REVEALING SECRET LAIR
Posted in Feature on November 25, 2019
By Mark Heggen

I was in fifth grade in 1993 when Beta released. My friends and I bought as many Starter Decks as our allowances would permit, but to actually get enough cards to make playable decks, we each picked a color and blindly traded everything else to each other, so I ended up with all the green cards, my buddy Paul got all the blue cards, etc. One night at a sleepover, we each had our entire collections carefully sorted and spread out on the floor, and as I stood up, I accidentally kicked over a full . . . pitcher . . . of lemonade. In a horrifying moment that I can still see in slow motion when I close my eyes, the yellow wave rolled over each and every card that Paul owned.

In what we all agreed felt like justice, it was decided that I would give Paul all the green cards and take over as the new blue player among us. The next day, as I worked to peel apart and flatten my very new and very sticky collection of cards (pro tip: no matter how long you aim your big sister's hairdryer at a crinkled Phantom Monster, it will not go back to normal), I came across a card that stopped me in my tracks . . .

Stasis.

What even was this card? What was happening in that art? Who painted this? I was not prepared for [c]Stasis[/].

I already knew I loved the classic fantasy art on cards like [c]Lord of the Pit[/c] and the more stylized pieces like Circle of Protection: Red. But when I saw the Stasis art for the first time it spoke to me—this game was bigger, and weirder, and deeper than I had realized. Any game that had a place for the Stasis art had a place for me.

I tell you all this to make two points. First, there is a really important role in Magic for a few cards that take creative and artistic swings that most cards wouldn't or shouldn't. Second, please watch out where you set your lemonade.

A HOME FOR EXPERIMENTS
Every day here at Wizards HQ, folks have ideas for fun new versions of old cards we could create. Art gags, pop culture references, creative themes, puns, wild art styles, on and on and on. Some of these ideas are terrible (have I pitched you on my Photorealistic Wall series?), but some are amazing. And whenever we get to an amazing one, the next question is usually: yeah but where would we put it?

Most Magic cards are created and released as part of a set. In a set, many cards work together to paint a picture of a cohesive, rich, handcrafted world, and creating those expansive worlds and the visuals that express them is one of the most important creative efforts that happens here at Wizards of the Coast. Creatively consistent worlds are the heartbeat of Magic. But there exists a category of cards that we think some players would love having but simply don't fit into our sets: they're more creatively divisive than we'd want to force on everyone, they're not a mechanical match for what else is going on in the set, they use an art style that would feel jarring if dropped into an otherwise immersive world, or they don't align with goals of those sets, like format legality.

We also have non-set products like Signature Spellbook, the upcoming Commander Collection, or the promo cards we create for special events and programs. In some cases, these are great homes for the more out-there creative swings we'd like to take, but they also each have pretty specific product goals and creative themes, and often aren't quite a match.

And so, because we love making things that some Magic players might love, we have created a whole new kind of product to be better able to bring into existence some of the strange and unexpected cards that we wouldn't normally have a home for.

Welcome to the Secret Lair.



Secret Lair is our new Magic "sub-brand" built from the ground up to let us experiment and explore. It'll be the home for new styles of art that sit way outside what you'd normally expect to ever see on a Magic card. (To be clear, some of this stuff gets real weird; you're probably going to love some of it and hate some of it—that's okay.) As a product line, it's going to work different from anything we've done before.

And we're kicking it all off December 2 with a wild week of Secret Lair Drops.



THE SECRET LAIR DROP SERIES
The Secret Lair Drop Series is our first product line in the Secret Lair family. The Drop Series consists of different "drops"—each of which is a standalone product that takes a small group of cards (usually three to five) selected around a particular theme, gives them new art (sometimes really wild new art), and then wraps them together in a customized collectable box.

The Drop Series was designed from the ground up to take advantage of some very exciting things we can only do in a "direct to consumer" environment, so it will be sold from our website.

To celebrate the launch of the Drop Series, we're clustering the first seven drops together in a rapid-fire release sequence that runs December 2–9.

