Secret Lair Universes Beyond Update

A few months back, we shared some exciting new partnerships in our Universes Beyond line while exploring our philosophy and how we would treat Universes Beyond cards and products in the future. We plan to announce an exciting partnership very soon, but before we do so, we have some updates to share about how we’ll handle mechanically unique Universes Beyond cards sold specifically through Secret Lair.

Our goal with new Universes Beyond card designs that release through Secret Lair is to create fun and collectable expressions of your favorite characters from other, well, universes. The goal is not, however, to hold back mechanical expressions and game pieces from players who don’t purchase through our direct-to-consumer channel.

In other words, we want to give you options for finding the game pieces you want to use.

So, for players who love and are interested in the Magic expression of some of their favorite characters and worlds, Secret Lair will offer uniquely collectible Universes Beyond cards featuring art and treatments that draw you into a world, well, beyond Magic.

For players who don’t mind waiting or prefer cards and characters set in Magic‘s Multiverse, we have you covered as well. For the next Universes Beyond Secret Lair, we plan to:

• Create and print versions of the mechanically unique Secret Lair Universes Beyond cards that are set in Magic‘s Multiverse approximately six months (the exact time may vary) after their release in Secret Lair.
• The in-Magic versions will be available on The List, findable in Set Boosters for as long as players are still interested in opening them. To start, they’ll appear on The List more frequently than other cards to make them easier to find. In the future, we may reprint these cards in other products—we’ll have that flexibility.
• These cards will be considered equivalent game pieces—meaning you could only play four copies (or one copy) of either the Magic version or Universes Beyond version in your deck.

Additionally, we’ve begun expanding the timeframe that Secret Lair is available to expand access. This upcoming Universes Beyond Secret Lair (it’s worth the wait to hear about, we swear) will be available as part of a superdrop over the course of a full month. Coupled with the expansion of the regions to which Secret Lair can ship, we expect that most players who want these drops will be able to get them.

We plan to do all this for the upcoming, soon-to-be-announced Secret Lair Universes Beyond partnership. We do not plan to go back and do this for the cards from The Walking Dead. Currently, this plan is for Universes Beyond sold through Secret Lair and does not include other Universes Beyond releases. Moving forward, we will continue to listen and evaluate this approach and make changes as needed.

As we continue to develop our Universes Beyond lineup, expect more updates, changes, and growth. We believe the intersection of beloved worlds and characters and Magic‘s game system brings happiness to players and collectors alike, and we’re excited to bring you more ways to enjoy these cards the way you want to enjoy them. Stay tuned.