MTG Spookydrop 2023: 8 Creepy Secret Lair Drops - Evil Dead, Creepshow, & More

The MTG Spookydrop 2023 secret lair drop is coming just in time for Halloween! A superdrop, and part of the "alternate art" series for secret lair, it has eight separate drops that are all spooky. Many are Universes Beyond drops, meaning they crossover with classic horror franchises for awesome reskinned cards. Here is everything you need to know about the MTG Spookydrop 2023 secret lair.

We'll cover each drop in the series, the cards, the franchises they represent, when you can start buying these, and more. So, if you're a fan of horror, the occult, or the creepy, prepare yourself for some gnarly (but fun) crossovers. Now, without further ado, let's look at some cards!

Spookydrop 2023 Secret Lair Drops

Available Date: October 2nd

Buy Here: Secret Lair | Official Online Store (wizards.com)

Evil Dead

This crossover with the Evil Dead has five cards and one token - All reskinned versions of existing cards with Evil Dead-themed art and flavor text. As many have pointed out, Ash (the beloved main character of the series) is not a legendary creature, which is somewhat strange. And, of course, this means Ashy Slashy cannot be your commander.

The thought behind this is unknown, but there are a few things to consider. First, Puresteel Paladin's abilities are a reasonable fit. As one Reddit commenter said, he did craft and equip that chainsaw hand pretty effectively. If you're a fan of the franchise, you get the joke... And he's kind of right.

Beyond that, while he is certainly the main protagonist in the first film, he's not quite the legend we know him as today. In the first film, he's more of a regular guy who steps up to the plate in a big way when the time comes. Either way, we got what we got.

The Princess Bride

Bonus Card:

The Princess Bride isn't quite in the "spooky" category if you ask me, but WOTC has done weirder things. So, "As you wish." Even considering it has a distinct lack of blood, guts, gore, and the Necronomicon, you can't argue it's not a cool drop - I mean, it's pretty awesome to see Andre the Giant on a Magic card.

The cards chosen for the reskins here are sweet as well. There are a lot of great commanders here that fans of the movie will be happy to play. And Silence is quite playable as well. Even more so with the late, great WWE Hall of Famer Andre the Giant on the art.

Creepshow

Two Titans of Horror, George A. Romero (the director here) & Stephen King (making this film his screenwriting debut) came together on this classic 1982 anthology. If you've never seen it, check it out - They're great!

There are five tales in the original film, and we also have five cards, each with a front and back. One side is meant to look like an old "weird tales" style magazine cover, with the flip being a page. That said, the cards themselves don't seem to represent the stories from Creepshow. Instead, they seem zombie-themed, likely a nod to Romero for his classic Zombie films. Whatever the reason, the art looks great, and these cards are sick!

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Artist Series: John Avon

John Avon is among the most esteemed MTG artists ever to put ink to paper for the game. And this drop is all him - According to WOTC, John handpicked each of these cards, did the art, and even wrote the fantastic flavor texts. As far as his card choices go, the drop is pretty sweet.

Emrakul, the Promised End doesn't get reprinted often, so there is always some buzz when she does. Serra Angel is a classic card from the game's history and looks as good as ever here. Progenitus, like Emarkul, hasn't had a handful of reprints and is a solid pick to excite players. Brainstorm isn't flashy but is the most playable card in the drop, and this new art is killer!

PixelLands_v02.jpg

A continuation of PixelSnowLands.jpg from 2019, this drop features five basic (nonsnow) lands with pixilated, digital art - Each one is made to look like an open webpage. A Mid-West 8-bit pixel artist, Jubilee, did the art. I love these lands! They take me back to playing video games as a kid (even though the graphics were far from this good) and mix that nostalgia with a love for MTG.

Meditations on Nature

Meditations on Nature features the five basic lands with Japanese ink paintings. And I can't say enough about how absolutely stunning the artwork is! Luckily, artist JungShan's work speaks for itself. The aesthetic, the color blending, the detail, everything is top-notch, breathtaking art. And perhaps this sounds cliche, but they succeeded in captivating nature's beauty.

Doctor Who: The Weeping Angels

The Weeping Angels are, for sure, some of the creepiest Doctor Who monsters. In their more grotesque forms, they have claws and mouths full of long, sharp fangs. That said, what really makes them frightening is their ability to present themselves as statues. They can appear as if they're a statute and take over and mimic existing statutes, such as the Statue of Liberty.

Something is unsettling about the notion that every gargoyle, Cherub, and Statue we pass could be some horrible creature in disguise just waiting for us to turn our back to show its true face. The card selection for this drop is excellent, but I would have loved to see Lyra Dawnbringer included, but that's just me.

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If you're a Dr. Who fan, there's no way you won't be into this drop. The characters are creepy, the cards are good, and the art is phenomenal. And it's more Dr. Who MTG cards? There's not much not to love here - This is a perfect fit for the 2023 Spookydrop.

Doctor Who: The Dalek Lands

We're not done with Dr. Who just yet. This drop has the five enemy-colored fast lands featuring The Dalek. If The Weeping Angels are the series' scariest villains, The Dalek has to be the most popular. The radiation-consuming, machine-like creatures can be seen in the artwork for each borderless card. Again, any fan of Dr. Who and MTG will have a hard time not finding these cool! My only qualm is that we couldn't get the full 10 fast lands.

Conclusion

I have to give Wizards of the Coast some props on Spookydrop 2023 - All eight individual products are great, and there's something for everyone. Horror fans, pop culture/TV buffs, Stephen King fans, MTG fans who have no interest in Universes Beyond, etc. Love or hate them; we will continue to see crossovers via secret lair drops. And, if you ask me, these get two big thumbs up!

Are you planning on picking any of these up? If so, which ones? Personally, I have to get at least Evil Dead, Creepshow, and the Meditations on Nature basic lands. And maybe The Weeping Angels, too!