New MTG Chaos Vaults Include Insane $65 Japanese Horror Drop

After yesterday’s fairly rough Corn Maze Superdrop sale, it seemed as though we were finally getting a break from Secret Lair for a while. Wizards had other plans, however, choosing instead to reveal not one but two new drops in a single day. While this could easily have prompted groans from the fatigued player base, the new Duality Distorted and Strange School Chaos Vault drops actually appear to be fairly strong, both aesthetically and financially.

The Duality Distorted Chaos Vault Drop

Kicking off today’s new Secret Lair drop duology, Distorted Duality is an all-retro-frame drop in the style of May’s Back in My Day! The twist this time is that all four cards use ‘Echoverse versions’ of existing classic artwork, with the original artists returning in each case. Those with a keen eye will recognize Phil Foglio’s Presence of the Master Presence of the Master Whenever a player casts an enchantment spell, counter it. , Mark Poole’s Counterspell Counterspell Counter target spell. , DiTerlizzi’s Brainstorm Brainstorm Draw three cards, then put two cards from your hand on top of your library in any order. and Sandra Everingham’s Dark Ritual Dark Ritual Add {B}{B}{B}. among the echoed artwork here.

Beyond its exemplary aesthetics, this Secret Lair has strong reprint value. Tribute to the World Tree Tribute to the World Tree Whenever a creature you control enters, draw a card if its power is 3 or greater. Otherwise, put two +1/+1 counters on it. leads the charge here at $14, as an incredibly playable draw engine for green decks in Commander. Though its mana cost is restrictive, over 222,000 decks in total run this banger, including three-color lists like Shalai and Hallar Shalai and Hallar Flying, vigilance
Whenever one or more +1/+1 counters are put on a creature you control, Shalai and Hallar deals that much damage to target opponent. . Since it triggers on all creatures, not just nontoken creatures, it also has serious combo lines in decks like Ghave, Guru of Spores Ghave, Guru of Spores Ghave enters with five +1/+1 counters on it.
{1}, Remove a +1/+1 counter from a creature you control: Create a 1/1 green Saproling creature token.
{1}, Sacrifice a creature: Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature. .

Secret Lairs typically drop off after their big-money cards, but Distorted Duality stays fairly consistent throughout. Pyroblast Pyroblast Choose one —
• Counter target spell if it's blue.
• Destroy target permanent if it's blue. is another very solid reprint here, being a true multi-format staple with a ton of play to it. It’s massive in Commander, appearing everywhere, even up in cEDH as a rare red Counterspell Counterspell Counter target spell. , and it sees a ton of use in Pauper, Premodern, Legacy, and Vintage, too. At $9 on the low end, this is a great value add for the drop.

Next up, at $7, we have undeniable MTG classic Thoughtseize Thoughtseize Target player reveals their hand. You choose a nonland card from it. That player discards that card. You lose 2 life. . This has long been the gold standard for one-mana discard spells in Magic, and it remains so today, even 19 years after its original printing. Though it doesn’t see much use in Commander, this card is a staple in Modern decks like Esper Goryos and sees plenty of use in Legacy, Vintage, and Pioneer as well.

Rounding things out at $6.50, we have Desperate Ritual Desperate Ritual Add {R}{R}{R}.
Splice onto Arcane {1}{R} (As you cast an Arcane spell, you may reveal this card from your hand and pay its splice cost. If you do, add this card's effects to that spell.) , one of red’s premier ritual spells. While going from two mana to three mana doesn’t sound like much, it can make all the difference in older formats when you’re going for combo wins. As such, the card sees a ton of Commander play in decks like Vivi Ornitier Vivi Ornitier {0}: Add X mana in any combination of {U} and/or {R}, where X is Vivi Ornitier's power. Activate only during your turn and only once each turn.
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, put a +1/+1 counter on Vivi Ornitier and it deals 1 damage to each opponent. and Etali, Primal Conqueror Etali, Primal Conqueror Trample
When Etali enters, each player exiles cards from the top of their library until they exile a nonland card. You may cast any number of spells from among the nonland cards exiled this way without paying their mana costs.
{9}{G/P}: Transform Etali. Activate only as a sorcery. . It’s also a staple in Modern Ruby Storm, and some Storm decks in Pauper.

