MTG Tomb Raider will be the next Secret Lair drop, adding another member of video game royalty to the docket.
Announced earlier today by publisher Wizards of the Coast (via IGN), MTG Tomb Raider will launch as part of the 2023 Secretversary Superdrop next week, alongside a range of other Secret Lair products yet to be announced.
Magic: the Gathering’s ever-growing list of Secret Lair crossovers offer small-scale, one-off products taking inspiration from franchises outside of MTG's purview. However, in contrast to the massive undertakings of Commander Deck series like Warhammer 40,000 or even the full Lord of the Rings set, MTG Tomb Raider will only feature a handful of cards (most of which are adaptations).
- Lara Croft, Tomb Raider
- Heart of the Explorer // The Lost Valley as Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin
- The Grim Whisper as Bow of Nylea
- Storms of Yamatai as Anger of the Gods
- Totec’s Spear as Shadowspear
- Kitezh, Sunken City as Academy Ruins
- Exclusive Treasure token
The Magic: The Gathering X Tomb Raider Secret Lair breaks new ground in Magic’s Universes Beyond Secret Lairs, a collection of 6 Tomb Raider themed reprints with new art and names, and one unique card: Lara Croft, Tomb Raider. The card is surprisingly well-statted, and as with most Secret Lair exclusive cards, mostly intended for Commander, but could possibly see experimentation in Magic’s Legacy competitive format in fringe strategies, similar to some of Magic’s Secret Lair: the Walking Dead cards.
Although Magic’s Universes Beyond line has been part of one of the best card games for years at this point, the continued experimentation with the structure of the Secret Lairs, and the split between exclusive cards and crossover-themed reprints, is still being worked out - the similar Secret Lair x The Princess Bride announced earlier this year, for example, contained nine reprints all with new theming and art. As such, it’s clear that the Universes Beyond line of products is still in a nascent phase of experimentation.
Community feedback to the Secret Lair X The Walking Dead release was poor due to the then-surprising introduction of exclusive, limited time only, mechanically unique designs, and it appears to have sparked a shift away from such cards in Secret Lairs judging by the reprint only Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, Blood Bowl, and The Princess Bride Secret Lairs that have followed. For me, this Tomb Raider release signifies a slow move back into the realm of mechanically unique cards - and also towards Secret Lair drops that are mechanically cohesive for the sake of Commander play, containing one legendary creature and multiple cards that could be played alongside it – a welcome trend that has been present in Magic’s regular and Universes Beyond Secret Lair drops in recent months. Hopefully this sort of attitude continues for next year's Fallout and Assassins Creed sets, and perhaps even the upcoming Marvel Magic: The Gathering range.
Regardless, the new drop signifies that Wizards of the Coast’s approach to Secret Lair is still in flux. Senior product designer Daniel Nguyen cites the ability to "push the boundaries of what people expect" in Wizards’ announcement of the product on IGN as a key part of the product line’s success, and it looks as though the combination of mechanically unique, Commander-focused cards with relevant reprints will be a continued part of the Secret Lair product line.
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