Wizards of the Coast has revealed Magic: The Gathering universe versions of the MTG Walking Dead cards. This MTG Secret Lair featuring Walking Dead characters like Rick, Negan, Daryl, and Glenn, was the first Universes Beyond product the company released, back in 2020, and at the time there was a lot of controversy about seeing TV actors depicted on Magic cards. Now players who like the cards but don’t want to run these third-party characters can use the new Innistrad versions instead.
These cards are added to The List for MTG Wilds of Eldraine, meaning you’ll need to crack some Wilds of Eldraine set boosters if you want a chance to open one. This rotating set of reprint cards appears in 1 in 4 set boosters.
During the controversy when Wizards started its Universes Beyond sub brand, the company promised to make in-universe variants for players who didn’t want to use cards featuring Walking Dead names and artwork. This is something it’s since done for other Secret Lair crossovers, like MTG Stranger Things and Street Fighter. Three years after the cards’ initial release, The Walking Dead’s reprints are here.
Wizards’ current policy is to create Magic multiverse versions of Universe Beyond Secret Lairs approximately six months after the Secret Lair’s release. They don’t do this for larger UB products with lots of cards like MTG Warhammer 40k or MTG Doctor Who, however.
It’s a little surprising that two of the three batches of reskinned Secret Lair cards (sometimes called ‘Universes Within’) are set on the same plane, Innistrad. It makes sense here to use that setting, however, given the zombie theme. Check out the Innistrad Stranger Things reprints, to see how this has been done in the past.
Our favorite of the Universes Within Walking Dead cards has to be Negan’s bat Lucille, which has been reimagined as established character Gisa’s ‘favorite shovel’. The most important, however, is certainly Greymond, Avacyn’s Stalwart – the rebranded version of Rick Grimes. That’s because Rick is a staple card in human Commander decks, and that’s a pretty popular MTG creature type.
Check out our MTG release schedule 2023 guide to see what’s in store for the rest of this year. And don’t miss out on these MTG Arena codes – to get free packs and cosmetics while they’re still valid.