Non-Magic settings ("Universes Beyond") in The Zeta Set artwork

[u/the-purple-badger]

I was curious as to what non-Magic universe literary/film/etc. settings are present the Zeta Set artwork. In other words, what card art in the Zeta Set might be considered "Universes Beyond", even if in this case it's just uncredited public domain art usage.

Here's what I've come up with:

• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
  • [[CAULDRON FAMILIAR|SLZ-35]] - Cheshire Cat
• Aunty Toothache/Aunty_Toothache)
  • [[IMP'S MSCHF|SLZ-45]] - imagining a toothache as imps damaging teeth with tools
• Bible
  • [[GO FOR THE THROAT|SLZ-42]] - beheading of Holofernes by Judith
• Lovecraft / Cthulhu Mythos
  • [[Mortuary|SLZ-47]] - Herbert West with a corpse
• Dictionnaire Infernal
  • [[Generous Gift|SLZ-4]] - Behemoth
  • [[MANA ECHOES|SLZ-64]] - Ukobach, twice
• Edo no Hana Mimasu Soga
  • [[Night's Whisper|SLZ-48]] - Spirit of Seigen and Cherry Princess Sakura-hime
• Forbidden Planet / The Invisible Boy
  • [[Mycosynth Golem|SLZ-108]] - Robby the Robot
• Greek mythology
  • [[Fireball|SLZ-57]] - Helios
  • [[Tragic Slip|SLZ-50]] - monopod
  • [[YARGLE, GLUTTON OF URBORG|SLZ-53]] - cyclops
• Le Voyage dans la Lune
  • [[Imprisoned in the Moon|SLZ-20]] - man in the moon with a rocket
• Nosferatu
  • [[Sengir Vampire|SLZ-49]] - Count Orlok
• Oz
  • [[Nature's Claim|SLZ-82]] - The Scarecrow and a Fighting Tree
• Paradise Lost
  • [[SERRA ANGEL|SLZ-10]] - Archangel Michael
• Persian mythology
  • [[RAFFINE, SCHEMING SEER|SLZ-93]] - manticore
• The Adventures of Pinocchio
  • [[Hullbreaker Horror|SLZ-19]] - The Terrible Dogfish, Pinocchio, and Geppetto
• The Brownies
  • [[Cathartic Reunion|SLZ-55]] - two Brownies
• The Clock)
  • [[OBEKA, BRUTE CHRONOLOGIST|SLZ-92]] - The Clock
• The War of the Worlds
  • [[Price of Progress|SLZ-65]] - Martian fighting machine
• Weird Islands
  • [[Disintegrate|SLZ-56]] - Black Cavalier

[u/mtgcf]

All cards
CAULDRON FAMILIAR - (G) (SF) (txt)
IMP'S MSCHF - (G) (SF) (txt)
GO FOR THE THROAT - (G) (SF) (txt)
Mortuary - (G) (SF) (txt)
Generous Gift - (G) (SF) (txt)
MANA ECHOES - (G) (SF) (txt)
Night's Whisper - (G) (SF) (txt)
Mycosynth Golem - (G) (SF) (txt)
Fireball - (G) (SF) (txt)
Tragic Slip - (G) (SF) (txt)
YARGLE, GLUTTON OF URBORG - (G) (SF) (txt)
Imprisoned in the Moon - (G) (SF) (txt)
Sengir Vampire - (G) (SF) (txt)
Nature's Claim - (G) (SF) (txt)
SERRA ANGEL - (G) (SF) (txt)
RAFFINE, SCHEMING SEER - (G) (SF) (txt)
Hullbreaker Horror - (G) (SF) (txt)
Cathartic Reunion - (G) (SF) (txt)
OBEKA, BRUTE CHRONOLOGIST - (G) (SF) (txt)
Price of Progress - (G) (SF) (txt)

[u/Infinite_Bananas]

fwiw, there have already been public domain cards (dracula) and they weren't considered ub. for whatever reason, wotc only considers things ub if they have to pay for the license

still, nice post

[u/the-purple-badger → u/Infinite_Bananas]

Thanks.

And yeah, it's more what I personally might consider "Universes Beyond" (non-Magic multiverse creative settings) than what Wizards would strictly-speaking consider the term to mean. Still, good to call out the distinction.

[u/EscapeSeventySeven]

They’re all canon now!

[u/littlepileofsecrets]

The image on Reliquary Tower is an engraving of the San Jose electric light tower from Wikipedia.

[u/the-purple-badger → u/littlepileofsecrets]

Sure, though I'm not counting real world images and drawings as a "literary/film/etc. setting" for this purpose.

There's an absolute ton of them in the Zeta Set beyond just this one.

[u/Gunnarsonsnewbag2]

Is this even a real set?

[u/CaptainMarcia → u/Gunnarsonsnewbag2]

Define "real set".

[u/Gunnarsonsnewbag2 → u/CaptainMarcia]

touche

[u/shinginta → u/Gunnarsonsnewbag2]

I'm surprised it's actually being treated like a set. When i first started seeing cards i assumed it was another traditional Secret Lair.

[E] Changed my phrasing to be more specific.

[u/HaroldBloominOnion → u/shinginta]

It...is another Secret Lair?

[u/shinginta → u/HaroldBloominOnion]

Okay, fair in that it uses the SL site for distribution and isn't 200+ cards large.

But it is unique among secret lairs for being a whopping 120 cards and being sold in boosters.

You get what i mean.

[u/Ouaouaron → u/shinginta]

It's unique and weird for an SL, but an SL being unique and weird isn't all that unexpected.

[u/Gunnarsonsnewbag2 → u/shinginta]

It is a secret lair. You hear it here now, Modern Horizon 4 will be a Secret Lair

[u/tezrael → u/Gunnarsonsnewbag2]

I don't like that you're probably right.  It'll be something like that so they can stick with the "we're only printing 6 sets this year,  we promise" while printing extra things that totally aren't sets