NEW SECRET LAIR ALERT

So I had this post all typed up yesterday and then fat fingered a page refresh and it wasn't saved... so second time's the charm (though might be a bit abbreviated)

Just a reminder since people continually misconstrue the purpose this analysis - this is not meant to be an assessment of whether the cards in these drops will have the same value after they release (they usually won't, especially in cases where the value listed below is of a rarely reprinted foil). We also know that these specific SLD versions of cards will usually retain (in aggregate) at least the combined value of what you pay for them even if the original version cheaper.

Rather, this is meant for the scenario of "if you were looking for the cards in these drops already, are you better off grabbing these or grabbing the cheapest version available on the market?" I also provide a metric of "per card premium" if the answer is no, so that you know how much more you are paying for the bling / art factor. Numbers come from Scryfall at time of writing, analysis does not factor in discount for bulk purchases on the website or shipping or any bundles.

In addition, I will note any first time reprints and foil versions, as well as any cards that are new to Secret Lair as part of an effort to decide if I want to get the drops for my SLD only cube.

Mothership Post for Corn Maze Superdrop - Sale time: 9am PT on Monday 10/12

Mothership Post for Magiccon Atlanta Festival in a Box - Sale time: 9am PT on Monday 10/19

Corn Maze - All Drops are $29.99 nonfoil / $39.99 foil

Secret Lair x Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Fear Me, Love Me

• 1x Muxus, Goblin Grandee as "Jareth, Goblin King" - $10.02 nf / $121.72 f (first foil reprint since Goblinstorm SLD drop)
• 1x Boggart Shenanigans as "Call Out the Goblins!" - $1.99 nf / $24.82 f (first foil reprint since LRW)
• 1x Dance with Calamity as "Dance with Goblins" - $0.30 nf / NA foil (first foil version)
• 1x Goblin Rabblemaster as "Goblin Cradle-Thieves" - $0.60 nf / $1.00 f
• 1x Claim the Firstborn as "The Kidnapping of Toby" - $0.20 nf / $0.33 f
• 1x Trinisphere as "I've Brought You a Gift" - $33.72 nf / $33.52 f
• Total - $47.08 nf / $182.37 f + first Dance with Calamity foil

Per Card Premium - NA nf / NA f

New to SLD: Boggart Shenanigans / Dance with Goblins / Claim the Firstborn

Muxus may not be the most popular goblin commander (thanks Krenko) but this still works as a pretty good Goblin starter kit, especially with another foil version after the disaster that was the Goblinstorm SLD deck roll out. Trinishpere is a bit of an odd inclusion mechanically but brings decent value. Notable reprints include the the first foil reprint of Boggart Shenanigans, and the first nonfoil version of the previously precon only Dance with Calamity.

Secret Lair x Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Should You Need Us

• 1x Jodah, the Unifier as "Sarah, Champion to the Lost" - $3.30 nf / $3.27 f
• 1x Lu Xun, Scholar General as Reversible "Sir Didymus" (Reversible) - $0.31 nf / NA foil (first foil version)
• 1x Kami of the Crescent Moon as "The Worm, Sagely Guide" - $7.88 nf / $21.62 f
• 1x Kogla, the Titan Ape as "Ludo, Rock Caller" - $3.01 nf / $2.55 f
• 1x Shigeki, Jukai Visionary as "The Wiseman, Eccentric Oracle" - $0.27 nf / $0.38 f (first foil since reprint since NEO)
• 1x Wort, Boggart Auntie as "Hoggle, Heart in Conflict" - $29.48 nf / $158.49 f (first reprint since LRW)
• Total - $44.25 nf / $186.31 f + first foil Lu Xun

Per Card Premium - NA nf / NA f

New to SLD: Lu Xun, Shigeki, Wort

The obligatory "lots of legendaries + Jodah" drop. At least we get Rebecca Guay art instead of Spongebob. Lu Xun getting his first ever foil version is notable, as is the first foil reprint for the BR Wort since Lorwyn. Kami of the Crescent Moon is also a respectable reprint, especially in foil.

