It’s been a hell of a day for Magic: The Gathering’s Secret Lair initiative. Not only were three different Spongebob Squarepants Secret Lairs revealed, but we also got a hint of more to come soon. According to information revealed in a new product leak, it seems that new MTG Marvel cards are coming sooner than we thought.
We all know about the full-on Spider-Man set coming in September, but it turns out we’re getting a starter before the main course. In April, a new Secret Lair with mechanically unique Marvel cards will be dropping. This is exciting in itself, but this drop will also be leading the charge in terms of Secret Lair drops being sold in WPN stores. This means these new designs should be accessible to more Magic players than ever, which makes them safe to get excited about.
New MTG Marvel Cards Before Spider-Man?!
Information regarding these new MTG Marvel cards comes to us via a couple of sources. First of all, from an interview with Wizards Play Network (WPN) Community Manager Nelson Brown. Speaking to M Untapped.com, Brown revealed that the new drop is coming and that it will feature all-new designs to boot.
“I can confirm that it will be Marvel-themed and will contain mechanically unique cards.”
Nelson Brown, WPN Community Manager
This fact alone immediately makes this drop more exciting than the majority of Secret Lair offerings. We’re not just getting some Marvel reskins here. Just like the Marvel Lairs last year, these will likely be incredibly popular as a result.
In terms of exact details, we know very little about the drop right now. That said an online product listing for the drop, shared on r/MagicTCG by Copernicus1981, does give us a bit more to work with. It notes that the drop contains “6 non-foil, mechanically unique Marvel Secret Lair cards.” This is a big step up from last year’s drops, which had one mechanically unique card apiece.
This listing also confirms that the drop will be distributed to WPN stores. In the past, Secret Lairs have been available only online or at major events like MagicCon. This is the first instance of a move Wizards mentioned back in January, wherein they’re planning to sell new mechanically unique Lairs in stores as well to help with accessibility.
“Due to the nature and timeline of our previews, we have not yet announced the product name but are excited to confirm it will be a Marvel IP product. Cards are not revealed until right around the drop is made available on the Secret Lair website; WPN availability takes place a few weeks after that,”
Nelson Brown, WPN Community Manager
The leaked product listing above mentions the release date as April 25th for WPN stores. Now that the Spongebob Secret Lair drops have a confirmed release date of March 24th, it’s safe to assume the new Marvel drop will be released online the same day.
A Multiverse Of Possibilities
With the little information we have so far, this new Secret Lair drop is sounding pretty good. It’s always nice to see more MTG Marvel cards in the world, doubly so when the average player has a chance to get them without rolling the dice on the online checkout system. As long as Wizards distributes a decent volume of stock to stores, this should be a home run.
Of course, right now we have no idea what the cards involved are going to be. As Brown notes above, it will be a “Marvel IP product,” but that encompasses a huge range of possibilities. So far we’ve seen characters from the Avengers, X-Men, and Spider-Man. Maybe this new drop will add another Marvel series to that list?
Naturally, the community has some predictions. RumblingFunder put “Money on it being fantastic four themed.” Whomikehidden had a different idea: “Prediction: Guardians of the Galaxy. Would coincide with Edge of Eternities for flavor, and is one of Marvel’s biggest properties.” Honestly, either of these would work pretty well. Personally, my money is on some kind of Daredevil crossover. With the new series launching this month on Disney Plus, the timing couldn’t be better.
Perhaps Wizards will dip into Marvel’s sizable pool of villains this time instead. The first wave of mechanically unique Marvel cards we got were all heroes. It’d be interesting to see how the other half lives. XI-4 certainly thinks so: “If it’s a new one I hope (they) do villains this time.” Maybe these could even be counterparts to the original wave of heroes from last year? Red Skull for Captain America, Magneto for Storm, etc.
Heroes Of The People
As much as MTG players are having fun speculating on what exactly the new Marvel cards will be, they’re also understandably wary. I’ve mentioned it a few times in this article but the sales process for the last batch of Marvel Secret Lair drops was truly awful.
“I just hope they actually make enough to satisfy demand this time, the last Marvel drop was absolutely disgusting.”
Multievolution
There were a number of issues at play here, supply being the crucial factor. All of the drops sold out within five hours. As if that wasn’t bad enough, things were exacerbated by a queue-jumping exploit and poor quality control. The result was a bad experience for everyone involved. This new drop has the chance to correct these issues, and being distributed via WPN stores is a great start.
That said, these aren’t the only problems players have with this Lair. To some, the idea of Secret Lair drops featuring mechanically unique cards at all is unacceptable.
“This is deeply disappointing. While I do not dislike Universes Beyond, I respect not everyone feels that way, so having mechanically unique cards, that do not have non-UB equivalents feels like a poor choice.”
Hououza
“I like when they do mechanically unique Secret Lairs, because then they eventually come out with them as Universes Within. As long as they keep doing that, of course.”
entropygoblinz
These criticisms are more than fair. So far, Wizards has been sluggish when it comes to reprinting mechanically unique Universes Beyond cards in Universes Within form. They got around to it eventually for the Walking Dead, Street Fighter, and Stranger Things drops, but even then the cards were only distributed via The List. This meant the reprints did little to lower the financial barrier of entry for the cards, which was a big part of reprinting them in the first place.
That said, it could be worth giving Wizards the benefit of the doubt in this case. If they handle the WPN distribution of this Lair well, it could solve all of the above problems and bring a lot more players on board with mechanically unique Secret Lair drops. Naturally, the inverse is also true.