Now Entering Dr. Lair's Secretorium Superdrop
Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum
Posted on April 23, 2021, 11:06 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
The newest Secret Lair has been revealed, and I am mostly impressed by it. It is nice to see the shocklands on planes other than Ravnica (if one does not count the Zendikar Expeditions), but why are they divided into groups of three, and why are they using the names of the shards of Alara? Does not WotC explicitly wish to avoid associating the names of specific factions with color combinations? Also, who would actually want basic lands with so much text? What Was WotC thinking by printing those?
The Our Next Show cards are absolutely amazing, and I am glad to see that WotC has continued the style from Party Hard, Shred Harder, and I also am very pleased that WotC is finally reprinting Fire Covenant , as I had been waiting for a reprint of that card for many years, but I cannot justify supporting this business model that is such a blatant display of corporate greed, especially since there are only two cards in this set that I currently need (the aforementioned Fire Covenant and Artifact Mutation ).
What does everyone else here think about this newest Secret Lair? Do you like it?
DarkMagician says... #3
Azielle you missed out massively by passing on the ultimate edition, people pay a massive premium on miscuts and off center stamps.
DemonDragonJ why have you been waiting so long for a reprint of an inexpensive card?
The full text lands are the biggest blatant cash grabs so far as they have no real associated costs for wizards beyond ink and cardboard.
April 24, 2021 1:18 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #4
DarkMagician, I was waiting, because the original artwork is not particularly exciting, nor am I a fan of the old-style frames, so it is great to see that card with awesome new artwork and a stylish frame.
April 24, 2021 9:28 a.m.
I love the full text lands. That's the only drop I've really been tempted by in a long time. My only problem is they should've been printed in an Un-set. When Unsanctioned was being previewed people were joking about full text lands as the other side of the spectrum from full art lands, and it's a good joke.
April 24, 2021 4:04 p.m.
DemonDragonJ I feel every bit of your joy about the updated borders and new art. Every Commander deck I've owned has had, at some point, some dirty-sock-looking-nobody-cares-enough-to-reprint-this-seventeen-year-old-piece-of-trash in it that doesn't look like it's from the same game just because it wouldn't headline a set, and it's always something absolutely optimal for the slot in my deck too.
Spore Frog , a common reprint of a common, was worth more than the rest of Modern Horizons to me twice over because it made my No More Room in Hell deck finally look complete!
I refuse to work a reserved list card into a Commander deck for that reason alone. Still waiting on an update for Personal Tutor for my Simic list. Not getting my hopes up since that wait has been since 1997, but hey maybe after 74 more reprints of Sol Ring they'll finally find room on a sheet ;)
April 24, 2021 10:57 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #7
Azielle, Mystical Tutor is strictly better than is Personal Tutor , and WotC just recently printed Solve the Equation , which shall be amazing for decks that focus on instants and sorceries.
April 26, 2021 8:21 p.m.
Mystical Tutor is in the deck, and Solve the Equation is a couple mana too pricey for when I’m trying to chain off, (also, I can’t get behind three mana limited target tutors; they feel like I dropped a Demonic Tutor in a trash bin.) Personal Tutor is just way past due for a reprint. Nobody should have to shell out $150 for old paper when there’s 7 different printings of Mystical Tutor to be had for a fraction of that. Portal cards have always been overlooked for reprint.
April 27, 2021 12:35 a.m.
jethstriker says... #9
The first thing that come to my mind with "OUR SHOW IS ON FRIDAY, CAN YOU MAKE IT?" S.L. is they look like covers of a comic book.
With the full text basic lands, I like to commend its novelty and humor, but the idea that this costs as much as Unhinged non-foil basics separately (currently) feels a little off for me.
April 27, 2021 4:20 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #10
Azielle, I fully understand, because there are numerous cards that I very much wish to see reprinted, and, yet, WotC has not reprinted them; I shall not mention all of them, but two of my top choices are Imperial Seal , because of how expensive it now is, and Book of Rass , simply because I would like to see it in the new border style. WotC has stated numerous times that they do not care about the secondary market, but the fact that they have not reprinted certain cards makes it clear that they are deliberately withholding reprints to keep certain cards expensive, despite the fact that they make no money from those cards.
April 27, 2021 8:10 p.m.
DemonDragonJ - Wizards does not make money from Imperial Seal pre se, but they will one day.
