Chibi planeswalkers return to Magic: The Gathering, with a second Secret Lair drop in the cutesy Japanese art style. Announced by Hasbro Pulse on Monday, this exclusive Secret Lair, featuring reprints of planeswalker cards with brand new chibi artwork, will be available to preorder between October 1-November 14. But an important concern for Magic conspiracy theorists is: does this reveal put an end to the popular Phyrexian planeswalker theory?
If you missed out on February’s Li’l Walkers Secret Lair drop, you may be buzzed to have another chance to grab some cartoon planeswalker cards. We don’t yet know which ‘walkers will be featured in the Secret Lair x Hasbro Pulse Con drop, other than Elspeth, whose new artwork’s already been shown off.
We’re guessing this’ll be a reprint of Elspeth, Sun’s Champion – the most expensive Elspeth card – because the artwork sort of lines up. This chibi Elspeth is perched on a clifftop, and the sun is shining through her spear.
The arrival of a new batch of chibi planeswalkers does pose a problem for a somewhat crackpot theory that’s been floating around fan communities for a while now. The theory goes that the characters shown in chibi form in the Li’l Walkers Secret Lair are the ones destined to end up as compleated planeswalkers – converted to evil cyborg forms in the Phyrexian invasion storyline. Sounds farfetched, but so far, the theory has held true. First Tamiyo was converted, and then Ajani. The next three ‘walkers on the hitlist would be Angrath, Ashiok, and Sorin.
But now another five chibi planeswalkers have been thrown into the mix with this new Secret Lair drop, and that stretches the theory’s credibility somewhat. Reddit user r/overoverme has been swift to adapt, however – suggesting this could be the planeswalkers that slay the major Phyrexians. Elspeth does carry a weapon made for the job. Hmm.
This batch of chibi planeswalker cards will apparently be available only from Hasbro Pulse, instead of Magic’s usual Secret Lair website. It also seems that, whereas most Secret Lairs are printed to demand, there’ll only be limited copies of this one; an advert on the Hasbro Pulse website suggests they’ll be available “while supplies last”. Looks like you’ll also be able to pick a copy up at Hasbro PulseCon 2022 (September 30-October 1) if you happen to be attending.
Source: Wargamer
