After a slight slip-up with the schedule yesterday, Wizards revealed the full MTG x Play-Doh Secret Lair drop in the WeeklyMTG livestream earlier today. Titled Squishful Thinking, this drop features four cards with stunning Play-Doh diorama art. This drop will also be supporting the children’s charity Extra Life, with half the proceeds going directly to the cause.
While it isn’t quite as value-packed as past Extra Life drops, Squishful Thinking is still a very solid purchase. It’s also joined by a wide range of other Extra Life products, including Arena cosmetics, physical shirts, and playmats. Even if you don’t personally enjoy the Play-Doh style, it’s hard not to crack a smile at this collaboration.
The MTG x Play-Doh Squishful Thinking Secret Lair
This new Secret Lair drop brings us four reprints in total, all of which are noteworthy in their own right. You’ll find no bulk here, which is great news given that this is a charity drop.
We’ll start with the big money hitters. Greensleeves, Maro-Sorcerer is a card that, if you’re anything like me, you’ll have totally forgotten existed. It’s a legend we’ve only seen before in the Dominaria United Commander decks and on The List, so this marks its third printing overall. It’s also a $15 card, which is surprising but warranted.
The card is very popular in Commander Landfall decks, owing to its scaling stats and Badger-production capabilities. The fact that it makes Badger tokens is actually doubly significant here, too, since it introduces the secondary theme of the drop. Since Play-Doh is all about creation, each of the cards here create tokens in some way. So far, we don’t appear to be getting tokens with Play-Doh art to use alongside them, but that could well change when the bonus cards roll out.
The other spicy card in the drop is Polyraptor, which is also sitting at around $15 right now. Like Greensleeves, it mainly sees play in Commander, but it has a wider range of applications. You can slot this into generic Dinosaur Typal lists with no issue, or you can use it alongside cards like Goblin Bombardment or Blasting Station for infinite combo wins.
It’s worth noting that Polyraptor already has a Secret Lair printing, which currently sells for $30 rather than $15. While some of that is likely down to the popularity of the Jurassic Park licence, it still bodes well for the potential value of this new version. It’s also worth noting that Greensleeves, Maro-Sorcerer is coming to MTG Arena with this Secret Lair drop, although it’ll likely only see Brawl play there.
Upstanding Values
The rest of the cards in the MTG x Play-Doh Secret Lair drop aren’t quite as pricey, but they may actually be more playable. Wurmcoil Engine, for example, really needs no introduction. This is a fantastic value creature that still sees play all over, from artifact decks in Commander to Workshops lists in Vintage. Despite a ton of reprints, the card still commands a price of around $8, which makes it a solid addition to the drop.
Academy Manufactor is a card you’ve probably seen around if you like playing Combo decks in Commander. It’s laughably easy to go infinite with, whether you’re playing Nuka-Cola Vending Machine or Warren Soultrader. It actually got a big boost recently with the printing of Ragost, Deft Gastronaut as well. Copies will currently run you around $5, which isn’t hugely exciting, but it’s still far better than many Secret Lair drops get.
Much like Greensleeves, this Secret Lair drop will also bring to MTG Arena. Here, this card is likely only going to see Brawl play; however, it’s undoubtedly going to be a staple in the format.
Tallied up, the total value here is around $43. When you consider the baseline asking price of $39.99, this is a pretty great deal. You get cards that are worth the money you put in, and you get to support charity to boot. This is before you factor in the usual Secret Lair markup, too.
It is worth noting that Squishful Thinking, as with all Extra Life drops, will be print-to-demand. This means the supply here will be larger than that of your usual Lair. The values on all the past Extra Life drops are still holding strong, however, so this likely won’t negatively impact the price at all. You’ll be able to grab this drop on the Secret Lair website from September 26th to November 9th, or in-person at MagicCon: Atlanta from September 26th-28th.
Extra Curriculars For Extra Life
The Secret Lair drop itself aside, we’re also getting a number of other goodies with this year’s Extra Life collaboration. These give players who don’t vibe with the Play-Doh style the chance to support the cause in their own way.
On MTG Arena, we’ll be getting two new cosmetic bundles. The first contains alternate styles for the four cards included in the drop. As mentioned, this also marks the first time Greensleeves and Academy Manufactor will be coming to Arena at all. The second Arena bundle features a card sleeve with the above Extra Life Ajani art on it. The former will cost 3,000 Gems and the latter 600, and both will be available from October 28th to November 20th.
Ultra PRO is also getting in on the action this year, with both a t-shirt and a playmat available for purchase. These items both feature the Ajani art as well, and you can grab them through the Ultra PRO website. The t-shirt will run you $29.99, while the playmats are $32.99 each. Wizards’ article notes that both items should be available for pre-order as of right now, but so far, they don’t seem to be.
Overall, this year’s MTG Extra Life collaboration is another great one. The Secret Lair offers great value, and there’s plenty more for players to enjoy beyond that. On the WeeklyMTG stream where this was all announced, Wizards noted that they have a fundraising goal of $2 million for this year. With the quality of the offering here, I don’t think that’ll be too much of a problem.
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