Though many are justifiably opposed to Secret Lair’s new limited print run model, it’s hard to deny it has its upsides. Players get their Lairs within days rather than months now, which is a major improvement. Consequently, we also get to see what the new bonus cards for each Lair are much sooner. Yesterday, we began to see the bonus cards for the D&D 50th Anniversary Secret Lair drops rolling in. Today, two more cards have joined their ranks, and they may well be the most exciting picks yet.
Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes
- Mana Value: 2RG
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Starting Loyalty: 3
- Card Text: When Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes enters and at the beginning of your upkeep, you may create Boo, a legendary 1/1 red Hamster creature token with trample and haste. +1: Put three +1/+1 counters on up to one target creature with trample or haste. −2: Sacrifice a creature. When you do, Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes deals X damage to any target, where X is that creature’s power. If the sacrificed creature was a Hamster, draw X cards. Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes can be your commander.
Minsc & Boo, the most iconic legendary duo from the existing MTG D&D crossover products, is a stellar choice for one of the D&D 50th Anniversary bonus cards. This was revealed as one of the available options by returnf1re, on social media Not only is it a flavor win, since Minsc & Boo are beloved D&D characters with plenty of history, but it’s also a financial win too.
Though you may not think it from looking at the card, Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes actually sees a lot of play in Legacy. In all sorts of decks, too, from Gruul Initiative to Selesnya Depths. Why is that? Well, it all comes down to raw value. Though it costs four mana, this planeswalker can immediately create a 4/4 when it comes down. With both Trample and Haste, you can use this token either offensively or defensively.
If your opponent removes it, then you can just create another next turn. And if they don’t? Well, the game’s pretty much over. Dealing four damage and drawing four cards is devastating in any format, but particularly in Legacy, where cheap spells and combos are ten a penny.
Because of this, and the Commander play it enjoys thanks to that final line of text, Minsc & Boo sits at a respectable price of around $5. Given the stellar art and low supply of this new version, it seems inevitable this new version will sell for more. Of all the D&D bonus cards revealed so far, this is easily the most exciting from a multi-format perspective.
Druid Of Purification
- Mana Value: 3G
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 2/3
- Card Text: When Druid of Purification enters, starting with you, each player may choose an artifact or enchantment you don’t control. Destroy each permanent chosen this way.
But wait, there’s more! We also saw another of the D&D 50th Anniversary bonus cards today, in Druid of Purification. While it doesn’t cast as wide a net as Minsc & Boo in terms of multi-format play, it actually, surprisingly enough, is the more valuable card of the two.
Looking at the card, it’s an obvious straight-to-Commander design. In a one-on-one game, it’s just an expensive Reclamation Sage with a little more toughness. In Commander, however, it’s a lot more exciting than that. Giving every player a free Naturalize, but one they can’t target you with can be huge. Especially given how many mana rocks and build-around enchantments see play these days. This card creates interesting political situations, and, for just one mana extra, is probably a better pick than the likes of Reclamation Sage or Knight of Autumn.
That power doesn’t just come at a mana price, however, but a dollar one too. With just one printing in the Forgotten Realms Commander decks, this high-demand Commander card is up around $7.50. It really is a testament to the influence of Commander in the modern game that this card will likely outpace Minsc & Boo value-wise.
Are these two the last of the D&D 50th Anniversary bonus cards? That remains to be seen. Looking at the collector numbers for those we’ve seen so far, they run from 873 to 879. That’s seven Bonus Cards in total. Seven would be an odd number to settle on, so I’d predict three more bonus cards are still to be revealed, to round that up to a nice even 10.
Read More: Multiple MTG D&D 50th Anniversary Secret Lairs Sell Out in Less Than 2 Hours!
