Wizards of the Coast has been releasing a lot of promotional content lately, and it feels like they’re continually knocking it out of the park. Don’t get me wrong, not every venture is received without question. The current Regional Championship promos featuring Dragonlord Silumgar are somewhat questionable. That said, the Death’s Shadow and An Offer You Can’t Refuse have some serious secondary market value attached.
Outside of that, though, banger after banger has been made available for players. For example, the recently revealed Regional Championship promotional cards, each look fantastic. Including Explore and Valakut, Molten Pinnacle, these promos are all great!
Today, the dates for some of Magic’s biggest events in 2024 have been unveiled, and, alongside it, a few new promotional cards. Magic conventions triple as hosts to the biggest tournaments in the game, a massive gathering point for fans, and a massive news release too. These events are a big deal for the entire community, and the newly unveiled promotional cards do not disappoint either!
Secret Lair Showdown 2024 Promos
The Secret Lair Showdown series has finally reached its second season! This series of tournaments exclusively hosted at Magic Conventions granted players a chance to compete for some of the most expensive cards printed in 2023. While Fatal Push cards were awarded to all participants, things got a lot rarer from there.
Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer‘s Secret Lair variant, for instance, was a prize awarded only to the top 32 finishers for each event. Even rarer was the Brainstorm promo exclusive to tournament winners. Only four of these ultra-rare cards even exist! While only one Ragavan has even sold on TCGplayer, it was sold for $2500. Otherwise, the cheapest listed variant of the card is worth a little under $3000.Similar to the original structure of the Secret Lair Showdown events, three promotional cards await players who dare challenge its 2024 return. One card will be awarded to participants, one to those who reach Sunday’s championship, and the final card will only have four printings in existence.
Spell Pierce
The first promotional card coming as part of the Secret Lair Showdown is Spell Pierce. In case you’ve somehow not seen it before, this card is incredibly popular in competitive play. Commonly found in Modern and Pioneer, Spell Pierce requires little investment to represent, making it a fantastic tempo play. You can commonly find this card in Izzet Tempo strategies like Izzet Phoenix in Pioneer and Izzet Murktide in Modern.
The Spell Pierce promotional card will be available to any player who enters a Secret Lair Showdown tournament, but don’t let the card’s availability fool you! Fatal Push was the participation promo to the Secret Lair 2023 Showdown, and each card retails for just south of $100. For reference, other copies of Fatal Push only retail for $2.
Murktide Regent
Speaking of Izzet Murktide, the Modern deck’s namesake card is getting a Secret Lair Showdown printing! If you ask us, this card looks fantastic!
A lot of the cards in the Izzet Murktide Modern deck are getting some incredibly valuable Secret Lair printings. Spell Pierce, Ragavan, Unholy Heat, and now Murktide Regent all have fancy variants.
Murktide Regent does not see exclusive play in its namesake deck, either. You can find Murktide Regent in a variety of Modern and Legacy strategies, including Modern Crashing Footfalls, Legacy Dimir Scam, Grixis Death’s Shadow in both formats (Delver for Legacy), and more!
Players who manage to qualify for the Secret Lair Showdown Championship on Sundays (essentially day two) of the event will acquire this Murktide Regent. It may not be quite as expensive as the Ragavans from the 2023 Showdown, but I would expect these Murktide Regents to retail for $1000 or more judging from the current price points of the Secret Lair Showdown 2023 cards.
Dark Ritual
Winners of the Secret Lair Showdown Championship events that take place on Sundays of each Con will win this incredibly elusive printing of Dark Ritual! Only four of these will be printed worldwide, meaning each copy could be worth tens of thousands of dollars.
It’s difficult to find an official price tag for how much the Brainstorm from the last Secret Lair Showdown is worth, but past listings for the card combined with other accounts reportedly put the card’s value at well over $20,000.
Magic Con Dates and Formats
If battling for these incredibly elusive promotional cards is of interest to you, Wizards of the Coast also listed each of the upcoming Magic Con dates, locations, and events for the accompanying Pro Tours. Secret Lair Showdowns have, traditionally, mirrored the constructed format of the Pro Tour happening at the same location.
Here are the locations of three of the 2024 Magic Cons that we know of so far:
- February 23-25, 2024 – MagicCon: Chicago featuring Pro Tour Murders at Karlov Manor
- June 28-30, 2024 – MagicCon: Amsterdam featuring Pro Tour Modern Horizons III
- October 25-27, 2024 – MagicCon: Las Vegas featuring Magic World Championship 30
Additionally, a standalone Pro Tour for the Outlaws of Thunder Junction set has also had its format announced, but the location remains a question mark. Here’s what we know about that so far:
- Pro Tour Thunder Junction: Standard Constructed and Outlaws of Thunder Junction Draft
- Pro Tour Murders at Karlov Manor: Pioneer Constructed and Murders at Karlov Manor Draft.
- Pro Tour Modern Horizons III: Modern Constructed and Modern Horizons III Draft
- Magic World Championship 30: Standard Constructed and Duskmourn: House of Horror Draft
When further updates are made to this information, we’ll be sure to let you know, so be sure to keep an eye out for updates.
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