Looking Back

Hapless Researcher card art

2025 is nearly in the books; it is time to take a look back at the year in Magic.

Wizards kept to a blazing pace, releasing a lot of product in 2025. Ignoring the digital-only releases on Arena, the main releases this year were as follows (with 'regular' expansions in Italics):

The Sets

- Innistrad Remastered: January 24 (compilation set)
- Aetherdrift: February 14
- Tarkir Dragonstorm: April 11
- Final Fantasy: June 13
- Edge of Eternities: August 1
- Marvel's Spider-man: September 26
- Avatar: The Last Airbender: November 21

This year was a little 'simpler' to follow in that only the first release was a non-expansion; the rest were 'traditional' in the sense that they were released as regular expansions with typical products (booster packs/etc.) and legal in Standard.

The big trend this year was the Universes Beyond (UB) sets. Three of the final four releases (in red above) were from intellectual property outside the Magic universe. Expect that to continue (more on that next year). 

I didn't play a ton of Standard (or limited) this year, so I didn't explore these sets as much as I would have liked. But many of them didn't grab me, either. Going set by set:

- Innistrad: I liked and collected the originals; I got a box of this for Christmas and enjoy it.

- Aetherdrift: I couldn't get into the theme. This is basically Mario Kart with a Magic spin to it. Didn't seem like it belonged.

- Tarkir: Nice to return to this plane, and who doesn't love dragons? This one was okay.

- Final Fantasy: I didn't play the games, so this didn't do much for me, though it seems well-received in general.

- Edge of Eternities: Magic in space. Same with Aetherdrift; it felt out of place to me.

- Spider-man: this under-powered set was underwhelming (though fun for Spidey fans).

- Avatar: this is a good one; the universe lends itself well to Magic's mechanics.

According to Magic head designer Mark Rosewater, the two best-selling sets were Final Fantasy and Avatar, respectively. The best-selling in-universe set was Tarkir. The worst-selling was Aetherdrift.

The Singles

CoolStuffInc showed their bestsellers from each expansion and each rarity (the latter was regardless of release year).

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I didn't see a TCGPlayer article on annual bestsellers. According to AI, here are the most-sold singles in 2025 (with rarity, color, and set following):

The One Ring (mythic, colorless, Tales of Middle Earth)

Cloud, Midgar Mercenary (mythic, white, Final Fantasy)

Tifa Lockhart (rare, green, Final Fantasy)

Sazh's Chocobo (uncommon, green, Final Fantasy)

Maelstrom of the Spirit Dragon (rare, land, Tarkir: Dragonstorm)

Sol Ring (uncommon, colorless, many sets)

Craterhoof Behemoth (mythic, green, many sets)

Ledger Shredder (rare, blue, Streets of New Capenna)

Note that half of these are not from 2025 releases.

Personal Thoughts

Magic is getting more 'commercial' by decreasing their in-universe sets and focusing on external properties. The two best-selling sets being UB means this will continue. I wonder if the days of original Magic content are diminishing.

Personally, my year in Magic centered on the continued reduction and organization of my collection. The last quarter of the year I focused on making fun (or improved) Commander decks; after a series of posts I did on the types of cards to include, I realized that some of my earliest creations were terrible. I am correcting that.

What will next year hold? More on that in January.

Artist: Andreas Rocha

Concluding artist month, today I look at Andreas Rocha.

Andreas Rocha is one of the more recent Magic artists. He started illustrating Magic cards in 2013 (for the Magic 2014 set). He is still active. You can see his portfolio on his official site.

Rocha does a lot of lands. His first work (for M14) was one of each basic land. About 90% of his 112 unique prints (see links below) are lands.

Rocha's work has echoes of luminism—he often uses light in a way that gives a sense of a coming hope. Even his Swamp and Forest (both pictured below) can depict gruesome scenes in a way that hints at better things to come.

I use Scryfall for searching for Rocha's illustrations. The following syntaxes in scryfall

artist:"Andreas Rocha" not:digital not:artseries

artist:"Andreas Rocha" not:digital not:artseries unique:prints

yield the following results, respectively:
34 cards

112 cards

So he has illustrated 34 Magic cards that have appeared 112 times (some show up in multiple sets or special releases). Here are some of my favorites (Plains, above, is number one):

Artist: Daniel Gelon

Continuing artist month, today I look at Daniel Gelon.

