And that idea feels like the only reason you reasonably would.

I was unfamiliar with MSCHF before this Secret Lair was announced, and after looking into their work I came away with an interpretation of the drop that I haven't seen discussed. Specifically after coming across their "Boosted Packs" series, which stands as a direct commentary to exactly what they've collaborated with Wizards on with this Secret Lair.

Upon browsing their previous works, it seems to me that MSCHFs artistic work is often very directly about the structures of capitalism and consumerism, and more specifically how the internet has driven these systems to evolve into something quite bizarre. Their collaboration with Wizards is an opportunity to communicate those ideas through one of the very companies their work tends to critique.

The drop itself is the work of art: a commentary on modern TCG culture and what it has become in 2026. It poses as a celebration of Magic's origins, (which cost the creators nothing aside from the paper used to print the test cards) while selling that experience back to the players at a premium price. It's no surprise that the product itself isn't sold as a self contained, playable set, but as micro-packs similar to Aftermath Boosters, an iteration of Magic that was universally rejected by the player base.

The contrast of the early design language (where the imagery was an afterthought or an inside joke) packaged in a modern distribution method (a limited drop at a premium price that is bound to sell out) makes these ideas even more pronounced. What Magic was and what it has become is on full display. The drop questions what makes cardboard worth the money we spend on it, and questions further if we even should, given the current economic landscape where everything seems to integrate some form of gambling.

I was planning on skipping the drop, due to the drama of randomized packs coming to Secret Lair. But the more I reflected on these ideas the more I wanted to participate in the experience MSCHF had created. Not for the cards themselves but to appreciate how they creatively explore the themes of modern cardboard consumerism.

I'm sure there won't be any left by the time I reach checkout tomorrow. Which, even that, seems to be part of experience. So at least I still get to "participate".

So does this confirm Jace will die in reality fracture? It's not terribly surprising considering his new love for lobotomizing himself but Jace seems like a character that wouldn't really be killed off considering how central he is.

The Sackville-Bagginses illustration for Magic the Gathering's The Hobbit set!

Art Director: Cassie Murphy.

This is being shared with the permissions from Wizards of the Coast

© 2026 MEE LLC. TM lic MEE to WotC LLC

Source: https://www.rucach.com/project/the-sackville-bagginses/

Quarrel illustration for Magic the Gathering's The Hobbit set.

Bilbo and the dwarves quarrel over some much needed food at the house of Beorn.

Art Director: Cassie Murphy
This is being shared with the permissions from Wizards of the Coast
© 2026 MEE LLC. TM lic MEE to WotC LLC

Source: https://www.rucach.com/project/quarrel/

There's been a fair amount of discussion recently around the artists and sources for the various artwork used for the upcoming Zeta Set Secret Lair. Specifically, the cards all have an artist credit of "MSCHF", though many of them use public domain artwork, often by specific known artists.

Wanting to know more myself where all these images were from, I've gone through each of the cards and compiled a list of the art works and artists, to the extent I was able to determine them.

These findings are mostly the results of Google reverse image searches and Reddit posts of people who had already figured these out.

These are current my best understandings based on what I was able to find. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that I've gotten some wrong. I've also occasionally put something more generic in "Artist" (e.g. the publication company) if I could determine the source work but not the artist for the specific piece.

I was able to determine the original work for 65 of the cards; the other 56 are unknowns.

If anybody has any corrections or knows any of the missing information, I'd be happy to update this table accordingly.

Edits:

• Additional context in description regarding the artist credits on the actual cards
• Change the artist for MERCHANT SCROLL from "Wizards of the Coast" to "MSCHF"
• Information for Eerie Interlude
• Information for Mental Misstep
• Information for Narcomoeba
• Use "Gallo-Roman Museum, Tongeren" as the artist for Thought Vessel
• Use "Georg Merckel" as the artist for Pyrokinesis

Dáin Ironfoot illustration for Magic the Gathering's The Hobbit set.

This one was an HMV promo so it seems to be hard to find a good image online.

Art Director: Cassie Murphy

This is being shared with the permissions from Wizards of the Coast

© 2026 MEE LLC. TM lic MEE to WotC LLC

Source: https://www.rucach.com/project/dain-ironfoot/

I am returning to magic after 25 years away and I want to put together a commander deck to play with a group I found. I have a couple thousand cards from antiquities through exodus time period. Without any of the newer cards I am having trouble using edh sites and deck building tips to pull something decent together. I attached a photo of the commander cards I could pull out in a quick scan of my sets. I made a deck using sol kanar the swamp king because he seems decent and gave me good access to colour combinations. I loaded my deck into an app and tried drawing hands and layout out cards and it seems like I can’t really get anything going until around turn five to ten.

Here is a link to my deck: https://moxfield.com/decks/ISQd5p6En0KHw8BHYkk4Fw

Without knowing more about what I have, but knowing it’s all older, are there any broad changes I should make?

I’m having trouble understanding how exactly it goes infinite. Doesn’t “Attacks for the first time each turn” stop her from triggering infinite combat phases? Even if she is coming back from the graveyard? I’m obviously missing something.

(I have these cards and would love to use this combo but i need to understand how it works)

Hello everyone. I know Duskmourn is a little bit of an artistically controversial plane, but since it’s release I’ve gotten a bit obsessed. I couldn’t think of a better place to ask this, but I’m just looking for any movie, TV show, or other visual media that captures the specific vibe of Duskmourn?
And I don’t mean the movies that inspired Duskmourn, obviously. I know about the classic slashers and Saw and stuff, and those movies don’t feel like the plane.
Anyways, thanks in advance! :3

Bolg, Erebor's Reckoning illustration for Magic the Gathering's The Hobbit set.

