The MTG machine is well and truly a ceaseless content engine. Hot of the heels of Aetherdrift’s spoiler season wrapping up, we’ve been inundated with new Secret Lair drops. Revealed day after day, we’ve been practically overloaded with fancy new reprints to gawp at. As if all that wasn’t enough already, early ads even threw a cryptic leak into the mix!
Thankfully, as suspected, we didn’t have to wait long to find out what this leak was all about. Today, Wizards has unveiled the brand new City Styles II: Dressed to Kill Secret Lair drop, which looks utterly stunning. Much like the first of its name, this Secret Lair drop is themed around modern city fashion, which is quite the look.
Beyond just having a great aesthetic, this Secret Lair drop also promises some rather compelling value. While the upcoming Secret Lair drop has a lot to be excited about, it’ll definitely be worth paying attention to City Styles II.
Karmic Guide
As Wizards of the Coast showcased on Twitter to reveal this Secret Lair, upon cracking into City Styles II: Dressed to Kill, you’ll be greeted by Karmic Guide. From a financial perspective, this is a pretty bad start, as Karmic Guide isn’t a great reprint. Currently, prices for this heavily reprinted Commander card start at just $0.39.
While Karmic Guide is a cheap card, it does see quite a lot of play in Commander. Five mana isn’t exactly cheap, but getting to reanimate any one of your creatures is still very powerful. Better than just offering reanimation, however, Karmic Guide also has a fair few combos for players to exploit.
Alongside Reveillark and Ashnod’s Altar, for instance, players can generate infinite mana alongside infinite ETB and LTB triggers. From here, winning the game with a Blood Artist, Impact Tremors, or Walking Ballista is trivial.
Notably, while the value of Karmic Guide may seem rather low, this card has had a Secret Lair printing before. Currently, this variant sells for around $8.46, according to TCGplayer’s market average. In theory, this new variant could fetch a similar price or potentially even more, thanks to the artwork. Whether or not this will be the case, however, currently remains to be seen.
Ninja of the Deep Hours
Similarly to Karmic Guide, Ninja of the Deep Hours has seen a surprisingly large amount of reprints. Since its first appearance in 2005’s Betrayers of Kamigawa, this card has been reprinted seven times! Given this long history, it’s a miracle that Ninja of the Deep Hours is worth even $1.08.
Unsurprisingly, given this price tag isn’t any lower, Ninja of the Deep Hours is a fairly popular Commander card. Allowing for fairly easy card draw, provided you can activate Ninjutsu, this Ninja just puts in work. When combined with other Ninjas for extra Ninjutsu effects, Ninja of the Deep Hours just gets even better.
Currently, while $1.08 is the floor price, the maximum sits at around $4.75 for the Retro Frame printing from Time Spiral Remastered. Theoretically, this new Secret Lair variant could hold a similar chase status, depending on the print volume. Sadly, this all-important detail is a mystery right now. As such, we’ll just have to wait and see whether or not City Styles II: Dressed to Kill sells out.
Captain Sisay
Thanks to an advertisement that was seemingly published early on Facebook, we already knew this Captain Sisay reprint was coming. The only question, at the time, was how this reprint would be delivered. Some players suspected that Sisay might have been a free promo, earned by spending over $200. For better or worse, that isn’t the case.
As we mentioned following the leak of Captain Sisay, she’s quite the impressive reprint, being worth $17, at least. Able to find a home in pretty much every Legendary Typal Commander deck, Captain Sisay is a phenomenal tutor. Build your deck right, and Sisay can find exactly what you need, turn after turn, at no extra cost.
While a $17 reprint is already more than welcome, there’s a good chance that this new Secret Lair print could be worth more. To date, Captain Sisay has had two past Secret Lair printings. These variants are currently worth $28 and $30. Given the precedent these past printings set, there’s a good chance this new variant could also be rather expensive.
Selvala, Explorer Returned
Selvala, Explorer Returned is a classic group-hug card through and through. Upon tapping Selvala, everyone will get a benefit, but you’ll reap the most reward. Ideally, the extra ramp and life gain you’ll receive should outweigh the cost of everyone getting more resources.
While Selvala is a staple within the group-hug archetype, she’s not exactly the most popular Commander card in existence. For some strange reason, not everyone wants to go around giving their opponents cards just to be nice. Due to this, it’s not really that surprising that Selvala, Explorer Returned is only worth $0.08.
To date, this Selvala card has seen a grand total of five reprints following her debut in Conspiracy. Each of these reprints has arrived in a commander product, which floods the market with tons of new supply. Notably, while this has made existing copies of Selvala, Explorer Returned very cheap, she hasn’t had a Secret Lair printing just yet.
Veyran, Voice of Duality
Last, but by no means least, Veyran, Voice of Duality is another welcome reprint that’s currently worth $7.62 a pop. Having only been reprinted once in its lifetime, Veyran is technically the rarest card in this entire Secret Lair. Like Selvala above, they’ve also not had a past Secret Lair variant, so the price of this reprint is somewhat of a mystery.
Outside of being a welcome financial hit, Veyran, Voice of Duality is a very powerful card, and a fan-favorite in Commander. Like most doubling effects, Veyran can get out of hand very quickly, while offering compelling extra value at worst. Their copy effect is somewhat narrow compared to the likes of Doubling Season, but it’s nonetheless perfect for many Izzet decks.
Sadly, it’s rather difficult to predict which way the price of this Veryran variant will go once released. As a Secret Lair card, it should be chase, in theory, but Veryran has been held back by supply before. In theory, this could mean this new reprint drives prices down somewhat across the board. Whether or not this will be the case, however, remains to be seen.
A Compelling Collection
Ultimately, the City Styles II: Dressed to Kill Secret Lair drop looks fairly decent all around. While it doesn’t break even from a value perspective, the art looks utterly fantastic. Depending on demand, this art could be more than enough to propel the value of this drop, especially if it sells out.
Just like each of the other Secret Lair drops that have been spoiled recently, City Styles II: Dressed to Kill will be available on February 10th.