A couple of weeks ago, the hugely anticipated Marvel Secret Lair Superdrop went live around the world. Unfortunately, what should have been an exciting time for Marvel and MTG fans both quickly turned into a debacle. Players and would-be collectors experienced no end of issues, largely thanks to a line-skipping exploit that was easily abused.
As if the hours-long queues and those maliciously jumping them weren’t bad enough, the entire Marvel Superdrop sold out in under five hours. As a result, many excited fans missed out, but the problems didn’t even end there. Now that cards are being shipped to players, some are opening up their packages to find cards damaged or missing entirely!
This whole situation was a disaster from start to finish. Players were understandably frustrated. After all, this sale featured five mechanically unique Marvel Superheroes, all of which are quite pricy in the secondary market. Notably, though, for those looking to pick up these Superheroes in the future, there is a glimmer of hope.
Superheroes Return
Previously, there was never any doubt that mechanically unique MTG cards from Secret Lair drops would be reprinted. When they first appeared in the early days of Universes Beyond, Wizards of the Coast promised this, in fact. Eventually coined as Universes Within, this reprint policy guaranteed players wouldn’t miss out if they didn’t buy immediately.
Sadly, earlier this year, Wizards started to walk back this promise thanks to major changes being made to MTG. Rather than in-universe versions of mechanically unique cards being promised, Wizards is now only committed to reprinting cards at some point. While this is better than nothing, Wizards had no set plan in place for how these reprints would appear in future sets.
Unsurprisingly, this set backward concerned a lot of MTG players, as it presented a worrying future. Should Wizards keep backpedaling, it may only be a matter of time before reprints aren’t promised at all. Thankfully, it doesn’t seem that reality has come to pass just yet, as reprints are still planned.
Speaking on Blogatog, Head MTG Designer, Mark Rosewater, confirmed that the recent mechanically unique Marvel superheroes will return. Sadly, there was no word on when these cards may return, or if we’ll be getting Universes Within variants. Still, it’s nice to know that players who missed out during this disastrous sale will have another chance at getting interesting cards like Storm, Force of Nature.
Ultimately, this is the least Wizards could do, and it needs to be a steadfast policy going forward. Now that Secret Lair drops are limited-run, acquiring mechanically unique cards via the Secret Lair storefront is harder than ever. At least when they were print-to-demand players could buy them if they wanted without issue.
Plenty of Skepticism
Sadly, we don’t have an answer to this burning question right now, but, hopefully, we shouldn’t have to wait long. Looking ahead at the 2025 MTG release calendar, we already know we’re getting a full Marvel set soon. Admittedly this set is themed around Spider-Man, but it should still have Special Guests. Realistically, this is one of the few viable places where Secret Lair reprints could still appear.
In the build-up to Bloomburrow, Wizards of the Coast quietly announced that The List was no more. Previously, The List hosted every past Universes Within reprint, providing fairly easy access to the once-exclusive cards. Importantly, while not guaranteed, The List cards appeared pretty often in Set Boosters and Play Boosters, keeping prices in check.
Without The List, there’s no ideal place to reprint mechanically unique Secret Liar cards anymore. Technically, Special Guests are an option, but these cards are meant to match a set’s flavor. Reprinting Lara Croft, Tomb Raider randomly in Aetherdrift would look out of place without a complete Universes Within overhaul.
Even if Special Guests aren’t the perfect solution, they are nonetheless a solution that Wizards could employ. Similarly, while no longer guaranteed, a future reprint-focused Masters set could allow for easy reprints. Ultimately, we’re just going to have to wait and see what happens.
Right now, we can only hope that we won’t have to wait long. Previously, Universes Beyond reprints were meant to be guaranteed after just six months. Nowadays, however, Wizards has no such rigid schedule, so we could be waiting for years, if nothing is already planned. With this in mind, it’s no wonder that MTG players are skeptical about ever seeing these reprints.