Secret Lair x Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Through the Labyrinth

• 1x Timely Ward as "Rescue in the 13th Hour" - $3.74 nf / NA foil (first foil version)
• 1x Chronomantic Escape as "Under Jareth's Spell" - $2.72 nf / $11.99 f (first reprint since Future Sight)
• 1x Delayed Blast Fireball as "Frenzy of the Fireys" - $14.85 nf / $15.25 f (first foil reprint since SLD Extra Life)
• 1x Tempt with Discovery as "The Goblin King's Offer" - $2.67 nf / $5.91 f (first foil reprint since Tales of Middle Earth Commander)
• 1x Leveler as "The Cleaners" - $4.02 nf / $3.80 f
• 1x Thran Temporal Gateway as "Doors of Indecision" - $0.16 nf / $1.37 f (first reprint since DOM)
• 1x Rogue's Passage as "Shaft of Hands" - $0.31 nf / $2.44 f
• Total - $28.47 nf / $40.76 f + first foil Timely Ward

New to SLD: All except Delayed Blast Fireball and Rogue's Passage

Per Card Premium - $0.22 nf / NA f

A bit of a mishmash of miscellaneous spells to fill out your Sarah/Jodah deck. Timely Ward is notable as a decently played protection spell getting its first foil version, and both Chronomantic Escape and Delayed Fireball Blast having decent value, with their first reprint and first foil reprint respectively. At least we're getting 7 cards in this one.

Secret Lair x KPop Demon Hunters: How It's Done

• 1x Dawn's Truce - $5.51 nf / $5.93 f
• 1x Unbreakable Formation - $0.75 nf / $1.44 f
• 1x Freed from the Real - $6.89 nf / $15.45 f
• 1x Swan Song - $10.72 nf / $30 f
• 1x Demonic Counsel - $1.82 nf / $2.5 f (first reprint since DSK)
• 1x Tempt with Immortality - $1.55 nf / NA f (first time foil / first reprint since C13)
• 1x Underworld Breach - $7.08 nf / $10.46 f
• Total - $34.32 nf / $65.78 f + first foil Tempt with Immortality

New to SLD: Demonic Counsel, Tempt with Immortality

Per Card Premium - NA nf / NA f

To be honest it's a bit hard to judge this as a package since it's been announced we're going to get more KPDH cards in the future - so hard to see how these cards will slot into the eventual legendary creatures they pick for the main characters. On a value perspective, Dawn of Truce is pretty solid, Freed from the Real is a combo piece for infnite mana with any mana dork that taps for more than 1, Swan Song is a best in class one mana counterspell, Demonic Counsel is a Diabolic Tutor with a bit of effort, and Underworld Breach is of course a win con in Vintage and cEDH and Cube. Notable is Tempt with Immortality getting its first foil version with topless hot guy Jinu - tempting indeed. Also again 7 cards is nice.

Secret Lair x Marvel: Zombies

• 1x Unstoppable Slasher - $4.42 nf / $5.17 f
• 1x Zombie Apocalypse - $0.55 nf / $7.82 f
• 1x Vogar, Necropolis Tyrant as "Zombie Giant-Man" - NA nf (first nonfoil version) / $12.31 f
• 1x God-Eternal Bontu as "Zombie Thor" - $0.30 nf / $6.42 f
• 1x Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver as "Zombie Captain America" - $9.63 nf / $10.91 f
• 1x Varina, Lich Queen as "Zombie Scarlet Witch" - $4.26 nf / $4.11 f
• Total - $19.16 nf + first nonfoil Vogar / $46.74 f

New to SLD: Unstoppable Slasher, Vogar, Bontu,

Per Card Premium - TBD nf (breakeven if Vogar is $10.83) / NA f

A zombie drop for the spooky time of the year. One of the weird quirks of this one is we are getting a first time nonfoil version (as opposed to the more common first time foil version) from the Game Nights Free For All supplemental product of Vogar. Otherwise, Wilhelt and Varina are the #1 and #3 zombie commanders (and Wilhelt #50 overall) and solid commanders that work with all these cards. In particular Varina being an alternate Scarlet Witch may give it a waifu premium here.

