One of the biggest MTG events of the year is coming up this weekend. MagicCon: Chicago will host Pro Tour Aetherdrift, but that’s hardly everything that’s going on. Most notably, a massive spoiler panel will be occurring this Friday. While it will not reveal details about Final Fantasy, we’ll get plenty of details about Tarkir: Dragonstorm.
It is custom for each MagicCon event to have an exclusive Secret Lair, and Chicago’s does not disappoint. Some seriously powerful dragons are available.
Secret Lair: A Devastation of Dragons
A Devastation of Dragons is only available in foil. The Lair offers a small collection of Dragons with unique artwork from Erol Otus, an early contributor to D&D. Considering that D&D artists are being featured at this MagicCon, it makes some sense.
Perhaps the best reprint of the bunch is Kokusho, the Evening Star. The card doesn’t see any play outside of Commander but is exceptionally strong in strategies that can recur the beast. Because Commander has three opponents, Kokusho essentially drains the table. Each of your opponents loses 5 life and you gain 15.
Kokusho does have a few reprints, but this will be the card’s first Secret Lair appearance. Foil versions of the card appear to go for about $40, which means that the entire Secret Lair’s secondary market value is represented in one card.
Scion of the Ur-Dragon
Scion of the Ur-Dragon is one of the most popular Dragon Typal Commanders out there. This is the first alternate art printing that the card has received. This is also technically the most expensive card in the Secret Lair considering its a foil, but we don’t expect this Scion to hold the same value.
Currently, there is only one printing of Scion of the Ur-Dragon in foil, and it’s from quite a few years ago. Time Spiral released back in 2006, back from the day that foils fetched a massive premium. As a result, a foil Scion of the Ur-Dragon is worth ten times the normal variant at about $90. Nonfoil ones are worth about $9. We expect this card to land somewhere in the middle.
For Commander players, this is the most accessible way to get a foil Scion of the Ur-Dragon in some time. That said, if this Secret Lair drop is exclusive to physical copies at MagicCon: Chicago, it may be very difficult to track a copy down.
Skyline Despot
Skyline Despot is a weird inclusion in this Secret Lair. The card was recently reprinted as an uncommon in Commander Masters, which nuked its secondary market value out of orbit. The card isn’t even worth a dollar.
For seven mana, it’s hard to justify running this card outside of a Dragon Typal deck. Monarch is a powerful ability if you can protect it, but for seven mana, there are much more powerful Dragons available. This will be the most expensive copy of Skyline Despot on the secondary market.
Niv-Mizzet, Parun
Niv-Mizzet may be a fan-favorite character, but his cards get reprinted to dust. Regardless, this Dragon is worth a few bucks on the secondary market because it sees play in a few different places. Occasionally appearing in Pioneer sideboards, Niv-Mizzet is mostly a Commander card. All you need to go infinite with this Dragon is a card like Curiosity attached to Niv-Mizzet. As such, the card is a rather popular Bracket 4 option. Combine this with Wheels, and Niv-Mizzet can easily delete players from nowhere.
A Stellar Value
Looking purely at secondary market value, this Secret Lair is an insane deal. Kokusho is worth the entry fee of $40, and Scion of the Ur-Dragon technically has a $90 price tag – meaning that it will likely retain a premium.
If this is an exclusive item to MagicCon: Chicago, it could be worth even more. Not only are these cards worth the investment but there’s a serious chance that the supply of them will be very limited. Of course, there’s no guarantee that this won’t appear online at some point, or at future MagicCon events.
While the numbers suggest that this Secret Lair is a great choice for those who can purchase it, reviews on it are mixed. Players seem to either love or hate this Secret Lair. Many find the card selection “boring,” even if it’s valuable.
I would 100% buy this if I could. Sadly, I am not in Chicago, and the same is true for many MTG fans who would want this item. That could be the biggest problem that this Secret Lair creates.
