On the 29th of August, Wizards of the Coast is releasing a crossover with itself. Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Dungeons and Dragons, Wizards has created a quintet of Secret Lair drops. Aptly themed around D&D and Baldur’s Gate 3, these new drops have continued the long-running trend. While they may look amazing, the reprint value has left much to be desired.
Thankfully, the newly revealed Karlach’s Rage bucks this trend. Not only do the non-foil reprints justify the cost, but the foil prices are even more insane. If any of the D&D Secret Lair drops are going to sell out, it looks like this will be the one.
Secret Lair x Dungeons & Dragons: Karlach’s Rage
As impressive as the financial optics of this Secret Lair are, the art and theme really carry. While they’re not the most kissed companion, Karlach is undeniably beloved. Out of all the Baldur’s Gate 3 companions, they’re definitely the hottest. It seems Wizards isn’t shy about leaning into this. Just look at the new art for Strangehold for an example of that.
Similarly, the new Thrill of Possibility seems to have enraptured many MTG players. On social media, Delorei put it best when commenting “That Thrill of Possibility does things for me, ngl.” To put it lightly, a lot of MTG players want this Secret Lair drop, and they’re surely not the only ones.
As a crossover drop, Baldur’s Gate 3 and Dungeons and Dragons fans may be interested in this drop too. While this expanded audience should make things exciting, sadly it’ll likely cause nothing but problems. The better a Secret Lair drop is nowadays, the more incentive scalpers have to ruin it.
Judging by the reactions across social media, the Karlach’s Rage Secret Lair is going to sell out incredibly quickly. This, in turn, will likely cause secondary market values to skyrocket. With this in mind, the raw reprint value may just be the tip of the iceberg. If you want to get your hands on Karlach’s Fury yourself, you’ll need to act fast.
In the interest of doing exactly that, the Superdrop containing Karlach’s Rage will go on sale at 9 AM PT on August 29th. If past precedent has taught us anything, you’ll need to be in the checkout queue as soon as possible. Chances are that Karlach’s Rage will only be available for a few hours at most.
Surprisingly Stellar Reprints
While we’ve gotten used to Secret Lair drops being financially disappointing, Karlach’s Rage bucks that trend. Looking at the lowest prices for each reprint, this drop is still worth a remarkable $35. For better or worse, this means MTG players and scalpers alike will always get their money’s worth when buying this drop.
From a financial perspective, the best card in this Secret Lair drop, by far, is Dolmen Gate. Offering fantastic protection to your creatures, Dolmen Gate works wonders in Commander. Thanks to this, it typically sells for around $17 and is long overdue for a reprint. Outside of its first printing in Lorwyn, this card has only briefly appeared in The List.
Dropping down the value tree somewhat, Karlach, Fury of Avernus is the next most expensive reprint at $7. Despite being worth significantly less, they’re still a fantastic reprint with a great combat step-based ability. Given their new stunning artwork, this new copy is bound to sell for a considerable amount more. You’ve got to pay the Karlach tax after all.
Speaking of Karlach tax, the new version of Stranglehold is bound to be more expensive than its predecessors. Normal copies of this oppressive denial engine tend to sell for around $6. This new variant, however, could easily be worth a whole lot more. The same is definitely true for Thrill of Possibility.
Technically, Thrill of Possibility is the cheapest card in this entire Secret Lair, being only worth $0.07. That said, the new art on this card is sure to drive demand, and the card is hugely popular in Commander. As a result, this new Thrill of Possibility is bound to be expensive, although it’s difficult to say exactly how expensive.
Last but not least, City on Fire is a just-okay reprint worth around $3.
Fantastic Foils
As if it weren’t enough that the non-foil value breaks even, the foil prices are even better. Once again, this is almost all thanks to Dolmen Gate. Since it was only printed as a foil in Lorwyn, foil supply is incredibly limited. Over the years, this has pushed prices all the way up to $92!
Admittedly, while this foil price seems fantastic on paper, the new Karlach-themed variant probably won’t sell for this much. Typically foil and non-foil Secret Liar cards tend to sell for similar prices since they have equal supply available. If there is going to be a difference in price, it probably won’t be by $75.
Ultimately, as nice as foil cards are, the real deciding factor with the Secret Lair will be its availability. Should this drop sells out as expected, prices will skyrocket, likely to obscene levels. If Wizards has printed enough to accurately meet demand, however, then these cards may be remarkably affordable.
Read More: Bizarre Duplicate Secret Lair Reprints Powerful Free Spell