A NEW APPROACH TO LIMITED AVAILABILITY
It's important to us that Secret Lair cards feel particularly special and collectable for the people that want them. With many products, the best way to accomplish this would be to limit the print runs and let them sell out quickly. But as we worked on the Secret Lair Drop Series, that approach just didn't feel right for this product. These drops are love letters to you—our fans—and we hated the idea that someone might see a drop that spoke to them, show up on the day it released, and then often be turned away because they just weren't fast enough.

So, we're releasing the Secret Lair Drop Series under a new approach we're calling "Timeboxed to Demand." Here's how it'll work during the December launch:

Each drop will be available for a 24-hour window, starting at 9 a.m. PST. During that window, you can visit the site and purchase the drop that's currently up for sale. If you really love the cards, you can buy multiples (up to a cap of ten). This will be true for the entire 24 hours, no matter how many or how few other people are buying them—if you show up that day, we've got you.

Until the clock runs out! Once the 24 hours are up, the door closes and the cards are no longer available to anyone—that's it, they're gone.

We like how this approach keeps the drops feeling special and rewards the true fans who make an effort to get their hands on them, while also being a bit more accommodating to realities of life, like time zones, sleep patterns, and the speed of your internet connection. (To be clear: we will continue to occasionally have other Magic products with limited print runs that we expect to sell out quickly—this "timeboxed" approach is something we were able to pull off specifically with the Secret Lair Drop Series that doesn't necessarily make sense with our other products.)

PRICING
Over time we may try out some different approaches to pricing and components, but for 2019, each release in the Secret Lair Drop Series will cost either $29.99 or $39.99.

THE FUTURE OF SECRET LAIR
We don't know exactly how this whole thing is going to go, but we're excited. So, while we've been focused on making the launch a success, we're already working on plans for how this continues into 2020 and beyond.

More Drops

We're hard at work on some new Drop Series releases that we think we'll release in 2020. These start with the same spirit you see in these first seven drops and push it out into some fun, new creative directions. We expect the 2020 drops to be more scattered throughout the year rather than all bunched into a single event like we're doing to start.

In addition to the new creative approaches that you'll see in the 2020 drops, we'll also start experimenting with some of the nuance around announcing, releasing, and selling these. For example, I'd expect at least one drop next year to be previewed at the exact same moment that it goes on sale, surprise-party style.

When it comes to the 2020 cards themselves, I can't give you any satisfying details right now, so instead I'll describe some of what I'm looking at as I flip through the early art sketches . . .

A brave figure stands in front of an exploding rock
A very good boy
A famous bird tears through a dramatic sky
A warm meal shared between friends
A beret
We'll have more details next year, but for now just trust that there's more drops coming.

Different Products?

There's nothing locked in yet, but we're also working on some ideas for new products that align with the Secret Lair spirit and vibe but do some different things with aspects like price points, creative, packaging, or release approach. To help keep things clear, if we decide to move forward with any of these other ideas we'd probably split them out and release them as a new product line within the sub-brand, so something like "Secret Lair [something something]." We'll see how this plays out. Stay tuned in 2020 for more updates here.

More Fun

At the end of the day, the whole point of Secret Lair is to be a fun and joyful celebration of this amazing game we all love so much. To that end, believe me when I say what we've got some fun twists and surprises planned for you all next year. Some will shock you, some will confuse you, and hopefully one or two of them will speak to you on a level that no piece of cardboard has any business doing.

Thank you for being part of Magic, and thank you for taking a look at this new experiment we're running.

Buckle up, things are about to get weird.

Welcome to the Secret Lair.

SECRET LAIR RECAP
Posted in News on November 25, 2019
By Blake Rasmussen

Have you ever wondered what Magic: The Gathering cards would look like if the imaginations of artists were completely unleashed?

It's time to let you in on the secret. Secret Lair.



Secret Lair is a Magic: The Gathering brand unlike anything in the history of the game. It's a love letter for Magic fans, with eye-popping designs and never-before-seen art styles. We're kicking off Secret Lair with unique "drops" in the form of timeboxed-to-demand (we'll explain what that means later) collectible card drops made with care for the community by the fans inside Wizards of the Coast, starting on December 2 timed to each day of the week—and if you miss one drop, it's gone forever!

The Secret Lair drops in 2019 will come with the contents below, as well as a code for unique card sleeves on Magic: The Gathering Arena and a unique code from Magic: The Gathering Online for a non-foil digital version of that drop (the drops with tokens have a little something extra, which will be listed below).