Daniel Gelon was one of the original Magic artists. He started illustrating Magic cards in 1993 (he had nine cards in the Alpha, the very first set). His work appeared in many early core sets (Beta, Unlimited, Revised, Fourth through Sixth Edition) and expansions (Legends, The Dark, Fallen Empires, Ice Age, Chronicles, Homelands, and a few more). He was active through 2006 (Time Spiral), with only reprints since in subsequent releases. 

I don't know how to describe Gelon's style, but I like what I consider to be his nineties-era approach to fantasy art: creatures are done in a way that convey power without being scary (you know you're looking at the fantastic). Some even are light-hearted and amusing (like the Gobling Chirurgeon or Snowman, below).

Ultimately, what I like about his work is the nostalgia. I remember being awed by big creatures (Craw or Scaled Wurm) and enjoying the aforementioned light-hearted cards.

Today, you can still get many of his cards for reasonable prices. But not Wheel of Fortune . . . that will set you back $300 or more.

I use Scryfall for searching for Gelon's illustrations. The following syntaxes in scryfall

artist:"Daniel Gelon" not:digital not:artseries

artist:"Daniel Gelon" not:digital not:artseries unique:prints

yield the following results, respectively:
65 cards

232 cards

So he has illustrated 65 Magic cards that have appeared 232 times (some show up in multiple sets or special releases). Here are some of my favorites (Scaled Wurm, above, is number one):

Artist: Quinton Hoover

Continuing artist month, today I look at Quinton Hoover.

Quinton Hoover was one of the original Magic artists. He started illustrating Magic cards in 1993 (he had eight cards in the Alpha, the very first set). His work appeared in many early core sets (Beta, Unlimited, Revised, Fourth through Sixth Edition) and expansions (Legends, Antiquities, Fallen Empires, Ice Age, Chronicles, Alliances, Tempest, and a few more). He was active through 2008 

(Lorwyn/Morningtide), with only reprints since in subsequent releases. 

Hoover's style is defined as Art Nouveau or Art Deco. I don't know enough about art to articulate more, but I enjoy his work; it has a soft quality appropriate to the fantasy genre.

I use Scryfall for searching for Hoover's illustrations. The following syntaxes in scryfall

artist:"Quinton Hoover" not:digital not:artseries

artist:"Quinton Hoover" not:digital not:artseries unique:prints

yield the following results, respectively:
78 cards

262 cards

So he has illustrated 78 Magic cards that have appeared 262 times (some show up in multiple sets or special releases). Here are some of my favorites (Archangel, above, is number one):

Artist: Melissa Benson

In December 2022, I introduced an artist series where I look at favorite or prolific Magic card artists.

- 2022: I looked at Jesper Myrfors, Christopher Rush, Anson Maddocks, and Kev Walker

- 2023: Seb McKinnon, Rebecca Guay, DiTerlizzi, and John Avon

- 2024: Terese Nielsen, Greg & Tim Hildebrandt, Nils Hamm, and Carl Critchlow

Today, I look at Melissa Benson.

Melissa Benson started illustrating Magic cards in 1993 (she had seven cards in the Alpha, the very first set). Her work appeared in many early core sets (Beta, Unlimited, Revised, Fourth through Sixth Edition) and expansions (Legends, Fallen Empires, Ice Age, Chronicles, Homelands, Portal, Starter 1999, Urza's Saga block). She had the most cards in Legends (14). She was active through 1999, with only reprints since in subsequent releases. 

Her style often includes bold colors with a soft quality, evoking a sense of the surreal and fantastic. Her one card, Segovian Leviathan, is one of the few with a Bible verse on it (I don't know if she had a hand in that choice).

I use Scryfall for searching for Benson's illustrations. The following syntaxes in scryfall

artist:"Melissa A. Benson" not:digital not:artseries

artist:"Melissa A. Benson" not:digital not:artseries unique:prints

yield the following results, respectively:
63 cards

205 cards

So she has illustrated 63 Magic cards that have appeared 205 times (some show up in multiple sets or special releases). Here are some of my favorites (Kjeldoran Dead, above, is number one):