Legend Rares, Kansas City Promo, and What’s Next: MetaZoo Monday Recap (Aug. 18, 2025)

Casters,

MetaZoo Monday on August 18th doubled as a celebration of Torrential Tides and a chance for the community to hear from Charlie Hurlocker about what’s ahead. The evening was filled with giveaways, set hype, and several key updates, including insight into Legend rares, a new Kansas City Collect-A-Con promo, and some info on convention redemptions, learn to play material and OP prize packs.

 Legend Rares Anchor the Opening Experience

One of the most significant developments came when Charlie explained the design philosophy behind the new Legend rarity cards. According to him, these slots were created to address the “HR or bust” experience that players sometimes felt during Base Set openings.

The space is simultaneously an answer to the ‘HR or bust’ experience in boxes from base set … and a space for us to have some control over bringing things back in from older playables, doing things that we might not do visually in HRs or Alts,
- Charlie Hurlocker

He added that Legend rares allow the team to pack more value into collectibles without disrupting the rest of the product. The goal is to improve the box-opening experience in the short term while also supporting long-term scarcity and collectibility.

Kansas City Collect-A-Con Promo Revealed

During the community chat, MetaZoo officially revealed the Kansas City Collect-A-Con promo: a Mailbox Promo featuring Sinkhole Sam, who recently made his re-debut in the new Torrential Tides set. The promo will be available at Kansas City Collect-A-Con (August 23–24) and will likely be the target of future MetaZoo giveaways if history serves as a reliable pattern.

KANSAS CITY PROMO REVEAL 1

If you will be at the Kansas City Collect-A-Con, stop by the MetaZoo Booth to join a learn-to-play session with MZN's Executive Editor Shab and get a free prize wheel spin in with Mrs. MZN!

Redemptions, Learn-to-Play, and Organized Play

Charlie also clarified the status of several ongoing programs. When asked about convention card redemptions, he explained that there is no fixed deadline at the moment.

We will do a last call if a series of redemptions ends...All cards are while supplies last, though, so that’s your risk on waiting.
- Charlie Hurlocker

On the topic of Learn-to-Play content, a community member asked if GQL or MetaTwo planned on releasing additional videos. Charlie reminded the community that the company had already released both an initial series and an extended follow-up while calling on the community to take the reins, especially for other languages.

They did an initial Learn to Play series and then an extended series, if I recall correctly... I don’t know of any immediate plans to do additional company-based learn to play. I think the hope is that there will be some fan L2P content, especially in additional languages.
- Charlie Hurlocker

Finally, he confirmed that Local Game Stores will soon see Organized Play prize packs arrive later this year. These packs will feature serialized hits and exclusive art, available only through participation in LGS events.

Looking Ahead

Charlie closed by reminding fans that next week’s MetaZoo Monday will return to a full Q&A format. He teased deeper answers about tournament kits, future product leaks, and Organized Play developments, joking that MetaZoo News may need to “write 50 articles” to cover it all (you know we are all over it Charlie!).

With Torrential Tides officially launched, Kansas City on the horizon, and Organized Play prize packs confirmed, MetaZoo is already setting the stage for a busy close to 2025.

Stay tuned to MetaZoo News for continued MetaZoo Monday coverage, NEW and upcoming interviews with community members and all the Torrential Tides coverage you could ask for!

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