A race across worlds, wars with dragons, and deep-space voyages barely scratch the surface of what's to come for Magic: The Gathering in 2025.

Wizards of the Coast's world-renowned trading card game is scheduled for six new set releases this year, three in-world and three Universes Beyond crossovers. The in-world sets are Aetherdrift, Tarkir: Dragonstorm, and Edge of Eternities, while the Universes Beyond sets feature collaborations with Square Enix's Final Fantasy and Marvel's Spider-Man.

Chec?k out the timeline below with each set's official release date and some extra details.

Aetherdrift

February 14, 2025

After the enormous multiversal war in March of the Machine, gateways called omenpaths opened, allowing beings othe?r than planeswalkers to travel between worlds. This new status quo allowed Wizards of the Coast to do something unprecedented: one set featuring three different worlds. It accomplished this feat through a death race across Avishkar, Amonkhet, and Muraganda, with the grand prize being the powerful Aetherspark. Familiar faces Chandra and Daretti return, attempting to claim the artifact, which also serves as the set's headliner card.

Tarkir: Dragonstorm

April 11, 2025

The world of Tarkir returns after a 10-year respite, and the dragons are returning along with it. Sarkhan Vol, who also returns in this set, orchestrated their comeback. The planeswalker traveled through time and prevented the dragons' destruction by reviving Ugin, which allowed them to reign supreme over Tarkir. Lastly, the wedge gameplay that spawned in the original Tarkir set is the f??ocus of the new one.

Final Fantasy

June 13, 2025

Magic: The Gathering adds another unbelievable crossover to its repertoire, Final Fantasy. The set features cards based on characters, events, and game mechanics from every one of the franchise's 16 main installments. Cards?? adorned with Cloud, Noctis, Terra, and even chocobos are playable in the new release. Artwork was handled by artists at Square Enix and Wizards of the Coast, recreating the classics and developing original pieces just for the crossover. The Final Fantasy release begins the new policy of Universes Beyond sets moving forward being legal in all constructed formats.

Edge of Eternities

August 1, 2025

On the outskirts of the multiverse lies the Edge, a starfield bordering the Blind Eternities, where alien races use never-before-seen technology and types of magic to struggle for control of the Sothera system. Despite the set's focus on unfamiliarity, the planeswalker Tezzeret is a recognizable presence in the Edge, vying for power in the galaxy. Wizards of the Coast calls Edge of Eternities a science fantasy in the vein of Bethesda Softworks' Starfield.

Spider-Man

Late 2025

Wizards of the Coast teamed up with Marvel last year to release a Secret Lair superdrop featuring card designs inspired by five superheroes from the comic publisher's catalog. This year, that partnership continues with an entire booster set inspired by Spider-Man. The only confirmation of its release date so far is the seco?nd half of 2025, but it could dr?op in October if it follows the pattern of the previous four sets.

Unannounced Universes Beyond Set

TBA

Confirmed for the fourth quarter of 2025, Magic: The Gathering's final release of the year largely remains a secret. The release is a tentpole set, and it features randomized booster packs for the Limited format and decks for Commander play. Rumors that the set is based on Avatar: The Last Airbender began swirling last month when cosmetic bundles on Magic: Arena's online shop featured references to components heavily utilized in the lore of the 2005 Nickelodeon cartoon. Ironically, Spongebob Squarepants, another? N?ickelodeon cartoon, is confirmed as a Secret Lair release in 2025.

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A world with rival houses, big medieval battles, court intrigue, and dragons is undisputedly a fantastic setting for a board game. Many publishers have created tie-ins with both the Game of Thrones TV show and the Song of Ice and Fire bo??ok series to bring the stories of Westeros to the game night table. Some of these iterations are quite good, and others are downright fantastic.

To celebrate the start of House of the Dragon season 2 this weekend, we’re counting down the best Game of Thrones card and board games. Each of these games is a fun way to transport yourself back to Westeros, without having to relive the pain of Game of Thrones season 8.

6. A Game of Thrones: B’twixt

A Game of Thrones: B’twixt is a relatively straightforward party game with a healthy dose of strategy, particularly when it comes to outbidding other players for cards. You’ll need to collect a cast of iconic characters from the books f??or each of the two councils you have in your play space, which are in part shared with the players to your immediate right and left. The player with the most powe?rful small council wins the game.

5. Risk: Game of Thrones

The Game of Thrones edition of Risk features both a Westeros and an Essos game board, and allows players to select a ruleset that best matches their desired complexity level. If you’ve played Risk before this isn’t anything new, but the core gameplay remains enjoyable? and the theme works well.

4. Game of Thrones: The Iron Throne

Building influence, working out truces, and defeating your opponents in one on one conflicts allow you to claim the ultimate prize in this game: the Iron Throne itself. Gameplay is relatively simple compared with the other Game of Thrones board g??ames on this list, but it’s still a fun party game for three to five players. 

