Eleven Artwork for Magic The Gathering x Stranger Things Secret Lair Release *Note: not A Secret Lair Card design* | Source: Pauline Voss

After teasing their collaboration on YouTube on Monday, Netflix and Wizards of the Coast officially announced new Stranger Things-themed cards for Magic: the Gathering. First, an exclusive set of Stranger Things playing cards will be released via the Secret Lair platform as part of the Universe Beyond series. While Wizards of the Coast hasn’t revealed which Stranger Things characters or components will be on these cards, they did announce some changes to the way these specialty cards will function within the game.

According to Magic: The Gathering Senior Designer Gavin Verhey, the company will be printing in-world Magic versions of the Stranger Things cards, along with the Stranger Things Secret Lair cards. These in-world versions will depict the same characters and/or monsters, but in the style of regular Magic: The Gathering cards and without Stranger Things branding — Similar to the Godzilla Monster cards from Ikoria.

Copies of the in-world Magic versions will be released at a higher frequency via “The List,” which is a subset of cards that are randomly available in some card packs. However, these in-world Magic versions of the cards will be available six months after the Secret Lair release. The Secret Lair Stranger Things cards will be a special collectible item that you can only get during the drop, but the company plans to print and reprint the in-world Magic cards as many times as necessary.

However, both the Stranger Things and in-game versions of these cards will be playable! This announcement comes after backlash from the Magic: The Gathering community — In previous Secret Lair launches, the company has offered cards with special abilities, but players couldn’t use them in the retail version of the game, despite paying a premium price. With these new parameters, players will also be able to use their specialty, Secret Lair cards in the actual game.

Artwork for Magic: the Gathering x Stranger Things Release *not a Secret Lair Card* | Source: Jenn Ravenna Tran

However, Verhey stressed that the cards are meant to be a cool collectible item that represents the characters and are not intended for competitive gameplay. They are also created for the Commander format, which encourages players to pick a hero and create a deck around them.

Related: Second ‘Stranger Things 4’ Teaser Takes Fans Back to Hawkins National Laboratory

Like the premiere date for the fourth season of Stranger Things, the release date for these new Secret Lair cards has not been revealed yet. Stay tuned for additional information!

About the author

Hannah Sacks

Hannah Sacks

Hannah Sacks was an editorial assistant at The Toy Insider, The Pop Insider, and The Toy Book. An avid reader, her first love is late Victorian literature paired with a huge plate of dumplings. When she’s not reading, she loves to attend concerts, cook elaborate dinners, and snuggle up with her two cats, Oscar and Percy.

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