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Magic: The Gathering’sfirst Secret Lair superdrop of 2024 has arrived, bringing with it some impressive art styles, a handful of interesting reprints, and one heck of a big misprint.
Secret Lairis Magic’s exclusive, limited-time deal that seems cards with unique art be made available for a matter of weeks. These six drops are all on sale right now, and will be available either until stock runs out of March 5, depending on which comes first.
This is the first superdrop since Wizards changed how it does Secret Lairs. Instead of being print-to-demand, they are now preprinted and available while stocks last, meaning you have to get in there quickly if you don’t want to get scalped out of picking up these cards.
Nonfoil: $24.99
Foil: $34.99
Playing off Victorian posters for psychics, mediums, and spiritualists,Deceptive Divinationincludes five fully-monochrome and highly abstract pieces of art by Alexander Khabbazi.
Some may find them tricky to read across the table, especially with the complete lack of colour, but it’s hard to deny that Price of Progress doesn’t look cool. It’s also nice to have new art of Scheming Symmetry for those hoping to de-Seb McKinnon their Commander decks.
Value-wise there isn’t much going on here, with Price of Progress and Scheming Symmetry being the most valuable at just under $5 each. This is one you’d buy for the art more than its reprint worth.
This drop has the dubious honour of including a fairly major misprint. Circular Logic isn’t a sorcery, it’s an instant. Considering Secret Lair drops are now printed in advance, the version you receive will have this mistake on it as well. However, Wizards has also knocked five dollars of the usual price, making it a slightly more interesting deal.
Nonfoil: $29.99
Foil: $39.99
Murders at Karlov Manor is a pulpy set full of noir tropes, plucky detectives, and dramatic scenes, which makes the pulp-cover-inspiredHard-Boiled Thrillersdrop tie in perfectly with it.
It’s also got some really exciting cards. This is the first-ever reprint of both Reconnaissance, having not been seen since 1998’s Exodus, and Shadowmoor’s Dire Undercurrents. Black Market and Jace, Wielder of Mysteries also both see lots of play in Commander, and Obeka is one of the most interesting commanders ever printed.
The value of this drop is almost there, primarily thanks to Reconnaissance and Dire Undercurrents. But again, this is another one you’d pick up for the absolutely stunning art by Josh Newton and Scott Okumura.
Adrix and Nev, Twincasters
Just Add Milk is one of the most memorable Secret Lair drops having reimagined popular commanders like Etali as cereal box mascots. It’s now back for a second bowl, with even more Commander all-stars getting their own sugary breakfasts inJust Add Milk: Second Helpings.
Adrix and Nev was only just recently reprinted in the Murders at Karlov Manor Commander decks, but still sits neatly at over $10 thanks to being an excellent Simic commander. Krark and Yargle are both classics, but the real winner here is Sakashima of A Thousand Faces, which hasn’t been reprinted in over three years and is sitting at around $30 at the time of writing.
The art style is going to be divisive for some, especially as the key information about them is on the back of the card instead. But if you’re wanting a bit of light-hearted fun, or just want that Sakashima, there are definitely worse ways of getting it than this.
The best thing about Secret Lair is when it lets artists just go weird with their designs, such asPrismatic Nightmaresby Graham Yarrington. This drop takes some of the game’s grimmest cards (and Arcane Denial) and gives them flat, vibrant, dream-like colours.
Unfortunately, a running theme for this superdrop is the lack of reprint value. It’s a first-time reprint Rain of Filth and Prince of Thralls, but the latter is the most valuable in the whole drop at just under seven dollars.
Still, Simian Spirit Guide and Arcane Denial are both staples in Pauper, so if you were hoping to bling out your Pauper deck it could be a drop worth looking into.
It wouldn’t be a superdrop without a tie-in with the latest set, meaning we’re getting four of the Commander format’s most popular faces inMurders at Karlov Manors' divisive dossier art treatment. Personally, I really like them, and the art for these really contrasts nicely with the desaturated look of the surrounding border.
The frame being so controversial is one thing, but the card value on offer here makes it an even harder sell. The only one worth noting is Vilis, Broker of Blood, which still sits at under $10. You could take a punt on the bonus card being something great, but it’s really hard to justify a drop like this when every card can be picked up for under $10 total.
If you really like the dossier frame or are banking on a surprise banger for the bonus card, this worthwhile. In any other circumstance, I’d think very, very carefully first.
The final drop of the 2024 Winter Superdrop is The Beauty of the Beasts, which has Rowynn Ellis reimagine some of the beasties from around the Magic multiverse. Weirdly, only one of them is an actual beat, but all of the cards are still exciting.
Reprint value there isn’t much to shout about here, with Serpent of Yawning Depths getting its first reprint being the most interesting. But playability, there’s a lot on offer here. Serpent goes great in Kraken decks, Peregrine Drake is part of the famous Deadeye Navigator combo for infinite mana, and Felidar Guardian is a go-to in any blink deck. Voracious Hydra and Scourge of Valkas are slightly harder sells, but still get used in more niche decks.
Peregrine Drake is banned in Pauper.
It’s drops like this that really highlight what Secret Lair should be: cool art with playable cards. They don’t all need to be $30 reprints, just cards people would actually want to use. At least three of these already have a home in my Commander decks, making it a no-brainer for me to pick up.
Bundles
Interestingly, this drop has a larger spread of bundles than normal, grouping them together around the Hard-Boiled Thrillers or The Beauty Of The Beasts drops, depending on which you want more.
$299.99
$179.99
$129.99