3. Game of Thrones: Oathbreaker

Oathbreaker is somewhat similar to the likes of Avalon, where one player will secretly be a traitor to the throne, another will secretly be the king, and the remaining players will be either conspirators or loyalists. The players then go on missions which either?? fail or succeed depending on which cards are played. If the majority of missions succeed, the King and his loyalists win; otherwise, the traitor and his conspirators reign supreme. 

2. A Game ?of Thrones: The Board Game (2nd Edition)

Fantasy Flight’s board main game tie-in with the Song of Ice and Fire books is at this point an iconic game night staple. You’ll play as one of six major houses in Westeros, marshalling troops and battling spaces controlled by your opponents in a bid to take seven castles at once and thus win the game. With the Mother of Dragons expansion, you can also add a?n Essos board that brings the Ta??rgaryens into the mix and raises the maximum number of players to eight.

1. A Game of Thrones: The Card Game (2nd Edition)

A Game of Thrones: The Card Game takes the top spot on this ranking because of its strong strategic gameplay, in-depth thematics, and massive expandable card pool. Unlike the other products on this list, it’s a competitive card game, which means you’ll get the most out of it if you know other players who have the game and own a few of the expansions yourself. However, the game’s meta includes nearly every character and location ?you can think of from the books, and features plenty of deck building options that ensure a unique experience every time you sit down to play.

Note that while the game isn't being a?ctively produced anymore by Fantasy Flight Games, you can still pick up the second edition core set!

The post The 6 Best Game of Thrones Board Games, Ranked appeared first on Destructoid.

Dominion is an immensely pop??ular deck building adventure that’s been a hit at the game night table since its release in 2008. The simple yet strategic gameplay and wacky medieval theme, along with the opportunity to curse your friends and family, has won over many. However, ??I’d argue that what truly makes the game great is its extensive catalogue of expansions. 

Dominion: Rising Sun, the 16th expansion for the game, is due to drop in June 2024. In addition, many of the game’s earlier expansions have been updated in recent years with second edition printings. That means you have plenty of options when it comes to picking up a new set of kingdom cards. Here are the 10 best Dominion expansions you can add to your collection today.

10. Dominion: Intrigue (2nd Edition)

Cards in the Intrigue expansion emphasize player choice, which means many of t??he actions and attacks in the set are more versatile. Secret tunnel and masquer?ade are standout cards here that offer more advanced strategies. A basic expansion, but a good one nonetheless.

9. Dominion: Nocturne 

Nocturne is one of the bigger boxes in the series, adding thirty-three new kingdom cards, boons, hexes, and a few other non-supply cards. It also introduces one of Dominion’s more advanced mechanic?s- the night phase. Unfortunately, the cards in this set don’t mix quite?? as well with the other boxes. However, its theme makes for a fun experience anyway.

8. Dominion: Adventures

The Adventures expansion for Dominion adds events, the page and peasant upgrade track, and the reserve mat. I wouldn’t recommend it as a first expansion, because it plays best when paired with the platinum and colony cards in the Prosperity box. Beyond that, it’s a good buy.

7. Dominion: Seaside (2nd Edition)

Seaside ad?ds duration cards to the game that produce effects immediately when played and at the start of your next turn. The second edition is also a significant improvement over the first release, which featured a gamebreak?ing pirate ship card.

6. Dominion: Menagerie 

Animals and the exile mechanic are the highlights of this box. There are quite a few reaction and duration cards here to play with as well, which means you get a little bi?t of everything when you pick this one up.

5. Dominion: Empires

The best Dominion expansion packs offer completely new gameplay experiences, and Empires certainly represents one of the furthest departures from the core set. Landmarks implement new scoring rules, debt lets you ??play big turns ea??rly, and castles add some extra competition.

4. Dominion: Renaissance

The best new game mechanic in Renaissance is the struggle to keep artifact cards like the flag and the key under your control. Coffers and villagers, which were first introduced in the Guilds expansion, make a welcome return.

3. Dominion: Hinterlands (2nd Edition)

The Hinterlands box adds a range of ‘when gainâ€?effects to the game, plus a wider selection of reaction cards compared to the other expansions. Border village and tunnel are perso??nal favorites. 

2. Dominion: Dark Ages

Trashing cards is the name of the game in the Dark Ages expansion. The new ruins and shelters ?cards require you to focus on cleaning up the rubble that is your deck, which is a complex yet rewarding pro?cess.

1. Dominion: Prosperity (2nd Edition)

Prosperity is the most essential Dominion expansion because it scales up the size of the game with platinum coins and colony victory cards. Villages become cities, mines become mints, and cellars become vaults. With the cards in this box you’ll be ric?her than ever. 

The post The 10 Best Dominion Expansions in 2024, ranked appeared first on Destructoid.