New MTG Secret Lair Showcases Sacrifice Staples of Underwhelming Value

Coming soon on June 24, the Secret Lair Summer Superdrop 2024 will be going live. Like all Superdrops, there will be a multitude of different products and bundles for players to purchase.

Earlier in the week, a second MTG Hatsune Miku Secret Lair as well as a Secret Lair designed to highlight the talented artist Julie Bell were revealed. A unique Wolf-focused Secret Lair was also announced, though we don’t know the contents of it quite yet.

Today, we have yet another group of beautiful alternate art cards to share with you. Known as the Prints of Darkness Secret Lair, this collection of cards were all illustrated by Kathleen Neeley. Unfortunately, most of the cards aren’t particularly pricy, but at least the artwork is quite intricate, and the cards themselves are all extremely thematic. If you’re a fan of sacrifice strategies in Commander, this product may still be right up your alley. It features four strong sacrifice payoffs as well as a legendary creature that’s perfect for leading your squad. Let’s kick things off by looking at the powerful legend in all its glory.

Prossh, Skyraider of Kher

The legendary creature available in the Prints of Darkness Secret Lair is none other than Prossh, Skyraider of Kher. Prossh is a Commander option that generates a bunch of tokens whenever you cast it. Sure, the tokens don’t do much on their own. However, in conjunction with powerful sacrifice outlets like Phyexian Altar and rewards for making or sacrificing tokens, such as Mirkwood Bats, Prossh can really pop off. Prossh even acts as a free, repeatable sacrifice source for your Blood Artist effects.

Ultimately, Prossh doesn’t hold much reprint value. The mythic rare has been reprinted multiple times, and currently sits under $1 in its cheapest traditional form according to TCGPlayer market price. The good news, though, is that this is the first time Prossh will be showcasing different artwork. This alone has players excited and is a nice touch for anyone looking to spice up their Prossh Commander deck.

Dictate of Erebos

Dictate of Erebos is next. This is the one card in the Secret Lair that is actually quite valuable from a financial standpoint. Dictate of Erebos is a strong card in decks that go wide with tokens and can sacrifice creatures on command (Prossh delivers on both accounts). Being able to cause your opponents’ board presence to dwindle while you sacrifice meaningless creatures for value is a huge boon, making Dictate of Erebos a very scary card to see across the table.

Much like Prossh, Dictate of Erebos will finally boast new artwork for the first time. Unlike Prossh, though, Dictate of Erebos has never been reprinted outside of its inclusion on The List. As such, the only foil printing is from Journey into Nyx. The card is worth roughly $10 in non-foil, but this price jumps to $27 in foil.

Fecundity

Fecundity is a green enchantment that also works incredibly well with Prossh. It does come with a noticeable downside in that the effect it provides is symmetrical, but it’s not too hard to break parity. In the context of Prosh, Fecundity lets you convert all of your tiny Kobold tokens into card advantage. So long as you are playing lots of creatures and ways to get rid of them, Fecundity threatens to take over the game.

Fecundity has been reprinted a multitude of times, including as an uncommon in Ultimate Masters. The card is only worth about 50 cents in its cheapest form.

Moldervine Reclamation

Moldervine Reclamation is extremely similar to Fecundity in that it rewards you for sacrificing lots of creatures. Where Moldervine Reclamation differentiates itself is with the fact that you are the only player gets to benefit from it. It’s a little less efficient at five mana, but this isn’t too problematic in a format like Commander.

The life gain element is a nice bonus, too, and even opens the door for an infinite combo alongside Ashnod’s Altar and Trudge Garden. Simply sacrifice a creature to Altar and trigger Reclamation, use the two mana to pay for Trudge Garden and make a token, then sacrifice the token to Altar, repeating this process over and over and drawing your deck!

Unfortunately, Modlervine Reclamation is also an uncommon that has seen shown up in multiple sets. It sits at about 50 cents as well.

Mayhem Devil

Lastly, we have Mayhem Devil. Mayhem Devil is an elite card for sacrifice decks both in Commander and in Pioneer. Getting to machine gun down opposing small creatures is quite powerful, and you can always ping your opponents when applicable. It’s nice to see all five cards in this Secret Lair work well with each other.

Mayhem Devil is yet another uncommon that sits under $1 in its cheapest form. Although it was given retro frame treatment in Ravnica Remastered, it has only received one art style up until this point.

Player Reaction

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As a package, this Secret Lair seemed to garner mixed reviews. Some players were clearly disappointed with the Secret Lair’s overall value, especially considering that almost all the reprint value came with Dictate of Erebos. Seeing a more expensive Prossh staple like Food Chain definitely could’ve made this Secret Lair more appealing. At the same time, other players at least appreciated that all five cards were EDH playable in the same deck.

Meanwhile, the art on the cards was generally well-received. Still, many players voiced their frustration with the legibility of each card. The Moldervine Reclamation text in particular is very wonky, which isn’t ideal for an EDH setting.

At the end of the day, this Secret Lair is a nice option for players that enjoy Prossh Commander decks or sacrifice strategies in general. The overall value is nothing to write home about, but it’s nice to see these cards get some sweet alternate art. Make sure to keep your eyes peeled for any other Secret Lair reveals in the near future.