Do me a favor and check out my latest Pioneer deck brew, it's an awesome mono white devotion list that I think you'll get a kick out of watching: th-cam.com/video/OEUbj9W6sEU/w-d-xo.html
@@rmcdaniel2424 These are a corporate ploy. The corporation gets the tax advantage of the donation and they only donate if they sell. A meaningful charitable gesture would be to announce a $X thousand donation in celebration and offer these Secret Lairs for $10 less. This is a hollow corporate gesture and nothing more.
Secret Lair: Whale edition $300, comes with one pack of Collector’s Edition Mystery Booster and an ultra pro binder. Can’t afford it? This product wasn’t meant for you.
I'm worried about LGS to be honest. If I can just buy singles from Wizards won't my store close it's doors eventually? especially if they keep putting out new Secret Lairs at this ridiculous rate.
JLinkin people will keep buying and local stores will not shut down. They would have to print every single magic card non reserve list daily and have unlimited buying. My local area is not clamoring for Thalia’s and basic snow lands. These are products for collectors and actually helps local stores out for cards that plays well with these. I think they are too frequent but a fine product I am support of.
Really glad you added the bit about it not being worth it for players abroad. You are spot on, when you add the huge amount of shipping and fees most of the lairs become a very bad buy from a financial stand point. If you are in love with the art and have money to blow then sure, but otherwise, avoid.
Sad to be European when it’s about secret lair drops. I would totally buy most of them when the shipping and tax would be lower. I ordered 2 bundles of Theros Stargazing because I love all gods but it was freaking 100 euros for tax and shipping to Germany..
Pretty much the same in Poland. Paid almost a double amount for SL with goblins, and got it after a month of waiting not 10-15 day's as written on page.
Same here in the Netherlands. Me and some friends decided to order some together. Then i found out, that the shipping cost is the same whether you buy one product or 15. So they charge the same for 15 different orders to different places, and one bulk order of 15 to one place. Preposterous.
Yep, the overseas taxes and shipping fee is a crippling factor. I still don't get it why they don't distribute them in a more affordable matter, like via their European/Asian/whatever HQ.
As they should: commander players are often willing to spend lots of money blinging out decks or building new ones, while not being the demographic that is often cracking packs and booster boxes. Eternal formats are good places to market to as their players don't buy from wizards very often if there isn't a busted chase card that makes standard unhealthy.
I've been looking for an Oona for a while to go into my Alela Faerie Tribal deck and when I saw the IWD secret lair was going to include one (with better-looking artwork than the original imo) I was curious.....and then saw that Meren and Sisay were also going to be in it (two commanders I really wanted to build decks around) I said "SIGN ME UP FOR THIS!" lol While I do agree that you should always buy cards at your LGS, there's one exception to the rule that I can think of which is that your LGS doesn't have the card you're looking for and this Secret Lair is that exception to the rule, at least for where I live. Great review as always Prof. and look forward to your Ikoria commander precon reviews.
My "Year of the Rat" lair hasn't even shipped yet. (Even after getting TWO est. shipping dates the latest was 2/20 and haven't gotten any other email) Not going to buy ANY more lairs until it ships or I get a refund.
Symmetrical Docking my understanding from what they’ve explained is they have a set amount already printed, and then print more if they have to. This means (and they have explained this), the sooner you order, the more likely you’ll receive your drop earlier, since they don’t need to print a new one for you yet
I got both the Kaleidoscope Killers and Year of the Rat within a couple to few days after ordering each. But I've still been waiting for the Theros set, with no email of it being shipped or updates. Just confirmation email saying I bought it.
@@SymmetricalDocking Same, but it surprised the hell out of me since I didn't place the order until either 7 or 8pm. I figured by then that all the pre-printed sets had been sold and I'd be waiting weeks for it.
When I bout the Sliver / Scarecrow / Dragon one I had to wait a week and a half to 2 weeks to get it, but never saw a confirmation for it being shipped - so it probably is on its way and you just weren't told.
If I hadn’t JUST bought an Oona I probably would pick these up. I love the secret lairs honestly, but the frequency is a little high. Give some breathing room. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the company wanting to produce special versions direct to us. It’s their product after all. Just give some breathing room between them.
There's no plastic in Secret Lair boxes at all except the wrapping on the stained glass planeswalkers, and whatever plastic they make the foil on the cards out of. Lots of cardboard, though.
@Louie It’s limited in the sense that it’s only available for a single day. Yes, they’ll make as many as they get orders for, but if you don’t have the money that day then you’re SOoL. It’s limited not by quantity but by time/availability.
@@haydenv38 Then you have a good one on your hands. I'm just lucky that they only charge 10 bucks more for a box. Brawl precons were 1.5x. So I just draft there often instead and get sleeves to still support it.
my lgs sells these for $40 LOL. they charge more for a single pack, but go cheaper on boxes. brawl precons and cmd precons usually a little bit cheaper
Great video! I think you should put the international buyer disclaimer in the beginning of your video or during the financial breakdown. Perhaps gather some sort of data ($$) from Europe, Canada, South America, Asia, Australia, or any other location to explicitly show how bad it is for the rest of the world to buy these. Perhaps there should be "international" versions where they just send the cards in a top-loader and forego the cardboard box entirely to save shipping. Keep up the good work Prof! I look forward to watching the next Secret Lair video in a few days haha.
@@klinsblue woot, that is what sold me. I want several of these cards. They are really good in several decks, or as the commanders. I'm glad they actually reprinted them.
