Secret Lair is Magic: The Gathering’s premium direct-to-consumer product line, blending everything players love about MTG with pop culture. Each product puts a new spin on fan-favorite cards or introduces something entirely new to the Magic world—think collaborations with all kinds of artists, bold and unexpected art styles, and exciting crossovers with iconic franchises.
From 2022-2025, I led narrative design and copywriting for Secret Lair by partnering with a cross-functional creative team to concept, pitch, and develop 100+ products, including 50+ licensed IP collaborations. I contributed to sustained revenue growth from ~$50M (2023) to ~$100M (2024) and ~$120M (2025) through strong product positioning, narrative design, and marketing storytelling.
Key Contributions
Developed product concepts, pitches, product positioning, and branding for both internal Magic IP and licensed collaborations
Led narrative design across products, including art direction briefs, flavor text, card naming, and worldbuilding alignment
Wrote product copy for e-commerce, packaging, and promo channels
Collaborated with design, art, brand, licensing, production, and marketing teams to deliver cohesive creative vision from concept to launch
Selected Output & Scope
100+ Secret Lair Drops (limited 4–8 card collectible releases with original art)
7 Commander Decks (100-card themed releases with 10-20 new art pieces).
4 flagship product launches
Art briefs for 1,200+ cards
Flavor text written for 800+ cards
Product naming and descriptions for 200+ releases and bundles
Case Study: Goblingram
The Pitch: Goblin tinkerers have finally invented social media and . . .
it’s a bit weird.
Product Architecture:
- 5 fan-favorite goblin cards + 1 secret “Troll” card.
Art: MTG House Style (painterly fantasy) featuring Goblins in social media poses.
- Couple Selfie
- Gym Selfie
- Furbabies Selfie
- Car Selfie
- Friend Group Selfie
- "Troll” with awkward Dad Selfie
Graphic Design & Copy: Reimagine the iconic MTG card layout as a modern social media post.
- Card Name and Creature Type as social handle
- Power/toughness as “like” and “love” buttons
- Rules text as post copy.
- Flavor Text as other goblins’ comments
Case Study: Adventures of the Little Witch
The Pitch: Charming anime art tells the story of a young witch on a
Miyazaki-esque adventure.
Product Architecture:
- 4 complimentary cards with cozy-yet-adventurous names.
Art: Whimsical illustration by Heikala featuring a young witch on an adventure.
- She meets a new friend.
- She takes a nap in the sun.
- She discovers a new, fantastical location.
- Her housecat-drawn cart.
Flavor Text: Playfully adds humor and context to the story in the art.
- Best friends come in all shapes and sizes.
- Sometimes the coziest bed is a flower bed.
- When your cart is drawn by cats, you make a lot of detours.
- The journey is more profound than the destination, but the destination can be pretty great too.
