This Spring, the Universes Beyond cards promoting the film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves will receive much-needed Universes Within treatments. This means players can acquire in-universe versions of these relatively scarce Secret Lair cards. However, these cards have a slight caveat to acquisition. What could that even mean? Read on, and find out!
Bohn, Beguiling Balladeer, the Universes Within variant of Edgin, Larcenous Lutenist. Chris Pine played Edgin in the 2023 film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.According to the article posted on DailyMTG on Monday, January 13th, "From April 25 to May 25, participating local game stores will be hosting special Draft events. The exact events will vary from store to store, but all of them promise exciting Limited gameplay for a limited time." The event series is called Magic Presents: Spring Flourishes, and will be a means for players to obtain the various re-flavored cards from Secret Lair xDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
Jurin, Leading the Charge, the Universes Within variant of Holga, Relentless Rager. Michelle Rodriguez played Holga in the 2023 film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.According to the article, Magic's team directly collaborated with the Secret Lair team to provide these versions of the cards promoting the 2023 film. They also go on to explain exactly what Universes Within is:
These cards, like previous releases with the SLX set code, are mechanically identical to the cards featured in the Secret Lair drop. For deck-building purposes, they're treated as another copy of the card indicated at the bottom of the card. These cards will be available at any participating WPN store while supplies last and only in English.
Evin, Waterdeep Opportunist, the Universes Within variant ofForge, Neverwinter Charlatan. Hugh Grant played Forge in the 2023 film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
On Themberchaud, The Chonkiest Boy
However, not all of the cards in the promotion are reskins of the Universes Beyond iterations from Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Enter Themberchaud, an absolute unit of that, to those who either bought the Secret Lair drop and/or saw the movie, needs no further introduction. This endearingly rotund-yet-fearsome Dragon featured quite prominently in the film as a minor adversary to the main party. In any event, the card did not receive a reskin as Themberchaud exists in the world of Dungeons & Dragons Wizards of the Coast has created. Instead, it gets a borderless full-art treatment in line with those same reskins:
Other Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Reskins
The other cards in this release fall in line with the other Secret Lair cards:
Casal, Lurkwood Pathfinder, the Universes Within variant of Doric, Nature's Warden. Sophia Lillis played Doric in the 2023 film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.Casal, Pathbreaker Owlbear, the Universes Within variant of Doric, Owlbear Avenger. This card is the flipside of Casal, Lurkwood Pathfinder, itself a variant of Doric, Nature's Warden.Mathise, Surge Channeler, the Universes Within variant of Simon, Wild Magic Sorcerer. Justice Smith played Simon in the 2023 film.Rashel, Fist of Torm, the Universes Within variant of Xenk, Paladin Unbroken. Regé-Jean Page played Xenk in the 2023 film.This means of distributing Universes Within cards may dismay some players and collectors. However, it is now the only way to do so. Wizards of the Coast replaced Set Booster products with Play Boosters. Thereby, they also abolished "The List", a rotating subset of scarce reprints. Because The List was the only means to acquire Universes Within cards previously, Wizards of the Coast needed a means to continue this practice.
Are you excited to go to your local game store and claim these cards? How do you feel about Magic Presents: Spring Flourishes? Did you enjoy Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves? Sound off below!
Josh Nelson wears many hats. They are a music journalist when not writing gaming news. Beyond this, they're a scholar of the Sweeney Todd urban legend, a fan of monster-taming RPGs, and a filthy Aristocrats player. Josh has been playing Magic since 2001 and attributes their tenure to nostalgia, effort, and "aesthetic".