As a fairly new player (slightly over 1,5 years of playing), I'm already on the verge of quitting Magic. I'm a student so my budget and time are tight. Combining that with the added pressure of constant product releases and storage space limitations (I study abroad and I've changed address twice over the past 2 years) I feel like paper Magic is becoming too much of a burden. Every time a new product releases I'm presented with the choice to either miss out and feel bad if the cards become popular and spike in price, or follow my desire to enjoy and participate in the game which inevitably turns into a feeling of guilt as if Magic is some kind of addiction that I am unable to control. I purchased a box of Theros from my LGS at the pre-release in January and in hindsight I feel like I gained nothing. The momentary excitement was even further diminished by the fact I saw Ikoria adds on the backs of the tokens, which left me feeling slapped across the face with a newer, cooler product. Secret Lairs are just the last straw. Limited in quantity and availability, restricted to a certain time-frame and egregiously priced, to me they are a collection of all aspects of Magic I dislike. It's heart-breaking to see highly desirable cards reprinted with beautiful alternate artwork and know that they are barred behind the conscious choice of the company to label this a "deluxe" or "premium" product. I don't know how many times I've heard the phrase "Maybe this product isn't for you". By creating products financially intended for "whales", but aesthetically and functionally designed to appeal to the entire Magic fanbase, WotC is not only alienating, but also disappointing the majority of its customers. Where's the LGS exclusive "Budget Lair: Much Needed Reprints With Default Card Frames And Standard Art Series"?
I was going to say "Yeah but you should really compare the prices to the non-foil version given that the previous lairs have shown that the real prices for single was closer to those" and "yeah but outside of the US, you have to almost double the price of the product so ..." but in the end you addressed it. Thank you for what you are doing for the community, have a good day.
Finally Professor said what I've been saying since secret lair series came out, I'm in Europe, I could have bought all the secret lair products so far, I just choose not too cause what wee pay in shipping fees and taxes are almost the value of the product itself, meaning I almost have to pay 2x more to have this. Wizards know its ok as long the money they printing is enough.
The Women's Day one is the first Secret Lair that actually caught my eye. My first Commander deck is headed by Captain Sisay, and I've been brewing Oona. I'll have homes for Narset and Meren in other decks, while the only one I won't use is Saskia. Still, worth it for Sisay alone for me, because she's my favorite character in Magic.
Thanks for the video! You make many good points and, as always, look at key parts of what makes a purchase "worth it" for a Magic player. I'm surprised you didn't mention the $25 to the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. To me, that is a huge part of why I bought it, since Scouting is very close to my heart.
I'm glad I'm not the only one critiquing WotC for Secret Lair foils for their quality. Mine became marked within a couple of days after being double sleeved and being stored in an air-conditioned environment that was both cool and dry. I'll accept a bit of warping after years of use, but days? Luckily my material science books from college will flatten them out nicely XD
The Thalia Secret Lair is actually the first one to tempt me to buy. I personally love the alternate art, particularly when it comes to a card I plan to run as a four-of. It reminds me of Fallen Empires because the alternate art is part of the same "set," so it feels like it has an overall unifying theme.
Wish i had money, but when i made an attempt to purchase Secret lair bitterblossom, i quickly learned that it more than double in terms of shipping. This has caused me to miss out on Bitterblossom, Year of the rat AND the rainbow legends. In this set, while Sisay would be nice to have only one that TRULY interested me is oona (That art is beautiful) I may be able to sell the others and make back my cost, but alas, i do not have the money to buy it in the first place.
@@jjumpytoobz1211 I bought the lair on the last day, which I would have to imagine factors in to when my shipment would be sent out if there were a lot of orders before mine. I'm also buying from Canada, which maybe slows things down. But I'm not sure about that last part, since when I ordered the first secret lair drop series it arrived quite quickly.
My birthday is March 8th and I LOVE Oona, but only her. I'm very tempted to get it just for Oona to be honest, thanks for the video! I wasn't even aware of the international women's day secret lair.
I think it might make sense to recalculate the worth of the International Women's Day Drop here since wotc is donating 25 bucks of the 49,99$ of each set sold to the World Association Of Girl Guides And Girl Scouts. Which is an amazing thing to do and more than worth mentioning. Even if it's not more that PR, this video taught us that they just could not do any such thing and still get away with a grade A.
Let's not forget that Secret Lairs have also, thus far, included War of the Spark stained-glass-style promo planeswalkers, which range from Teyo at a little over $5 to Nicol Bolas at around $60
Well shit, I guess I'll buy it. Your review helped me decide. When I saw the notification for this drop I thought it was the biggest rip off in WOtC history, I thought each card was being offered separately, for $49 each. All for $49 is great, I'm going to get it for my Granddaughter for her birthday.
Saskia is my second choice Commander (Karador) and I have so many full arts in that deck I feel obligated to get this set as well. Actually tempted to buy multiples and save for holiday gifts.
Hi professor, I want to start by saying that I really enjoy your channel. I also want to say that I think wizard should only allow 1 set of lair per person purchasing. I live in the uk, so to us is not as easy to come across those cards, and people who have budget keep on hoarding these sets and reselling for astronomical amount of money. Because.. you can buy 15 of them! Wouldn’t make more sense to have them always on “demand” on the wotc website instead? I’m okay with wizard printing money. But I’m not okay with them actively fuelling the secondary market. We already struggle to keep up with prices as they are. Let alone buying cards that were supposed to cost 29.99 resold at £100
tbh, my main criticism of these is (besides how fast they're being printed) that they started moving back towards the house style, when one of the draws of the first couple secret lairs for me was the non conventional art style they had that made them feel so much more distinct.
This is another great review! Thanks very much. I think it’s a mistake to not factor in the charity aspect of the IWD Drop; that, to me, increases the value and compensates somewhat for the normal issues with Secret Lairs affecting the secondary market and local game stores.
My issue with Secret Lair is they are only sold for one day at "print to demand", meaning anyone who misses out is SOL (and i don't mean the ring). To me Secret Lairs is a FOMO engine Wizards is using to encourage spending more and keep secondary market prices high through artificial scarcity.
I actually like that Secret Lairs are a monthly thing, but I agree they should've announced all drops in advance. Not each drop theme, but being straight: "we'll release new drops EVERY MONTH" I really like my new art Reaper King, and I hope they keep up with Secret Lairs until they hit my tastes again. Please don't stop.
