It’s been an incredibly poor year for availability for Magic: The Gathering players, with widespread delays affecting six of the seven sets released this year. Now, on top of the massive delays that have already impacted Reality Fracture Commander Decks, Bundles, and Collector Boosters, it’s been confirmed that the Secret Lair Bundle is also delayed.
What muddies the waters further is that the Secret Lair Reality Fracture Bundle Bundle, a special Chaos Vault drop due to take place soon, is reportedly unaffected, with enough stock set aside to fulfill a certain number of orders. This has left some disenfranchised, as their original bundle may be delayed, but Wizards of the Coast is flogging Secret Lair as a way to get one sooner.
Reality Fracture Secret Lair Bundle Is Just The Latest In A Long List Of Delays
Widespread delays have hit six of the seven Magic: The Gathering sets released this year. We just got confirmation that multiple Star Trek products are being delayed worldwide, and this follows news that the Star Trek Beginner Box has been canceled entirely.
This latest delay feels like the straw that broke the camel’s back. Players have recently started digging up old quotes from Mark Rosewater from 2008, where it’s admitted that Wizards of the Coast is going to slow down on printing products to help combat player concerns. No such statement seems imminent this year, despite six more full MTG sets confirmed for 2027, a seemingly endless wave of Secret Lair drops, and elongated product releases (such as Reality Fracture’s Secret Lair Bundle and the Battle of Five Armies Co-Op set dropping well after the set release date).
While other circumstances were at play back in 2008, like a global recession, we can’t help but feel the game wasn’t nearly as oversaturated as it is today. Seven sets in 2026 was an anomaly, and we’ve been assured it won’t be repeated, but that ignores the biggest issue right now: the huge waves of Secret Lair products and additional products released per set (scene boxes, gift bundles, etc.)that must be straining the production line.
Long gone are the days when each set was just prerelease kits, booster packs, and bundles. Wizards of the Coast is paying a huge price for this massive expansion, and while it reports that plenty of new players are discovering the game thanks to Universes Beyond, those new players are then adding to the demand of an already struggling supply.
Prices are rising, supply is falling, and players are finding it hard to get their hands on new products in a timely manner, with more and more products reaching stores long after their planned release dates.
Could 2027 Be A Quieter Year To Combat Supply Issues?
Our main question as we head into the MTG 2027 release schedule is whether Wizards of the Coast will call an audible on some of its plans for next year to ease pressure on its production line. While some of this year’s delays have been out of their control, many have been self-inflicted.
With six sets already confirmed for 2027, we don’t see any major changes coming on that front, but each set is now confirmed to have at least four Commander Decks, which is up from this year’s set-associated precons, where we had just 17 (including Star Trek, which is still to be released).
In a way, even though we’re one set short, Wizards has already committed to printing a lot of products in 2027, so where can the cuts be made? Perhaps Gift Bundles fall by the wayside; maybe Secret Lairs will go back to being a special event that drops only every so often, rather than weekly; or maybe nothing changes, and 2027 is just as rough for availability as 2026. Who knows at this rate, but one thing we can see is that players are growing restless over these repeated issues, and it won’t be long before their anger will require a response that isn’t a three-sentence news post, and we can only hope Wizards of the Coast is prepared to make some difficult decisions to improve the player experience in the coming years.
- Franchise
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Magic: The Gathering
- Original Release Date
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August 5, 1993
- Designer(s)
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Richard Garfield
