Fans aren’t as pleased with the new look of the cards
In recent reveals of the new The Walking Dead collaboration, fans of the collectable and digital card game showed their displeasure at the upcoming collection. Thus, The Magic: Gathering took to their social media to address these issues, including the Secret Lair drop.
About the collection:
The new collection sees a black-bordered card as opposed to the silver-bordered card in the My Little Pony collab, Ponies: The Galloping. These unique cards will open up new options to play and are available in Eternal formats.
They’re just dying to get out… #MTGSecretLair x #TWD is coming soon!
🧟 https://t.co/a0Wcy0cRYJ 🧟 pic.twitter.com/6HCg42Vur2
— MTG Secret Lair (@MTGSecretLair) October 3, 2020
The complaints:
The fans complained that the collab would only act as an unnecessary piece in the already rich and distinct lore of the Magic world. They pointed out that the two are stark opposite and would only create clutter in the MTG world.
The decision to make the collaboration a limited run set also met with criticism by avid MTG fans. The idea of printing-on-demand and not having to see them again was opposed by man avid MTG players.
Howdy 🤠
Learn more at https://t.co/a0Wcy0cRYJ. pic.twitter.com/KOPTeR8EnV
— MTG Secret Lair (@MTGSecretLair) October 2, 2020
Addressing the concerns:
Magic took to its social media account, Twitch in particular, and addressed these concerns in a Live stream.
Joining the live stream was Aaron Forsythe, Magic R&D director, Mark Heggen, product architect and Blake Rasmussen, Wizards of the Coast’s senior communications Manager.
Forsythe began talking about how the collaboration came into conception. He revealed that Wizard of the Coast was already looking at “tons and tons of partners” to collaborate with and the Walking Dead just happened to be one of them with which they thought would make fun and awesome cards.
Guess who is back from his @MagicOnline adventure?! Introducing Daryl, Hunter of Walkers. pic.twitter.com/Z5tvGu3DZD
— MTG Secret Lair (@MTGSecretLair) September 29, 2020
Talking about The Walking Dead not belonging to the MTG lore, Heggen explained that the collab is adjacent to the world of Magic, and is full of zombies and combat.
Speaking about the difference in the bordered set, Forsythe described the Walking Dead collaboration as a Magic set that just did not work with the typical design. He further revealed that it was easy to achieve this considering the worked well with the rules of the MTG.
Guess who is back from his @MagicOnline adventure?! Introducing Daryl, Hunter of Walkers. pic.twitter.com/Z5tvGu3DZD
— MTG Secret Lair (@MTGSecretLair) September 29, 2020
However fans who are worried that this participation might alter the world of the MTG, you need not worry further. Forsythe confirmed that the Walking Dead does not belong to the Magic cannon. He shared that the collab has a unique foil stamp at the bottom of the card that shows that it’s not from the same canon as the MTG.
Addressing the concerns of limited sets, the Wizard team did reassure that if the MTG X Walking Dead saw high demand, more cards would be printed with new art.
If you like zombies, check out these preview cards that @wizards_magic sent me from the upcoming #MTGSecretLair X @WalkingDead_AMC collab! Glenn is one of the 5 completely new cards playable in Vintage, Legacy, and Commander 😉 pic.twitter.com/BgjjsZ8fHO
— Sean Plott (@day9tv) September 29, 2020
For now, fans can only wait till October 12 to get their hands on the limited once in a lifetime opportunity. Head on to Secret Lair to place your pre-order.
Preorders for #TWD Secret Lair drop are now LIVE, unlike the walkers on the zombie tokens. Grab your best zombie fighting gear and head over to https://t.co/a0Wcy0cRYJ now! pic.twitter.com/GoFLipmrBz
— MTG Secret Lair (@MTGSecretLair) October 5, 2020