Summary
Once a season,Magic: The Gatheringreleases some of the coolest cards the game has ever seen through its seasonal Superdrop Secret Lair series. As winter comes to a close, Wizards of the Coast is bringing together six very cool Secret Lair drops for players to scramble over.
The Winter Superdrop is the first one that Wizards is releasing according to their new preprinted system, meaning that there is a limited quantity of these Secret Lairs and once they run out they’re gone for good. If you’re wondering which one to pick up and want to make the most out of your drops, we have the full value of them all to help you pick the best.
6Showcase: Murders At Karlov Manor
Total Value: $9.57
If you love the new Dossier showcase frame from Murders at Karlov Manor, then you’re going to absolutely lose it for this drop.Four popular legendary creatures from Magic’s more recent pastare suspects on Ravnica, even if they don’t know it yet.
This drop includes Anowon, the Ruin Thief, Gonti, Lord of Luxury, Grenzo, Dungeon Warden, and Vilis, Broker of Blood, all four great cards for taking control of the battlefield. Among these cards, Gonti, Lord of Luxury is among the most versatile, letting you steal all sorts of cards from your opponent’s deck, letting you use their more powerful spells against them. While there’s no high ticket card in this drop, you do get some fantastic variants of some of Magic’s most favorite villains.
5Deceptive Divination
Total Value: $11.99
A special Secret Lair drop designed by Alex Khabbazi, this set features five cards all with a fantastic minimalist approach to the design. This Secret Lair even comes with a beautiful poem, helping to tell a story with the art of the cards.
All of the five pieces are essential cards in Commander, with Price of Progress and Eternal Witness being particularly cool to see. There is one thing to note however, the copy of Circular Logic in this drop was accidentally printed as a Sorcery instead of the original Instant typing. The counterspell remains an instant even though the card reads otherwise.
4Prismatic Nightmares
Total Value: $17.92
Five visually impressive cards come together in the Prismatic Nightmares Secret Lair. Each of the cards in this drop are illustrated by Graham Yarrington, with some hauntingly beautiful renditions and vibrant cards included in the drop.
Arcane Denial is the standout card in this drop, being one of the better counterspells in Magic, at least for Commander players. Prince of Thralls has some truly amazing artwork, surrounded by those it has captured in its power, with some truly creepy elements to its design. Peregrine Drake is a particularly cool card here, especially since it is a combo machine, and despite having tons of printings over the years, it has never before received a Secret Lair variant. While most of the cards aren’t the most valuable overall, the artwork alone is worth collecting.
3The Beauty Of The Beasts
Total Value: $18.38
A set of powerful beasts join the Winter Superdrop, each one capable of turning the tide of a game just by being in play. Each of the five cards in this drop is illustrated by Rowynn Ellis, bringing these creatures to horrifying and stunning life.
The card picks in this Secret Lair are great, each one representing some of the most popular beast-like creature types in Magic. Felidar Guardian stands out from among the rest as one of the more beautiful pieces, with the Cat lounging in the pond with a koi fish hanging out with it. The Voracious Hydra is a great piece too, with a terrifying sense of depth from the sheer size of the Hydra, with heads lost in the haze thanks to its tremendous size.
2Hard-Boiled Thrillers
Total Value: $36.45
Perhaps one of the coolest drops in the Winter Superdrop, the Hard-Boiled Thrillers takes five classic Magic cards and reimagines them as old-school noir detective novel covers. Two artists joined teams on these covers, Josh Newton and Scott Okumura, to bring the grittiness of the underbelly of Ravnica to the game.
Among the five cards included in this drop,Jace, Wielder of Mysteries finds itself as one of the more valuable cards here, which is fair given the popularity of the character and the fact that it provides a built-in alternate win condition. There’s also Black Market, which can generate a ton of mana over the course of a game and has tons of little details in the artwork. Perhaps one of the best cards in this drop is Reconnaissance, which has had only one printing in Magic’s history and that was back in Exodus.
1Just Add Milk: Second Helpings
Total Value: $51.01
Coming off the back of the first Just Add Milk Secret Lair, the Second Helpings takes four of Magic’s greatest and most iconic creatures and turns them into cereal mascots in a truly delicious twist.
The standout card in this drop is Sakashima of a Thousand Faces,an incredibly powerful creaturethat lets you copy another creature you control, all while making it so the “legend rule” doesn’t interfere with your cards. Adrix and Nev, Twincasters is another brutally powerful card that doubles your tokens, helping to drive its value up among Commander players. Both of these cards have only had a limited number of printings, which helps make them so valuable if you’re looking to pick up this Secret Lair.
