Outside of the odd leak, MTG players rarely get to discover new MTG cards for themselves. While many players believe that Wizards of the Coast has too many spoiler seasons lined up, the past few weeks have been rather barren, allowing players to recharge their batteries for the upcoming MTG Vegas preview panel.
That said, there is one subset of cards that players have the opportunity to discover for themselves: Secret Lair Bonus Cards. Giving a sort of FOMO crossed with lottery aspect to Secret Lair product, Bonus Cards are never announced before players open it for themselves.
Sometimes Bonus Cards are consistent. In these cases, if the Bonus Card ups the value of the Secret Lair immensely, the FOMO aspect appears. Otherwise, Secret Lair Bonus Card slots grant an opportunity for players to receive some surprisingly expensive full art treatments like two new ones discovered recently.
The Return of an Old Jackpot
Pictured by Reddit user Knarz97 is this newly discovered Persistent Petitioners variant. This is nowhere close to the first unique full-art Persistent Petitioners we’ve seen come out of the Secret Lair Bonus Slot. It is, however, the first we’ve seen in quite some time.
According to Knarz97, this card was pulled in the VHS Secret Lair, which is already considered the most lucrative Secret Lair from the Summer Secret Lair Superdrop. Note that this card is not guaranteed in the Bonus Slot of the VHS Secret Lair, making it a rather rare find.
For reference, most of the expensive ‘lottery’-esque hits in recent MTG Secret Lairs have been Shadowborn Apostle (another one was discovered recently). As you may notice, both of these cards have one thing in common: there is no limit on how many of these cards you can play.
This means that these scarce foils could be valuable to Commander players who are building decks around this lack of restriction. Instead of playing one Perisistent Petitioners in your Commander deck, you can play as many as you want!
At the time of writing, Secret Lair Bonus Slot Perisistent Petitioners go for quite a range on TCGplayer. The cheapest is only worth about $10. The most expensive goes for as much as $340! Here’s a list of Persistent Petitioners currently available on TCGplayer and their current market values:
- Persistent Petitioners #599 – $9-11
- Persistent Petitioners #597 – $40-45
- Persistent Petitioners #593 – $48-50
- Persistent Petitioners #596 – $65-70
- Persistent Petitioners #598 – $80ish
- Persistent Petitioners #595 – $340
You’ll notice that the above Persistent Petitioners (#601) is not yet listed here. It generally takes some time for these cards to make their way over to various card sites and find their price points.
We also do not appear to have information on Persistent Petitioners #600, which means that there is likely another Persistent Petitioners out there for players to find. Whether it is already available in Secret Lair product or not is a mystery. That said, we do know that Persistent Petitioners #601, pictured above, can appear in Bonus Slots for the 2023 Secret Lair Summer Superdrop.
Another Shadowborn Apostle Appears!
Alongside the new Persistent Petitioners find appears to be yet another Shadowborn Apostle. Posted by Redditor OswinTigerlilly, this was apparently pulled from the Buggin’ Out Secret Lair. Like Persistent Petitioners, this is a rare Bonus Slot card that will not always be found.
Shadowborn Apostle have been chase cards in these Bonus Slots for quite some time now. Like all the other more recent Lottery cards, Shadowborn Apostle can become a theme for your Commander deck thanks to the ability to run an unlimited number of them.
For those interested in building a Shadowborn Apostle-themed Commander deck, Athreos, God of Passage is, by far, the most popular Commander for the theme according to EDHREC. Able to return Apostles who are sacrificed to their own abilities in an effort of summon a terrifying Demon, Athreos either gets your Apostles ready to tutor up multiple threats, or seriously hampers your opponent’s life totals. If you want to see this deck in action, it has appeared a few times on The Command Zone.
It looks like a few Shadowborn Apostles have appeared in the Summer Superdrop, as another Shadowborn Apostle was discovered recently. We went through prices rather recently for Shadowborn Apostles as a result. If you’re interested, we recommend taking a look here.
For reference, Shadowborn Apostle #680, which we talk about in the link above, is currently going for a little over $40.
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More Discoveries to Come?
If the Shadowborn Apostles demonstrate one thing, it’s that they do not appear in Secret Lair Bonus Slots chronologically. According to AlbaBG, the artist behind Shadowborn Apostle #680, you can expect to find it in the Secret Lair Summer Superdrop Bonus Slots for this year. That said, Shadowborn Apostle #681 was available in an earlier Superdrop, notably available in the Step and Compleat Foil if opened in the Bonus Slot of Secret Lair Drop: Showcase: All Will Be One Step-and-Compleat Foil Edition Secret Lair.
This means that even though Persistent Petitioners #680 is out there, it may not be available just yet. Either way, it gives players yet another chase card to look out for in future Secret Lair Bonus Slots.
If you do manage to find it, make sure to get it out on social media! There’s a good chance that your discovery will fascinate the world of MTG players eager to see it.
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