The Gathering's New Cards Are Fixing MTG's Secret Lair Problem (Sort Of)

Magic: The Gathering‘s Secret Lair drops have been the subject of criticism for a little over a year now. Back in early 2024, Secret Lairs stopped being printed on demand, and were instead printed in limited quantities. While this does mean quicker shipping times, the limited availability has also made it more difficult for players to get popular drops, especially since the limited availability has made Secret Lairs more attractive to scalpers. Luckily, Wizards of the Coast made some changes to a recent Secret Lair drop that seemed to help with some of these issues.

Although many Magic players have lobbied for a return to a print-on-demand model for Secret Lairs, it is nice to see Wizards of the Coast is at least taking some steps towards fixing the issue. Frustration over products like the Marvel Secret Lair selling out, only to be immediately relisted online at a huge markup by scalpers, clearly caught the company’s attention. A recent policy change may help a bit with Magic‘s scalping issue, and make it easier for players to get the products they want.

Magic’s Sonic Secret Lair Policy Helps Prevent Scalping

Customers Were Limited In How Much They Could Buy

Promotional art for Sonic The Hedgehog's Magic: The Gathering Secret Lair

Magic: The Gathering recently released three Sonic the Hedgehog Secret Lairs, which made a significant change to how products are sold on the site. Customers were limited to two copies of any given drop or bundle. Although scalpers are still able to purchase more than their fair share of product, especially if they are snagging multiple bundles, this at least puts some limit on how many Secret Lairs can be bought for the express purpose of selling them on the secondary market.

Jace from Magic The Gathering next to a screenshot from SpongeBob being used on the new Magic cards

Magic: The Gathering’s SpongeBob Cards Are Everything I Feared Universes Beyond Would Be

Recent previews for Magic: The Gathering’s SpongeBob SquarePants cards show a major decline in quality compared to previous Universes Beyond sets.

It’s worth mentioning that this system still wasn’t perfect. A few of the Sonic-themed Secret Lairs did still sell out pretty quickly, leading to some frustration from players who were unable to get a complete set. However, as of the time of writing, there is still one Sonic the Hedgehog product still available on the Secret Lair website, and it is arguably the best of the three drops to still be in stock.

The Mechanically Unique Sonic Cards Are Still Available

The Sold Out Drops Featured Reprints

The two Sonic Secret Lair drops that sold out featured reprinted cards. Although the art on the cards was unique, these cards are still available elsewhere as functional game pieces. The Secret Lair x Sonic: Friends & Foes drop, on the other hand, includes all mechanically unique cards. Were it to sell out, players would miss out on the only opportunity to get copies of these cards, so it’s lucky that this is the one Secret Lair that is still available.

Pokemon villains with prismatic evolutions eeveelutions behind them

Evidence Reveals Pokémon Center’s Anti-Bot Queue Is Failing To Stop Scalpers, & Fans Are Paying For It

The Pokémon Center has a queue feature intended to prevent bots and scalpers from buying up merch, but it’s failing the fans it’s meant to protext.

It’s unclear if Wizards of the Coast printed extra copies of these drops, because they feature mechanically unique cards, or if their countermeasures against scalping helped play a role. Either way, it’s nice to see that the only unique cards in this Secret Lair are still available for those who want them. Wizards of the Coast seems to be making a concerted effort to ensure these cards make it to every player who wants them, as they will also be available in WPN stores following the sale on the Secret Lair site.

Like limiting the number of products sold, sending copies to stores is also a somewhat unprecedented move for a standard Secret Lair drop. This is usually reserved for the Secret Lair Ultimate Editions or other WPN-specific products. Hopefully, these new changes to how Secret Lairs are handled aren’t just a one-time thing, and Wizards of the Coast will continue to make changes to improve the customer experience.

Future Secret Lairs Should Prioritize Unique Cards

Missing A Unique Drop Is More Disappointing Than Missing Reprints

Sonic from Magic The Gathering's Secret Lair crossover

If there’s one thing I hope future Secret Lairs do similarly to the Sonic drops, it’s prioritizing the availability of mechanically unique cards. While missing out on any Secret Lair you want to buy is disappointing, nothing stings as badly as missing out on unique cards that might not be available again, at least for a while. Sending extra copies to WPN stores is a great solution for ensuring more customers are able to get them, even if they miss the initial drop.

Why This Is Magic: The Gathering’s Best-Selling Set Ever

Magic: The Gathering’s Final Fantasy set is reportedly its most successful yet, and this is due to something its designers understood about players.

Although, ideally, it would be nice to see Wizards of the Coast return to the print-on-demand model, it doesn’t seem super likely. Products selling out within hours of going on sale may be frustrating for consumers, but it’s a dream come true for the ones selling them. It’s nice to see that Wizards of the Coast are at least doing something to address the issue, and I hope it continues.

Whether or not they did this time, I think printing extras of any mechanically unique drops would be a good strategy going forward. It would also be nice if the number of products individual customers are allowed to buy continued to be limited. Cutting down on scalping should be a priority for Magic: The Gathering, and frankly all TCGs. It hurts the game when important game pieces become too inaccessible for most players, and the frustration of missing Secret Lairs could lead some players to simply give up on them.

Release Date: August 5, 1993
Created by: Richard Garfield
Video Game(s): Magic: The Gathering, Magic the Gathering Commander, Magic: The Gathering – Battlegrounds, Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012, Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers, Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012, Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013, Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014, Magic: The Gathering Arena
Character(s): Jace Beleren, Chandra Nalaar, Liliana Vess, Garruk Wildspeaker, Nissa Revane, Ajani Goldmane, Nicol Bolas, Teferi, Gideon Jura, Sorin Markov, Ral Zarek