Exclusive: Legendary Pokemon TCG Artist Returns to Magic: The Gathering

Matsuhiro Arita is no stranger to card games. He’s the artist responsible for the paintings on innumerable cards from the original release of the Pokemon Trading Card Game, including the highly saught after Charizard – but now he’s painting a different kind of dragon thanks to a Magic: The Gathering Secret Lair drop, and we’ve got the first look at all four cards from it.

Flip through the gallery below to see all the cards in Arita’s Secret Lair:

This isn’t the first time Arita has painted a Magic card, but his previous addition was a single, borderless art version of Lumra, Bellow of the Woods from last year’s Bloomburrow set. So to get four new cards all at once shortly after that is a big jump.

In addition to that, the inclusions all see some sort of play accross different formats. The iconic Lighting Bolt is played pretty much everywhere it is allowed, and Murktide Regent has been a powerful card in both Modern and Legacy since its release in Modern Horizons 2 in 2021. Meanwhile, Light-Paws is a well-loved Commander on its own, and Shorikai has both found a comfy home for itself in many Vintage Cubes and is currently the 20th most popular Commander overall according to EDHRec.

Wizards of the Coast describes this drop on its store page as such: “With nearly 30 years of experience creating beloved art for trading card games, Mitsuhiro Arita’s work has become some of the most recognizable in the world. His first collaboration with Magic: The Gathering was on a borderless Lumra, Bellow of the Woods released in 2024’s Bloomburrow, which quickly became a fan-favorite. In this Secret Lair Drop, the legendary artist returns to showcase his iconic creature design across four remarkable cards.”

As usual with Secret Lair drops, this one will be available on the Secret Lair website in non-foil for $29.99 and foil for $39.99, with both only being made available while supplies last starting on Monday, February 10 at 9am PT. Secret Lairs can tend to sell out fast these days, a point of irration within the community since WOTC switched from a timed print-to-order system last year, so if you’re looking to snag them you’ll want to be there as soon as they go live.

For more on Magic, you can learn more about its death race set, Aetherdrift, which launches in the next week, check out past Secret Lairs we’ve revealed like Chucky and Monty Python, or read about how WOTC aims to set Magic up for long-term success.

Tom Marks is IGN’s Executive Reviews Editor. He loves card games, puzzles, platformers, puzzle-platformers, and lots more.