The Secret Lair product line from Wizards of the Coast has really come into its own. Starting off as a very controversial product releasing mechanically unique limited-access cards, Secret Lair has grown into a massive product line beloved by the community for great reprints, wacky artwork, and some incredible crossovers.
One of the many interesting things about the Secret Lair products are the Bonus Slot. These cards are not previewed to players ahead of time, and can be any range of different things. Some Secret Lair products have their bonus slots guaranteed. Others could be a wide range of things – some of which can be worth quite a lot of money on the secondary market.
MTG players are beginning to unbox their Secret Lairs from recent drops and finding unknown goodies inside. From beautiful and richly flavored Command Towers, to some interesting value, here’s what players have found so far!
Isolated Chapel
According to this post from CompC, Isolated Chapel appears to be the bonus slot card available as part of the Weeping Angels Secret Lair released as part of the Spooktober 2023 Secret Lair drop.
Considering the flavor text on the card, combined with the Weeping Angels in the picture, this is likely a confirmed Bonus Slot card, harkening to an episode containing the Weeping Angels from within the series.
Isolated Chapel, originally released in Innistrad, is part of the Check Land cycle. These lands need a land with a basic land type corresponding to the colors of mana they make to enter the battlefield untapped. These don’t necessarily need to be basic lands, but instead can be Shock or Triome lands – or other fetchable options.
These lands are pretty easy to have enter untapped with a proper manabase. Even though Check Lands generally have some secondary market value, thanks to a reprint in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander, Isolated Chapel’s secondary market price isn’t too impressive at the moment.
Regardless, the artwork for this card looks fantastic, and can serve as a great, flashy inclusion to Orzhov Commander decks that want it.
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Commander Tower (Princess Bride)
Command Tower, one of the biggest Commander staples ever, just received this incredibly flavorful treatment from the Princess Bride Secret Lair!
The Princess Bride Secret Lair, overall, does not provide a ton of reprint value. None of the cards released in this product are particularly sought-after game pieces. That said, these cards absolutely ooze with flavor, and that flavor is so sought after that it actually makes these copies of their respective cards have a rather premium pricing.
Look at Baral, Chief of Compliance for example. The cheapest copy of this card is a little under $1.50. According to TCGplayer, Vizzini, Criminal Mastermind, a Princess Bride skin of Baral, is currently going for about $7.50! Foils are going for over $10!
So, while Command Tower doesn’t have a ton of value, this copy of the card could mean a lot more to the right player.
More Command Towers!
This absolutely beautiful Command Tower appears to be the bonus card for the recent PixelLandsV.02 Secret Lair. Despite the Tower not being a homerun reprint, many players are absolutely in love with the artwork featured, and regret not picking up the basic land Secret Lair after seeing it.
Even though Basic Lands are literally worthless as far as reprint value goes, these Secret Lairs commonly have more reprint value than you think. While basic lands, in their cheapest iterations, aren’t valuable at all, because of how often players use these cards in their decks, rarer, prettier, copies of them tend to have a surprising secondary market value.
Brainstorm
John Avon’s Artist Secret Lair is incredibly enticing. Alongside some beautiful artwork, this Secret Lair’s secondary market value is through the roof! Emrakul, Promised End has needed a reprint for quite some time, and this is the first one we’ve seen since it was initially printed in Eldritch Moon.
Posted by The_314_Guy is this sketch art Brainstorm. Sketch cards from another card in Artist Feature Secret Lair are commonly found in the Bonus Slot of these products.
Brainstorm doesn’t add a ton of secondary market value to the Secret Lair, but it doesn’t have to. Brainstorm does see a ton of Commander and Legacy play, so players who enjoy this artwork will have places to use it. Many players love the wacky flavor text on this Secret Lair Bonus Card.
The Weirdest Promo Yet?
This Secret Lair bonus card has many players scratching their heads, and we’re somewhat inclined to scratch our heads alongside them.
“Good lord, they’re really reaching for these bonus cards now if they’re putting chaff into them.”
Laboratory_Maniac
With one exception, Jaspera Sentinel hasn’t seen a ton of play. The Elf is not a bad card by any means, and can see play in Commander Elfball decks looking to deploy their creatures as quickly as possible.
While many MTG players may not be interested in Jaspera Sentinel, or may otherwise be confused as to why this is a promo, there is one group of players who could want to bling out their lists with this extended art Secret Lair oddity: Pauper players. This card sees a ton of play in Pauper Elves and Walls Combo.
Jaspera Sentinel appears to be a Secret Lair Bonus Card that isn’t associated with any particular drop.
Terror
Terror appears to be the Bonus Card for the Creepshow Secret Lair. The artwork for these cards were rather unique, offering two-sided cards in a comic-style fashion. Feel free to click on the arrow to see the other side of the card, or otherwise visit this Reddit post yourself.
As far as gameplay goes, Terror doesn’t see a lot of it. Two mana to remove a creature is a perfectly reasonable rate, especially in Commander, but none of the formats where this card is legal will have any interest.
Awkwardly, Go for the Throat is an almost strictly better copy of Terror, at least, as long as Regeneration isn’t involved.
If having the mana value and the effect on opposite sides of the card is ok with you, Terror is one of the more legible Secret Lair cards that are somewhat progressive with their art styles. That said, considering that most MTG cards don’t have rules text on the back of them, this could still be too much for some players.
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More to Find!
These are the cards found so far for Bonus Slots of recent Secret Lair product, but there’s a lot more to watch out for. Notably, we haven’t seen any obvious expensive Bonus Slot reprints, like Shadowborn Apostle or Persistent Pertitioners, but that doesn’t mean one won’t appear in the coming weeks. Heck, Jaspera Sentinel could be exactly this which, honestly, would be a bit disappointing, but for now, let’s wait and see.
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