I'm the Target Audience of UB, as a Magic Player

I get a lot of the UB hate, I do. It's weird seeing Dwight Schrute on cards for me too. I've seen a lot of posts about people who got into the game because of UB, but I'm the opposite in a lot of ways.

I've been playing Magic since Gatecrash, but UB has gotten me to engage with other properties in a fun new way that I wouldn't have otherwise.

I read Lord of the Rings because my friends who got the decks were so excited about how lore-accurate they were. The Doctor Who commander decks and Avatar set inspired me to go back and rewatch both of those series, introducing them to my wife (who is now a fan). I watched the new Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man show because of the (lackluster, in hindsight) Spider-Man set. Heck, the potential of a future Cosmere UB is part of what moved the needle for me to finally read Brandon Sanderson like my friends have been urging me to.

I think it's okay to have a healthy amount of skepticism about Hasbro selling our game as a billboard for other companies. I'm a vorthos at heart, who's going back and reading agents of artifice because reality fracture is coming out. I'd love for Wizards to give the same care and attention to Magic storytelling (ion the form of books, finally getting a tv show to not be cancelled, etc). But I've gotten to experience stuff that I never have before because it was put in front of me on a Magic card.

I'd love to hear if anyone else has had similar experience with Universes Beyond?