I'd like to point out that pretty much all the other cards in secret lairs caused massive price dips for the secretly layer versions. Sliver Overlord secret lair version is like half the cost of the other, older versions last I checked. As far these hurting the LGS, literally all the stores in my area buy a bunch of secret lairs and sell them with price increase once the lairs are no longer available for print on demand. At this point saying these secret layers hurt the local game store is a farce because nothing is stopping the local game store from making a profit on on these products. In fact the only time that it hurt the local game stores when they try to sell the secret lair versions for the same price as the original version of a card when the rest of the market is seeing the secret layer versions going for a fraction of the cost (Sliver Overlord, for example).
@@tim6265 you prevent your opponent from guessing how many copies of a card you are running. It may sound minor, but if you run any techs in your deck or a variant of a build, it makes sideboarding more difficult against you. It may not sound too much, but any info you gain about your opponent during competitive play can mean win or loss.
tim6265 If your opponent gets to look at your hand, sees a Thalia with one art, then the card gets shuffled back in, you draw new cards, they look again and see a different Thalia, they know you have at least two Thalias in the deck. Probably not the best example but still
Personally, Kaleidoscope Killers and Gods was the only secret lair that has caught my interest. They actually provided what I wanted and the Killers had great artwork. I feel like these should be lgs exclusives, but you know
I really want the IWD drop but I'm not buying anything until the card quality improves. Everyone of my friends that have purchased a Lair drop has had all the cards curled out of the box. They need to fix this!
I think an important mention for the IWD secret lair is that for each lair sold WotC will give 25$ to a girls’ scouts charity (forgot the specific name)
I want to build a Narset deck, thus I'm really wanting her hard. Sadly I live in Japan, so buying her from a secondary market or seller as a single seems to be more worth my money.
The flavor texts actually seem better when switched to me. I know there's an eldrazi angel in one and it was supposed to mention angels in the flavor text, but honestly I couldn't even tell it was an angel without looking closely. The switched flavor texts actually seem to fit the general tone of the artwork they're with much better now.
As a student, living in Europe, I find it super disappointing that they can't ship anything, from somewhere in the EU, so that we could avoid taxes and fees of the astronomical amounts. Alas, these products were apparently not intended for us, or intended for the people that want to pay double of the asking price. Thanks for the video anyway, it's entertaining and informative as always.
I actually really like the multiple artworks for cards. And I have DnT even if I don't play it much anymore. But I LOVE DnT. Very strongly considering them
I think it is important to mention the charity aspect of womens day secret layer as well since you are mentioning the local game store aspect. Yes it is cutting out the lgc. It is also donating half of the value to World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. Thalia doesn't have that defense though as far as I am aware.
Yeah I liked Lairs at first but its just getting crazy now and the fact these "reprints" are getting "reprints" while not even being 6 months old ( Reaper king & Marrow gnawer in Myster boosters) kinda killed it for me. I'm going to hang tight until the power 9 or dual lands secret lair cuz we all know its coming.
So, the impact on LGSs is probably very different for the two different SLs. The International Women's Day SL most likely hurts the LGS significantly more than the Thalia one. Most people looking for a playset for Modern or Vintage are less likely to go to an LGS that probably only has 1 or 2 and more likely to buy them online for the cheapest price (again, not definitely but highly likely). But, Commander players looking for a single can often either get it straight from an LGS or have the LGS keep a lookout for it coming through. Between the two, Commander focused SLs are probably much more hurtful to an LGS than playset SLs.
I want the Int Women's day set, I'm not fatigued out because the only Secret Lair I've gotten so far is Kaleidoscopic Killers. Pick only what you truly want kids, fomo is invented to empty your wallets. I'm not even grabbing Thalia cuz I don't play Modern.
So, I've been thinking about these Secret Lairs and unfortunately I'm going to have to pass these up (one reason for that is I owe some money). With International Women's Day 2020, there are only 3 cards in this lair that can go in a Commander deck at any given time (unless you're running Sisay, Weatherlight Captain from MH1). As far as Thalia, I only need one of them as my LGS has pretty much done away with Standard and Modern and only has Commander for FNM anymore. So yeah, I could just buy these cards as singles. Also, I too have noticed that the foiling for Secret Lair cards is terrible. I double-sleeved my Secret Lair: Year of the Rat cards after filming my video, and THEY STILL CURLED! I have to make a video about that and upload it. WotC is ripping us off with these Secret Lairs by overcharging us with stuff that looks cool, but is actually just crap wrapped up in a nice box.
"...the frosting on the Secret Layer cake..." Nice. Firstest world problem, but I wish they dropped the fancy boxes. They were great for a roll-out but now they're too extravagant.
Part of the $50 dollar pricing on the Women's Day secret lair is a $25 dollar donation. I'm not sure how that bakes into the pricing decision for some players, but I'm surprised in didn't come up in the video.
I can't support this product line anymore. Picked up a couple lairs from the first run - sure, they lost value, and I would've actually been better off going with the snow lands or the cats, but whatever. Then Year of the Rat happened - I found it weird that what I thought was going to be this special thing was happening again so soon... but I liked the artwork, so I caved. Then the Theros gods were announced hardly anytime later and I was like, nope! Now these things are coming out every week, it feels like. Should've saved my money for a box of Mystery Boosters instead - now, due to Secret Lairs, I can't afford one. Great.
i think the secret lair craze is bordering exhausting right now. Initially the idea of having 5-10 of these hit every year in December was a cool "oooh what could we see this year!?" Sort of deal, like a FTV kind of excitement... but with these things churning out at the speed were seeing them, it ends up actually lessening the impact of some otherwise really cool drops... not to mention the singles of these lairs end up being pretty damn cheap online... After buying 2 lairs, ill stick to buying the singles after the hype dies down a bit... plus i wont have to pay almost twice the price of the goddamn product because shipping is agonizing in my country :/
To be honest, after years of LGSs selling FTV at drastically inflated prices, I don't really feel sorry for them. With Secret Lair Drops, at least players have a chance to get them at a decent price. But what I don't like is the ultra-limited one-day window for ordering and the printing delay (still waiting for Theros Stargazing).
