Magic: The Gatheringhas had its fair share of odd crossovers since the debut of Universes Beyond in 2021, but Wizards of the Coast has just announced one of its weirdest is coming in 2025.
SpongeBob Squarepants will be coming to MTG via an exclusive Secret Lair crossover some time next year, bringing Bikini Bottom to your table.
Announced at MagicCon Vegas, we didn’t see any cards or art for the set. The only thing we know is that it will exist at some point, and we all need to adjust to a world where Squidward could, potentially be your commander.
Universes Beyond Secret Lairs come in one of two flavours. The first are like the Arcane and Fortnite crossovers, which took existing cards and reskinned them to be based on their properties. The second flavour are more like theStreet Fighterand Stranger Things drops, which included mechanically unique cards never seen before.
Some drops do combine the two, like the Tomb Raider Secret Lair, which was mostly reprints but also included the mechanically unique Lara Croft, Tomb Raider card as well.
It’s anyone’s guess as to which of the two SpongeBob Squarepants will be. For it to be announced this far out suggests it could be a mechanically unique drop, while on the other hand crossovers with more out-there properties, like Fortnite, have usually been reprints.
I Don’t Need It…
Curiously, Sponge is already a creature type in Magic, with Thought Sponge and Walking Sponge giving two opportunities for the funniest reprints in history. There are also Crabs for Mr. Krabbs, Starfish for Patrick, and plenty of Squirrels for Sandy Cheeks. Perhaps this drop is the chance to give us the legendary Sponge and Starfish kindred commanders the game has so desperately needed for over 30 years?
It’s also likely that there will be more than one drop based on SpongeBob, as the world of Bikini Bottom would fit itself quite nicely to some unique land cards.
Next year is going to be a huge one for Universes Beyond, Magic’s crossover brand. Starting with the launch ofFinal Fantasy in June, all full Universes Beyond setswill be legal in all formats, including Standard. They’ll also make up half of Magic’s yearly releases, alongside more traditional sets based on the Magic multiverse.
As SpongeBob is only Secret Lair drops and not a set, it won’t necessarily be legal in Standard, Modern, or Pioneer unless it’s a reprint of a card that already is. However, they will be legal in Commander, Vintage, and Legacy.
Wizards of the Coast hasn’t revealed when, or in what form, we’ll be seeing Secret Lair x SpongeBob Squarepants, but it’s going to be sometime in 2025.
Magic: The Gathering
Created by Richard Garfield in 1993, Magic: The Gathering (MTG) has become one of the biggest tabletop collectible card games in the world. Taking on the role of a Planeswalker, players build decks of cards and do battle with other players. In excess of 100 additional sets have added new cards to the library, while the brand has expanded into video games, comics, and more.
