Last weekend's MagicCon in Atlanta, Georgia, saw the reveal of an almost overwhelming number of new drops for Magic: The Gathering's Secret Lair series, most of which are scheduled to go live on October 13. As if that wasn't enough, attendees were then treated to the announcement that a set of exclusive PlayStation cards would be available on the Secret Lair website just two weeks later, bringing the total number of new, exclusive Secret Lair Magic sets to a whopping 15 drops for October. Ironically enough, though, it's the most recent Secret Lair drop that went live on September 29 that sets a high bar for the future of the program by ticking a few important boxes for longtime Magic: The Gathering players.
Wizards of the Coast has once again partnered with the Extra Life charity organization to deliver a Secret Lair drop, where 50% of the proceeds go toward Extra Life's initiative of funding the Children's Miracle Network of hospitals. That in and of itself is a bonus to anyone looking to pick up some new, exclusive cards to add to any of their Magic: The Gathering decks, but the "Squishful Thinking" drop takes things a step further. The cards it contains are great reprints with a lot of practical value across a variety of Magic formats, and the fact that the set is print-to-order fulfills a longtime community wish that many have hoped would apply to other Secret Lair drops in the future.
Secret Lair x Extra Life's 'Squishful Thinking' Drop Has an Amazing Bonus Card
The following contains spoilers for the bonus card in the Secret Lair x Extra Life "Squishful Thinking" drop, including images obtained from MagicCon attendees who got their Secret Lairs early.
The "Squishful Thinking" drop is a whimsical re-imagining of several Magic: The Gathering staples rendered in Play-Doh artwork that feels incredibly on-brand for an Extra Life collaboration, and it's made better by the sheer value of each of the cards it includes. While some previously powerful drops like Wurmcoil Engine have been reprinted multiple times, other highlights of the "Squishful Thinking" drop, like Polyraptor or Greensleeves, Maro-Sorcerer, are longtime staples that will see play in a variety of decks across many of Magic: The Gathering's formats. That said, it seems like Wizards of the Coast may have saved the best card in the "Squishful Thinking" drop for last.
As reported by Reddit user u/Pigley_III, the bonus card for this most recent collaboration between the Secret Lair program and Extra Life is a new printing of Scute Swarm, which is one of the strongest and best cards for any landfall or token-based decks in the Commander format. And, in accordance with the rest of the drop, the Play-Doh version of Scute Swarm is just as endearing as the rest of the designs by artists Jason Loik and Ben Millar. As far as "value-per-dollar" cards that will see plenty of practical application, the "Squishful Thinking" drop is one of the best Secret Lair has released in quite some time.
Future Secret Lair Drops Could Learn a Thing or Two From the Most Recent Extra Life Collaboration
In addition to providing plenty of value, the most recent Secret Lair and Extra Life collaboration goes the extra mile by removing the barrier to entry that most Secret Lair drops present. Rather than have the drop be a timed-exclusive with only a limited number of initial printings, Wizards of the Coast has opted to use a print-to-order format for "Squishful Thinking" that gives players until November 8 to decide if they want to pick up the cards while contributing to a worthwhile cause, even though set shipments will begin as early as October 7. Considering how much fatigue longtime players are expressing over the amount of drops arriving just this month alone, a print-to-order strategy could be just what the future of Secret Lair needs.
It's also worth pointing out that, for the most part, a lot of the dissatisfaction with Secret Lair from longtime Magic: The Gathering players centers around Wizards' decision to limit mechanically unique cards to these ultra-exclusive drops, which "Squishful Thinking" avoids by consisting entirely of staples that players are happy to have reprints of. One of the drops scheduled for October 13, featuring artwork from Kieran Yanner, contains 4 incredible reprints, with one of them (Demonic Tutor) being worth the price of admission alone. Chances are, it will sell out incredibly fast, which would have made a print-to-order strategy all the better for newer players catching up on more than 30 years of cards.
- Franchise
- Magic: The Gathering
- Original Release Date
- 1993
- Publisher
- Wizards of the Coast
- Age Recommendation
- 13+