Wizards of the Coast has announced it has gone “back to the drawing board” with its Magic: The Gathering Secret Lair x Monster Hunter collaboration, admitting it wasn’t good enough.

Last week, IGN reported on the official announcement of Wizards of the Coast’s Secret Lair Monster Hunter Superdrop for Magic: The Gathering, which was set to be available December 1-22.

The collaboration includes four separate drops, each priced at $29.99, with a foil edition for $39.99. All cards involved are reprints of existing cards with Monster Hunter themes, nothing mechanically unique or new.

It’s fair to say fans reacted negatively to the announcement, and based on Wizards of the Coast’s statement on the matter, that backlash went right to the top.

“Let's cut to the chase: the Secret Lair x Monster Hunter Superdrop we revealed last week fell short of expectations,” the company said. “We heard loud and clear that you were disappointed, and we believe we can do better. So, we're going to postpone this release and rework this Superdrop entirely.

“Like many of you, we're big fans of Monster Hunter. It's why we put this Superdrop together. But in our excitement, we missed the mark on elements like card selection and faithfully integrating the world and mechanics of Monster Hunter. As a result, the overall construction of this Superdrop is not up to the standard you have come to expect.

“Pulling Superdrops back isn't something we're going to do very often, but we're committed to doing better. Capcom is on board for us to take another swing at this Superdrop as well.

“So, we're going to pull this one back and will share new details and an updated release date in a few months. Keep an eye out for more information in 2026.”

It's been a busy year for both Secret Lair and third-party Magic collabs in general, with some incredible Secret Lair card drops including Sonic, Final Fantasy, Deadpool, SpongeBob, The Office and more. We're currently eagerly awaiting the release of the Avatar: The Last Airbender Universes Beyond set, following close on the heels of Marvel's Spider-Man. Next year is looking equally stacked, with planned Universes Beyond sets featuring TMNT, The Hobbit, Marvel, and Star Trek. Now we can add Monster Hunter to 2026.

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Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].