The Chaos Vault is the latest innovation to come out of the Secret Lair sub-brand. Outside Wizards, no one really knows what it is yet, even after one drop was released in December. From the looks of things, the Chaos Vault offers even more unique and even more limited-run Secret Lair drops.
While Wizards hasn’t revealed all, just yet at least, it seems the second opening of Chaos Vault is coming soon. Scheduled to hit next week, another rather experimental Secret Lair will be available for players to consider. This time around, it seems the Chaos Vault will be offering a boatload of basic lands for players to pick up.
Bundles of Basic Lands
It appears that the Chaos Vault will be offering experimental Secret Lair drops. Both Secret Lair sales that have appeared within the Chaos Vault have deviated from what we’re used to seeing. According to Blake Rasmussen, the Chaos Vault has been created to offer players something a little bit off the beaten path:
“From launching sales at unusual times to experimentation to offering up unusual items (we heard you like hats)—the Chaos Vault will not disappoint those looking for a storefront with a little something extra.”
Blake Rasmussen
This time around, some Basic Lands will pop up in the Chaos Vault next week. Illustrated by Scott Balmer, it appears that each Basic Land will be offered in separate bundles of ten cards. In terms of quantity, this is certainly on the higher end of individual Secret Lair offers, but it isn’t necessarily breaking new ground.
Basic Land Secret Lairs have hardly been the most popular products that have appeared on the Secret Lair line. Despite their lack of popularity, these Secret Lairs are routinely great deals. Thanks, potentially, to their lack of popularity, these Basic Lands become very difficult to find in the wild, raising their individual prices.
This experimental Secret Lair may have fixed the popularity issue for the Basic Land Lairs. Providing more than enough Basic Lands to create matching sets for Commander decks, the uniformity of artwork may entice a lot more players to purchase this product. The full-art Basic Lands appearing in recent premium Secret Lair products have been a big hit with players. This Secret Lair could create a similar atmosphere.
An Interesting Island…
When discussing this recently announced Secret Lair, players were quick to notice that the Island looks… a little strange.
“The island looks like a vagina.”
TheJapuma
“Here we go again with Magic players and their sick minds! I bet it doesn’t even look like a va- oh my.“
TemurTron
Reddit is swarmed with comments about Balmer’s Island within the Secret Lair drop. Ironically, this could make the Secret Lair even more popular than expected. Controversial art has repeatedly drummed up demand within the community simply for the sake of being controversial.
Considering that so many MTG players seem to be in agreement about the artwork for this particular product, it’s difficult to see it in another light. At the end of the day, the artwork clearly depicts an Island in the middle of a stream, but it certainly looks like other things.
All of the Gush jokes aside, there is one issue with this Secret Lair, however, that has to be addressed: the price.
How Much Does This Cost?
This Secret Lair’s success may hinge on how much money Wizards of the Coast asks for it. Bundles of ten cards are certainly on the high end of Secret Lair products but, because these are only Basic Lands, there is a strong chance that the prices for these Secret Lairs are not unusual.
For the normal $30 price, these Scott Balmer lands could be a great deal for MTG players trying to bling out a deck or two. Sure, you aren’t buying unique game pieces, but ten Basic Lands of the same type is more than enough to bling out a Commander deck that’s two-colored. Mono-colored decks may need more lands than this, but two-colored ones could create an interesting pair of matching lands with two bundles.
Because ten cards are offered in each of these Secret Lairs, they could also be a tad bit more expensive. This possibility certainly has some interested MTG players worried:
“I’m not sure what the most I’d pay for 10 basic lands is but I’m sure this is more”
doctorpotatohead
Honestly, I would be pretty surprised if this product were sold at a premium price. I don’t believe that many MTG players would be willing to part with more than $30 for ten fancy basic lands. There are, of course, singular basic lands that cost far more than this, but those typically hold some historical significance and are much rarer than a Secret Lair product being openly offered.
If any of these Secret Lairs sell out, the Island has the best chance. There will certainly be some players who want to decorate a Commander deck with them.