Releasing on July 29th, the mini spoiler season for the Inside of an Elevator Superdrop has been progressing fairly quietly. Last week, players were given a daily drip feed of new drops to get excited about, as has become the norm. Today, however, we’ve been shocked by the surprise reveal of a brand new Universes Beyond crossover releasing next week. At long last, Monty Python is coming to MTG.
Specifically, Wizards of the Coast is creating two Secret Lair drops themed around Monty Python and the Holy Grail. In total, nine cards, including one token, will be available across both drops, and they look absolutely fantastic. From a flavor perspective, Wizards has knocked it out of the park here. In terms of value, however, this drop is far from perfect, but that doesn’t really matter.
Secret Lair x Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Vol. 1
- Prodigal Sorcerer as Tim the Enchanter
- Buried Alive as Bring Out Your Dead!
- Dismember as ‘Tis But a Scratch!
- Birds of Paradise as African Swallow//European Swallow
- Three Visits as We Want … A SHRUBBERY!
In total, the cards in the Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Vol. 1 Secret Lair drop are only worth around $13. While this isn’t terrible, and there are a few popular cards, this raw reprint value is far from breaking even. That said, the secondary market value of these cards is bound to huge far higher once released.
To speak of the cards themselves, the best reprint of the bunch is Birds of Paradise. Selling for around $5, this card is a true Commander staple thanks to offering any color of fixing. While the gorgeous new themed artwork could already command a premium, this unique variant is double-sided. On the front face, there’s an African Swallow, while a European Swallow is on the rear. Notably, this card is also getting reprinted in Bloomburrow, so there’s going to be a ton of Birds of Paradise available for players to choose from.
Slightly below Birds of Paradise in terms of value, Three Visits is the next most expensive card at $4. By simply fetching a Forest for two mana, Three Visits is both ramp and multicolored fixing in one. Thanks to this utility, it can be found in almost 500,000 Commander decks.
Dropping down the value order once again, Dismember is still worth a decent amount, usually costing $3.50. So long as you’re willing to pay some life, this card is a one mana removal spell, which is great everywhere. Seeing play in Modern, Legacy, Vintage, and Commander, there’s sure to be a lot of demand for this staple spell.
Last but not least, at the bottom of the value pile Buried Alive and Prodigal Sorcerer are both worth less than $0.50. From a value perspective, these cards are pretty trash, but the flavor is on point. This is especially true for Tim the Enchanter since Prodigal Sorcerer has long been called Tim by MTG players.
Secret Lair x Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Vol. 2
- Door to Nothingness as The Bridge of Death
- Ashnod’s Altar as Sir Bedivere’s Scales
- Dark Depths as Castle of Aaargh
- Marit Lage Token as The Black Beast of Aaargh
Continuing the aforementioned theme, the cards in the Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Vol. 2 drop aren’t financial powerhouses. In total, the cards in this drop are only worth around $11. As we’ll get to shortly, however, these cards will likely sell for a good deal more than the expected minimum.
As for the specific cards themselves, each one of them has a good deal of appeal and demand surrounding them. Dark Depths, for instance, is a cult classic MTG card that’s Legacy playable to this day. Typically selling for around $5.50, this reprint is also pretty respectably valuable too.
Sadly, the same can’t be said for the accompanying Marit Lage Token that the drop also offers. Thanks to the litany of double-sided tokens, this card is technically available for just $0.09. Even a dedicated single-sided variant will only set you back $0.60. Despite this seemingly dismal value, it’d be foolish to dismiss this card, or any card in these Secret Lair drops.
Returning to the non-token cards, Ashnod’s Altar is another welcome reprint that’s incredibly popular in Commander. In the right sacrifice-themed deck, this card can provide an insane amount of mana making it a staple artifact. Thanks to this utility, copies of Ashnod’s Altar will easily set you back around $5.50.
Last, and financially least, Door to Nothingness is only worth around $0.20. While this low price tag isn’t that exciting, the ability to make a player outright lose the game certainly is. On top of this, the new flavor themed around The Bridge of Death is absolutely spot-on.
Surely Soon-To-Be Sold Out
Sadly, this Secret Lair drop looks absolutely amazing. Even if positive value isn’t guaranteed, the chosen cards and the flavor on them are beyond fantastic. As a huge fan of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, this Secret Lair drop ticks all the right boxes.
Unfortunately, I’m not the only one who thinks this way. Across social media, MTG players already can’t get enough of this Universes Beyond drop. For better or worse, this makes it look incredibly likely that both Secret Lair drops will sell out incredibly fast.
Should this happen, a lot of MTG players will be left rather disappointed since they missed out. This, in turn, will create a lot of secondary market demand, pushing prices up. We’ve seen exactly this recently with the cards from the Hatsune Miku crossover. After selling out in a matter of hours, prices exploded once they reached players’ hands.
Given the same may well happen with these new crossover Secret Lairs, scalpers may come out of the woodwork. Unless Wizards of the Coast puts in strict buy limits, there’s little that can be done to curb this problem. Ultimately, you just have to be as fast as possible once these Secret Lair drops drop.
As we mentioned at the start of this article, the Inside of an Elevator Superdrop will become available on July 29th. Wizards sadly hasn’t confirmed when the drop will be live, but it’s usually around 9 am or 10 am PT.
Read More: Stunning New Secret Lair Drop Barely Boasts $7 of Value
