From the moment the PlayStation x Secret Lair MTG cards were revealed, it was obvious these cards would be big business. Since each drop contained a mechanically unique Commander or two, it was expected that tons of players would be building around these legends. Unsurprisingly, this started to happen as soon as the cards were spoiled, then again as the cards arrived in players’ hands.
Now, a couple of months on, it seems that love for these cards hasn’t died down. Recently, it seems that Hansk, Slayer Zealot has been steadily climbing in price thanks to synergy with The Last of Us Commanders. With four Commander options helping to fuel demand, it’s no wonder this synergistic Universes Within legend has climbed in price.
MTG Hansk, Slayer Zealot
On the surface, Hansk, Slayer Zealot is relatively mediocre, since the downside of giving an opponent three Zombies every turn cycle is quite high. He does help make up for this by letting you take down opposing tokens and draw cards in the process. That said, you need extra support elements before he pulls his weight.
Unique old designs like Aether Flash help mitigate Hansk’s downside while generating a flow of card advantage in the process. In a similar vein, options such as Reap provide a reward for gifting your opponents black Zombie tokens. Still, as fun as Hansk can be as a Commander build-around, he’s never been all that popular in EDH.
With the release of The Last of Us Secret Lair drops, however, Hansk gained a lot more utility in the 99. In particular, he pairs perfectly with Joel, Resolute Survivor. Much like Hansk, Joel pays you off with card advantage for killing creature tokens. Thanks to the Partner—Survivors ability, you can also play Ellie, Brick Master at the same time, further boosting the already impressive synergy.
The Spike
Following the release of the PlayStation Secret Lair drops in late October, it didn’t take long for supply to drop and Hansk’s price to start climbing. A couple of months ago, you could easily pick up a copy of Hansk, Slayer Zealot for around $0.93. This low price point isn’t terribly surprising, considering it was difficult to put in the 99 until recently.
Now, the near-mint market price for a copy of Hansk, Slayer Zealot has shot all the way up to $6.88. While this is already a pretty penny, you’ll have to spend a lot more if you actually want a copy. Currently, on TCGplayer, near-mint non-foil listings for the card start at $10.89, including shipping. This marks an impressive 1070% price spike in just a couple of months.
Notably, the identical Universes Beyond variant, Daryl, Hunter of Walkers, from The Walking Dead Secret Lair, has followed a similar trend. The market price for this foil-only variant jumped all the way to $17.24 after resting under $5 a couple of months prior. Meanwhile, there are only 17 sales listings available, all of which remain above $20.
The Future
Like usual, it’s impossible to predict exactly how prices will continue to play out going forward. Nonetheless, there are some signs that suggest that the consistent rise in price Hansk and Daryl are experiencing isn’t sustainable.
First and foremost, it’s common for spikes caused by Commander-based synergies to die down over time. After all, as more legends continue to enter the EDH ecosystem, it’s natural for players to turn their attention towards the new goodies. We already know a whopping four complete Universes Beyond sets are coming in 2026, which are bound to feature a ton of new Commander options.
On top of that, it’s not like Hansk is a versatile Commander option by any means. There are very few decks that reward you for incorporating Hansk into the 99, outside of The Last of Us cards. Furthermore, Hansk is nowhere near powerful enough to see play in Eternal formats. So, as more players turn away from Jeol and Ellie and look towards new releases, Hansk may get left in the dust.
On the flip side, though, the lack of supply for Hansk and Daryl is noteworthy. While this could be fixed with a reprint in the future, there’s no telling when, or if, this might happen. With these factors in mind, it’s a bit difficult to guess how the prices of these cards will play out. Hopefully, for The Last of Us fans who want to pick up Hansk on the cheap, his price tag starts to decline in the near future.
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