After dropping some very cryptic teasers last week, Wizards is finally revealing the non-Spongebob Secret Lairs from next week’s Superdrop. Kicking things off we have Secret Lair High: Class of ’87. This Secret Lair combines MTG with the style of an ’80s Yearbook, with surprisingly creepy results. There’s just something uncanny about seeing realistic humans like this on Magic: The Gathering cards, it seems.
Vibes aside, the value proposition for this Lair isn’t incredible. Only four cards are included, and only one is worth more than $1 in the current market. This means you’ll really need to be sold on the style to entertain this one at normal Secret Lair prices. It helps that all four of the included cards are excellent Commander options, but the Lair is still a hard sell despite that fact.
Aesi, Tyrant Of Gyre Strait
- Mana Value: 4GU
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Type: Legendary Creature – Serpent
- Stats: 5/5
- Card Text: You may play an additional land on each of your turns.
Landfall — Whenever a land you control enters, you may draw a card.
We’ll start by looking at the clear highlight of the Secret Lair High: Class of ’87 drop, Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait. This is a long-standing Commander classic, consistently ranking high among Simic options in the format. The reason for that is very simple: Aesi is a self-fueling engine card.
It rewards you with cards for playing lands and also lets you play an extra land each turn. The result is a Commander that lets you consistently draw two or more extra cards each turn, thus powering any kind of win you see fit.
The only real downside to Aesi is that many players consider it ‘boring’ or ‘generically powerful,’ so you may get some eye rolls if you pull up to your Commander pod with an Aesi deck. It’s true that Aesi isn’t the most nuanced Magic: The Gathering card out there, but it’s also generic enough that you can get creative with the contents of your 99 instead.
Thanks to this raw power Aesi is sitting at around $10 right now, which is typically excellent for a Secret Lair card. As we’ll see the rest of the drop doesn’t really offer any kind of additional value, but Aesi is a solid start regardless.
Chulane, Teller Of Tales
- Mana Value: 2GWU
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Type: Legendary Creature – Human Druid
- Stats: 2/4
- Card Text: Vigilance.
Whenever you cast a creature spell, draw a card, then you may put a land card from your hand onto the battlefield.
3, Tap: Return target creature you control to its owner’s hand.
From one popular card draw Commander to another, the next card in Secret Lair High: Class of ’87 is Chulane, Teller of Tales. First of all, the flavor on this one is absolutely perfect for the drop’s High School setting. No school would be complete without a smug-faced snitch, after all.
In terms of the card itself, Chulane is absolutely fantastic. Just like Aesi it’s one of the most-played Commanders in its color combination, and for good reason. Turning every creature you cast into a free Growth Spiral gets out of hand very quickly. The ability to bounce your other creatures helps keep the momentum going, too, while also reusing valuable enters effects.
The play patterns of Aesi and Chulane decks are actually very similar in practice. Both will result in you dropping a ton of lands and drawing a ton of cards. Chulane shares a similar ‘generically good’ reputation as a result, though the extra color and bounce ability make it feel more distinct.
Despite its high power and extensive use in Commander, Chulane is actually a very affordable card. You can grab last year’s Murders at Karlov Manor Commander deck printing for only $1. This is great news for those wanting to build a powerful deck on a budget, but bad news for this drop’s value. That said The List printing of Chulane is sitting at around $8 due to scarcity, so this one could move in a similar direction over time.
Anje Falkenrath
- Mana Value: 1BR
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Type: Legendary Creature – Vampire
- Stats: 1/3
- Card Text: Haste.
Tap, Discard a card: Draw a card.
Whenever you discard a card, if it has Madness, untap Anje Falkenrath.
Things really fall off for Secret Lair High: Class of ’87 at this point. The next legend it includes is Anje Falkenrath, a flexible Rakdos Vampire from Commander 2019. While not as much of a chart-topper as the two cards above, Anje is at least in the top 10 Rakdos Commanders according to EDHRec.
If you’re running a discard-focused deck, Anje is one of the best options out there. Such decks actually just got a bunch of new tools in Aetherdrift, Monument to Endurance, in particular, so the timing here is solid. Despite how useful she is in these decks, however, Anje is still only a $1 card, which makes her a similar low-value add to Chulane.
One interesting thing to note about this printing is that it’s the first time players will be able to get a non-foil copy of Anje Falkenrath for their decks. Previously the only printing was the foil face card version from Commander 2019. A lot of players, myself included, avoid foils because of their capacity to curl over time. For this reason alone this new version of Anje could command a surprising premium. Also, the choice to frame her as a moody goth cheerleader was inspired.
Radha, Heart Of Keld
- Mana Value: 1RG
- Rarity: Rare
- Type: Legendary Creature – Elf Warrior
- Stats: 3/3
- Card Text: During your turn, Radha has First Strike.
You may look at the top card of your library any time, and you may play lands from the top of your library.
4RG: Radha gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the number of lands you control.
Last and most certainly least, Secret Lair High: Class of ’87 features Radha, Heart of Keld as its fourth card. While the first three cards could be justified in terms of being popular Commanders, Radha’s inclusion here genuinely mystifies me. It’s not a Gruul Commander anyone really runs, its abilities are underwhelming, and it only adds about $0.70 of value to the drop.
Using a Radha card to help the ‘female jock’ framing land here is almost a valid reason, but even then Grand Warlord Radha or Radha, Heir to Keld would’ve been better picks. Technically this one does have some land synergy, which ties in with Aesi and Chulane, but the color identities would demand you run a different Commander to bundle them all anyway.
This card is the drop’s biggest failing, and I don’t expect the Yearbook version to command a price much higher than the $0.70 of the base version. If you add up the base-version value of the cards in this drop, the total is a paltry $12.70. For some players, that’s not even enough to cover the shipping on a Secret Lair drop.
It’s hard to recommend this one on that basis alone, but as always your mileage will vary based on how much you enjoy that slightly creepy Yearbook aesthetic.