You can only get them on secretlair.wizards.com (be sure to sign up early to be notified when drops go on sale!). And this drop is only the beginning—Secret Lair adds new flair and excitement to Magic that will continue getting weirder, and cooler, in 2020.

There's a bunch of stuff to know about how you can order Secret Lair products during the December 2–9 Drop Series, but we want to show you what those things are first. If you've already seen all of today's reveals, you can skip to the How Do I Get Secret Lair section. But if you're here to see all of the cool designs, scroll right on down.

All times are PST.

BITTERBLOSSOM DREAMS



On sale: December 3, 9 a.m. – December 4, 9 a.m.

Contents:

1 Alt-Art, Full Art Bitterblossom

4 Different Alt-Art Faerie Rogue tokens

All 5 cards create an art panorama when set next to each other

Price: $29.99

Faeries emerge from a field of flowers, elegant and breathtaking. You are not the first to be enchanted by their beauty—nor are you the last they usher to an early grave. This drop contains one Bitterblossom and four distinct Faerie Rogue tokens, all of which form an intoxicating panorama by artist Olena Richards. Olena Richards is a Seattle local artist, and these have callbacks to faeries of Llorwyn, similar to popular MTG cards Vendilion Clique and Mistbind Clique. We wanted to speak to the faerie lovers.

For the Magic Online code, you'll receive one (1) non-foil copy of the December 2019 Secret Lair drop Bitterblossom card and one (1) non-foil copy of each of the four (4) Bitterblossom Dreams avatars for use in Magic Online.

ELDRAINE WONDERLAND



On sale: December 4, 9 a.m. – December 5, 9 a.m.

Contents:

1 Alt-Art Foil Snow-Covered Plains

1 Alt-Art Foil Snow-Covered Island

1 Alt-Art Foil Snow-Covered Swamp

1 Alt-Art Foil Snow-Covered Mountain

1 Alt-Art Foil Snow-Covered Forest

Price: $29.99

Snow falls softly on the enchanting plane of Eldraine. Blanketed in white, this world of tales and adventure feels just a little more magical than before. Inject a little happily ever after into your deck with these unique snow lands by beloved Seattle artist Alayna Danner. We're giving you a sneak peek into a piece of the world you would never have been able to see in the regular set. The fairy tales finally get their Happily Ever After in this drop.

RESTLESS IN PEACE



On sale: December 5, 9 a.m. – December 6, 9 a.m.

Contents:

1 Alt-Art Bloodghast

1 Alt-Art Life From the Loam

1 Alt-Art Golgari Thug

(All three pieces of art form a panorama.)

Price: $29.99

The crows are calling, screeching a story of life taken and life returned. These are the tools of your opponents' demise, and they have a tale to tell. Whether you're looking to add a little flair to your deck or obtain a unique piece of Magic art, you can add life to your collection with this drop illustrated by Dan Mumford.

Artist Dan Mumford is known for his pop culture reference pieces, and some of his most famous work is for album covers for bands such as Iron Maiden. We partnered with Dan Mumford to bring heavy metal to Dredge players.

SEEING VISIONS



On sale: December 6, 9 a.m. – December 7, 9 a.m.

Contents:

4 Different Alt-Art Foil Serum Visions from four different artists

Price: $29.99

Open your third eye with Seeing Visions, a stunning playset of alternate-art Serum Visions. From street art to abstract, each one of these cards is trippier than the last. Mind-bending artists Kristina Collantes, DXTR, Lauren YS, and Jaime A. Zuverza ensure every scry feels much deeper than 2.

Jaime A Zuverza is known most popularly as a "poster" artist that creates posters that look like punk zines.

Lauren YS is an artist based in Los Angeles that is most popular for her works with psychedelic and surreal street murals.

DXTR is known as "DXTR The Weird" and has multiple yearlong design projects for art for portrait-mapping/bike art.

Kristina Collantes is known for otherworldly art.

<EXPLOSION SOUNDS>



On sale: December 7, 9 a.m. – December 8, 9 a.m.

