Even though Ravnica Remastered releases today, and Murders at Karlov Manor spoiler season kicks off this coming Tuesday, Secret Lairs have been at the top of the news for MTG players. Not only was an incredibly controversial decision announced recently to turn this product line into a Limited print one, but a new Secret Lair Commander preconstructed deck was also recently announced!
These Commander precons are the priciest ones that money can buy, but they are also incredibly valuable, and have aged very well. Three different preconstructed Secret Lair Commander decks have released thus far, all featuring some cards with unique artwork and powerful themes that far eclipse what you can do with other preconstructed decks. One of these decks is focused on coin flipping, one focuses on double-sided cards, and the most recent one is an Angel-themed deck.
A new Secret Lair preconstructed Commander deck was announced just this week! Themed around the adorable Cat and Dog Commander Rin and Seri, Inseparable, the new Raining Cats & Dogs Secret Lair Commander precon has cat and dog fans going wild!
While this Secret Lair deck may be the fourth in a line of successful products, Secret Lair is doing something different this time. Instead of revealing the deck all at once, spoilers will be staggered week by week.
So far, Rin and Seri is the confirmed Commander with new, reversable artwork! Otherwise, Anointed Procession has been unofficially leaked as a potential reprint for the deck. This Commander staple is in dire need of a reprint, so hopefully this is true.
This week, some new cards were unveiled for the Secret Lair precon, but fans are rather disappointed with their contents.
Cat and Dog Basic Lands
Once upon a time, full art basic lands were a rather special commodity. Only released in sets related to the mana-rich plane of Zendikar, and in silver-bordered sets, these stunning works of art were something to be revered across the table.
Nowadays, you can find full art basic lands in every MTG set. While players have the potential to bring whatever beautiful basic lands appeal to them most in any deck, they certainly feel a lot less special. That said, there’s a big difference between a one-off full art basic land and a whole deck full of them.
Players currently are unsure whether these three full art basic lands are just one-offs in the new Raining Cats & Dogs Secret Lair precon or not. The alternative would be having all the basic lands in the deck be these full art lands. Having an entire set of on-theme basic lands to match your cat and dog themed deck is definitely an attractive feature for many, but some players believe that this is too good to be true.
As pointed out by Reddit user weggles, full art basic lands have been included in past Secret Lair preconstructed decks. The first Secret Lair precon, Heads, I Win! Tails, You Lose!, like every other Secret Lair product (including the other precons) has a Bonus Slot. These cards are kept secret until players have the opportunity to open their products.
In this instance, players had a chance of opening a themed basic land in their Bonus Slot with a 50% chance of it being an Island, and a 50% chance of it being a Mountain. The rest of the basic lands in the preconstructed deck were not full art. This suggests that these thematic full art lands will likely be one-offs in the new deck, but there is no information confirming this theory. Regardless, many MTG players are expecting these to only be one-offs in the deck, and are already disappointed.
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Lackluster Artwork
Besides players disappointing themselves with the probable availability of these adorable basic lands, some MTG players aren’t fond of the art either. Many players state that the perspectives of the animals on the artwork look off, basically making these basic lands appear as if the objects are all in different layers.
“The perspectives don’t even match up on anything that isn’t background. These look terrible”
Calikal
“The lighting on every cat in the forest sticks out like a sore thumb against the trees. Every animal on the plains looks like its from a completely different perspective. I feel like these look worse the longer I look at them.”
Freshness815
That said, the artist responsible for these basic lands has multiple beautiful pieces of MTG artworks done in the past, including a dinosaur-inspired land from Jumpstart that players absolutely adore. As a result, many who are critical of the artwork expect that time or budgeting constraints were responsible for their criticisms.
More Spoilers are Coming!
Traditionally, in the value department, all of these Secret Lair preconstructed Commander decks have been a home run. They are more expensive than the usual Commander precon, but you definitely get your value’s worth out of them. Throw in that this Secret Lair precon is very likely to be a Limited print product instead of a print-to-demand one, and this deck could sell out faster than expected. These decks are also incredibly powerful in comparison to regular Commander precons, making them even more worth your while.
Secondary market prices make the Secret Lair exclusives in these decks look even more desirable. Recently, some of the alternate art cards from the Angels preconstructed deck had a major price increase.
If you’re interested in seeing the rest of the contents of this Cat and Dog inspired Secret Lair precon, the next round of spoilers for the deck are to be unveiled January 15th. Two more reversable cards appear to be being unveiled at this date, so stay tuned!
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