to do a full-blown set, and I have told them if they ever get around to this, I will fly out to Seattle and be involved, because I do like it so much,” Sanderson said. “So, the answer is, I do think it is probably something that will happen, assuming MTG doesn’t fall apart. If the wheels don’t come off by trying to do so many sets in one year, I think it is something that will eventually happen. I am in a place where I can wait to do it, until they are willing to give me the full set or something like that.”
You can listen to Sanderson’s answer in the video below, starting at the 50:40 mark and running until 53:25 (question 25). Note, this is a spoiler Q&A, so if you want to avoid any book spoilers do not listen to other parts of the video.
The Cosmere is already home to more than 20 books and hundreds of character spanning multiple planets, making it an ideal setting for a MTG set. The universe has a complex, interconnected magic system, which Sanderson describes on his website, “All of my Cosmere books share a single creation myth, a single cosmology, that gives underlying theorem of magic for all these connected worlds. The theorem is not simple–I can’t really encapsulate it in one sentence–but you can map out how the magic all fits together in the Cosmere using this kind of super theorem.”
The Cosmere includes standalone works like Elantris, Warbreaker, and a handful of others, but its co-headliners are The Stormlight Archive and The Mistborn Saga. Sanderson’s books are packed full of high-fantasy action, adventure, romance, and religion that unravel across different planets with some characters managing to hop between worlds. The iconic, and often deeply troubled characters, lend themselves perfectly for top-down Magic designs.
Maybe years from now we will see characters like Vin, Kelsier, Elend, Sazed, Kaladin, Shallan, Dalinar, Sarene, Raoden, Hrathen, Siri, Vivenna, Vasher, and many others on a Magic: The Gathering battlefield. Which ones would you be most excited to see? Let us know on social media!
