Following the change to a limited-run printing model, Secret Lair drops have gotten worse and worse. From a value perspective, at least, players are being let down by Wizards offerings with increasing regularity. Now that art, scarcity, and flavor are the driving force in purchases, raw reprint value seems to have fallen by the wayside. Thankfully, the new Garden Buds Secret Lair drop is a breath of fresh air in this regard.
For the first time in far too long, this Secret Lair drop offers actually positive value. For the normal $29.99 asking price, you’ll find around $31 of value inside. While this isn’t much past breaking even, it’s nonetheless positive enough to be notable.
Garden Buds Secret Lair
Out of the five cards within the Garden Buds Secret Lair drop, Horn of Greed is, rather aptly, the most expensive. Clocking in at a raw reprint value of around $18, this card is a true slam dunk. Well, it is from a value perspective, at least, as it’s not exactly the strongest MTG card in existence.
Offering a symmetrical effect that forced card draw when playing a land, Horn of Greed is primarily a group-hug card. Thankfully, it’s fairly easy to break this kind of effect, or at least get ahead in the value equation. Azusa, Lost but Seeking, for instance, becomes a great card draw engine while Sheoldred, the Apocalypse dishes out the hurt.
For the most part, it tends to be either group-hug or Landfall decks that make the most use out of Horn of Greed. Outside of this new Secret Lair printing, Horn of Greed has only appeared in Conspiracy 2 and Stronghold.
Since Horn of Greed is a fairly scarce card, there’s technically a chance this new reprint could bring the price down. Considering that Secret Lair drops are limited-run, however, it’s unlikely to make much of a dent in the price. The foil variant, however, could see some movement, since copies are significantly rarer.
Currently, a foil copy of Horn of Greed will set you back at least $34. Sadly, while this seems amazing for the drop’s value, Secret Lair foils rarely match the price of classic cards. Still, Horn of Greed is a fantastic reprint that should help prop up the value of this Secret Lair drop.
A Strong Theme
While Horn of Greed can be found within group hug decks, there’s a clear theme running throughout the Garden Buds Secret Lair drop. As the name suggests, this drop has a strong focus on lands. Thankfully, this is a fairly popular archetype in Commander, which means we’re getting some moderately heavy hitters in this drop.
Ashaya, Soul of the Wild and Elvish Reclaimer are both popular staples within land-based Commander decks. Ashaya, in particular, is fantastic within the 99 of decks and is a true Commander darling. If you want more ramp or more landfall triggers, Ashaya provides exactly that alongside a quickly scaling body.
Elvish Reclaimer, meanwhile, is more focused on sacrificing and tutoring lands. Thanks to Fetch Lands and the like, it can be remarkably easy to turn on Reclaimer’s buff, making them an enticing value proposition. Beyond this, Reclaimer can either help find what fixing or utility lands you need or just fill the graveyard with lands for later.
In terms of value, Ashaya, Soul of the Wild has a slight edge, typically selling for around $7. Technically, Elvish Reclaimer usually sells for a similar amount, however, the raw reprint value has been driven down recently. Following the release of Mystery Booster 2, Future Sight Frame copies of Elvish Reclaimer can now be bought for $4.50.
By adding another $11.50 to the value of this Secret Lair drop, we’ve just about broken even already. As mentioned, however, there’s only around $31 of value within the Garden Buds drop overall. Subsequently, as usual, the final couple of cards in this drop are significantly less valuable than the rest.
The Duds
Last, and technically least, we have new Secret Lair reprints of Harrow and World Shaper. Once again, both of these cards continue the land-loving theme and both want to put lands in the graveyard. In fact, playing Harrow into World Shaper can be quite the swing, since Harrow sacrifices a land and Shaper resurrects them all.
Outside of this two-card synergy, both Harrow and World Shaper are, unsurprisingly, popular cards in land-based Commander decks. Due to this, there’s a fair amount of demand for these cards, although there’s more than enough supply to go around. Harrow, specifically, has seen tons of reprints since its debut in Tempest. World Shaper, meanwhile, has appeared in a few Commander precons.
Thanks to the availability of these cards’ reprints, both Harrow and World Shaper aren’t too expensive. Selling for around $0.34 and $1.73 respectively, these cards don’t add a ton to the overall value. Despite being lacking in the raw reprint department, there’s the possibility these cards could go above and beyond.
A Cohesive Bunch
If you really like playing land-based decks in Commander, then the Garden Buds Secret Lair drop is absolutely for you. Not only do all of the cards fit that theme, but the art plays into it fantastically. For some players, Garden Buds will be a slam-dunk instant purchase when the new Secret Lair Superdrop rolls around.
For everyone else, however, this drop isn’t nearly as exciting. Sure, the reprint value is compelling for once, but if you’re not a land fan, then it’s not really for you. For this reason, the Garden Buds Secret Lair may take a lot of time to sell out, if it does at all.
Alternatively, because Garden Buds offers positive value, MTG players may snap it up faster than usual. This could cause the drop’s cards to be worth even more than their raw reprint value. Whether or not this will happen, however, remains to be seen.
Ultimately, as always, we’re just going to have to wait and see what happens once this Secret Lair drop releases. Like all the other Secret Lairs we’ve seen recently, this drop launches on March 24th at 9 am PST.