I really wish they had added Alesha as one of the cards. I know her card isnt exactly hard to get so it's not the best choice monetarily but I love her so it wouldve been nice
Why not mention the Girl scouts and guides donation included in the purchase? I think you missed something in your video, you should have mentioned it.
My playgroup decided that everyone of us gets one of the women. So the overall cost for one with shipping is about 15€. Thats a pretty good price for an exclusive card from my favorite commander. And its ridiculous that they dont print a stock of them in Europe.
As an Italian player I've been buying most of secret lairs, I have to say (when talking about the price) that most of the times I save money or am equal to the price I would pay for the original product. Plus I'm a little bitch for alternate art and the lairs will most probably exponentially grow up in prices here in Italy because of the low amount of people buying them here
Non-USA is right. I'm in Canada. There have been a lot of secret lairs I'm interested in, but the shipping/import fees they charge on checkout are ridiculous, and don't line up with the government regulated import fees either. I guess I save money haha
I really wish they'd print that Sisay with a normal border and non-foil. All printings of Sisay are pretty pricey and it always feels weird having a premium card among 98 other non-premium cards, especially when you tend to find playgroups that shout "kill the shiny thing!"
Had they bundled Thalia with International Women's Day, they could have sold one product for more money and had less separate Secret Lairs. We could have saved on shipping and excess materials.
Short answer is “No.” Long answer is “Absolutely not.” Sure the donation thing is nice but the Ponies did that WAY better. That and I still hate the fact they put the stain glass walkers in these things after saying they aren’t going to be printing them. And then there’s Shipping and Handling. And I hate the fact I’ll want a set of the Eldrazi one they make.
I always get a little weirded out when big corporations try to cash in on social causes and I usually try not to participate in consumption-based activism, but that first set does look like some pretty decent value and I could use some of the cards
Do me a favor and check out my latest Pioneer deck brew, it's an awesome mono white devotion list that I think you'll get a kick out of watching: th-cam.com/video/OEUbj9W6sEU/w-d-xo.html
New Secret Lair was just announced
What is the deal with the mismatched flavor text? I wasn't playing when this card was first printed so it's going over my head.
I need that "New secret lair alert" to be my alarm sound in the morning
Love you Prof.
They probably will print new secret lairs at that rate anyway
Hahahaha omg yes
PSA: International Women's Day 2020 is on sale March 8th and Thalia: Beyond the Helvault March 12th
No mention of half the money being donated to women groups around the world?
Baa Humbug Charity in England and Wales called World Association Of Girl Guides And Girl Scouts
@@rmcdaniel2424 These are a corporate ploy. The corporation gets the tax advantage of the donation and they only donate if they sell.
A meaningful charitable gesture would be to announce a $X thousand donation in celebration and offer these Secret Lairs for $10 less.
This is a hollow corporate gesture and nothing more.
Secret Lair: Whale edition $300, comes with one pack of Collector’s Edition Mystery Booster and an ultra pro binder. Can’t afford it? This product wasn’t meant for you.
People are starving on this planet...
can't wait for the whale edition. I'll buy x5.
TheSushiandme when the tax return hit
@@dudeup1 sadly I owe taxes. Like 50k... i make good money being unemployed, lol. Hustling is my passion
As a french viewer, it's always a pleasure to see this "players not in the USA" special attention.
As a German viewer i agree.
As Austrian viewer, I agree.
Garru Fellow Frenchmen !
As a player in the USA I agree
As a Russian viewer, I agree.
Can't wait for Secret Lair: Tax Day, kinda surprised there wasn't a Secret Lair: Super Tuesday.
Secret Lair: Trash Collection Day, a new set released every alternating Tuesday
LOL Can't wait for the buy one get one half off secret lair;p
Tax day: Land tax, smothering tithe, war's toll, Kambal consul of allocation and Gwafa Hazid profiteer.
Do it notc
Can't wait for the Secret Lair: WTC Edition, with a Heart of Kiran, Smuggler's Copter, Rest in Peace and a Void Winnower
You all kid but those sound like good idea's
I like wizards selling singles
they just need to slow down and reduce prices... it cost them the same to print a black lotus than a basic plains
shhh, people don't know that yet.
I'm worried about LGS to be honest. If I can just buy singles from Wizards won't my store close it's doors eventually? especially if they keep putting out new Secret Lairs at this ridiculous rate.
Zen Brown won’t happen if people stop buying them
JLinkin people will keep buying and local stores will not shut down. They would have to print every single magic card non reserve list daily and have unlimited buying. My local area is not clamoring for Thalia’s and basic snow lands. These are products for collectors and actually helps local stores out for cards that plays well with these. I think they are too frequent but a fine product I am support of.
@@zenbrown7144 you can buy boosters and boxes from them, participate in tournaments, play there, and so on...
"Also known as Secret Layer Pleasant Kenobi," lmaoooo
Does no one know how to spell lair?
@@Splendid_yellow_convoy Prof sounds like he's saying "layer"
I love how Wizards is simultaneously not acknowledging the secondary market, and just straight up selling singles.
I mean it's not like it will confirm that magic is similar to gambling if they admit the secondary market or something like that.
Patiently waiting for Secret Lair: Power 9
Lol. For the low price of $500,000. Limit 25 per customer
Same kid, same
The “NEW SECRET LAIR ALERT” alarm killed me 😂
New Secret Lair was just announced
6:18
NEW SECRET LAIR ALERT!
NeW sEcReT LaIR aLeRt!
NEW SECRET LAIR ALERT!
NeW sEcReT LaIR aLeRt!
I defeated the minutaur but I only found a green key, please advise.
It's a glitch you're going to have to return the game. It's now cursed.
