Right now, the Magic: The Gathering news cycle is in a bit of a slow period. We’ve got the Commander unbans coming soon, of course, but for the most part the next big thing will be the Final Fantasy debut on May 10th. The next big official thing, that is. Over the weekend, MTG players have been discussing a supposed leak that may confirm the existence of a future Star Trek Secret Lair.
With Edge of Eternities, Magic’s first space-themed set, right around the corner, this isn’t a totally ridiculous idea. The leak also seems to line up with examples we saw for Thunder Junction in the past. Those ended up translating into real cards, so this one could easily do the same. We won’t know for sure until August hits, but the mere possibility of a Star Trek Secret Lair is exciting for many.
The Star Trek x MTG Test Card Leak
The leak in question was shared to the r/MTGRumors subreddit by melanino a couple of days ago. They noted that this was actually a repost, since the leak was originally discovered on 4Chan and shared to r/MTGRumors by JimHarbor last July. In any case, discussion on the leak has picked up a lot now that we’re drawing closer to Edge of Eternities.
As we’ve seen before, Wizards likes to do small-scale product tie-ins when they’re thematically appropriate. Transformers in The Brothers’ War, Jurassic Park in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, Ghostbusters and Chucky alongside Duskmourn, etc. With that in mind, Star Trek is a totally reasonable IP to work with around Edge of Eternities. It’s also a huge property that likely has a ton of fanbase overlap with MTG, so a great pick in that regard too.
As for the Star Trek x MTG leak itself, it looks pretty legit as far as these things go. It has the right wording and the same test stats used on previous examples (more on those later). It also features an interesting layout that feels appropriate to the subject matter. The little “Starring Leonard Nimoy” note by the mana cost is a particularly nice touch, given how legendary the show’s cast is.
Of course, even with all these marks in its favor there’s still a chance this leak is a fake. In the comments of the original leak post, many players expressed their skepticism. “This is clearly a mock up anybody couldve made,” noted wildcard_gamer. Yumyum36 added “Seems fake. Not blurry enough.”
On the other hand, plenty of players were convinced by the leak. Dirtygymsock made a compelling case for its legitimacy, based on the other IPs Magic has worked with recently.
“Star Trek is IP owned by Paramount Studios… of which WotC has already licensed SpongeBob and Avatar. It’s certainly plausible.”
dirtygymsock, via r/MTGRumors
Past Precedent
Another facet of the Star Trek x MTG leak that lends it credence is the fact that we’ve seen this happen before. Back in 2022, a set of similar test cards was leaked for Outlaws of Thunder Junction. These test images are still available to view on Imgur.
“It could be since they do test cards a year or 2 in advance when some theme sets are made. I remember when there was test cards for thunder junction where one was using the frame of playing cards for a test character before it was a wanted poster they used in the final product.”
Hypershadic98, via r/MTGRumors
While these test cards didn’t match up exactly with the card styles we got in Thunder Junction, they were clearly early versions of them. The style on the right in the image above looks very much like a first draft of the Breaking News Bonus Sheet cards. The other two resemble the styles used in the Outlaw Anthology and Poker Faces Secret Lair drops.
“The style matches the OTJ art test leak, including details like the set symbol being a star, the reminder text on First Ability, not having a spot for a holofoil stamp yet, and so on.”
EmTeeEm, via r/MTGRumors
Factor in the identical formatting, and there’s a good chance this Star Trek leak is legit too. In this case, the style is almost certainly part of a planned Secret Lair drop rather than a Bonus Sheet. Mark Rosewater stated back in 2023 that “No current sets in design have Universe Beyond cards inserted a la Transformers and Jurassic World.” Given that, Secret Lair is the only viable option. The actual drop, if it is planned, could well end up looking a bit different to this test card, of course.
However it ends up looking, a Star Trek crossover is a big deal for Magic’s overall appeal. While it’s not as popular as it once was, Star Trek still commands a huge die-hard fanbase. On top of the existing audience-broadening effects of releasing a space set in the first place, a move like this could push Magic: The Gathering into the stratosphere just like Lord of the Rings did. August can’t come soon enough, frankly.