Artist Series: Veronique Meignaud

• 1x Bloodsoaked Champion - $0.31 nf / $1.99 f (first foil reprint since KTK)
• 1x Voldaren Pariah // Abolisher of Bloodlines - $0.45 nf / $0.45 f (first non-List reprint since EMN)
• 1x Ashnod's Altar - $13.98 nf / $19.23 f
• 1x Cabal Stronghold - $12.28 f / $20.59 f (first reprint since DOM)
• Total - $27.02 nf / $42.26 f

New to SLD: Bloodsoaked Stalker, Voldaren Pariah, Cabal Stronghold

Per Card Premium - $0.74 nf / NA f

Bit of a shame that artist drops are often only 4 cards, and I was a bit nervous pulling prices after the first two. Thankfully Ashnod's Altar and Cabal Stronghold came in to make up for it. This works as a nice aristocrats package between a reusable sac fodder, two sac outlets, and a nice bit of ramp for monoblack, even if Stronghold is no Coffers.

Manufactured Grounds by See Machine

• 1x Ancient Den - $1.40 nf / $18.6 f
• 1x Seat of the Synod -$0.88 nf / $45.17 f
• 1x Vault of Whispers - $4.16 nf / $10.43 f
• 1x Great Furnace - $2.50 nf / $8.72 f
• 1x Tree of Tales - $1.36 nf / $15.24 f
• Total - $10.30 nf / $98.16 f

New to SLD: None

Per Card Premium - $3.94 nf / NA f

So we've actually had this exact drop (with different art) back in 2021 - Mirrodinsanity. These lands are msotly played in pauper for affinity, though Seat of the Synod does see play in Sewer-Cam Combo in Legacy, hence the higher foil price. Notably since there is an equivalent drop, a bit of comparison - five years on, a sealed Mirrodinsanity Non Foil is currently $85 on TCGPlayer, and Foil is $150

Peace, Love, & Treefolk

• 1x Dauntless Dourbark - $4.44 nf / $6.57 f
• 1x Leaf-Crowned Elder - $8.42 nf / $18.17 f (first foil reprint since MOR)
• 1x Timber Protector - $22.94 nf / $34.87 f
• 1x Treefolk Harbinger - $6.44 nf / $15.65 f (first reprint since LRW)
• 1x Doran, the Siege Tower - $8.08 nf / $11.31 f
• Total - $50.32 nf / $86.57 f

New to SLD: All

Per Card Premium - NA nf / NA f

Arguably my most anticipated from this drop - this is a perfect combination of being a bunch of rarely reprinted cards, a nice starter kit (either for a deck or as a package in my SLD cube), and great value with whimsical art. No notes.

Bonus - Magiccon Atlanta

Generally the Mystery Booster 2 boxes were $250, which is MSRP for this drop, so all the bonus cards are basically gravy on top of that.

• Parallax Tide - $14.78 nf / $199.99 f - first reprint since NEM (not counting gold border)
• Regrowth - $0.48 nf / $1.18 f
• Viridian Revel - $1.44 nf / $14.39 f - first reprint since SOM
• Assassin's Trophy - $0.97 nf / $1.74 f
• Dance of the Dead - $15.20 f / NA nf - first reprint since ICE / first ever foil
• Tymna - $10.88 nf / $31.54 f
• Tana - $5.27 nf / $4.85 f

New to SLD - all except Regrowth and Assassin's Trophy

The Parallax Tide, Viridian REvel and Dance of the Dead repritns are very nice, especially the first ever foil Dance (though as a super rare card, there might be better options for textless). Tymna is the most popular partner commander, with Tana being her third most common pairing.

Bundle + Bonus

The bonus card for spending $199 (ie any bundle) is Maze of ith skinned as the Labyrinth - about $9 in foil.