Maybe you're color blind
What's the Minotaur, why do you need to defeat, and why do you need a blue key? Think I don't know the reference.
Try typing DNCLIP into the command line, if that doesn't work just IDKFA instead and go berserk.
Really glad you added the bit about it not being worth it for players abroad. You are spot on, when you add the huge amount of shipping and fees most of the lairs become a very bad buy from a financial stand point. If you are in love with the art and have money to blow then sure, but otherwise, avoid.
Sad to be European when it’s about secret lair drops. I would totally buy most of them when the shipping and tax would be lower. I ordered 2 bundles of Theros Stargazing because I love all gods but it was freaking 100 euros for tax and shipping to Germany..
Pretty much the same in Poland. Paid almost a double amount for SL with goblins, and got it after a month of waiting not 10-15 day's as written on page.
Same here in the Netherlands. Me and some friends decided to order some together. Then i found out, that the shipping cost is the same whether you buy one product or 15. So they charge the same for 15 different orders to different places, and one bulk order of 15 to one place. Preposterous.
You guys just need to find someone like me who can get them to you cheaper.
Yep, the overseas taxes and shipping fee is a crippling factor.
I still don't get it why they don't distribute them in a more affordable matter, like via their European/Asian/whatever HQ.
Same situation in Italy... :( sucks be us
It seems like 70% of products they have for this year are aimed at milking Commander players.
As they should: commander players are often willing to spend lots of money blinging out decks or building new ones, while not being the demographic that is often cracking packs and booster boxes. Eternal formats are good places to market to as their players don't buy from wizards very often if there isn't a busted chase card that makes standard unhealthy.
Commander is primarily a casual format, and many casual players cream themselves over new shinies.
Introducing "Secret Lair: Literally Just One Foil, Full-Art Command Tower!"
*$39.99 each, sells thousands.*
expect this to be the norm going forward given how popular they say commander is.
Prof and Kenobi: "Commander is the future of paper magic"
WotC: "Hear that? Commander is the future of vacuuming money out of players wallets"
WOTC giving the finger to Local games stores and the international customer base.
"more value in the box than you pay". 60€ in taxes, fees and handling: "Allow us to introduce ourselves"
I've been looking for an Oona for a while to go into my Alela Faerie Tribal deck and when I saw the IWD secret lair was going to include one (with better-looking artwork than the original imo) I was curious.....and then saw that Meren and Sisay were also going to be in it (two commanders I really wanted to build decks around) I said "SIGN ME UP FOR THIS!" lol
While I do agree that you should always buy cards at your LGS, there's one exception to the rule that I can think of which is that your LGS doesn't have the card you're looking for and this Secret Lair is that exception to the rule, at least for where I live.
Great review as always Prof. and look forward to your Ikoria commander precon reviews.
Introducing "Secret Lair: Literally Just One Foil, Full-Art Command Tower!"
*$39.99 each, sells thousands of units*
My "Year of the Rat" lair hasn't even shipped yet. (Even after getting TWO est. shipping dates the latest was 2/20 and haven't gotten any other email) Not going to buy ANY more lairs until it ships or I get a refund.
I got my rat lair within two days of ordering it. I was absolutely shocked because I thought they printed them to order.
Symmetrical Docking my understanding from what they’ve explained is they have a set amount already printed, and then print more if they have to. This means (and they have explained this), the sooner you order, the more likely you’ll receive your drop earlier, since they don’t need to print a new one for you yet
I got both the Kaleidoscope Killers and Year of the Rat within a couple to few days after ordering each. But I've still been waiting for the Theros set, with no email of it being shipped or updates. Just confirmation email saying I bought it.
@@SymmetricalDocking Same, but it surprised the hell out of me since I didn't place the order until either 7 or 8pm. I figured by then that all the pre-printed sets had been sold and I'd be waiting weeks for it.
When I bout the Sliver / Scarecrow / Dragon one I had to wait a week and a half to 2 weeks to get it, but never saw a confirmation for it being shipped - so it probably is on its way and you just weren't told.
If I hadn’t JUST bought an Oona I probably would pick these up. I love the secret lairs honestly, but the frequency is a little high. Give some breathing room. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the company wanting to produce special versions direct to us. It’s their product after all. Just give some breathing room between them.
jeez the amount off plastic used for 5 flimsy cards is enough to propel us to plus 3 degrees next decade
There's no plastic in Secret Lair boxes at all except the wrapping on the stained glass planeswalkers, and whatever plastic they make the foil on the cards out of. Lots of cardboard, though.
Gotta love it when Wizards continues to release extremely limited products when you don’t have spare income.
@Louie It’s limited in the sense that it’s only available for a single day. Yes, they’ll make as many as they get orders for, but if you don’t have the money that day then you’re SOoL. It’s limited not by quantity but by time/availability.
Local game stores are so screwed man....... everyone please buy anything that you can at your local game store !
Hayden R I will when they stop charging double the price of online prices
@@chriscrowninshield2641 at my LGS they match star city prices and if you spend atleast $50 you get 10% off
@@haydenv38 Then you have a good one on your hands. I'm just lucky that they only charge 10 bucks more for a box. Brawl precons were 1.5x.
So I just draft there often instead and get sleeves to still support it.
I don't have an LGS, closest one is an hour away, so....
my lgs sells these for $40 LOL. they charge more for a single pack, but go cheaper on boxes. brawl precons and cmd precons usually a little bit cheaper
Corporate greed at an all time high. Print so many products and keep those investors happy.
I think more-so, with US's Tax day coming up, the more "donation-based sets" they release.. the better it will be for them.
Great video! I think you should put the international buyer disclaimer in the beginning of your video or during the financial breakdown. Perhaps gather some sort of data ($$) from Europe, Canada, South America, Asia, Australia, or any other location to explicitly show how bad it is for the rest of the world to buy these.
Perhaps there should be "international" versions where they just send the cards in a top-loader and forego the cardboard box entirely to save shipping.
