At the end of last year, Wizards of the Coast announced Secret Lair Drop Series, a new Magic: The Gathering brand that groups reprints into thematic sets that can be purchased directly from the developer for a single day. The first five of the MTG Secret Lair Drop Series were made available over the course of several days in December 2019, and now Wizards is back with yet another Secret Lair, which fans will be able to pickup later this month.

Dubbed Year of the Rat, this new Magic: The Gathering Secret Lair will be available for 24 hours beginning on January 27, 2020 at 9am PST. The Year of the Rat Secret Lair will cost $39.99, with a limit of 10 per customer, and as the name suggests, this collectible is focused entirely around “some of the best and most beloved Rats in all of Magic’s history.”

Specifically, players that order Magic: The Gathering’s Year of the Rat Secret Lair will receive the following:

  • 1 Foil Alternate-Art Marrow-Gnawer 1 Foil Alternate-Art Pack Rat 1 Foil Alternate-Art Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni 5 Foil Alternate-Art Rat Colony 1 code for a card sleeve based on the Secret Lair Year of the Rat for use in Magic: The Gathering Arena

As indicated, these reprints feature brand new art, which was created by JungShan, Fiona Hsieh, Kisung Koh, and Jenn Ravenna, and the creative director for this Secret Lair, Meris Mullaley, has offered further details on artistic vision behind it. She notes that Lunar New Year, which occurs on January 25, 2020, will mark the beginning of the Year of the Rat, and the objective with this Secret Lair was to “create art descriptions that portrayed iconic Rat creature cards in a harmonious, aspirational manner.”

This directive is seen clearly in the new artwork for Marrow-Gnawer, who “welcomes his large family to the new year banquet celebrating good food and good company,” as well as in the artwork for the very powerful MTG creature, Pack Rat. Mullaley also points out that Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni assumes the form of the “legendary rat that just jumped off the ox’s nose to become the first animal of the Zodiac” in the Year of the Rat Secret Lair, making it a very special card indeed.

For players that may not be particularly interested in MTG’s Year of the Rat Secret Lair, Wizards indicates that it is just the beginning of what is planned for this new brand over the course of 2020. Additionally, the developer has already revealed a number of other new products that will be released this year, including the Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths and Commander Legends sets, which means that there is plenty for Magic: The Gathering fans to be excited about moving forward.

Magic: The Gathering’s Theros: Beyond Death set releases January 24, 2020.

Source: Wizards of the Coast