Magic scalpers are flipping the new Secret Lair for outrageous prices.
Something intriguing just unfolded with Magic: The Gathering’s latest Secret Lair drop, the Chaos Vault, which showcases a Dandan deck tailored for the unique 1v1 format where two players share the same deck. This format was first introduced by Magic player Nick Floyd around 1996 and centers around the Dandân fish creature from the game’s inaugural expansion, Arabian Nights. Typically, decks aren’t sold as part of Secret Lair, but this recent release — launched on Monday at 12 p.m. EDT — features an 80-card deck comprising 46 stunning, borderless foil cards and 34 cards with classic retro frames. Priced at $99, it sold out in just 27 minutes.
Shortly after, numerous listings appeared on TCG Player and other platforms, with prices soaring to more than double the original cost. As of now, the market rate is around $242.40, with some listings on eBay reaching $300. While the exact number of decks sold from the Secret Lair shop remains unclear, nearly 100 listings have emerged, significantly marking up the product.
The issue of bots and scalpers snatching up Secret Lair products has been a contentious topic for some time. In fact, the senior director of Secret Lair, Lindsey Bartell, discussed this very issue on a Weekly MTG episode back in February.
“I always want everybody to get what they want, especially if there’s a new mechanic in the drop,” Bartell stated, adding, “I never want anything to sell out before the queue is cleared.”
However, players on Reddit are already voicing their frustrations, sharing experiences of having the Dandan deck in their cart only to find it unavailable when they tried to check out.
During that same discussion, Bartell noted that historically, only about 0.5% of orders come from “bad actors,” and various measures have been implemented to prevent them from monopolizing Secret Lair products. The website has reportedly become more adept at filtering out bots, but tracking actual scalpers who jump into the queue, purchase a product, and then immediately resell it at inflated prices remains a significant challenge.
Bartell described Secret Lair as a distinctive segment of Magic that aims to be “experimental and provocative.” She referred to Chaos Vault as “Secret Lair’s Secret Lair,” a model that pushes the boundaries even further. Not all of these experiments hit the mark; for instance, back in February, Secret Lair launched a Chaos Vault drop called Prints Charming, featuring a choose-your-own-price model with five tiers. Early buyers snagged the non-foil version for just $9.99, compared to the usual $29.99 or the inflated rates of $35.99 or $39.99. As the tiers sold out quickly, the only option left was the cheapest version available.
Bartell mentioned that 95% of orders were completed at typical or lower prices, but the remaining 5% still sold at higher rates. “Looking at that on the website, I can see how that doesn’t look great,” she acknowledged, reaffirming that Chaos Vault will continue to explore new ideas.
“There will continue to be times when there’s controversy and things that don’t always land correctly,” she said. “That I can almost promise, but what I can also promise is that we’ll continue to learn from those things, and that we’ll always try and endeavor to make our explanation as transparent and clear as possible of what to expect.”
Just weeks after the last Chaos Vault controversy, a new wave of issues has begun to ripple through the Secret Lair community.
