In the 31 years that Magic: The Gathering has been around, Wizards has created a fair few controversial mechanics. Compansions, Dredge, and Storm have all caused massive gameplay problems, enough to require bans. These mechanics, however, seem quaint compared to the likes of Stickers.
In Unfinity, Wizards of the Coast really pushed the boat out by making the set black-bordered. For the first time, new wacky mechanics like Stickers and Attractions could be played in Commander, Legacy, and Vintage. Despite Wizards’ best-laid plans, some cards using these mechanics even turned out to be competitively viable.
Sadly, as novel as they were, Stickers really didn’t work on paper, literally. Due to issues during the COVID-19 pandemic, Wizards wasn’t able to secure the glue they wanted on Unfinity’s Stickers. As a result, official Stickers could only be used a few times before they simply wouldn’t stick anymore.
Eventually, Stickers would end up being banned in Legacy and Vintage, alongside Attractions. Now, however, they’re back in the new Pick ‘Em and Stick ‘Em Secret Lair drop. Thankfully, these new stickers aren’t eternal legal, and they aren’t even mechanically relevant. Instead, these are simply just nice normal stickers for players to customize their cards with.
Pick ‘Em and Stick ‘Em
While Pick ‘Em and Stick ‘Em does contain some stickers, it’s also just a normal Secret Lair drop. For the normal asking price of $29.99, or $39.99 for the foil variant, you’ll get four, technically five, MTG cards. This technicality is the Treasure token that you can see above. While it may not be as exciting as the other cards below, it could be surprisingly valuable.
Thanks to the sheer volume of tokens that most MTG players require, Secret Lair tokens can be rather expensive. Well, expensive compared to normal tokens, at least. Past Secret Lair Treasure Tokens have typically sold for around the $1 to $2 mark. While this isn’t a huge amount, it’s nonetheless a bit of added value.
Thalia, Heretic Cathar
Kicking off the actual cards in Pick ‘Em and Stick ‘Em we have the just okay-ist Thalia. Very recently reprinted in Innistrad Remastered, this card really isn’t all too expensive anymore. Thanks to its latest printing, you can now easily pick up copies for under $1.
Despite this incredibly low price point, Thalia, Heretic Cathar does see some play in Commander. While she’s no Stax all-star, the ability to delay your opponents, and only your opponents, is very useful. Her casting cost of three mana isn’t too bad either in the format.
Sadly, outside of Commander, Thalia, Heretic Cathar doesn’t see much play at all. Occasionally some players will try to include her within a list, but she’s not seeing any consistent play. Due to this, there’s more than enough supply to sate demand for this surprisingly ineffective Thalia.
Thankfully, while she might not be that strong, this new Secret Lair card could become rather expensive. Not only is the art by Rian Gonzales fantastic, but Thalia has a Secret Lair card already. Currently, the 30th Anniversary Countdown Kit variant is selling for around $6, which isn’t too bad.
Clever Impersonator
Moving slightly up in terms of raw reprint value, Clever Impersonator is a very fitting reprint right now. First printed in Khans of Tarkir, it’s surprisingly well-timed to have this drop releasing so close to Tarkir: Dragonstorm. Sadly, while the timing might be notable, Clever Impersonator is hardly the most enticing reprint in MTG.
Currently, copies of Clever Impersonator sell for around $2.40 on the secondary market. Much like Thalia, this price point is largely driven by their appeal in Commander, since they’re a competitive dud. Thankfully, this doesn’t mean they’re unplayable, as they can enable all kinds of shenanigans.
Alongside Felidar Guardian, for instance, you can create an infinite loop of enters and leaves the battlefield effects. Throw in an Impact Tremors and you’ve got yourself a game-winning combo. Alternatively, you could just use Clever Impersonator to copy the biggest threat on the board, which is always good.
Pitiless Plunderer
Jumping up in value again, albeit only slightly, Pitiless Plunderer is typically worth around $3. That said, the white-bordered Mystery Booster 2 variant of this card goes for around $2. Given the fetching new art, and implicit scarcity, there’s a good chance this new Secret Lair version will go for a good deal more.
As a card, Pitiless Plunderer can create a lot of value and a ton of Treasure tokens, so long as creatures are continually dying. You might think this ability would pair well with Aristocrats decks in Commander, however, that’s not where Pitiless Plunderer sees the most play. Instead, this card is most commonly paired alongside Chatterfang, Squirrel General, thanks to creating an infinite combo.
With Chatterfang in play, you’ll get a Squirrel every time you create a Treasure token. This basically allows Chatterfang’s ability to pay for itself and fuel itself at the same time. Not only does this give you infinite enters and leaves triggers, but you can also kill every creature, without Hexproof, on the board.
Hedron Crab
Lastly, but by no means least, for the cards at least, we have Hedron Crab. As one of the most iconic Crabs and mill pieces in MTG, Hedron Crab is a true icon. This card is also $9, which is wild for an uncommon.
While Hedron Crab isn’t that huge in Commander, this card still sees play in Modern Mill decks surprisingly frequently. Synergizing with Fetch Lands, this humble crab is still putting up good results nowadays. Somewhat surprisingly, despite being so iconic, this card is also rather scarce.
To date, Hedron Crab has only been printed two other times. There’s the original printing in Zendikar, and then a single reprint via The List. For better or worse, this has kept the supply of Hedron Crab fairly low, even to this day.
Potentially, this new Secret Lair printing of Hedron Crab in Pick ‘Em and Stick ‘Em could be costly. Whether or not that will happen, however, largely depends on whether or not this drop sells out. If it doesn’t, a $10 price tag, or lower, seems like a possibility. Should the Pick ‘Em and Stick ‘Em get snapped up, however, it could easily go for multiple times that.
Notably, Hedron Crab is also being printed in the Sultai Arisen Commander deck, so the price of this card may actually end up dropping.
New Stickers
Finally, we’re onto the big talking point with this Secret Lair drop, the new stickers. Technically, these stickers aren’t actual Stickers, so you can’t use them in official Commander games. In casual matches, however, you could get away with using these after a Rule 0 discussion, if you really wanted.
Since they’re not really game pieces, these stickers are simply a nice addition to collect and enjoy. This makes these stickers a nice and harmless addition to the Pick ‘Em and Stick ‘Em Secret Lair. The fact we’re getting these stickers at no additional cost is very nice, for certain.
Right now, it’s unclear what the quality of these stickers will be like. Ideally, Wizards will have cracked the glue code, allowing them to be used over and over again. Even if this isn’t possible, however, these stickers should hopefully stay put once, allowing them to be used as regular stickers.
Overall, the Pick ‘Em and Stick ‘Em Secret Lair drop looks like a fantastic offering from Wizards of the Coast. While the cards aren’t that amazing, and the stickers are technically useless, it’s just all really nice. The new artwork by Rian Gonzales certainly helps to keep things looking fantastic.
Like all the Secret Lairs in the Our Boss Is On Vacation Superdrop, Pick ‘Em and Stick ‘Em will be available on March 24th, at 9 AM PT.