Keep up the good work Prof! I look forward to watching the next Secret Lair video in a few days haha.
The real question is, will the cards be that bad foiling where they become warped before they are even received by the player who bought them.
Yes, because the Theros ones had that foil.
The way they're churning these, I'll be shocked if there aren't some serious quality issues.
My 5 color commanders from Secret Lair were warped to hell. My Theros god ones weren’t actually that bad tho!
None of mine have been warped in any of the sets I've bought.
@@klinsblue woot, that is what sold me. I want several of these cards. They are really good in several decks, or as the commanders. I'm glad they actually reprinted them.
Needs more Alesha, who Smiles at Death
Agreed
If successful, next year?
Secret Lair is representative of everything that's currently wrong with MTG and WotC.
As a fairly new player (slightly over 1,5 years of playing), I'm already on the verge of quitting Magic. I'm a student so my budget and time are tight. Combining that with the added pressure of constant product releases and storage space limitations (I study abroad and I've changed address twice over the past 2 years) I feel like paper Magic is becoming too much of a burden. Every time a new product releases I'm presented with the choice to either miss out and feel bad if the cards become popular and spike in price, or follow my desire to enjoy and participate in the game which inevitably turns into a feeling of guilt as if Magic is some kind of addiction that I am unable to control. I purchased a box of Theros from my LGS at the pre-release in January and in hindsight I feel like I gained nothing. The momentary excitement was even further diminished by the fact I saw Ikoria adds on the backs of the tokens, which left me feeling slapped across the face with a newer, cooler product.
Secret Lairs are just the last straw. Limited in quantity and availability, restricted to a certain time-frame and egregiously priced, to me they are a collection of all aspects of Magic I dislike. It's heart-breaking to see highly desirable cards reprinted with beautiful alternate artwork and know that they are barred behind the conscious choice of the company to label this a "deluxe" or "premium" product. I don't know how many times I've heard the phrase "Maybe this product isn't for you". By creating products financially intended for "whales", but aesthetically and functionally designed to appeal to the entire Magic fanbase, WotC is not only alienating, but also disappointing the majority of its customers.
Where's the LGS exclusive "Budget Lair: Much Needed Reprints With Default Card Frames And Standard Art Series"?
I really hope textless art of that Sisay and Saskia gets made. I don't play Magic anymore, but I need that artwork for phone wallpapers.
I always admire any and all alliterative announcements.
I was going to say "Yeah but you should really compare the prices to the non-foil version given that the previous lairs have shown that the real prices for single was closer to those" and "yeah but outside of the US, you have to almost double the price of the product so ..." but in the end you addressed it.
Thank you for what you are doing for the community, have a good day.
Finally Professor said what I've been saying since secret lair series came out, I'm in Europe, I could have bought all the secret lair products so far, I just choose not too cause what wee pay in shipping fees and taxes are almost the value of the product itself, meaning I almost have to pay 2x more to have this. Wizards know its ok as long the money they printing is enough.
The Women's Day one is the first Secret Lair that actually caught my eye. My first Commander deck is headed by Captain Sisay, and I've been brewing Oona. I'll have homes for Narset and Meren in other decks, while the only one I won't use is Saskia. Still, worth it for Sisay alone for me, because she's my favorite character in Magic.
"Secret Lair: International Women's Day 2020" -is this the longest name of any MTG product?
@GamerBear isn't it Duel Decks Global Series [...] Tho?
I guess the fact that they gotta label the year means it’s coming back next year.
Looking forward to that Secret Lair: International Men's day 2020.
Thanks for the video! You make many good points and, as always, look at key parts of what makes a purchase "worth it" for a Magic player.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the $25 to the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.
To me, that is a huge part of why I bought it, since Scouting is very close to my heart.
Love the Garrett reference from Community. "Crisis alert!"
Man, screw this FOMO crap.
Then you will love their upcoming NoFOMO Secret Lair coming out very soon. Be sure to get yours!
@@joeshmoe66 Foil alt art Mudhole, Darksteel Relic, AND Squire for only $49.99?!?!
I'm glad I'm not the only one critiquing WotC for Secret Lair foils for their quality. Mine became marked within a couple of days after being double sleeved and being stored in an air-conditioned environment that was both cool and dry. I'll accept a bit of warping after years of use, but days? Luckily my material science books from college will flatten them out nicely XD
The sarcastic burn was flowing copiously here
The Thalia Secret Lair is actually the first one to tempt me to buy. I personally love the alternate art, particularly when it comes to a card I plan to run as a four-of. It reminds me of Fallen Empires because the alternate art is part of the same "set," so it feels like it has an overall unifying theme.
Wish i had money, but when i made an attempt to purchase Secret lair bitterblossom, i quickly learned that it more than double in terms of shipping. This has caused me to miss out on Bitterblossom, Year of the rat AND the rainbow legends. In this set, while Sisay would be nice to have only one that TRULY interested me is oona (That art is beautiful) I may be able to sell the others and make back my cost, but alas, i do not have the money to buy it in the first place.
Considering the fact that I’m still waiting for my Theros secret lair set, I’m gonna wait this one out...
Emmanuel Madail weird all my lairs have been received within 4 days of purchase.
@@jjumpytoobz1211 I bought the lair on the last day, which I would have to imagine factors in to when my shipment would be sent out if there were a lot of orders before mine. I'm also buying from Canada, which maybe slows things down. But I'm not sure about that last part, since when I ordered the first secret lair drop series it arrived quite quickly.
My birthday is March 8th and I LOVE Oona, but only her. I'm very tempted to get it just for Oona to be honest, thanks for the video! I wasn't even aware of the international women's day secret lair.
I think it might make sense to recalculate the worth of the International Women's Day Drop here since wotc is donating 25 bucks of the 49,99$ of each set sold to the World Association Of Girl Guides And Girl Scouts. Which is an amazing thing to do and more than worth mentioning. Even if it's not more that PR, this video taught us that they just could not do any such thing and still get away with a grade A.