Overall, we’re looking at a low-end value of $36.50 for the Duality Distorted drop, which is excellent considering the $29.99 price tag. It’s worth noting that the final value could be considerably more than that, however, given the unique concept and how heavily it ties into classic MTG culture.

怪異学校 — Strange School

While it lacks the classic MTG flair of Distorted Duality, Strange School more than makes up for it with raw reprint value. Much of that comes down to Bitter Ordeal Bitter Ordeal Search target player's library for a card and exile it. Then that player shuffles.
Gravestorm (When you cast this spell, copy it for each permanent put into a graveyard this turn. You may choose new targets for the copies.) , a Future Sight banger that currently sits at the low end of $27. While this is an exciting start, it’s worth taking with a pinch of salt for a couple of reasons.

First, Ordeal has never had a reprint, so much of that price could be due to low supply. Second, it doesn’t see much play anywhere, even in Commander, so overall demand is low. Once this new printing increases supply, that $27 price tag could drop quickly, though as a Chaos Vault drop, that’s not guaranteed.

After Ordeal, Attrition Attrition {B}, Sacrifice a creature: Destroy target nonblack creature. is the next biggest hit here at $19. This is a pretty strong piece in Commander Aristocrats lists like Shirei, Shizo’s Caretaker Shirei, Shizo’s Caretaker Whenever a creature with power 1 or less is put into your graveyard from the battlefield, you may return that card to the battlefield at the beginning of the next end step if Shirei is still on the battlefield. , but its play rate overall is fairly weak.

Soul Spike Soul Spike You may exile two black cards from your hand rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
Soul Spike deals 4 damage to any target and you gain 4 life. is in a similar boat price-wise at $18, but with a very different play pattern. Though it sees essentially no play at all in Commander, it’s a staple in Necrodominance Necrodominance Skip your draw step.
At the beginning of your end step, you may pay any amount of life. If you do, draw that many cards.
Your maximum hand size is five.
If a card or token would be put into your graveyard from anywhere, exile it instead. decks in Modern. Like Bitter Ordeal, this is a first-time reprint, though genuine demand should protect that price a bit more.

Sadly, as is often the case, the last two cards in the Strange School drop are financial duds. Ophiomancer Ophiomancer At the beginning of each upkeep, if you control no Snakes, create a 1/1 black Snake creature token with deathtouch. is a full-on Commander staple, appearing in over 216,000 decks, but a string of reprints has left it a $1 card, so it doesn’t add much here. The same goes for Sign in Blood Sign in Blood Target player draws two cards and loses 2 life. , one of the most popular black draw spells in Commander, but it commands only a $0.30 price tag due to years of reprints.

Altogether, if you assume current prices will hold, Strange School offers a reprint value of $65.30, which is incredible for the $29.99 asking price. That said, with two first-time reprints in the mix, that figure doesn’t feel particularly stable, so the true value may end up depending on how much players enjoy the horror manga art.

Bundle Up

Both of these new drops will be available via the Chaos Vault “soon” according to the official announcement article. In a fun twist, they will also be available in bundles with the new Reality Fracture Secret Lair bundle, in the following combinations:

• Everything Edition (Foil and Non-Foil versions of both drops, one Reality Fracture Secret Lair Bundle) – $234.99
• Non-Foil Edition (Non-Foil versions of both drops, one Reality Fracture Secret Lair Bundle) – $159.98
• Foil Edition (Foil versions of both drops, one Reality Fracture Secret Lair Bundle) – $179.98

These prices don’t offer much in the way of savings, but they do get you a Secret Lair Bundle at the MSRP of $89.99, if you want both of the other drops as well. Given how inflated sealed product like this has been on the secondary market lately, this could be a great opportunity to grab the Secret Lair Bundle if you’re interested. Exactly when we’ll have this opportunity is yet to be revealed, but it’ll likely be a Monday very soon.

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