There’s a new Magic: The Gathering Secret Lair superdrop dropping very shortly (June 15), and this one is cat-themed, so you know what that means: it should sell out in a flash.
Actually, there’s a strange absence of cats in this ‘Cats Are The Best’ superdrop – in the card types, if not in the actual art.
You probably don’t have long to decide if you’re in the market for these before they’re off the market, so to help you out, here’s a breakdown of every collection, all the cards inside, and what they currently sell for on the secondary market.
All these drops cost $29.99, or $39.99 in foil, so – while their original artwork and exclusivity will often boost the price over time – $30 is a useful measuring stick to hold these SLs up to when considering if you’re getting a good deal.
Secret Lair x Garfield: As Intended
Swords to Plowshares – $1.35 Nonfoil / $3.15 Foil
Counterspell – $1.60 Nonfoil / $3.20 Foil
Dark Ritual – $3.75 Nonfoil / $6 Foil
Earthquake – $0.70 Nonfoil / $20 Foil
Fog – $0.25 Nonfoil / $1.10 Foil
Total = $7.65 Nonfoil / $33.45 Foil
As usual, we’re starting with the duds. For this Secret Lair, WotC threw in a bunch of Alpha cards to create Magic as (Richard) Garfield intended – get it?
The first three cards are at least highly playable, but none are worth more than four dollars. If you want showy, Garfield-themed versions of your staples, this one’s perhaps worth considering (especially if you go for foils and get a coveted shiny Fog), but as a method of getting hold of valuable cards, this ain’t it.
Witch’s Familiar
Sheltered By Ghosts – $1.45 Nonfoil / $4.25 Foil
Spirit of the Hearth – $0.50 Nonfoil / $1.20 Foil
Witch Enchanter / Witch-Blessed Meadow – $3.35 Nonfoil / $7.90 Foil
Wayfarer’s Bauble – $0.35 Nonfoil / $0.50 Foil
Boseiju, Who Shelters All – $17 Nonfoil / $20 Foil
Total = $22.65 Nonfoil / $33.85 Foil
Adorable witches and ghostly cats make for a very cute and cozy Secret Lair, and we’re in mono-white, so it’s at least feasible that you might be able to slot the whole lot into the same deck.
This is the cutest Lair of the drop, and I’ve no doubt it’s going to be snapped up quickly. That said, the one valuable card in the lair, Boseiju, doesn’t really fit with the rest of them. It’s mostly played in big spells decks, or as a combo-protector in cEDH.
Secret Lair x Garfield: Our Only Thought Is to Entertain You
It that Betrays – $12 Nonfoil / $65 Foil
Maddening Cacophany – $8 Nonfoil / $8.05 Foil
Maddening Hex – $3.70 Nonfoil / $8 Foil
Hunter’s Insight – $0.40 Nonfoil / $0.50 Foil
Molten Collapse – $0.40 Nonfoil / $0.45 Foil
Total = $24.50 Nonfoil / $82 Foil
A nod to the cosmic horror of the r/imsorryjon subreddit, this Secret Lair has suitably eyepopping, disturbing artwork. As for cards worth talking about, well there’s the mill card Maddening Cacophony. And if you’ve always wanted to put Garfield in your Eldrazi deck, the opportunity is now here! Notably, It That Betrays also gets its first foil here since Rise of the Eldrazi.
Secret Lair x Felix the Cat: Magic Bag of Tricks
Future Sight – $0.40 Nonfoil / $0.70 Foil
Time Stretch – $3.90 Nonfoil / $4.95 Foil
Barrowgoyf – $15 Nonfoil / First Foil*
Throes of Chaos – $0.25 Nonfoil / $1 Foil
Mind’s Eye – $5.30 Nonfoil / $7.25 Foil
Total = $24.85 Nonfoil / $13.90 Foil*
The Felix the Cat SL is just 35 cents more valuable – we’re inching ever closer to the $30 mark. Here we have an evil batch of Grixis cards for this retro kitty. Though most are kinda niche and not that pricey, Barrowgoyf sticks out like a sore thumb – the first reprint for this card since it debuted in the Disa precon, and its first ever foil printing!