Contents:

1 Alt-Art Goblin Bushwhacker

1 Alt-Art Goblin Sharpshooter

1 Alt-Art Goblin King

1 Alt-Art Goblin Lackey

1 Alt-Art Goblin Piledriver

(All five card arts together form a panorama.)

Price: $29.99

King. Sniper. Soldier. Brawler. Baby. If you have a problem . . . if explosions will solve it . . . and if you can draw them . . . maybe you can cast . . . these guys. With brand new art by Mike Uziel that forms a panorama, these five cards will be the perfect fit in your deck, on your wall, or scattered around the smoldering crater they leave behind.

KALEIDOSCOPE KILLERS



n sale: December 8, 9 a.m. – December 9, 9 a.m.

Contents:

1 Foil Alt-Art The Ur-Dragon

1 Foil Alt-Art Sliver Overlord

1 Foil Alt-Art Reaper King

Price: $39.99

Update your deck with a throwback design, featuring these quinto-chromatic champions of Commander. For the Magic player whose favorite color is "All of the Above," comic book artist Justine Jones has created a full spectrum of gorgeous art, sure to make your friends' jaws drop as their life drops to 0.

OMG KITTIES!



On sale: December 9, 9 a.m. – December 10, 9 a.m.

Contents:

1 Foil Alt-Art Arahbo, Roar of the World

1 Foil Alt-Art Leonin Warleader

1 Foil Alt-Art Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist

1 Foil Alt-Art Qasali Slingers

1 Foil Alt-Art Regal Caracal

2 Different Alt-Art Cat Tokens

Price: $39.99

Meow meow meow meow meow meow. Meow meow, meow meow meow meow meow. Meow meow Andrea Radeck, Erica Williams, Jakob Eirich, Allison Carl. Meow meow. Meeeow!

(For the Magic Online code, you'll receive one (1) unique code to redeem for one (1) copy of each of the December 2019 Secret Lair drops Regal Caracal; Leonin Warleader; Qasali Slingers; Arahbo, Roar of the World; and Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist cards and one (1) copy of each of the two (2) OMG KITTIES! avatars for use in Magic Online. All are non-foil. )

THE FULL BUNDLE
Sure, you can order all seven drops individually, but what if you want them all and don't want to come back every day? And what if you like saving money? What then?

We've got you there too. We're going to have one day where you can order a bundle containing all seven—and get a bit of a discount.

On sale: December 2, 9 a.m. – December 3, 9 a.m.

Contents:

One of each Secret Lair drop being released between December 3–9.

Bitterblossom Dreams
Eldraine Wonderland
Restless in Peace
Seeing Visions
<explosion sounds>
Kaleidoscope Killers
OMG KITTIES!
Price: $199.99 ($229.93 value)

It's all of the things. Enjoy.

WILL I GET THIS FOR THE HOLIDAYS?
That’s a solid maybe from us. It depends on what holiday and when you order!

For Secret Lair, the online store will indicate whether your expected arrival date falls in December or January. This is based on when you order and if we already have enough product in stock to fulfill said order. We're pretty sure these drops are awesome, so we've pre-printed a number of these to fulfill the first batch of orders pretty close to right away. So if you live in North America and you order early enough, your order will indicate that your shipment will arrive in December 2019. Otherwise, it will say January 2020. Which, to be fair, is in plenty of time for Valentine's Day.

HOW DO I GET SECRET LAIR
Got all that? Have your calendar marked for when your favorite one goes on sale? Now let's get into the details of how to go about getting your Secret Lair drop.

First of all, each drop will be timeboxed-to-demand collectible card drops for exactly 24 hours. That means, if you order during the 24-hour window for the drop you want—you'll get it! We are limiting people to 10 copies of each drop, but we're guaranteeing that all orders will get a copy.

In addition to the 24-hour drop window, we also have a bundle of all seven drops available for 24 hours starting December 2 at 9 a.m. PST. You can order all seven drops at once for $199.99 (they would be $229.93 if ordered separately). Here's a handy chart:



This is an English-only product that can be shipped to many countries around the world. Here's a list of countries we currently ship to:

Austria
Australia
Belgium
Canada
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Japan*
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
New Zealand*
Poland
Portugal
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Korea*
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom
United States
*Customers in these countries may have to pay customs/duty fees upon arrival.