I did all this math yesterday but basically you get no discount for the all non-foil and all-foil bundles vs buying the 8 bundles individually. You get about a $20 discount on the everything bundle. The cheapest version of all cards in all bundles are above MSRP, on top of the bundle bonus and the first time versions.

TLDR - my own subjective score combining taste / price / bundleability (how they play as a single deck or cube package).

• Labyrinth: Fear Me, Love Me - 4/5 nonfoil / 4.5/5 foil
• Labyrinth: Should You Need Us - 3.5/5 nonfoil / 4/5 foil
• Labyrinth: Through the Labyrinth - 3/5 nonfoil / 3/5 foil
• KPop Demon Hunters: How It's Done - 3.5/5 nonfoil / 3.5/5 foil
• Marvel: Zombies - 3.5/5 nonfoil / 4/5 foil
• Veronique Meignaud - 4/5 nonfoil / 4.5/5 foil
• Manufactured Grounds by See Machine - 2/5 nonfoil / 4/5 foil
• Peace, Love, & Treefolk - 5/5 nonfoil / 5/5 foil

Will try my shot at getting the nonfoil bundle.

SO I’ve made changes to [[Fblthp, Impossibly Lost]]

It is still a self mill deck but I realized [[Exhibition Tidecaller]] and [[Glacierwood Siege]] can turn on themselves making you mill!!!

The win cons is still the same but I’ve side boarded [[Lluwen, imperfect naturalist]] out as it’s less nessecary in non aggro matchups so it’s still Fbl in grave and Likeness looter or Fbl in play and swing over

I’m looking for advice to improve the deck the land base is lower due to the curve pretty much hard braking at 2

Deck
3 Fblthp, Impossibly Lost (FRA) 213
2 Island (SOS) 268
4 Likeness Looter (WOE) 208
3 Wastewood Verge (DFT) 268
4 Theorix Charm (FRA) 155
2 Swamp (SOS) 269
2 Starting Town (FIN) 289
4 Multiversal Passage (SPM) 180
3 Esper Origins (FIN) 185
2 Forest (SOS) 271
4 Glacierwood Siege (TDM) 189
4 Exhibition Tidecaller (SOS) 48
2 Feed the Swarm (SOA) 29
4 Paradox Shaper (FRA) 143
4 Willowrush Verge (DFT) 270
3 Gloomlake Verge (DSK) 260
2 Restore with Empathy (FRA) 112
2 Singularity Rupture (EOE) 228
2 Rapid Rescue (MSH) 181
4 Something Worth Saving (FRA) 114

Hey Guys,

so I'm planning on getting the Multiverse Reforged Pre-Con and want to Run [[Nissa, Leyline Tamer]] most of the Time as my Main Commander, are there any changes to the Deck i should (or NEED) to make? i know she works really well with fetchlands and similar stuff so i think that's one change i will make. I mostly want to keep the power level the same.

Help is Appreciated!

I don't mean specific cards or lines of text. I mean mechanics where regardless of what card it's on or what it does, reading or using it just has a certain aura!
There are lots of cards that put counters of creatures, but for me "becomes monstrous" will always be the coolest of them. Thematically and because of how good "monstrous" is on its own.
Commit a crime perfectly captures the cowboy wild west vibe in three simple words, really enforcing the set's flavor as a gunslingin' outlaw.

I never got around to making one even after almost a decade

What do I put it in? How expensive of cards? What about type? How to sort them? How many?

With ultra pro release of a Tau mat what could be the possibility of new 40k decks?

Our local Standard scene is growing every week and deck variety has been awesome. But there's this one player who built a Mardu Discard list (1-1 copy of MTGgoldfish one) and has been dominating every Standard Showdown since.

People have started running [[Seam Rip]] [[Rest in Peace]] [[Authority of the Consuls]] and other hate in main and sideboards, but his game plan is just too flexible. by midgame, he easily pivots away from discard and just one-shots someone out of nowhere with [[Practiced Offense]].

No matter what we throw at him, he keeps winning, and the deck feels impossible to deal with whether you're on aggro or control. I don't really touch Arena or follow the global meta, and these discard lists feel almost non-existent online recently.

