the Gathering UB Mechanic May Not Be Dead in The Water

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home January 15, 2025 2 Views 6 Min Read
the Gathering UB Mechanic May Not Be Dead in The Water

Summary

  • Magic: The Gathering has introduced and discontinued various mechanics, such as Fear, over the years for different reasons.
  • 2025 will see the release of six Standard-legal sets, including three Magic Universe and three Universes Beyond sets.
  • The Rad Counter mechanic, popular in Fallout x MTG crossover, may return in some form in the future, possibly after late 2026.

There are several mechanics in Magic: The Gathering‘s past that were either one-shot additions or discontinued over the years for different reasons, be it because they didn’t fit in the game anymore, or they were becoming problematic. For example, Fear is one such mechanic that was eventually removed from the game with no current plans for it to return, despite it being relatively popular among players. 2025 will be a big year for Magic: The Gathering, with six Standard-legal sets being released, divided into three Magic Universe ones and three Universes Beyond. Universes Beyond often have set-specific mechanics that don’t see much use thereafter, but one of these past mechanics may come back in some shape or form.

Considering that there will be three Standard-legal Universes Beyond sets in Magic: The Gathering this year, it’s plausible that these will all have at least a couple of new mechanics each, which may play into the themes of each UB release. For example, Spider-Man cards may have something related to web-slinging, though something like that would need a solid gameplay adaptation. While it’s unlikely to see it back this year, Wizards of the Coast’s Mark Rosewater seems open to the possibility of Rad Counters coming back after their initial release with Fallout cards.

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Predicting Magic: The Gathering’s Third Universes Beyond Set For 2025

Magic: The Gathering has been crossing over with multiple IPs over time, and its third UB set for 2025 may already be clear.

Why Magic: The Gathering x Fallout’s Rad Counter Mechanic May Return

Magic: The Gathering‘s crossover with Fallout came just at the right time to go hand in hand with the IP’s new TV show, and it proved to be one of the most successful Universes beyond releases in the game. Rad Counters were the key mechanic of one of the Commander decks for Fallout in Magic: The Gathering, namely the one tied to The Wise Mothman. Though they were loved by fans and still are popular within the community, Rad Counters were most likely conceived as a one-off mechanic.

Rad Counters make it so that, at the start of the pre-combat main phase of a given player, if they have Rad Counters on them, they mill that many cards and lose 1 life and 1 Rad Counter for each non-land card milled this way.

As such, Rad Counters would be great to see again in the future, even if they have a different name, so that players can use them in Magic: The Gathering decks focused on milling the opponents’ libraries or making them lose life as fast as possible. Last year, Head Designer Mark Rosewater stated that Rad Counters could come back in the future, albeit with a different name. Lately, seeing how popular the mechanic still is, he stated that “maybe” Rad Counters will return to appease fans.

How Rad Counters Could Return in Magic: The Gathering

It’s not impossible to find a new use for Rad Counters within Magic‘s Multiverse, and a similar mechanic already exists in the form of Poison Counters – though these have no immediate effect, but instead make players who have ten or more of them lose the game. Considering that Rad Counters are predominantly seen on Black, Green, and Blue cards, with this making especially sense due to the color identity of The Wise Mothman, it seems likely that they may return in these colors most of all.

Rad Counters Coming Back to MTG Would Give The Mechanic More Visibility

There are currently 21 cards in Magic: The Gathering that use Rad Counters, and they have helped mill decks in MTG‘s Commander format a lot. However, Fallout was and still is only legal in Commander, Vintage, and Legacy, so reprinting Rad Counters as a mechanic with a new name would make it more accessible for the rest of the playerbase, which would be a good thing. It’s unclear when and in which set this mechanic may return, but considering the pipeline for new releases, Rad Counters may rear their head again sometime between late 2026 and 2027, or possibly later. Even then, this remains speculation at this time, as nothing official has been confirmed just yet.

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