https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/walking-dead-shambles-secret-lair-2020-09-28

Now I do think it is unlikely that there will be vintage relevant cards here, though stranger things have happened, but I am curious about how people feel about this:

• Non Magic IP
• Mechanically unique cards, they did not do the Godzilla thing
• Not sold via retailers, skipping the distribution chain
• Truly limited supply (Barring foil reprints down the road)
• Relatively high price point (though I am sure the market will compensate)
• Spoiled cards seem at least loosely relevant for Commander
• Spoiled cards also look and read like they came from a fantasy card creation thread
• The art is pretty bad so far

I do not think I am a fan of this direction. I am ok with the non magic IPs but I would have much preferred the Godzilla method from IKO. Even if these cards were mechanically unique but Aliases for cards that would be printed at a later date I wouldn't mind, but this feels like dangerous road to be treading.

These are terrible and unplayable.

Thanks wizards I hate it.

These are Musor.
Merde.
Good thing I’m focused on getting the rest of my duals and starting my P9 instead.

@ten-ten
Pardon your French LOL

There's been a lot of hyperbole over the years about how this or that was going to "kill magic."

But I think this is it. The shark-jump, the Rubicon, the start of a very dark chapter in the history of the game. Instead of investing in the gameplay and brand identity of Magic, WotC now sees Magic as the Monopoly of TCGs: a cash cow to be milked via endless thematically-inappropriate tie-in deals and promos.

@evouga You described my concern with this change very clearly. It's highly disturbing that they're willing to print mechanically unique cards in this way.

Pay good programmers to make functional software to actually play the game during the pandemic?

Or increase marketability by paying for IP to add random pop-culture references to the game, and capitalize on social justice by banning random cards?

Hmmmm... Seems they care more about collectibles than the game, once again.

Looks like their solution is to use Oracle to retcon the names of the cards

Won’t that mean that players who own The Walking Dead cards can now play both versions in their deck?

No, it does not. The cards, in Oracle, would identify that they represent the same card and would be treated by deck building rules as if they were the same. Think of them as functioning identically to the Godzilla skins..

I don't think you can put these names on future printings probably, since they are trademarked. Which makes it harder.

@benjamin_berry said in The Walking Dead Secret Lair to be Unique Cards:

Looks like their solution is to use Oracle to retcon the names of the cards

Won’t that mean that players who own The Walking Dead cards can now play both versions in their deck?

No, it does not. The cards, in Oracle, would identify that they represent the same card and would be treated by deck building rules as if they were the same. Think of them as functioning identically to the Godzilla skins..

So why not print them identically to Godzilla skins

@joshuabrooks Because they don't know the names of the "real" versions. WOTC is still very much speaking in terms of "we could" do this or that, but they have no solid plans to do so.

I wish they would have made something up as a placeholder then. I'm not a "sky is falling" kind of guy, but the last 2-3 years of Wizard's decisions, certainly has me very worried.