Inadvertently, Wizards of the Coast has revealed the anticipated crossover with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by a major blunder in the operation. The more than thirty new cards of this unreleased TMNT set have found their way into the prerelease kits for Lorwyn Eclipsed, the first big expansion of the new year for the game. While “Universes Beyond” is certainly a modern feature of Magic: The Gathering, exposing something in this fashion is unusual; thus, it would give an unplanned glimpse into how the iconic Heroes in a Half Shell will be integrated into the game mechanics of the card game.
The leak originated from the Lorwyn Eclipsed prerelease packs, but it was supposed to be entirely focused on returning to the fan-beloved, folklore-inspired plane. A production or packaging error, however, resulted in TMNT-themed cards being part of that collection, quickly photographed and spread throughout social media and forums. While such leaks technically predate an official spoiler season, there is nothing quite as robust in previewing this part of the set that was so early in showing much of its design direction and casting choices before the marketing team was even remotely prepared to present them.
This situation presents a perfect purview for veteran players into an industry increasingly complicated by the demand for more output from Wizards of the Coast. Lorwyn Eclipsed is expected to launch on 24th January, and many would prefer that this return to the beloved setting be the sole direction that the winter season would take. This being said, the intrusion of modern licensed IP into these kits creates more debates on how frequent Secret Lair drops and crossover expansions become, although excitement for the TMNT cards still runs high among collectors and casual fans.
As of now, Wizards of the Coast has not made an official statement regarding the specific cause of the packaging error or how the official reveal timeline would be updated. There are already dozens of cards out in public view, so the mystery, which surrounded the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set, is mostly gone as the community is now busy analyzing the leaks in their preparation for the inaccurate release of Lorwyn Eclipsed.