Wizards might not officially acknowledge the secondary market, but that does not mean it is not a factor in their determination as to whether they reprint cards. There is a concept called "reprint equity"--the value a card adds to a set if it is reprinted.
Whenever Wizards prints a set, they want to make sure there are enough chase cards that people want to buy the set and open packs. There are two ways to increase the value of a pack. First, you can print powerful new cards people want to buy--this comes with some uncertainty, since you never quite know if those cards are going to be immediately popular. Additionally, new cards are a bit of a slow burn--it might take a few Standard tournaments or so for widespread adoption of a new card, so you'll eventually sell a lot of packs, but might not have the same immediate results.
The other option is to reprint cards with known use and likely high values on the secondary market. These are going to sell packs right off the bat and likely will drive preorder sales significantly. Reprint value is also an important factor in reprint-only sets. Every time Wizards reprints a card, that reduces the equity in that card for a brief period of time.
Something like Imperial Seal has a whole lot of reprint equity--any set where it is reprinted is going to sell like hotcakes. Wizards is in an exceptional financial position right now, and has been for several years. They are probably going to save an Imperial Seal reprint for leaner financial times--after all, it will be the chase Mythic for whatever set it is released in, and will spur huge sales of that set.
That's a roundabout way of saying that Wizards does make money off those cards... eventually. It's like the equity in a house--you cannot actualize the money until you sell it, but the longer you let the equity grow before selling, the better off you will be.
April 27, 2021 8:21 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #12
Caerwyn, that does make sense, as much as I dislike it.
In the case of Imperial Seal , I can begrudgingly understand, but what about Book of Rass ? It has no significant monetary value, and, if WotC has reprinted Greed several times, why not reprint the artifact version of it, as well?
April 27, 2021 9:14 p.m.
DemonDragonJ - It does not help that Book of Rass has never been all that popular of a card--it has low ratings on the Gatherer with a low number of votes, indicating it was not fondly received when it initially came out. It shows up in 0% of decks on EDHRec.
It also has the added burden of being attached to the proper noun "Rass". Thus, you cannot print it in any set that doesn't also reference whomever or whatever "Rass" is.
April 27, 2021 9:27 p.m.
Oh, I forgot to answer the questions in the original post.
Why use the names of the shards? Because that is how players refer to the three-color combinations. It allows potential purchasers to quickly identify what the product contains.
Why are they doing lands with so much text? It is a joke--players constantly are asking Wizards for more "full art" lands; as a joke they are giving players "full text" lands.
As for my thoughts overall, I generally see this like most secret lairs; none of these particularly strike my fancy, but I do not begrudge their existence.
April 27, 2021 9:45 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #15
Mcat1999, Caerwyn, Book of Rass is a colorless version of Greed , so it can fit into any deck; what is there to not like about that?
April 27, 2021 10:24 p.m.
Named_Tawyny says... #16
To DemonDragonJ 's point though, if only they had recently printed a set with a library that collects works from across the multiverse. I bet a set like that could work in a named book from another plane... ;)
April 28, 2021 12:06 a.m.
And this is why the very thing that makes Secret Lair controversial for stores also makes it good for people with our wish list DemonDragonJ:
Now, in addition to reprint equity, WOTC has another more immediate vehicle to turn the insane markup of high demand resale prices into profit in house: direct to consumer marketing. The Secret Lair Ultimate Edition I didn’t grab from the store that day was a prime example of that. Fetch prices were, as they remain to be, through the roof. Using special sets seems to be giving them an even more profitable and more importantly, repeatable profit vehicle.
Notice that fetch lands weren’t added back into Standard with the latest return to return to return to Ravnica set, even though they were the reprint equity of the past Ravnica returnings. Notice that their resale value kept high through Secret Lair and again through their limited-to-expeditions re-release as well. WOTC can now cash in repeatedly on an expensive reprint and leave it as a value asset.
Now I know any good WOTC employee will tell you that fetches weren’t added to standard because they make people shuffle their decks, and deck shuffling is cumbersome. But I ask in response to that, “what is it that Fabled Passage does again?” I’ll tell you what it doesn’t do, fetch a hundred dollar bill for WOTC.
I don’t blame WOTC for cashing in, it’s their asset, and it’s worth money.
