Magic: The Gathering’s Latest Secret Lair Drop Officially Grants a Community-Wide Wish

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The MagicCon event in Atlanta, Georgia, last weekend unveiled a huge wave of new releases for Magic: The Gathering‘s Secret Lair series, with most of them planned to launch on October 13. On top of that, those at the event learned about a set of special PlayStation cards coming to the Secret Lair website just two weeks after, bringing the total of new, exclusive Secret Lair Magic sets to a remarkable 15 drops for October. Interestingly, it’s the most recent Secret Lair release, which became available on September 29, that really sets the standard for the program going forward, as it addresses several key desires of dedicated Magic: The Gathering​​​​​​players.

Wizards of the Coast is teaming up with Extra Life again for a special Secret Lair drop. Half of the money earned will go to Extra Life’s work supporting the Children’s Miracle Network of hospitals. This is a great opportunity for Magic: The Gathering players to get new and exclusive cards for their decks, but the “Squishful Thinking” drop offers even more. It features valuable reprints that are useful in many Magic formats. Plus, because this set is made to order, it’s fulfilling a long-held wish from the community – many hope this approach will be used for future Secret Lair releases.

Secret Lair x Extra Life’s ‘Squishful Thinking’ Drop Has an Amazing Bonus Card

Please be aware that the following reveals spoilers for the bonus card in the Secret Lair x Extra Life “Squishful Thinking” collection. This information, including images, comes from attendees at MagicCon who received their Secret Lairs before the official release.

The “Squishful Thinking” release playfully reimagines several classic Magic: The Gathering cards using Play-Doh art – a style that perfectly fits its collaboration with Extra Life. What makes it even better is the strong value of the cards included. While some once-powerful cards like Wurmcoil Engine have been reprinted often, other standouts from the “Squishful Thinking” drop, such as Polyraptor or Greensleeves, Maro-Sorcerer, are long-time favorites that will be useful in many different decks across various Magic: The Gathering formats. However, it appears Wizards of the Coast may have held the most valuable card from the “Squishful Thinking” drop until the very end.

Reddit user u/Pigley_III has reported that the bonus card for the latest Secret Lair and Extra Life collaboration is a new printing of Scute Swarm. This card is considered one of the most powerful and effective options for decks focused on landfall or creating tokens in the Commander format. Like the other cards in this release, the Play-Doh version of Scute Swarm is charming, thanks to the artwork by Jason Loik and Ben Millar. Overall, the “Squishful Thinking” drop offers excellent value and is among the most practically useful Secret Lair releases in a long time.

Future Secret Lair Drops Could Learn a Thing or Two From the Most Recent Extra Life Collaboration

As a Magic: The Gathering player, I’m really impressed with the latest Secret Lair and Extra Life collaboration. Not only do you get a lot for your money, but Wizards of the Coast has smartly addressed a common frustration with Secret Lair drops. Instead of the usual limited-time, limited-print run, this “Squishful Thinking” drop is print-to-order. That means you have until November 8th to decide if you want the cards, all while supporting a great cause – shipments are even starting as early as October 7th! Honestly, with so many drops happening this month, and players starting to feel a little burned out, this print-to-order approach feels like exactly what Secret Lair needs to stay fresh and appealing. It removes that pressure to instantly buy and lets you take your time.

It’s important to note that much of the frustration with Secret Lair among dedicated Magic: The Gathering players stems from Wizards choosing to make cards with unique game effects available *only* through these limited releases. “Squishful Thinking” sidesteps this issue by offering only commonly requested cards that players welcome as reprints. The upcoming release on October 13th, showcasing art by Kieran Yanner, includes 4 fantastic reprints, and even just one of them (Demonic Tutor) makes the set worthwhile. It will likely sell out very quickly, which suggests that a print-on-demand system would have been beneficial for newer players trying to acquire cards from over 30 years of the game.

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2025-10-02 20:04