A rather wacky MTG Secret Lair Commander preconstructed deck is on its way. Taking win conditions to the extreme, Wizards of the Coast’s newest Commander deck hosts 20 alternate win conditions that… probably synergize with one another?
Some of these have new artwork, while others are something we’ve already seen before. In order to show off what the deck has in store for us, MTG Secret Lair is slowly spoiling all 20 different win conditions in the deck, and we have a bunch more to see today.
As cool as some of the alternate art for these cards are, they are sadly not the most exciting reprints in the world from a value perspective. Even still, there is some surprise value sprinkled here and there.
Felidar Sovereign: $1.50
Kicking things off, we have Felidar Sovereign. Felidar Sovereign is a relatively popular win condition for life gain strategies in Commander. Funnily enough, because you start at 40 life in multiplayer Commander games, you don’t have to put in too much effort with this card.
Still, the unique Cat has been reprinted multiple times, most recently in Foundations Jumpstart. This caused the card’s price to tank further, as it currently sits around $1.50 in its cheapest, non-foil form according to TCGPlayer market price.
Test of Endurance: $1
Test of Endurance is the OG life gain win condition, printed all the way back in Judgment. As an enchantment, Test of Endurance has the upside that it’s a bit harder to remove. It also only costs four mana. The tradeoff is that you need to get to 50 life and it doesn’t impact the board. Nonetheless, it’s typical for decks playing Felidar Sovereign to also play this card.
Despite being printed decades ago, its recent Dominaria Remastered reprint helped reduce its price. You can easily get copies for roughly $1 now.
Mayael’s Aria: $2
Mayael’s Aria is undoubtedly one of the sweetest win conditions on this list. The card straight up does nothing unless you have big creatures in play. Once you have a five-power threat, though, Mayael’s Aria becomes a +1/+1 counter spewing machine.
The real payoff, though, comes when you get a 20-power creature in play. These aren’t easy to come by, but there are some creatures that synergize well here (take Colossus of Akros as an Indestructible monster, for example).
As fun as the card is, once again, it isn’t worth too much. You can pick up a Double Masters copy for just under $2.
Triskaideckaphile: $0.50
Triskaidekaphile is somewhat similar to the Triskaidekaphobia win condition. Both of these cards care about the number 13. Despite a disappointing price tag, Triskaidekaphile is actually a pretty powerful card.
So long as you have a decent chunk of mana to work with, Triskaidekaphile provides you with a pretty good mana sink. Furthermore, because you don’t have to worry about discarding to hand size, if you can protect Triskaidekaphile, you can always choose not to deploy more to the board and eventually you’ll reach the 13-card threshold.
Unfortunately, its power isn’t indicative of its price tag. It’s a simple rare printed in Innistrad: Midnight Hunt and has a price of just 50 cents.
Halo Fountain: $8
Finally, we’ve reached a win condition that’s actually on the pricier side. Halo Fountain is a neat design. Part of what makes the card such a sweet build-around is that its first two abilities are naturally pretty strong by themselves.
Any deck with some token production should be able to use Halo Fountain as a card draw engine. You just need to make sure your creatures can become tapped, which you can do simply by attacking in Commander if someone has an open board. Then, later in the game, if you’ve built out a big enough army, Halo Fountain lets you win the game on the spot.
The untapping ability can combo with creatures that need to tap to use abilities, as well, which gives Halo Fountain even more game.
This card appeared as a mythic rare in Streets of New Capenna and hasn’t been reprinted since. As such, the $8 price tag isn’t too shocking.
Twenty-Toed Toad: $3.50
Twenty-Toed Toad is such a funny card because it serves as two different alternate win conditions. It fuels both so long as you can attack with it and a pal. Getting to twenty cards or twenty counters is asking a lot, but at least the potent Frog Wizard provides card advantage in combat.
This card won’t be featured with alternate art this time around, so there’s still only one artwork available. Price wise, the card is worth just over $3.50 in its cheapest form.
Happily Ever After: $0.20
This card is incredibly cute and flavorful. Unfortunately, though, it’s also pretty bad. The win condition is very difficult to realistically reach. Meanwhile, the triggered ability you get up front helps everyone at the table.
Even though it’s only been printed in Throne of Eldraine, players can obtain copies for roughly 20 cents. At least the Secret Lair variant boasts some sweet new artwork.
Hellkite Tyrant: $3.50
Hellkite Tyrant, on the other hand, has a potentially game-breaking effect just when it deals combat damage. Ignoring the alternate win condition portion of the card, getting to steal all of your opponent’s mana rocks, equipment, and more is incredible.
Then, if you’re running artifacts yourself, you can get to 20 artifacts no problem. Treasure production is particularly strong with Hellkite Tyrant in the mix.
Nonetheless, this Dragon saw a reprint and a downshift to rare in Ravnica Remastered, dropping its value significantly. At about $3.50, it’s not nothing, but it’s not on the same level as Halo Fountain by any means.
Simic Ascendancy: $0.50
Lastly, we have Simic Ascendancy. Simic Ascendancy isn’t a super powerful card, but if you’re playing a deck with a +1/+1 counter theme, there’s no harm in throwing this card in there.
It’s also a very cheap card, valued at about 50 cents since being reprinted in both The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander and Bloomburrow Commander Precons. Notably, both of these printings do not come in foil. Since the foil only has a few much rarer printings, that version of the card holds a $2-5 value.
The good news, at least, is that this card earns my vote for the sweetest artwork in the Secret Lair product so far. Who doesn’t love enormous Raccoons?
At this point, there are only a few win conditions that haven’t been revealed. While the product may not boast a ton of reprint value collectively, the preconstructed deck is certainly a neat idea. Make sure to keep up with updates on the Secret Lair website.