Just noting that means a far greater chance for those Imperial Seal and Personal Tutor reprints we need to make our decks match. Hopefully we’ve got shiny matchy decks soon.
April 28, 2021 7:44 a.m. Edited.
DemonDragonJ says... #18
Mcat1999, in that case, why not print a card that is functional reprint of Book of Rass , but with a name that does not mention anything specific, as Elvish Mystic is to Llanowar Elves ?
Azielle, if WotC reprints Personal Tutor or Imperial Seal in a Secret Lair product, rather than a Commander or Masters product, which would make much more sense, it will be blatantly obvious that they are simply attempting to get money from the customers, rather than actually attempting to make cards more affordable, so I imagine that the players will not be pleased about that.
April 28, 2021 7:53 a.m.
I’d be pleased. Printed into Secret Lair, they’d need cool new updated art. I’m an OCD Commander Player; I can look past the financial politics of a thing if that thing offers my deck bling!
April 28, 2021 8:10 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #20
Azielle, given how expensive Secret Lairs usually are, by how much would those cards be reduced in price if they were reprinted in a Secret Lair?
April 28, 2021 8:46 a.m.
It would knock a tutor down a peg, but not much and not for long. I’d be happy to see updated art and borders at a soak-me-financially price for that card tho. It’s the one wrong piece hammered into the puzzle ;)
April 28, 2021 7:51 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... #22
"Azielle, if WotC reprints Personal Tutor or Imperial Seal in a Secret Lair product, rather than a Commander or Masters product, which would make much more sense, it will be blatantly obvious that they are simply attempting to get money from the customers, rather than actually attempting to make cards more affordable, so I imagine that the players will not be pleased about that."
It has been blatantly obvious for years that they are just trying to milk customers for all they're worth instead of doing anything to make cards affordable. Look at VIP boosters, masters sets and secret lairs they are all blatant cash grabs.
That being said I am seriously considering the Supershock Bundle. Getting 15 shocks for an average of $8 each is a hell of a lot better than the secondary market has been on them in a long, long time. Now if only they would print the exact same thing with fetches I would have a good start on the mana base of any deck I ever wanted to play.
I am also a bit confused why you think that WotC would want to avoid associating faction names with certain color combinations. The factions are defined by their associated mana colors and it is convenient shorthand. I have only ever seen or heard of one person that had a problem with doing so since the relationship is not commutative and the color combinations are not defined by their associated factions.
April 28, 2021 9:29 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #23
Is anyone else here disappointed by the lack of flavor text on the Mystical Archive cards? Cards printed in that frame style are supposed to be instances of iconic spells being cast, but flavor text would provide context and background, because, as they are, they do not truly explain why those spells are iconic (but at least they have awesome artwork).
Gidgetimer, employees of WotC have stated that not every instance of a color combination is the same as the most famous faction to be of those colors; for example, they made a clear effort to make the triomes of Ikoria different from the khan-led clans of Tarkir and to make both the dragon-led clans of Tarkir and the schools of Strixhaven different from the guilds of Ravnica of the same colors. Therefore, I am making an effort to not use the name of a famous faction for a multicolored card, unless that card actually belongs to that faction.
Azielle says... #2
I love seeing new, fun-art reprints without Pringled foiling. These are so close to what From the Vault should have been. I personally just can't get behind a "premium" product that has an egregious lack of quality control.
I came within an inch of buying Secret Lair ultimate edition from my LGS, but I cringed when they let me look inside an open box they had and saw that 3 of the 5 cards were cut visibly off centre, and the holo foils on most of them were all slapped on crooked as well.
Call me picky, but Bicycle Playing Cards can sell me a box that's all cut straight enough to pass a Casino's eye and printed on higher quality linen stock for $5. That company has turned a profit since 1885. So what's up with nobody at Wizards bothering with a quick quality check on five cards for $300? Throwing lower and lower quality foils and cuts into packs is insulting enough, but the unit price on this just demands a higher standard.
I should be the living embodiment of the target demographic for Secret Lair. I want desperately want to want this, want to be excited about these special treasures, but I just can't trust that they're not selling me rushed garbage because they don't think we're worth any effort as customers. If I find the ones I like cut correctly, behind glass at an LGS, I'll happily offer my business there. It may come at a premium, but I'll get an actual premium product for my premium product purchase.
April 24, 2021 12:46 a.m.