Yesterday, Wizards of the Coast launched the Inside an Elevator Superdrop. Less than two hours after everything went on sale, four Secret Lair drops had sold out. As expected, these supremely quick sales were for the latest Universes Beyond crossover with Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
While these Secret Lair drops didn’t offer amazing value, the demand was still through the roof. Evidently, MTG players are Monty Python fans alike were particularly rabid for this wonderfully themed drop. Thanks to the limited-run printing model Wizards is now using, this caused a lot of players to miss out.
Unsurprisingly, a lot of MTG players aren’t too happy about this. While complaints lamenting the limited-run model aren’t anything new, now it appears they’re reaching breaking point.
The Complaints Megathread
Following every recent Secret Lair Superdrop, MTG players have been complaining. Regardless of the Superdrops theme or crossover, one drop has always sold out incredibly quickly. With sales barely lasting a few hours, this naturally means a lot of players miss out on cards they’d quite like to own. In turn, many turn to social media to share their frustrations at the situation.
Despite complaints being nothing new, we’ve never seen them on this level before. Following the Monty Python and the Holy Grail drops selling out, Reddit was inundated with players lamenting this sales model. There were so many of these posts, in fact, that the MagicTCG moderators had to do something about them.
Consolidating all the complaints in one place, MagicTCG moderators created the “Rant About Secret Lairs Megathread” in an unprecedented move. Unsurprisingly, after this pinned megathread was created, MTG players are collectors alike were quick to share their grievances. The vast majority of these can be summed nicely by HotfireLegend’s comment: “This new system is terrible.”
On top of this stark complaint, many players shared their experiences of being unable to purchase the drop they wanted. These stories weren’t uncommon at all, since the Inside an Elevator Superdrop went live at 9 am PT. This puts the release time within the vast majority of players working hours, making purchasing practically impossible.
“The one Secret Lair I wanted sold out before my lunch break. I never even had a chance.”
LaboratoryManiac
On top of these complaints, several users remarked on just how bad this situation has gotten now. While discontent had been steadily growing, it’s obviously now reached its tipping point where a megathread is required. “Wow, WotC did such a bad job we needed a dedicated rant thread,” Guba_the_skunk commented. “Good job WotC.”
What Can Be Done?
Sadly, for the most part, this limited-run business model really works for Wizards. With Secret Lair drops selling out faster and faster, it’s hard to think they’re not making serious cash. Worryingly, given that Wizards of the Coast is a business, this may make change a hard-fought battle.
Even though it may be difficult, many MTG players still want change and are pushing to get exactly that. Harnessing the disgruntled users in the megathread, several players pointed people toward WotC’s requests and support forms. While it’s unclear how effective complaints through these channels will be, they’re more direct than a Reddit megathread.
In theory, should enough MTG players complain through official channels, Wizards may finally change their tune. Right now, while no changes have been announced, it’s guaranteed Wizards knows this is a problem. Even MTG’s Head Designer, Mark Rosewater, has been bombarded with complaints about it, and has stated they will “pass this note along.”
Hopefully, this means that Wizards of the Coast will review their Secret Lair distribution method and implement changes soon. Whether or not this will actually happen, however, remains to be seen. Given the mounting pressure from players that only increases with every drop, it seems like it’s only a matter of time.
Secret Lair 3.0?
At the end of the day, players obviously want Secret Lair drops to be more accessible. At the same time, we can’t ignore the fact that many MTG players want to receive their orders quickly. This is supposedly the entire reason behind the shift to the pre-printed limited-run model in the first place.
Frustratingly, this may mean that simply reverting to the old print-to-demand model may be rather difficult. Thankfully, there is a solution that seems to be the perfect middle ground between the two extremes. Ideally, Wizards could pre-print some Secret Lair drops for faster shipping and allow print-to-demand orders after that.
For MTG players, this solution would be a win-win. Not only do those who want their cards fast get what they want, but everyone can place their orders. Theoretically, given the amount of players who missed out, there’s a high chance that even more orders would be placed. Depending on the cost of printing Secret Lair drops this way, this could even benefit Wizards too.
While this solution seems perfect on paper, we don’t know what happens behind the scenes. Given that nothing has happened yet, there’s a real chance this solution isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Alternatively, a solution might just take time to implement due to the printing change. Sadly, we just don’t know what’s going on at Wizards of the Coast HQ.
Ultimately, all we can do at the moment is wait and see what happens. Well, that and request change through the official channels if you too want Secret Lair distribution to be changed. Hopefully, given the massive amount of complaints circulating right now, it won’t be long before change finally happens.
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