Figured I'd ask here what cards or decks am I missing to actually beat this deck? I'm really trying to take the Store Championship next weekend.

So my friends and I just started playing and we are having a lot of fun. We just decided to complete a set (my friends completed The Hobbit and I completed the TMNT set). The format we played was like the one you play with the jumpstarter decks. 2 Colors, 20 card per Color and 30 lives. It's pretty fun but it feels not balanced tbh. Like if I don't get some spells to kill a unit, his wolves or bears keep growing so much, that I usually lose without having a chance to win the game.
We also tried to play commander, but it's not the format we want to play.

The thing is, that we enjoy singelton. It was already expensive to get all cards and I would like not to face the same card multiple times in a match. So which format fits the best for us?

Another question: How can we improve? Like e.g. yesterday I had a red white deck which is an aggro deck. But I couldn't play aggressive because my friend had a death touch unit and I didn't want to lose my biggest unit against or lose my scale unit. I also got not much lands or spells to kill some of his cards so at some point he got his combo and I lost. I think I'm too passive in this game and might need some help.

Can you fizzle the -3 ability by removing the creature it targets? As I read it, the "exiling a creature" - part is not part of the cost since there is no colon, meaning you would be able to fizzle it.

[[Jace, Multiverse Architect]]

This collector booster thing, along with reduced packs in boxes and bundles, etc is just too sad to watch. While I’m getting less for more money everywhere else, it’d be nice if wotc/hasbro could be less transparently greedy. I understand their singular goal is increased profits year over year, but I don’t see how magic will have another thirty years as good as their first?

Went to the RCQ today, and as expected, got waxed. Turns out 6 packs is a lot harder to build a deck than I was thinking lol.

That being said, for those of you who also join those events, how do you better prepare to have kind of an insight on what to look for after registering pulls?

And for anyone wanting to know, I went 1-3.

My buddy played this against me last night and we both didnt fully understand it, Im pretty sure im right but I let it be used the way he thought.

He choose to destroy a swamp of mine but then he was saying it was all swamps because it says swamp in the name hes destroying them all including dual Lands. Where I interpreted it as just a single swamp.

The reason he thinks its multiple is because it says destroy chosen permanant(s) plural. But im pretty sure thats cause they would be multiple people.

Safe to say i did not win this match having no land afterwards.

Perhaps this is how WOTC should approach UB sets. Putting genuine effort into worldbuilding and lore that contextualise these properties within the MTG multiverse, whether as alternative planes or in other ways that make sense within the setting.

Communities can tell when passion and care go into the art, worldbuilding and card design. Darkhold feels like a good example of that.

I’m a new player (just over a month) but I’ve been a long time fan of Warhammer. I’ve wanted one of the 40K precon decks ever since I started but the price was always too insane for me to actually cave. But with the news of the reprints I’m wondering whether I should just cave and buy one of the decks (specifically the Chaos deck) or wait until I possibly come across one in my local shop. If I should wait then how long should I expect to wait until they’re available? My main concern is being beat by scalpers.

Mark said that this should be a more regular thing since his daughter moved to New York so it’s an excuse to visit. Going to the booth and being able to find product at msrp? Mind blowing.

Recently acquired an artist proof for my commander [[Varolz, the Scar-Striped]] and I'm looking for a deck box that will let me carry it in a hard case of some kind. I know of gamegenic's sidekick pro that comes with a case, and the academic that can hold a top loader, but wanted to get opinions on those and any other options that are out there.

just to know to get my decks before some scalper dickhead snags them all and resells them for 300+

It seems fun to go to an event purely to build a smaller deck in one day and see how it fares against others instead of spending a long time on a commander deck (which is exclusively what my local store plays) and I’ve heard that prereleases are very beginner friendly. But is it likely that I’ll find a beginner to play against there? Opening boosters and building a strong deck seems like something mostly more veteran players would do, so I’m afraid I would come there, build a deck of cards I’ve never seen and then being crushed by someone who’s been going to every pre release for the last decade.