Barely more than a week after announcing the Magic: The Gathering x Monster Hunter Secret Lair Superdrop, Wizards of the Coast has officially hit the brakes on the original crossover collection scheduled to drop on Dec. 1.
In a new announcement made Wednesday, Wizards confirmed it would delay the Superdrop to 2026 for a full rework and said more information would come early next year.
“In our excitement, we missed the mark on elements like card selection and faithfully integrating the world and mechanics of Monster Hunter,” a news post reads. “As a result, the overall construction of this Superdrop is not up to the standard you have come to expect.”
Superdrops have stirred up plenty of controversies in the past — long queue times, shipping or production delays, and backlash over mechanically unique cards — but this is unprecedented. Wizards has never delayed a Superdrop as a direct response to fan backlash before.
Despite Monster Hunter seeming like the perfect fit for a Magic crossover, even The Office Secret Lair delivered far greater entertainment value and outright value. In the days following the reveal, various Magic-related subreddits exploded with chatter criticizing the card choice in particular. “It’s on the list of most requested [Universes Beyond] properties, and this is the steaming pile they drop?” one Reddit user wrote on a thread calling the Monster Hunter Secret Lair the “worst drop of the year.”
Secret Lair cards are almost always reprints of existing cards, and in this case, many of those chosen were low-value. Those unfamiliar with Monster Hunter (like myself), might look at many of the big monsters in the Superdrop and see only that: a bunch of big lizards that cost a lot of mana and do a few overly complex things mechanically. None of it is particularly that interesting. Many of the original cards they’re based on don’t see a lot of mainstream use because there are far better cards out there. So were somebody to purchase the Superdrop, they’d essentially get overpriced versions of middling cards probably better left in a binder rather than headlining a deck.
Perhaps worse, many of those cards didn’t really match the vibe of Monster Hunter or resonate all that well with the source material. Why wasn’t Monster Hunter’s Gore Magala, a dragon that brings blight, represented with the mechanics from the Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon card? Instead, it’s a demon with flying and trample that can search your library if you sacrifice 2 life and another creature.
“This was supposed to be easy,” wrote one Reddit user named ferretlike last week. “Why does Zinogre play with graveyard? Why does Brachydios care about instant speed?” Zinogre is a huge horned wolf supercharged with lightning, an element usually associated with red mana. Instead, its Superdrop card is a black-green that picks up +1/+1 counters whenever an opponent’s permanent is put into a graveyard. Brachydios is a brawny wyvern with slimy fists, yet the green-blue-red card copies Instants to add +1/+1 counters.
Major fans of both Magic and Monster Hunter were undoubtedly looking forward to this Superdrop, yet the reveal proved underwhelming to say the least.
ferretlike also asked the big questions: “Where is the equipment? Where are the cats? And why is there no Poogie?”
Monster Hunter is so beloved for the wild weapon design and myriad of options players can explore — but they also love those cute little Calico cat companions too. Rather than a Superdrop bloated with massive clunky creatures that don’t resonate with the source material accurately and some middling spells, a greater variety of card types would make for a more accurate representation of the franchise.
Expect more updates in 2026 for whatever this rework looks like.
