Humans are the most popular creature type in Magic, and most Universes Beyond sets feature some amount of Humans. This rising tide of support with new designs benefits Human typal decks the most. But what other deck archetype benefits the most from Universes Beyond? Let’s find out. 

HUMANS IN MAGIC

Humans are a big part of Magic, and it’s pretty obvious why. They’re always gonna be one of the most well-represented creature types because they are the “default”. We (or at least most of us) are Human, and the stories we create mostly involve Humans – or the exploration of Human politics and psychology through the proxy of fantasy races, most of which are at the very least humanoid.

Some of the most iconic creatures in Magic are Humans; Thalia, Tireless Tracker, Puresteel Paladin… whichever format you’re playing, even if there isn’t a Humans-matters deck, you’ll come across Humans in supporting roles in various decks.

Humans get a lot of payoffs, and have a massive 3,853 cards in paper. By comparison, other popular creatures are Elves at 628, Zombies 609, Goblins 494, Dragons 399, and Angels a paltry 261. Most of the Humans-matters stuff is in the Abzan (green-white-black) slice of the color pie, but good humans exist in all colors – just look at Urza, Lord High Artificer, or Professional Facebreaker.

As far as typal cards, though, they get way fewer Human-specific payoffs and enablers than other creature types, owing to just how large of a cohort they are, with most of the “good” ones being either quite recent, or mostly Commander options, like Eowyn. They have less of a narrow identity like Elves (mana and overrun), Goblins (swarm and ping), or Zombies (swarm, reanimate and drain). 

That said, some of the most powerful Humans do fall into the +1/+1 counters and tokens synergy camp, which is probably the strongest identity for Humans in GW decks. That doesn’t mean Esper Sentinel and co are limited to those archetypes, though – these are generically powerful effects.

UNIVERSES BEYOND

Humans’ strangehold on the game has only increased with Universes Beyond. Just as Humans in Magic reflect our pop culture, myth and storytelling, Universes Beyond is just a narrow aspect of that same inspiration: pop culture.

Since UB started gaining momentum, we’ve had strong Humans in basically every product. Boromir, from Tales of Middle-earth; Kellogg, from Fallout; Henry Wu, from the Jurassic Park bonus sheet in Lost Caverns of Ixalan. Each of these cards is powerful on its own, but much like the aforementioned Esper Sentinel & co, cards like Boromir and Kellogg are seeing play for reasons that aren’t that they’re Humans.

Final Fantasy gives us yet more strong Humans. Sure, you can build a deck with them, but Sephiroth is sweet in a Humans aristocrats build. Yuna can go in Bant (green-white-blue) Humans decks. Squall, SeeD Mercenary is made for a Jirina, Dauntless General deck.

Humans are going to stay winning with Universes Beyond. But what else is eating well with Universes Beyond?

HUMANS AREN’T THE ONLY FUTURE-PROOF CARD TYPE

Well, in short: Equipment.

When looking for ways to showcase popular franchises and universes, beyond characters, it’s the armaments and armor that’s the next biggest identifiable and memetic game piece. For most crossovers that have the potential to have Commander products or Booster products, Equipment are a natural fit. Whether its swords, outfits, armor, or other affects, the designers at Wizards are spoiled on gadgets and gizmos aplenty (and one day, that might expand to whooz-its and whatz-its galore!). 

Whether it’s the Caduceus, Staff of Hermes from Assassin’s Creed, the Pip-boy from Fallout, or Anduril from LotR, the weapons (often Legendary) of our favorite heroes and villains are iconic. 

And here’s the thing: iconic sells, and equipment as a card type is such an easy one to make cards for that we’re going to be seeing way more of it going forward.

EQUIPMENT IS A NARROWER FOCUS, SO THE CEILING WILL KEEP RISING

At least compared to Humans, Equipment is a narrower focus. Humans can attack, block, enter-the-battlefield, die, leave the battlefield, sacrifice themselves, crew vehicles… the list goes on. Equipment tend to be restricted to buffing creatures and/or giving you some kind of value, whether that be cards or mana or something else a little more niche.

In practice, that means that the speed and power creep on Equipment is going up quite quickly, and is destined to rise at a fast rate if design don’t keep it in check – through card balancing and printing good answers.

Blackblade Reforged was first printed in Dominaria in 2018. At the time, it was an efficient and powerful buff that went into basically every equipment deck. Fast forward to 2024, and Excalibur, Sword of Eden all but made it obsolete. No longer do you have to hit high land counts – you just have to curve out. And then, in 2025, we got Wrecking Ball Arm. It starts and caps out at making your guy a 7/7, but it also gives a level of unblockable that stops tokens from chump blocking. 

This kind of power creep is happening through all of the major effects you need for an Equipment deck. Just compare Trailblazer’s Boots to the incredibly efficient Silver Shroud Costume and Brotherhood Regalia, which also offer some amount of protection. Brotherhood Regalia is actually the most popular equipment on EDHRec – go figure.

