The new LotR MTG Secret Lair drop might be the worst ever released, according to Magic: The Gathering fans online. ‘More Adventures in Middle-earth’ reprints cards from the new MTG Lord of the Rings set, adding art from the 1978 The Lord of the Rings movie. While there’s plenty of nostalgia in the MTG Secret Lair, the drop has been criticized for its cards lacking value on secondary markets.
According to some Magic: The Gathering fans, $30 (£30) is far too high a price for these cards. One example is Redditor Ninjaboi333, who shared a complete financial breakdown of the drop on Monday. They estimate the $30 non-foil drop was actually worth $0.38 (£0.30), and the $40 foil version doesn’t fare much better with an estimated price of $0.71 (£0.56).
Ninjaboi333 used Scryfall to estimate these prices, so we checked out the prices on another secondary market. According to MTGGoldfish, the non-foil LotR MTG Secret Lair is currently worth $0.92 ($0.72). That’s $0.18 for Slip on the Ring, $0.35 for Gandalf, Friend of the Shire, $0.19 for Mirror of Galadriel, and $0.20 for Shire Terrace.
Our estimation is a little higher, but the math still says Wizards is selling this Secret Lair with around a 3,000% markup.
Ninjaboi333’s Reddit post also analyzes the value of the other six Secret Lairs in the 2023 Summer Superdrop. Their value apparently ranges from $8 (£6.29) to $72 (£56) – showing just how bad a deal fans are getting with ‘More Adventures in Middle-earth’.
Of course, there’s more to value than just price (if there wasn’t, nobody would buy the basic land Secret Lairs). But an MTG card’s fiscal value often represents its beauty, rarity, or playability. For many players, the MTG LotR Secret Lair seems to lack all these qualities.
You can read Ninjaboi333’s full breakdown in their Reddit post. For more on the latest Magic releases, here’s everything you need to know about the MTG 2023 release schedule. And, if you’re a digital TCG player, here’s the latest on MTG Arena codes and MTG Arena decks.
Source: Wargamer
