It’s not rare that MTG cards go missing. When you’ve got countless boxes of cards, finding the one you need from your collection is easier said than done. While this is a plight many players experience, it’s much rarer that MTG cards go missing for everybody. That appears to be precisely what has happened recently, however, as promised Universes Beyond cards have disappeared.
Cards Left Homeless
In total, 13 mechanically unique MTG cards that were first printed as Secret Lair do not have a second printing. This is despite Wizards of the Coast promising, repeatedly, to ensure these cards get reprints. Most recently, MTG Head Designer, Mark Rosewater, stated this plan was still in place, even after Play Boosters were introduced.
“As the game evolves, we have to adapt. We still plan to make sure unique mechanical Secret Lair cards, in some form, find a home in randomized booster product.”
Hopefully, this plan is still in place to this day, and the mechanically unique MTG cards will eventually be reprinted. That said, the usual method for these reprints to be created has just been unceremoniously scrapped by Wizards. With little in the way of a formal announcement, The List has been canceled for Bloomburrow and beyond.
Previously, The List was the preferred place for Universes Beyond reprints to appear. Thanks to being attached to almost every MTG release, it was an easy avenue for reprints that fit the 6-month timeframe. Now that it’s been canned, however, there’s no obvious place where the missing cards might appear.
Technically, there’s nothing stopping Wizards from simply reprinting the missing 13 MTG cards somewhere else. This could either be in a Masters set, or even as Special Guests which still appear alongside most sets. Whether or not this will happen, however, is unclear, and Wizards is already long past their usual reprint window.
To date, it’s been well over a year since the release of the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Secret Lair. Despite this, Universes Within reprints for these cards have yet to appear. The same is true for the Doctor Who: Regeneration Secret Lair, which is over 7 months old.
Putting it bluntly, both of these Secret Lair drops are due for a reprint, but nothing has happened yet. Now there’s no clear path for these cards to be reprinted, existing concerns are that much more worrying.
The Missing Many
As for the cards themselves, the majority hail from the aforementioned Honor Among Thieves and Doctor Who Secret Lairs. The one exception to this is Lara Croft, Tomb Raider, who appeared in their own aptly named drop. Given Rosewater’s statement was from March of 2024, reprints of these cards are hopefully still planned.
Notably, these reprints don’t even need to be Universes Within reprints to fulfill this promise. Wizards has gone on record saying that the Honor Among Thieves cards won’t be getting this treatment. Despite the desire for this in-universe treatment, some reprints are definitely better than none reprints.
Considering the prices of many of these currently Secret Lair exclusive cards, these reprints would be incredibly welcome. This is especially true for The Fourteenth Doctor and Themberchaud, the ladder of which was a fixed Bonus Card. Currently, these two cards are selling for $52 and $43 apiece, which is wild considering they’re not that popular.
While the Bonus Card was a cut above, the main Secret Lair cards are still very expensive. Xenk, Paladin Unbroken, for example, is a $43 thanks to them seeing play in Aura-focused decks. Behind this, Doric, Nature’s Warden is almost $30, and Lara Croft, Tomb Raider is $28. These prices, alone, are more than enough reason for Wizards to reprint the 13 missing cards.
Even if we ignore the prices, Wizards needs to reprint these cards simply because they said they would. Hopefully, there are plans to do exactly that, but the precedent has yet to be set. More than just giving players what’s promised, this precedent means a lot since more Secret Lair-exclusive Universes Beyond cards are bound to be created.
When this inevitably happens, players will need the reassurance that reprints will actually happen, especially since Secret Lair drops are limited-run nowadays.
Is This Even a Problem?
At the end of the day, this hopefully won’t be an issue at all. Wizards of the Coast has said they’ll reprint mechanically unique Secret Lair cards, so that should happen. Exactly where these reprints arrive isn’t so important so long as they get printed. Hopefully, we can get some clarity on this soon, as right now, they’re in no man’s land.
Worryingly, this lack of certainty could cause the prices of these cards to skyrocket. Should investors consider these cards to be on a faux Reserved List, they may snap up all the available supply. Given the promise from Wizards, this doesn’t seem like a smart idea, but it’s nonetheless a concern that could be realized.
Ultimately, the thing MTG players really need right now is transparency. The List has suddenly disappeared without a proper announcement, and it’s brought on these unconfirmed concerns. In theory, we could be worrying about nothing, but we don’t know that without an official announcement to clarify things.
Right now, we can only hope that this missing announcement appears soon to explain what’s going on. Until then, MTG players are left in the dark for no good reason. Speaking of not leaving players in the dark, in case you were wondering, below are the 13 non-reprinted mechanically unique Secret Lair cards.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Doctor Who: Regeneration
Tomb Raider
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