Let's not forget that Secret Lairs have also, thus far, included War of the Spark stained-glass-style promo planeswalkers, which range from Teyo at a little over $5 to Nicol Bolas at around $60
Well shit, I guess I'll buy it. Your review helped me decide. When I saw the notification for this drop I thought it was the biggest rip off in WOtC history, I thought each card was being offered separately, for $49 each. All for $49 is great, I'm going to get it for my Granddaughter for her birthday.
Saskia is my second choice Commander (Karador) and I have so many full arts in that deck I feel obligated to get this set as well. Actually tempted to buy multiples and save for holiday gifts.
Hi professor, I want to start by saying that I really enjoy your channel.
I also want to say that I think wizard should only allow 1 set of lair per person purchasing.
I live in the uk, so to us is not as easy to come across those cards, and people who have budget keep on hoarding these sets and reselling for astronomical amount of money.
Because.. you can buy 15 of them!
Wouldn’t make more sense to have them always on “demand” on the wotc website instead?
I’m okay with wizard printing money.
But I’m not okay with them actively fuelling the secondary market. We already struggle to keep up with prices as they are. Let alone buying cards that were supposed to cost 29.99 resold at £100
tbh, my main criticism of these is (besides how fast they're being printed) that they started moving back towards the house style, when one of the draws of the first couple secret lairs for me was the non conventional art style they had that made them feel so much more distinct.
This is another great review! Thanks very much. I think it’s a mistake to not factor in the charity aspect of the IWD Drop; that, to me, increases the value and compensates somewhat for the normal issues with Secret Lairs affecting the secondary market and local game stores.
My issue with Secret Lair is they are only sold for one day at "print to demand", meaning anyone who misses out is SOL (and i don't mean the ring). To me Secret Lairs is a FOMO engine Wizards is using to encourage spending more and keep secondary market prices high through artificial scarcity.
They're going to Secret Lair reserved list cards with in 5 years, no doubt.
I actually like that Secret Lairs are a monthly thing, but I agree they should've announced all drops in advance. Not each drop theme, but being straight: "we'll release new drops EVERY MONTH"
I really like my new art Reaper King, and I hope they keep up with Secret Lairs until they hit my tastes again. Please don't stop.
I'd like to point out that pretty much all the other cards in secret lairs caused massive price dips for the secretly layer versions. Sliver Overlord secret lair version is like half the cost of the other, older versions last I checked.
As far these hurting the LGS, literally all the stores in my area buy a bunch of secret lairs and sell them with price increase once the lairs are no longer available for print on demand. At this point saying these secret layers hurt the local game store is a farce because nothing is stopping the local game store from making a profit on on these products. In fact the only time that it hurt the local game stores when they try to sell the secret lair versions for the same price as the original version of a card when the rest of the market is seeing the secret layer versions going for a fraction of the cost (Sliver Overlord, for example).
I'm just so continually impressed by these Secret Lairs. They make outstanding card choices and they're all gorgeous.
If you wanted to buy the women day drop in Australia, with all the extra fees you would be paying $113 AUD
One should also remember that there actually is an advantage to having the same art for all instances of your card when playing competetive
really? im curious as to why?
@@tim6265 you prevent your opponent from guessing how many copies of a card you are running. It may sound minor, but if you run any techs in your deck or a variant of a build, it makes sideboarding more difficult against you. It may not sound too much, but any info you gain about your opponent during competitive play can mean win or loss.
tim6265
If your opponent gets to look at your hand, sees a Thalia with one art, then the card gets shuffled back in, you draw new cards, they look again and see a different Thalia, they know you have at least two Thalias in the deck. Probably not the best example but still
Personally, Kaleidoscope Killers and Gods was the only secret lair that has caught my interest. They actually provided what I wanted and the Killers had great artwork. I feel like these should be lgs exclusives, but you know
I really want the IWD drop but I'm not buying anything until the card quality improves. Everyone of my friends that have purchased a Lair drop has had all the cards curled out of the box. They need to fix this!
Please, oh please, tell me you plan to implement the "New Secret Lair ALERT" in future videos. 😂😂😂
I think an important mention for the IWD secret lair is that for each lair sold WotC will give 25$ to a girls’ scouts charity (forgot the specific name)
That Oona art is so beautiful wowow shes made of foxglove
While I agree I definitely prefer the original art.
That Thalia art is so nice. God damnit Voss stop siphoning my money with your art
Must have those commanders
Edit:
I have obtained them, and very pleased with the artwork and quality of the cards.
I want to build a Narset deck, thus I'm really wanting her hard. Sadly I live in Japan, so buying her from a secondary market or seller as a single seems to be more worth my money.
The flavor texts actually seem better when switched to me. I know there's an eldrazi angel in one and it was supposed to mention angels in the flavor text, but honestly I couldn't even tell it was an angel without looking closely.
The switched flavor texts actually seem to fit the general tone of the artwork they're with much better now.
Would have loved to see Alesha included as a bonus in the Woman's Day pack, especially after the Chandra bs last year but oh well
As a student, living in Europe, I find it super disappointing that they can't ship anything, from somewhere in the EU, so that we could avoid taxes and fees of the astronomical amounts. Alas, these products were apparently not intended for us, or intended for the people that want to pay double of the asking price.
Thanks for the video anyway, it's entertaining and informative as always.
I actually really like the multiple artworks for cards. And I have DnT even if I don't play it much anymore. But I LOVE DnT. Very strongly considering them
I think it is important to mention the charity aspect of womens day secret layer as well since you are mentioning the local game store aspect. Yes it is cutting out the lgc. It is also donating half of the value to World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. Thalia doesn't have that defense though as far as I am aware.
Yeah I liked Lairs at first but its just getting crazy now and the fact these "reprints" are getting "reprints" while not even being 6 months old ( Reaper king & Marrow gnawer in Myster boosters) kinda killed it for me. I'm going to hang tight until the power 9 or dual lands secret lair cuz we all know its coming.
