Sadly, it’s no secret that the Secret Lair MTG product line has been troubled since early 2024. The shift to a limited-run production model, rather than print-to-demand, has caused no end of problems. We’ve repeatedly seen in-demand drops selling out obscenely quickly, leading to insane secondary market prices.
Unsurprisingly, this problem is most visible on Secret Lair drops with mechanically unique cards inside. Not only do MTG players want to get these cards early, but these cards are almost always part of Universes Beyond crossovers. This alone could make these cards expensive, but the lack of accessible reprints makes this problem even worse.
Thankfully, it seems Wizards of the Coast does have a solution to this frustrating problem. Unfortunately, while it is better than nothing, it seems MTG players aren’t exactly happy about Wizards’ Secret Lair scarcity solution.
More Supply Is Coming
Technically, we’ve known about Wizards of the Coast’s Secret Lair plans since January of 2025. Following the death of The List, which used to provide Universes Within reprints, Wizards pivoted to a different strategy. As Blake Rasmussen explained in an article, WPN stores would be able to sell mechanically unique Secret Lair cards directly to players.
Despite technically knowing about this initiative for eight months, you wouldn’t be blamed for forgetting about it. Since it was first announced, this distribution method has only really been used once, with seemingly no effect. Following the launch of the Secret Lair x Marvel’s Deadpool drop on April 1st, it returned to LGS stores on April 25th.
With this in mind, it kind of feels like news when MTG’s Head Designer, Mark Rosewater, revealed Wizards’ reprinting plans. Speaking on Blogatog, Rosewater confirmed they’re still giving additional copies of Secret Lair drops to Local Game Stores. This will be done for most mechanically unique drops. Some drops, such as the five Marvel drops from 2024, will be reprinted via different means.
“For most drops with mechanically unique Secret Lair cards, we are printing extra cards, over and above what we’re selling online through Secret Lair. We’re then selling those cards through our normal channels to local game stores, who can then sell them directly to all of you.”
Mark Rosewater
Much like Wizards’ previous announcement on the topic, this reveal really doesn’t tell us much. Sure, it’s nice to know this will be happening, but there’s no timeline or word on how widely drops will be available. This makes it rather difficult to get excited right now, as issues with either of these could massively impact the initiative’s effectiveness.
The Disgruntled Masses
Unsurprisingly, MTG players were quick to pick up on the potential issues with this seemingly sensible Secret Lair solution. The most glaring of these concerns is around older Secret Lair drops, which seemingly aren’t covered by Rosewater’s statement. While new drops can have extra cards printed, it’s a lot more difficult to go back and reprint a past drop randomly.
As Kroooooooo points out on Reddit, these older reprints are especially needed. Some of the mechanically unique Doctor Who MTG cards are obscenely expensive at the moment. The Fourteenth Doctor, in particular, currently sells for around $94 and isn’t getting any cheaper. There’s little doubt about this card sorely needing a reprint, but there’s still no indication of when this might happen.
Unfortunately, MTG players don’t seem to be optimistic about these LGS-provided reprints when they do happen. MugiwaraMesty, and many others, are understandably worried about the possibility of stores scalping their customers. With sealed Secret Lair drops, like Secret Lair x Tomb Raider, selling for $160+, pricing them at MSRP feels like throwing money away.
On top of this potential pricing problem, if there’s not enough supply to go around, then reprints won’t really affect prices. The recent Secret Lair x Marvel’s Deadpool drop doesn’t make a good case study for this. Despite additional supply being released to LGSs on April 25th, sealed prices have actually climbed since then.
Worryingly, this seems to indicate that providing additional copies of a Secret Lair to LGSs isn’t effective. Hopefully, this is a problem that Wizards can solve, but it definitely doesn’t make things look great. Thankfully, Wizards is planning another solution for other cards, which should hopefully be better.
A Glimmer of Hope
Alongside reaffirming Wizards’ plans, Mark Rosewater also revealed something different is in the works. Specifically, the four Marvel Secret Lair drops from 2024 are being reprinted via different means. According to Rosewater, Wizards “have discovered a future product that we can include them in.”
Potentially, this could mean that Wizards has cooked up an entirely new MTG product which includes these reprints. More realistically, however, the mechanically unique Marvel cards are likely going to be part of a future Marvel set. Potentially, these cards could appear as the Commanders to new precons, but that’s just a guess.
While their exact distribution method is currently unknown, it’s expected these reprints will be highly accessible. Even if they’re Collector Booster exclusive, there should be enough new copies going around to bring prices down. This would be incredibly welcome, as Captain America, First Avenger alone is $45.
For now, we’re just going to have to wait for more information on all of Wizards’ plans. We can only hope that this will be provided before too long, as the missing Secret Lair reprints are sorely needed. At the very least, knowing when mechanically unique reprints are going to happen would give players something to look forward to.
An Actual Solution
Realistically, even if they do help, non-foil reprints like these aren’t the solution that players really want. Instead, actually fixing the Secret Lair supply issue revolves around printing more MTG product in the first place. Thankfully, Wizards of the Coast does seem to know this; however, their track record isn’t exactly perfect.
Recently, Sonic the Hedgehog Secret Lair drops all seemed to be printed in excess. While they all sold out rather quickly, there’s a good amount of supply on secondary markets. Thanks to this, prices of cards like Shadow the Hedgehog are surprisingly low at just $5.50. Considering this card looked like a Commander and cEDH all-star, this price point is certainly surprising.
Sadly, while this recent sale looks like good news, Wizards has known that mechanically unique Secret Lairs are popular for years. Despite this, recent drops, like the one for Final Fantasy, still sold out in record time. Due to this, it certainly seems like Wizards can’t perfectly predict demand, occasionally leading to scalping and pricing problems.
Ultimately, while printing more cards is an easy solution, it’s not the only option. The hybrid printing model has long been touted as the best alternative, yet it’s still not been adopted for non-charity drops. Looking ahead, we can only hope that Wizards will actually print enough to make the LGS reprints worthwhile.
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