EQUIPMENT SUPPORT CARDS AREN’T IMMUNE

Equipment support cards are also seeing widespread iteration.

Our first Legendary Stoneforge Mystic isn’t a Kor, or even from Zendikar – it’s Codsworth, Handy Helper, and it also has a truly bonkers effect doubler on it too. I’m personally sad we got Cloud before we got a Kor that could do something like this, but eh.

Brass Squire still has the advantage of instant speed equips (which makes him ideal for throwing Basilisk Collar onto Themberchaud before it razes the table), but his utility has all but been superceded by Codsworth, Handy Helper, which gives your Commander a truly pivotal Ward {2} on top.

MOST OF THE BEST NEW EQUIPMENT CARDS ARE UNIVERSES BEYOND

When I think about all of the cool and powerful new equipment cards I’ve played with over the last five years, most of the ones on my brewing table these days are Universes Beyond. Think Forge Anew replacing Sevinne’s Reclamation, or Bureau Headmaster.

Inventory Management is really cool and powerful, and Pre-War Formalwear is even good enough for some Legacy D&T lists. 

It seems like yesterday I was building around Nahiri, Forged in Fury – but it seems like Gilgamesh, Master-at-Arms might be even easier to build around, despite lacking a color. Both he and Firion, Wild Rose Warrior are extremely powerful, and raise the ceiling on what Equipment decks can do.

UB EQUIPMENT COMMANDERS KINDA SLAP

Gilgamesh is just one example of where Universes Beyond Commanders have taken Equipment decks to new levels. 

Kassandra is one I’ve talked about quite a bit, and she’s so consistent with her card draw and ability to fish out double strike that I think it’s hard to build her in a casual way, especially if you include all of the usual staples. 

You’ve got Captain America, yeeter of Sunforger and other equipment; you’ve got Ratonhnhaké꞉ton, who gives you a really cool Esper equipment strategy.

It’s undeniable the impact Universes Beyond is having on Equipment, and much like Humans, we’re likely to keep seeing this embarrassment of riches. With that said, I do think that it’s giving us some fantastic top-down designs, and I think that especially when it comes to exciting Legendary Creatures, that we’re getting some truly inspired designs. 

The issue is more in the power creep, and how that plays into the current Commander metagame.

HOW LOW CAN WE GO?

One aspect that is boosting Equipment decks is in how they’re now spoiled for choice when it comes to low mana plays – and plays that help them cheat on mana.

The disadvantage of Equipment compared to Auras is in how they’re more expensive to account for them staying around. When you can reliably cheat that equip cost, you break symmetry.

Fervent Champion is the ideal T1 play, but he’s been joined by many sweet early drops from Universes Beyond. Freya Crescent gives you a mana dork that also flies. 

Frodo auto-equips something on enter or attack, and he can’t be damaged on your turn. Cid flies on your turn, grabs you equipment from theyard, and reduces casting costs. Even Helitrooper, a henchman/goon level character, is kinda cracked – and arguably Fervent Champion’s new bestie. Curving out with these is gonna feel incredible.

What’s more, with Pip-boy 3000 and Brotherhood’s Regalia (and Excalibur, Sword of Eden, technically) joining similar in-universe cheaper options like Lost Jitte, Robe of Stars, Diamond Pick-Axe and Lavaspur Boots, it’s never been easier and cheaper to curve out in an Equipment deck.

ARE EQUIPMENT DECKS IN DANGER OF BECOMING TOO STRONG?

As someone that has enjoyed equipment since my start in Commander in 2016, I’ve been there during the times Equipment decks were considered a weaker archetype – and even had an Akiri, Line-Slinger & Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder deck that played Winter Orb to try and break symmetry at one point. I’ve watched over the years as they’ve gotten steadily stronger, and at this point? We’re experiencing peak performance.

As ever, a well timed Farewell or Austere Command is the right tool for the job, but one reason for Equipment decks beginning to dominate is that they need answered on a different axis than other strategies. They need you to remove artifacts and have plenty of single target removal – or a fog. Casual players who play increasingly curve-out-intensive strategies and Commanders just aren’t equipped to handle an Equipment deck, especially when nearly every permanent on the board these days is a “must-answer” threat.

END STEP

The inevitable question becomes whether with a narrower focus than Humans, are Equipment decks going to be an issue as time goes on? Well, I feel like there needs to be a constant eye kept on the strength of equipment cards, synergies, and Commanders, because they’re ascending quickly to become one of the stronger decks at casual (Bracket 2 and 3) tables. 

There also needs to be some restraint in adding redundant effects and power-creeping old ones, because at this point, Equipment decks are truly spoiled for choice. 

Consolidating protection and unblockable, for instance, on one card? That makes the deck way more consistent, and resilient, too. There’s only one approach to dealing with anything Brotherhood related, though – or even mana rock related.

And that’s to just always be playing Brotherhood’s End. What a card.