Summary
Magic: The Gatheringhas shown off its next Universes Beyond Secret Lair, and it’s the long-awaited crossover with Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants.
Three drops are coming on March 25, focused on the characters of the show, the lands of Bikini Bottom, and even one devoted to the many memes the series has spawned over the years.
As revealed byCollider, the Secret Lair x SpongeBob SquarePants drops will cost $29.99 each for a regular edition, for $39.99 for foil. If recent crossover drops like Monty Python are anything to go by, we can expect this one to sell out just as quickly, if not quicker, when it goes on sale exclusively through theSecret Lair website.
Secret Lair x SpongeBob SquarePants: Legends Of Bikini Bottom
The first drop is a bumper crop of legendary creatures, each reskinned for one of the denizens of Bikini Bottom.
The star here is, weirdly, Gary, The Snail. He’s a reskinned version of Toxrill, The Corrosive; a commander who can easily demolish tables with his gradually building debuffs across the entire board. He’s one of the most oppressive commanders this side of Elesh Norn, so seeing him here as Gary is hilarious.
Elsewhere in the drop we’ve got Sandy Cheeks asToski, Bearer Of Secrets, a great and indestructible Squirrel that can draw you cards. The mind flayer Grazillax has been reimagined as Squidward, and even Mr. Krabs is in here as Charix, Raging Isle.
Fortunately, SpongeBob himself is Jodah, The Unifier, afive-colour commander. That means you can run every single SpongeBob card in a single Commander deck. You probably shouldn’t, but you could.
Secret Lair x SpongeBob SquarePants: Internet Sensation
This is the drop that is likely to sell out the quickest, because it brings the numerous internet memes from SpongeBob to a decent selection of cards.
None of the regular printings of these cards are particularly worth much. Force of Despair is a good way to answer people comboing off or building up massive board states, and Daze is a funny counterspell when it isn’t being expected.
It’s the Counterspell you’ll be wanting this drop for, though. Counterspell is always good, always needed, and this version has by far the most recognisable meme from the show. Counterspell is often paired with smarmy flavour text of saying ‘nope’ to your opponent, and this one manages to do it purely with the art.
Secret Lair x SpongeBob SquarePants: Lands Under The Sea
The ever-present Secret Lair drop of basic lands is here, with five full-art cards following Gary as he explored Bikini Bottom.
Basic land drops are always a hard sell, and I suspect are usually made for the Arena crowd who can use as many copies of them as you like. But it’s hard to deny these lands aren’t neat, giving us a look at the scenery of Bikini Bottom and pairing well with your Spongebob Commander deck.
Finally, we also got a look at a Krabby Patty Food token. It’s currently unclear which drop this token is included in, as none of the cards make Food. However, it could just be the bonus card included in each of them.
Secret Lair x SpongeBob SquarePants will only be available while stocks last, so if you want it you’ll need to dive on it quickly when it goes on sale on March 25.
