MTG Secret Lairs 2023

The MTG Secret Lair product line that’s been one of the CCG’s greatest hits over the past few years. They’re sets of limited edition Magic: The Gathering cards, reprints that are dressed to impress with funky new art styles. Magic fans go wild for Secret Lairs, throwing money at them hand over fist – so naturally Wizards of the Coast keeps on making more.

As a result, it’s extremely hard to keep up with the non-stop MTG Secret Lair releases – especially since the MTG Spoiler season is now pretty much a constant presence. These days, a new Secret Lair drop is announced every other month. Since Secret Lair was first created in December 2019, there’ve been a whopping 99 Secret Lairs up for grabs, and the gravy train shows no sign of slowing.

Secret Lairs are a big hit for many reasons. Partly it’s the interesting and experimental art styles; partly it’s the tie-ins with third-party IPs, such as Street Fighter, Stranger Things and Warhammer 40k. Another thing that makes Secret Lairs a hot property is they often hold valuable reprints for rare MTG cards, which are otherwise difficult or costly to get hold of.

If you’re worried about missing out on some snazzy Secret Lair cards, fear not! This guide will cover what’s up for sale at the moment and all the best Secret Lairs that have been and gone in the past, but can often still be found (albeit at a higher price) on the secondary market. Be sure to check back often, as we’ll update this page the second we catch the scent of a new Secret Lair drop.

Here’s all you need to know about MTG Secret Lairs:

Where can I buy MTG Secret Lairs?

When a new Secret Lair is announced, it can be found and bought online from Wizards’ Secret Lair store. You usually have to wait patiently after purchasing, as there’ll be months between clicking ‘pre-order’ and actually receiving your cards. The official Secret Lair website has a support page where you can keep track of the production and shipping status of any Secret Lair you’ve ordered.

Typically, Wizards will put a bunch of  MTG Secret Lairs up for sale in one go, in batches known as Secret Lair drops. These will only be available to purchase for about a month, after which they’re gone for good. You have to act fast if you want to snap one up.

…Except it’s not that simple. In fact, you can still obtain cards from many older Secret Lairs if they strike your fancy, thanks to the awesome power of the secondary market. Further below, you’ll find a list of the best Secret Lairs ever released, along with a summary to give a sense of what’s within, and lots of links to help you find these limited edition cards. 

Which MTG Secret Lairs are for sale now?

Currently, MTG Secret Lairs from the Winter 2023 Superdrop are available on the official store. These are:

• The ’90s Binder Experience – reprints in glorious technicolour – a very gooey and sweet Secret Lair (none of the cards are actually from the 90s though).
• City Styles – Anime women in chic fashion – Teysa Karlov is the standout.
• Ssssssnakessssss – A smorgasbord of snakes, in five different styles.
• Draw Your Hand – A unique print art style SL that plays with the MTG card frame.
• Phyrexian Faves – Simply some good Phyrexian cards with the text in Phyrexian language.
• Showcase All Will Be One – Five more Phyrexian creatures in the watercolour-y ‘Ichor’ artstyle.
• Artist Series: Sam Burley – This MTG artist’s take on five Jund cards.
  

Best MTG Secret Lairs 2022

• Transformers: Optimus Prime vs. Megatron – two copies each of three powerful artifacts, including Commander staple Blightsteel Colossus, themed as the famous bots.
  Just Add Milk  – Secret Lair Just Add Milk reimagines MTG monsters as breakfast cereal mascots. Honestly, it’s pretty cute.
• Just Some Totally Normal Guys –  There are some real wacky and whimsical characters designs in this Secret Lair.
• Finally! Left-handed Magic cards – A bunch of left-handed MTG characters on cards with the frames flipped over.
• Street Fighter – Original Magic card versions of Street Fighter characters, from a Chun-Li with Multikicker to a Ryu with a Hadoken ability.
• Kamigawa: The Manga: The Cards – a ridiculous name, but a neat Secret Lair, with a classic manga look.
• Li’l Walkers – A bunch of  chibi planeswalkers, from Sorin to Ajani, done up in cute chibi style, that was was exclusively available from the Hasbro Pulse website and Hasbro PulseCon 2022.
• Pictures of the Floating World – Five land cards in Ukiyo-e style woodcut style – (think the Great Wave off Kanagawa).
• Shades Not Included – Synthwave interpretations of the five basic land cards.
• Extra Life – a charity Secret Lair with two sets of three cards; one illustrated by children, one where artists have professionalised the kids’ designs.
• In Memoriam: Jaya Ballard – The Secret Lair promoted with a real-life Jaya Ballard obituary in the Seattle Times.
• Special Guest: Junji Ito – the legendary Japanese horror manga author and illustrator applied his trademark style to classic black cards.
• Secret Lair x Warhammer 40,000: Orks – a Warhammer 40k faction that really deserved its own Magic deck, this secret lair gave us classic MTG cards reskinned as everyone’s favourite far-future warmongers.
• 30th Anniversary Countdown Kit was an expensive Secret Lair advent calendar packed with reprints in a huge range of styles – and one of the few parts of the MTG 30th Anniversary celebrations that’s been reasonably well received.  

Best MTG Secret Lairs 2021

• Fblthp: Completely, Utterly, Totally Lost – A Where’s Waldo-style panorama featuring every Magic fan’s favourite navigationally-challenged Homunculus.
• Secret Lair x MSCHF – Radical takes on five famous cards by American art collective MSCHF.
• Monster Movie Marathon – Spell cards reimagined as overdramatic classic monster movie posters.
• Extra Life 2021 – A Secret Lair that features children’s drawings of MTG creatures drawn by children, reinterpreted by professional artists.
• Phyrexian Praetors Compleat Edition – The five Phyrexian Praetors – but reprinted in the Phyrexian language.
• Read the Fine Print – Alternate art versions of Liliana’s Contract, and the demons who she made it with,
• Stranger Things – Original MTG card versions of Stranger Things characters, from Eleven to Chief Hopper. 

Best MTG Secret Lairs 2020

• Godzilla Lands –  Basic Land cards with Kaiju stomping about in the background.
• Theros Stargazing – Five different Secret Lairs featuring fifteen Theros Gods with alt art showing their forms as constellations in the stars.
• The Walking Dead – Rick, and the rest of The Walking Dead gang, reimagined as Magic cards (this one caused quite an uproar at the time).
• The Unfathomable Crushing Brutality of Basic Lands – Black and white, metal (the style, not the material) versions of the five Basic Land cards.
• Can You Feel with a Heart of Steel? – A bunch of artifact cards reimagined as mechs.
• Ornithological Studies – A Secret Lair for fans of feathered friends, this one’s five cards featuring birds. 

Best MTG Secret Lairs 2019

• Kaleidoscope Killers – Three five-colour creatures given the multi-chromatic treatment they deserve, really popping off the cardboard.
• OMG KITTIES! – It’s pretty obvious who this Secret Lair, which features cartoon kittens, is targeted towards. Everyone has one friend who wants this.
• Seeing Visions – Four different alternate-art versions of the card Serum Visions, by four different artists, covering styles from abstract to street art.
• <explosion sounds> – This Secret Lair includes a bunch of cartoon goblins, in a style very different from MTG’s usual aesthetic.

Can’t wait for the next Secret Lair drop to crack open some new Magic cards? Why wait – get some digital ones for free with our guide to all the new MTG Arena codes available. Alternatively, get hyped for the coming year in Magic with our fully updated MTG 2023 release schedule guide.

Source: Wargamer