So, the impact on LGSs is probably very different for the two different SLs. The International Women's Day SL most likely hurts the LGS significantly more than the Thalia one.
Most people looking for a playset for Modern or Vintage are less likely to go to an LGS that probably only has 1 or 2 and more likely to buy them online for the cheapest price (again, not definitely but highly likely). But, Commander players looking for a single can often either get it straight from an LGS or have the LGS keep a lookout for it coming through.
Between the two, Commander focused SLs are probably much more hurtful to an LGS than playset SLs.
I want the Int Women's day set, I'm not fatigued out because the only Secret Lair I've gotten so far is Kaleidoscopic Killers. Pick only what you truly want kids, fomo is invented to empty your wallets. I'm not even grabbing Thalia cuz I don't play Modern.
So, I've been thinking about these Secret Lairs and unfortunately I'm going to have to pass these up (one reason for that is I owe some money). With International Women's Day 2020, there are only 3 cards in this lair that can go in a Commander deck at any given time (unless you're running Sisay, Weatherlight Captain from MH1). As far as Thalia, I only need one of them as my LGS has pretty much done away with Standard and Modern and only has Commander for FNM anymore. So yeah, I could just buy these cards as singles. Also, I too have noticed that the foiling for Secret Lair cards is terrible. I double-sleeved my Secret Lair: Year of the Rat cards after filming my video, and THEY STILL CURLED! I have to make a video about that and upload it. WotC is ripping us off with these Secret Lairs by overcharging us with stuff that looks cool, but is actually just crap wrapped up in a nice box.
"...the frosting on the Secret Layer cake..." Nice.
Firstest world problem, but I wish they dropped the fancy boxes. They were great for a roll-out but now they're too extravagant.
Part of the $50 dollar pricing on the Women's Day secret lair is a $25 dollar donation. I'm not sure how that bakes into the pricing decision for some players, but I'm surprised in didn't come up in the video.
This is amazing. I have 4 commander decks. Captain Sisay, Meren, Narset, and Saskia. This is a quick pick up
I'm so glad I'm not the only one that thought of it as "Secret Lair: Pleasant Kenobi"
Given unlimited supply the Fear of Missing out causes the demand curve left, thus increasing the market price.
I can't support this product line anymore. Picked up a couple lairs from the first run - sure, they lost value, and I would've actually been better off going with the snow lands or the cats, but whatever. Then Year of the Rat happened - I found it weird that what I thought was going to be this special thing was happening again so soon... but I liked the artwork, so I caved. Then the Theros gods were announced hardly anytime later and I was like, nope! Now these things are coming out every week, it feels like. Should've saved my money for a box of Mystery Boosters instead - now, due to Secret Lairs, I can't afford one. Great.
i think the secret lair craze is bordering exhausting right now.
Initially the idea of having 5-10 of these hit every year in December was a cool "oooh what could we see this year!?" Sort of deal, like a FTV kind of excitement... but with these things churning out at the speed were seeing them, it ends up actually lessening the impact of some otherwise really cool drops... not to mention the singles of these lairs end up being pretty damn cheap online...
After buying 2 lairs, ill stick to buying the singles after the hype dies down a bit... plus i wont have to pay almost twice the price of the goddamn product because shipping is agonizing in my country :/
To be honest, after years of LGSs selling FTV at drastically inflated prices, I don't really feel sorry for them. With Secret Lair Drops, at least players have a chance to get them at a decent price. But what I don't like is the ultra-limited one-day window for ordering and the printing delay (still waiting for Theros Stargazing).
I really wish they had added Alesha as one of the cards. I know her card isnt exactly hard to get so it's not the best choice monetarily but I love her so it wouldve been nice
Why not mention the Girl scouts and guides donation included in the purchase? I think you missed something in your video, you should have mentioned it.
Nicely done video, Professor.
I think its worth mentioning that they are also donating $25 per box sold.
For non US residents Secret Lairs are not worthy. Thank you prof for underlining that
I'd only want the oona honestly
I own all the cards already, so just looking at the artwork, Oona is the only one I'd consider. I actually dislike the other four new arts.
My playgroup decided that everyone of us gets one of the women.
So the overall cost for one with shipping is about 15€.
Thats a pretty good price for an exclusive card from my favorite commander.
And its ridiculous that they dont print a stock of them in Europe.
I loved the secret lair alert bit.
Oh wow 4 Thalias for... exactly the same amount it costs to buy the singles. Such a coincidence :P
As an Italian player I've been buying most of secret lairs, I have to say (when talking about the price) that most of the times I save money or am equal to the price I would pay for the original product.
Plus I'm a little bitch for alternate art and the lairs will most probably exponentially grow up in prices here in Italy because of the low amount of people buying them here
Most of the recent drops ie gods and rats have seemed to increase to above the original MSRP so I'm excited to see the their value in a year
Non-USA is right. I'm in Canada. There have been a lot of secret lairs I'm interested in, but the shipping/import fees they charge on checkout are ridiculous, and don't line up with the government regulated import fees either. I guess I save money haha
I really wish they'd print that Sisay with a normal border and non-foil. All printings of Sisay are pretty pricey and it always feels weird having a premium card among 98 other non-premium cards, especially when you tend to find playgroups that shout "kill the shiny thing!"
Had they bundled Thalia with International Women's Day, they could have sold one product for more money and had less separate Secret Lairs. We could have saved on shipping and excess materials.
Short answer is “No.”
Long answer is “Absolutely not.”
Sure the donation thing is nice but the Ponies did that WAY better. That and I still hate the fact they put the stain glass walkers in these things after saying they aren’t going to be printing them.
And then there’s Shipping and Handling.
And I hate the fact I’ll want a set of the Eldrazi one they make.
I always get a little weirded out when big corporations try to cash in on social causes and I usually try not to participate in consumption-based activism, but that first set does look like some pretty decent value and I could use some of the cards