Art Director: Cassie Murphy
This is being shared with the permissions from Wizards of the Coast
© 2026 MEE LLC. TM lic MEE to WotC LLC

Source: https://www.rucach.com/project/bolg-erebors-reckoning/

I understand that as a mature game Magic inevitably sacrifices flavor consistency for gameplay, but I want to be indulged today.

• Players: powerful planeswalkers/wizards engaged in a duel (apparently no longer accurate?)
• Deck/library: collection of spells in our mind palace that we bring to battle (what about lands?)
• Drawing a card: gaining knowledge? accessing our mind palace?
• Playing a land: ?
• Tapping a land for mana: drawing power from said place?

I'd love to be directed to resources out there that help to answer the potentially endless list of questions. Preliminary digging yielded stuff like this but I was told that older stuff are no longer accurate or have become wishy washy.

Prior to The Hobbit Pre-Release, Wizards of the Coast put out a press release stating that moving forward, 2HG pre-release events would only include ONE Pre-release kit per team, with 2 additional booster packs. Their explanation was that it creates more "balanced" pools of cards and aligns closer to tournament rules for sealed 2HG.

Regardless of my opinion on this being a bummer, and enjoying both myself and a friend opening a pre-release together and getting 12 packs to build from, it seems the local game stores have not at all been informed directly about this information.

With Pre-Release now going on sale, I am seeing stores still charge $35-40 per Pre-release sign-up, and requiring 2HG teams to spend $70-80 total to sign up their team for the Pre-Release event.

After speaking to one store owner, he mentioned they had no idea of these changes and intended to still give every 2HG team who signed up 2 full pre-release kits. I spoke to another store employee and they said they'd probably just go with whatever Wizards of the Coasts says, but likely they haven't updated their prices and weren't sure when/if they would.

I'm not sure what will happen with allocation of pre-release kits, and if stores are going to find themselves severely short on kits and have to resort to just using 1 per team, but this seeems like a disaster waiting to happen and I personally would be incredibly frustrated in paying $70-80 for one pre release kit.

What is everyone else hearing from their local stores? Are they still sticking to 2 pre-release kits? Have they discounted the price, assuming just 1 kit moving forward?

https://wpn.wizards.com/en/news/two-prerelease-changes-coming-with-reality-fracture

I just moved to Milan and I'm looking for new people to play 60-cards formats and cubes with.

I know the best way to find a pod is to go to an LGS, but outside of limited events all the ones i found host only Commander nights and I'm not sure I want to jump into the format.

Happy to hear any suggestions, whether it's a LGS or just a playgroup looking for one more.

Hey! I want to get into MTG, and my friend who is introducing me told me to get a pre con commander deck. I absolutely love ATLA and would love to start with that collection, but have discovered that they didn’t make pre con ATLA decks for some reason. What’s my best course of action? Would really love to stick with the ATLA cards if it’s not unreasonably expensive

I’m mainly asking if I copy the synthesizer with mishra, (or any other artifact with mana value 3+) will the original synthesizer give me a construct?

I made ManaMatch because I kept buying Magic cards, only to find out afterward that my friends already had some cards laying around unused in a box.

The app gives your friends one searchable view across separate collections. Everyone retains their own inventory and you only connect with people you add. When you search for cards in a deck list, ManaMatch marks cards as covered, partially covered, or missing, and shows whose collection can cover them.

That has been much more useful to us than trying to compare screenshots, lists or search through old group-chat messages. It also makes lending, giving, and building decks together easier than ever.

You can start from a ManaBox export, a simple CSV, or add cards manually. I’m building this in public and would love honest feedback on the workflow — especially from groups that already have a collection-sharing system.

If you are interested, here is the ProductHunt page

Transparency note: AI was used as a development aid while building ManaMatch. It is not used in any user-facing feature, matchmaking decision, or community interaction. As a software engineer with 7+ years of experience, I use it as support—not as a replacement for engineering judgment or the community.

I just realized that Kaja Foglio was the model for [[Autumn Willow]], and I read somewhere recently that Kieran Yanner modeled [[The Unluckiest Planeswalker]] after himself (although I saw another account that said it was his husband?).

Are there any other cards that feature the likeness of a real Magic artist?

My friends recently got me fully into MTG and having real cards. I’ve played Arena a good bit in the past, and was borderline addicted to Hearthstone for the first few years it was out. With this in mind, all of my deck building and card game experience is in anonymous Play-To-Win type settings, not friendly and casual. Does anyone have any advice to help me change my mindset in games and deck building, so I might stop being so win focused and more focused on having fun and letting my friends have fun?
For further context, I’m starting with an Izzet spellslinger commander deck with [[Alania, Divergent Storm]] as my commander and tons of removal and control. It’s objectively strong, but with how I built it and how I play it I kind of stop my friends from having fun. Any advice on how I can change my mindset or change my deck/gimmick (while staying Big Spell Izzet) would be greatly appreciate!!!

Hi all, new to this subreddit and just now learning/getting into MTG. I have an idea for a deck I created, but am unsure on how to execute it and was wondering if anyone has done something similar or knows how.

I made a black/white angel tribal, but don't have tokens for my deck. I had an idea to take photos of my friends, edit them to give them halos/wings, and add power/toughness, color, and token type. I've never done something like this and didn't know if anyone had ideas. I plan to print it and add it into a sleeve, so it looks and is able to tap/un tap like any other token card.

I know there are mixed feelings on proxies/cards like this, I only play casual with friends and it isn't an issue in our circle. If anyone has ideas or can point me in the right direction, that is greatly appreciated. :)