As if there wasn’t enough going on already this year, Wizards has decided to give Secret Lair Superdrops their own spoiler seasons. Recently, ahead of their release, Wizards has been drip-feeding the drops to players, steadily building hype. This may have something to do with the fact Secret Lairs are now FOMO-fuelled limited-run products that can sell out in hours.
Since their introduction, Secret Lair drops have offered a lot to be excited about. Whether you’re after gorgeous art or amazing reprints, Secret Lair did it all. More recently, however, you can only rely on the former when a new drop gets revealed. Even then, the Goblingram drop shows even that’s not a guarantee nowadays.
Thankfully, the latest Secret Lair Drop to be revealed at least delivers on the former. Recently revealed on Twitter, the Featuring: Andrew MacLean drop looks absolutely spectacular. Sadly, that’s where the fun ends, as this drop’s cards are worth shockingly little. All in all, there’s not even $7 worth of reprints in this $30 product.
The One Good One
Out of the four cards included within Featuring: Andrew MacLean, only one of them offers somewhat decent value. Even that, however, is being generous, since it doesn’t justify the drop’s price or even meet the average break-even point. Since this drop only contains four cards, that’s set at $7.50 ish for this Secret Lair.
Sadly, Nirkana Revenant is only worth around $4.50. This price tag is entirely down to their utility in Commander, as they don’t really see play anywhere else. Thankfully, in Commander, they’re somewhat of a staple as they offer utility and damage in one. By potentially doubling your black mana, and providing a sink for it, Nirkana Revenant is a very versatile threat.
As a Secret Lair card, there’s definitely the potential for this card to be worth some decent money. Since it’s a well-played black Commander staple, there should be a fair few players interested in owning it. That being said, it all comes down to supply and demand, which we’ll get to later.
A Terrible Trio
To start with the best of the rest, Maelstrom Wanderer is worth about $1 at its lowest. This is somewhat surprising, considering that the card has been reprinted six different times before now. That said, Maelstrom Wanderer does have the perk of being rather popular in Commander to maintain its price tag.
While giving Haste to your creatures is nice, the real draw here is Cascade Cascade. This turns Maelstrom Wanderer into a value goldmine, rather than just being an overpriced utility piece. In theory, this popularity and playability could make the new variant from Andrew MacLean rather expensive, but that remains to be seen.
Dropping down the value order Terastodon is the next most expensive card in this Secret Lair drop. That isn’t saying much, however, as it’s only worth around $0.40 on average. Despite this low cost, Terastodon does see a good amount of Commander play since it can be a substantial threat. This is thanks to the removal it can provide, even if it does replace what gets removed.
Last, but by no means least, Arbor Elf rounds out this Secret Lair with its $0.30 value. Having been repeatedly reprinted as a common, there’s no shortage of supply for this card. That being said, it’s yet to have a fancy variant, such as this new Secret Lair card.
Since Arbor Elf is a true Commander staple, appearing in over 140,000 green Commander decks, there’s definitely value potential. This shouldn’t come as a major surprise considering the value of untapping a modified Forest. Even if you can’t make the most out of Arbor Elf, at worst this little guy is just a decent mana dork.
The Not-So-Age-Old Question
While this Secret Lair might offer dismal value, like most drops, the art should carry it. Thankfully, in this regard, the art from Andrew MacLean looks absolutely spectacular and may drive many players to purchase. Just how many players will be interested in this drop, however, remains to be seen.
Since Secret Lair drops are now limited-run products, this is a very important factor for Featuring: Andrew MacLean. Should this drop manage to sell out surprisingly quickly, secondary market demand would likely be higher than expected. While this seems like the only path to success, the same may be true if the opposite happens.
If MTG players, art fans, and collectors alike don’t buy this Secret Lair, it may be surprisingly scarce. This, in turn, could lead to higher-than-expected secondary market prices, unless Wizards distributes extra supply somehow. So long as Wizards isn’t sneaking selling off unsold Secret Lairs somewhere, the same is true for any drop.
Ultimately, we’re just going to have to wait and see what happens when Featuring: Andrew MacLean actually launches. This will happen when the bizarrely named Inside of an Elevator Superdrop goes live. For reference, this latest Superdrop will be available starting July 29th and while supplies last.
Sadly, there’s no telling whether or not Featuring: Andrew MacLean will have a dedicated Bonus Card or not. If it does, and if it’s revealed in time, this could be a welcome addition to the drop’s value. Banking on this, however, seems like a fools errand.
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