Purr Majesty
Court of Grace – $3.15 Nonfoil / $3.60 Foil
Reverent Mantra – $20 Nonfoil / $100 Foil
Windborn Muse – $0.60 Nonfoil / $0.70 Foil
Queen Marchesa – $1 Nonfoil / $2.95 Foil
Ruinous Ultimatum – $0.85 Nonfoil / $3.50 Foil
Total = $25.60 Nonfoil / $110.75 Foil
I always like it when a Secret Lair is purposefully designed to provide a package of cards for one commander, and what we have here is a selection for Queen Marchesa, who is also in the drop. The theme is fun, the intention is clear, but is the value here?
Well… not really. The foil price may draw the eye, as Reverent Mantra is from 1999, when the shiny cards were so much scarcer. Aside from that, though, it’s another load of dross with just one money card holding it up.
Toby’s Journey by Gary Baseman
Sovereign Okinec Ahau – $3.65 Nonfoil / $4.40 Foil
Trailblazer’s Boots – $1.35 Nonfoil / $2.50 Foil
Long Goodbye – $0.35 Nonfoil / $0.35 Foil
Farseek – $0.65 Nonfoil / $2 Foil
Prismatic Vista – $41 Nonfoil / $45 Foil
Total = $47 Nonfoil / $54.25 Foil
A sudden jump takes us way above the $29.99 baseline for this, the second ever SL by cartoonist Gary Baseman. I’m definitely not complaining about a reprint for the Modern and Legacy playable land Prismatic Vista (and if you already got the Gary Baseman lands drop this is surely a must-buy) but wasn’t this drop supposed to be about cats?
Secret Lair x Garfield: Motivationally Challenged
Rin & Seri, Inseparable – $38 Nonfoil / $37 Foil
Orim’s Chant – $6.20 Nonfoil / $8.90 Foil
Ponder – $1.75 Nonfoil / $5.95 Foil
Beast Within – $0.55 Nonfoil / $11 Foil
Sol Ring – $1.40 Nonfoil / $1.75 Foil
Total = $47.90 Nonfoil / $64.60 Foil
It wouldn’t be a cat and/or dog Secret Lair without a copy of Rin & Seri. That card is the primary prize in what I’m automatically thinking of as the ‘main’ Garfield SL, although Orim’s Chant is getting up there too, having only had a pair of printings.
The rest of the collection is playable EDH staples, which though not worth much can often be boosted to a much-inflated price with the correct SL treatment. Particularly Sol Ring! Whether Garfield is that correct treatment, I couldn’t tell you…
Cats of Chaos
Fell the Mighty – 0.30 Nonfoil / $0.40 Foil
Aggravated Assault – $28 Nonfoil / $32 Foil
Chaos Warp – $0.40 Nonfoil / $1.50 Foil
Utopia Sprawl – $1.15 Nonfoil / $2.05 Foil
Aura Shards – $22 Nonfoil / $125 Foil
Total = $51.85 Nonfoil / $160.95 Foil
The crème de la crème of this superdrop is likely to be a fast-selling crowdpleaser, as it’s the only one of the bunch that features realistic (if fantastical) depictions of kitties.
This time we have two headliner cards. Aggravated Assault is very popular in combat-based decks as an efficient way to double dip, and Aura Shards from the original Commander 2011 product is a game changer and excellent removal option in go-wide decks.
Alongside them are some cheap, heavily printed but very highly played cards – that Chaos Warp is one I can see getting pricey.
If you’re planning to pick up any of these drops let us know on the Wargamer Discord – and tell us what the buying experience is like, I know these things can be very hit and miss.
Source: Wargamer
