Magic: The Gathering’s Secret Lair crossover with Sonic the Hedgehog went live this morning, and it was predictably quite popular. Within minutes, people trying to get the special run of cards were met with long queue times and uncertainty.
Secret Lair is Magic’s special line of cards, often taking artistic liberties or fresh approaches to classic cards. In the past, these have ranged from re-envisionings and experimental card layouts to full-on franchise crossovers. Final Fantasy, which had its own wildly popular crossover main set, also got its own Secret Lair run that sold out fairly fast.
One would assume that Sonic the Hedgehog, the Blue Blur himself, would garner quite a bit of interest. And as it turns out, he did; those eager to buy the Secret Lair set featuring Sonic and pals flooded in this morning, and queue times shot up.
Waiting yet another hour to find out I can’t buy the sonic secret lair because I was .01 seconds too slow to checkout
(And I once again do not receive an email notification that it’s going live despite signing up to be “notified” about 12 times now)
— Arin Hanson (@egoraptor) July 14, 2025
Complaints flooded social media, as patient Magic and Sonic fans alike waited for their chance to pick up the cards. While some of these are reprints of classic Magic cards—like Unexpected Windfall, Sol Ring, and Lightning Greaves—others are new cards, and potential Commanders for those looking to build a deck around their favorite Sonic character.
Not long after the set went live, the Secret Lair account posted a message saying the pre-order site is currently experiencing “extremely high traffic” and wait times might be longer than usual. Later updates confirmed the team was aware of issues affecting queue times and is working to resolve them.
The Secret Lair website is currently experiencing extremely high traffic and wait times may be longer than usual. Please monitor the queue page for real-time updates, including product availability in your region.
— MTG Secret Lair (@MTGSecretLair) July 14, 2025
In my own anecdotal experience, I went to load up a cart and put some cards in around half an hour after the set went live, and have been watching a queue page sit here with “more than an hour” as the expected wait time. I’ve been talking to people who have been able to get through, gradually, but it does seem like there’s quite a bit of patience necessary to get this set.
Wizards of the Coast did implement a limit on items, at two-per-item, which seems to have helped a bit. There has been some criticism over the model, as Secret Lair went from print-to-order to a limited-print-run model last year.
While I’ve heard a few stories of frustrated waiting, I’ve also heard from several people who were patient and managed to get the cards they were after. We’ll learn over the coming days how scarce the set winds up being, especially as some product moves onto third-party seller sites.
Meanwhile, the next Magic: The Gathering set Edge of Eternities will drop on August 1, with pre-release beginning on July 25.
Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.
