Late last week, Wizards of the Coast made the surprise announcement that a Chaos Vault drop was on the way. Typically, these drops appear out of the blue; however, that has been causing more and more complaints recently. Thankfully, it seems Wizards is now addressing this problem, giving players ample time to get the latest drop.
Today, the Secret Lair x Brain Dead: New Earth Mentality drop has been officially unveiled. Containing ten cards, priced at $29.99 or $39.99, this drop has appeared as any normal Secret Lair would. With a pre-sale countdown and a couple of teasers beforehand, Wizards has really changed their tune.
Unfortunately, while some change is nice, the value proposition of this Chaos Vault drop is still dire. While art by Brain Dead is always a welcome treat, the raw reprint value is far from ideal. Still, if you’re a fan of retro frames and psychedelic art, then New Earth Mentality is very much the Chaos Vault for you.
Almost All Duds
In the New Earth Mentality Chaos Vault, only one card is worth any decent amount of value. Jace’s Archivist, first printed in Magic 2012, is worth around $8 – $10, depending on the variant. Capable of forcing discards and refreshing hands, this card is useful at worst, and devastating at best. Alongside Nekusar, the Mindrazer, for instance, this Wizard can be a real menace.
Unfortunately, after Jace’s Archivist, prices drop off fast. Technically, the next most expensive card is Stinkweed Imp, which can easily pull its weight thanks to its Dredge ability. Realistically, though, Sakura-Tribe Elder is likely going to be more expensive, as this card is a super staple in Commander.
With past Secret Lair variants of Sakura-Tribe Elder selling for $12, there’s a good chance this could be the star of the drop. In theory, Mirror Entity could manage to do the same, since this card has huge applications in typal decks. Without a past Secret Lair printing to compare it to, however, its potential price point is a mystery.
Unfortunately for value fanatics, the last creature in the New Earth Mentality drop isn’t any better. Selling for around $1.20, Mogg Assassin is an incredibly risky play without Karak’s Thumb alongside it. Even with this support piece in tow, Mogg Assassin is rarely worth playing outside of dedicated coin-flipping decks.
Half a Land Cycle
Bizarrely, despite not having a coherent mechanical theme to the Chaos Vault drop, New Earth Mentality includes half a land cycle. The Bicycle Lands, originally from Amonkhet, are all being reprinted here with wild new artwork. While these lands are fairly popular in Commander, they’re also incredibly widely reprinted and barely worth anything.
Out of the cycle, technically, Scattered Groves is the most expensive card, but that’s really not saying much. Selling for just $0.21, no card within this entire cycle is very expensive. For comparison, the cheapest Bicycle Land so far is Sheltered Thicket, which is only worth $0.13.
While these lands are incredibly cheap, it’s hard to ignore their potential in Commander. Not only do they enable discard-based synergies, but they’re also never a dead card in your hand. In theory, this could make these new Secret Lair variants rather expensive, but that depends on what players think about the art.
If anything, the big disappointment with this half cycle of reprints is that Wizards didn’t just finish off the other half. Recently, the missing Bicycle lands have been appearing in recent precons, but two enemy colored lands are still absent. In theory, this could have been the perfect place to finally print those, while giving this drop some extra chaotic spice.
Two Missing Cards?
All in all, from a value perspective, the New Earth Mentality Chaos Vault drop is pretty dire. With a total reprint value of around $14, this drop is hardly a sure thing. That being said, scarcity could easily propel the value of these cards upward dramatically. Since this is a Chaos Vault drop, supply is potentially very limited, but we’ll have to see about that.
On top of supply being a mystery, two leaked cards are also surprisingly absent here. When Chaos Vault announced the New Earth Mentality collab, four playmats were released ahead of time. Two of these cards, Mirror Entity and Sakura-Tribe Elder, have appeared here, but Miren, The Moaning Well and Master of the Feast are still missing.
Potentially, these cards could appear as Bonus Cards for this Chaos Vault, but that’s very much a guess. If this turns out to be accurate, then the value of this drop may well be redeemed, as Miren is worth $18 alone. While Master of the Feast is only worth around $4, any extra value would definitely be appreciated.
Stick with us here at mtgrocks.com: the best site for Magic: The Gathering coverage. Be sure to check out our deckbuilder for your next big brew!