Closing out September with a bang, MagicCon: Atlanta delivered the motherload of all announcements. Almost all of the 2026 MTG release calendar was unveiled, and the first spoilers for Lorwyn Eclipsed were revealed. As if this wasn’t enough to be excited about, Wizards also revealed 19 Secret Lair drops.
Out of all the myriad Secret Lair drops that were revealed, the PlayStation Superdrop was arguably the most interesting. Not only does this Superdrop contain seven crossover drops, but each one contains mechanically unique cards. Unsurprisingly, it seems a lot of MTG players are eyeing up these new mechanically unique Commander build-arounds.
While the PlayStation Secret Lair Superdrop won’t be released until late October, initial interest is already causing price spikes. Curiously, despite being one of the weaker cards from the drop, it appears Nathan Drake, Treasure Hunter is the first new legend to cause market movement.
Ensnared by the Mara
Originally released as part of the Masters of Evil Doctor Who Commander deck, Ensnared by the Mara puts your opponents in a difficult spot. Like all Villainous Choice cards, your opponents are essentially forced to pick the lesser of two evils. In theory, this always means you won’t get the best-case scenario, but that hardly makes this mechanic unplayable.
Either option on Ensnared by the Mara isn’t one your opponent will want to choose. Either they risk giving you a threat, or taking a bunch of damage to the face. There is still a bit of random chance at play, but with three opponents, you should always get your mana’s worth. With this value in mind, it’s no wonder that Ensnared by the Mara already sees play in over 33,000 Commander decks.
Recently, there have been a couple of Commanders who make Ensnared by the Mara even more enticing. As mentioned, Nathan Drake, Treasure Hunter is a strong candidate in that regard, since he makes stealing creatures more effective. Not only can you pinch a threat from your opponents, but you’ll actually be able to use their abilities too
With Passionate Archaeologist also included in the Uncharted Secret Lair, you’ll ideally want to be stealing as many cards as possible. To facilitate this, The Valeyard is a compelling inclusion in the deck, since it’ll essentially make Ensnared by the Mara happen twice. Admittedly, going all in on Villainous Choice might not be the strongest angle for the deck, but there’s definitely synergy there.
Thankfully, Nathan Drake, Treasure Hunter isn’t the only new Commander that has synergy with Ensnared by the Mara. Gwen Stacy // Ghost-Spider can also benefit from using this card since Ghost-Spider gets buffed when casting things from exile.
The Spike
While Ensnared by the Mara does have a good amount of synergy with multiple MTG legends, this card isn’t everywhere. According to EDHREC, only 86 Nathan Drake lists want this card, and it only appears in 436 Gwen Stacy lists. While this is still more than enough demand to put a dent in supply, as you can see above, it all came at once.
Following the MagicCon: Atlanta preview panel on September 26th, there was an immense surge in sales on the 29th. Potentially, it took a couple of days for MTG players to realize the synergy, but this definitely looks like a buyout. As a Doctor Who MTG card, there isn’t a great deal of supply available, making it susceptible to market manipulation.
Curiously, while 130 copies being sold in a single day is definitely an outlier, sales for Ensnared by the Mara are fairly consistent. Around 10 near-mint copies of this card are sold each day, which typically keeps the price hovering around the $1.20 mark. Following the buyout, prices have unsurprisingly been pushed up as sellers capitalize on the limited copies available.
Currently, the least you’ll pay for a near-mint non-foil copy of Ensnared by the Mara is $2.38. This price, however, doesn’t include shipping, and sadly, that doesn’t come cheap. In total, you’ll have to spend $3.69, and that’s just for the cheapest copy. Now, most copies listed on TCGplayer start at $4.12, and prices steadily increase after that.
Unfortunately, while there are technically four variants of Ensnared by the Mara, thanks to Surge Foil printings, they aren’t any cheaper. The Extended Art variant sells for around $5, while Surge Foils go for $8 and up.
The Future
In the short term, Ensnared by the Mara doesn’t really look like a slam dunk, if we’re honest. While there is synergy with Nathan Drake and Gwen Stacy, neither of these cards makes Ensnared by the Mara absolutely insane. Most of the time, this card will be better within the Masters of Evil precon, but it can work elsewhere.
Looking further ahead, things do look brighter for Ensnared by the Mara, as MTG isn’t flush with reprints at the moment. With no Masters sets planned for the immediate future and bonus sheets only getting rarer, it’s unclear when this card could be reprinted. On top of that, Ensnared by the Mara is a Universes Beyond card, so reprints come with extra work being reskinned.
Due to these problems with reprinting Ensnared by the Mara, there’s a non-zero chance that its price will creep up over time. Even if it’s not a super staple in Commander, slow and steady demand will naturally drain the market. In theory, the recent buyout has only accelerated this, since now there’s less available supply to go around.
Ultimately, while Ensnared by the Mara could get more expensive over time, I wouldn’t hold out too much hope. Since you can’t guarantee you’ll get the effect you want from the Villainous Choice, its potential is somewhat muted. Still, even if it’s not a slam-dunk super staple, it could be worth considering for a red-aligned Commander deck.
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