Last updated on December 21, 2025
Whispersilk Cloak | Illustrated by Miklós Ligeti & AndWorld Design
When Universes Beyond products really started to take off, there was a lot of joking about the eventual release of Magic cards from completely off-the-wall IPs, like Bluey, or George Lopez. Assassin’s Creed isn’t too far-fetched, but there’s something comical about seeing historical figures like Sokrates and Cleopatra on our Magic cards. Leonardo da Vinci even gets his own card and an entire Secret Lair drop!
What are da Vinci’s Designs, and how do you get them? Are they worth the investment? That’s what I’m here to answer.
What Are the Assassin’s Creed: Da Vinci MTG Cards?
Leonardo da Vinci | Illustration by Wangjie Li
Secret Lair x Assassin’s Creed: Da Vinci’s Designs is the official name of a Secret Lair drop featuring alternate Magic art versions of various equipment cards in the style of historical figure Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings and blueprints. They can be bought as an individual Secret Lair drop or as part of the “Summer Superdrop 2024” alongside several other Secret Lairs.
Official da Vinci's Design Secret Lair announcement
The Secret Lair sale ends on July 14, 2024, and it can only be directly purchased from Wizards of the Coast’s own Secret Lair website.
How Many Assassin’s Creed: Da Vinci Cards Are There?
Da Vinci’s Designs was advertised with five cards, though every Secret Lair drop traditionally comes with a “bonus card” that isn’t previewed and isn’t known by buyers until the Secret Lair actually ships. It’s unclear at the time of writing if this Secret Lair will feature an additional da Vinci style card or a bonus card that’s part of a larger Secret Lair theme, like the elves or slivers that have circulated in the past.
The cards in this Secret Lair include:
- Blade of Selves
- Conqueror's Flail
- Darksteel Plate
- Deathrender
- Whispersilk Cloak
- The possibility of a sixth da Vinci themed bonus card
Where to Buy Assassin’s Creed: Da Vinci Cards
Secret Lair Store
Wizard’s official Secret Lair website is the only place you can initially buy this product. If you miss the window to purchase it, you’ll have to resort to the secondary market once they ship.
Online Retailers
You can find most Secret Lair drops from online retailers like TCGplayer, Card Kingdom, etc. They’re also usually easy to find on Amazon or eBay, depending on the demand for the drop in question. Da Vinci’s Designs isn’t likely to be a huge blowout Secret Lair product, so you should be able to find these down the pipeline later.
Local Game Stores
Some local game stores buy and stock various Secret Lairs to sell over the counter. Check in with your LGS to see which ones they intend to buy.
Best Assassin’s Creed: Da Vinci Cards Ranked
Whispersilk Cloak
My short answer for the best da Vinci cards was that “they all suck,” but that seemed just a bit disingenuous. I actually think the design and art for these cards is wicked awesome, but the card selection is really weak, so these make more sense as collector or display items than a pile of Commander staples. Whispersilk Cloak still sees play as a solid artifact for EDH decks, but it’s more of a relic of ancient times than anything, perhaps an appropriate fit for the theme of this Secret Lair.
Darksteel Plate
Similar to Whispersilk Cloak, Darksteel Plate just isn’t what it used to be, and it was never all that good to begin with if you ask me. It’s been power-crept by Mithril Coat, but people still rock the Plate from time to time.
Are Assassin’s Creed: Da Vinci Cards Legal?
As with all Secret Lair cards, da Vinci’s Designs are legal in all formats where the cards were already legal. None of these are Standard-legal and remain that way (unless they happen to be reprinted in a future Standard set, but I wouldn't count on that). They’re all legal in Commander and other Eternal formats.
Of course, they must be in reasonable condition, and it shouldn’t be possible to distinguish them from any other card in your deck. That can be an issue with the warping that happens with Secret Lair foils, but it remains to be seen if this particular drop will be affected by that issue or not.
Are The Assassin’s Creed: Da Vinci MTG Cards Foil?
Da Vinci’s Designs come in foil and non-foil, with a $10 difference between the two versions of the drop. The foil edition sells for $39.99 while the non-foil version sells for $29.99.
Wrap Up
Conqueror's Flail | Illustration by Miklós Ligeti & AndWorld Design
Acquiring da Vinci’s Designs is just as easy as buying any other Secret Lair product, but is it worth the purchase?
My opinion: Absolutely not, unless you’re really into the aesthetic.
I want to reiterate that I think these cards are very cool and flavorful, but I’m not rushing out to spend $30-40 on yesterday’s Commander staples. If you want to bling out your Conqueror's Flail, by all means make da Vinci proud, but from a purely financial approach, this is a miss. Who knows, maybe da Vinci’s packing a Sword of Feast and Famine in that bonus card slot?
Do you intend to pick up this Secret Lair? Are you planning on playing the cards, or is it purely an aesthetic purchase? Let me know in the comments below or over in the Draftsim Discord or on Draftsim's Twitter/X.
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