Magic: The Gathering and Marvel's Secret Lair collaboration has already started arriving for fans lucky enough to buy them, who've been pleasantly surprised by the bonus cards included in each set. While Secret Lair has had its share of controversies over stocking issues and sales tactics, the cards are just as flavorful and unique as ever. Even though it's unlikely that MtG will change its successful business model anytime soon, it can still learn from the popularity of its Marvel bonus cards.
The Secret Lair's Marvel hero cards were a highly anticipated set, being announced over a year ago with much fanfare from both long-time players and newcomers alike. Luckily for fans who missed the chance to grab any cards from this Universes Beyond collaboration, players won't have to rush as much when the second drop hits as part of their Marvel Spider-Man decks. While not much has been revealed about the set so far aside from it being released next year, MtG should follow its trend of offering valuable and thematic bonus cards to each Secret Lair.
MtG's Groot Cards Are The Perfect Secret Lair Bonus
A Fantastic Addition To Any Marvel Commander Deck
Custom Image by Steven Garrard Unlike with some Secret Lair drops in the past, each one of the Marvel collaboration card packs came with a bonus Groot card themed after the deck. Not only is the art for each unique and cute in its own right, but each Groot card fits right into the commander deck's gameplay mechanics. While the original prints of each themed card aren't worth that much on their own, the limited nature of the Groot variations is already fetching a hefty price on the secondhand market.
Reddit user Ydnar84 has even compiled a list of each Groot bonus card in just a few days, with fans benefiting from Secret Lair's much faster shipping times of late rather than waiting months in the past for their shiny new cards. While this compiles the list of the standard bonus card inclusions, MtG is continuing its trend of offering extra rare bonus cards among them, with some lucky fans receiving a Groot version of Abundant Growth across each set.
Being a green card, Abundant Groot would not be playable in either an Iron Man or Captain America deck.
While these cards are bound to be worth an even drastically higher price due to their limited supply, some fans are still frustrated at the randomness of Secret Lair's bonus cards, especially when receiving cards that can't be played with the commander they purchased when they don't plan to resell them.
The Right Theme Can Make Bonus Cards Great
Finding The Balance Between Value And Luck
The most memorable Secret Lair bonus cards in MtG history are always the ones that fit thematically with the included set, being a fantastic value addition rather than adding another card to sit in a binder. While MtG Marvel Secret Lair started strong with cards designed for each set mechanically alongside an overarching theme between them, the insistence on randomized gambling left a sour taste in some fans' mouths. To appease both audiences, future Secret Lairs could benefit from having an opt-out system for these rare bonuses, allowing fans more control over the cards they receive in the packs they paid for.
Related
What Magic: The Gathering's New Commander Bans Really Mean
Magic: The Gathering’s latest Commander bans have led to an outpouring of vitriol, and a series of petitions. Here’s what they really mean.
Recently, some rare bonus cards like Fallout's Mana Vault or Miku's Snapcaster Mage had incredibly low odds of being pulled as well, with the Mana Vault only appearing once out of roughly every 30 packs, resulting in them being sold on the secondary market for thousands of dollars. While randomness for rare cards is a core part of any successful trading card game's DNA, Secret Lair's approach to randomized bonuses feels like a forced addition to these predetermined premium sets.
With how frequently Secret Lair cards have been selling out, Wizards of the Coast has clear evidence that collaboration sets need more stock prepared beforehand to meet the new levels of demand from players if the publisher wants to avoid another Marvel or Monty Python release disaster. Despite the financial success of Magic: The Gathering's recent Secret Lair and Universes Beyond collaborations, WOTC should learn from the success and failures of its recent Secret Lair drops if it want to continue to keep players invested in future set releases without burning out the loyal fans.
Source: Ydnar84/Reddit
Wizards of the Coast takes their popular trading card game to the digital frontier with Magic: The Gathering Arena. Following all of the same rules and steps required of the physical game, Arena has up-to-date rules, cards, and decks for players to collect and battle one another in various game modes. The game is free-to-play, which can be played without spending, but additional booster packs and certain events require real-world currency.
Released September 27, 2018
Multiplayer Online Multiplayer
Engine Unity
ESRB T for Teen // Blood and Gore, Mild Fantasy Violence
:quality(85):upscale()/2024/11/15/862/n/1922153/911b7d1c6737a4111b6008.57513343_.png)
English (US) ·