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Magic: The Gathering Finally Reveals Secret Lair Sets With Wild Art


Next month, starting on December 2, Wizards of the Coast is releasing a new Magic: The Gathering "sub-brand" called Secret Lair, which will group existing cards into small collectible sets with fantastic themes and wild new art styles.

The Secret Lair Drop Series is a collection of seven unique set drops that WotC calls "a love letter for its fans", and IGN has revealed a first look at the cute cat-themed set called "OMG KITTIES!"

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Credit: Wizards of the Coast
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Credit: Wizards of the Coast
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Wizards Product Architect Mark Heggen told IGN that they built Secret Lair "from the ground up to be a home for the stranger, more experimental, more unexpected cards that we think some players will love but don't fit into our sets and other products."

According to Hegen, the new versions are tournament-legal in the usual formats each card would be.

"Not all of the Secret Lair cards are this cute and cartoony," Heggen confirmed, "but we wanted to reveal these first to show off how out-there some of these cards would get in terms of visual style." He explained that they really wanted to push the boundaries and print art you wouldn't expect to see on a Magic card, saying "some of them get pretty wild."

To make that happen, WotC worked with artists they usually don't on the project. "We're working with street artists, comic book artists, traditional Magic artists working with very non-traditional art briefs, album cover designers, and on and on and on. It really is a chance to welcome new artists and styles into the game, which is a big part of what makes this all so fun."

The Secret Lair Drop Series will start on December 2, and each drop will only be available to purchase for 24 hours on WotC's official website. The drop won't be available after its 24-hour period but WotC says that they're using a system called "timeboxed to demand" so they won't run out of stock during that time.

"Everyone who wants one can have one, as long as they show up during the 24-hour window that the drop is happening," Heggen explained.

Here's the schedule of the seven drops, their prices, and names for each:

Secret Lair Bundle (all seven drops) - 12/2, 9am PT, $199.99
Bitterblossom Dreams - 12/3, 9am PT
Eldraine Wonderland - 12/4, 9am PT
Restless in Peace - 12/5, 9am PT
Seeing Visions - 12/6, 9am PT
<explosion sounds> - 12/7, 9am PT
Kaleidoscope Killers - 12/8, 9am PT
OMG KITTIES! - 12/9, 9am PT, $39.99

Each drop will contain between three and seven predetermined cards and tokens in a customized collector box, and will be priced either $29.99 or $39.99 depending on the drop, and some of them will have premium foil cards. A bundle that contains all seven drops will cost $199.99.

Those who order a drop will also get codes for digital goodies in Magic Arena and Magic Online. The cards will be available on Magic Online, but according to Hegen, sincce most of the cards in the series are not available in Arena, players will receive sleeves as "expression of the drop's theme."

WotC will reveal what the other drops contain on their official Twitter account.

Heggen told IGN that they "have more plans for Secret Lair in 2020," saying that it will "absolutely continue" beyond this first series.

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