Big Score | Streets of New Capenna
1, Feb, 25

New Secret Lair Drop Offers Amazing Arcade-Themed Visuals

Today, the spoiler season for Aetherdrift finally concluded. For the most part, as usual, these final spoilers were fairly uneventful, however, Wizards hasn’t stopped there. To keep the party going, Wizards has just unveiled a new round of promos, as well as a brand-new Secret Lair drop, Arcade Racers.

Themed around the classic arcade racing game cabinets, this Secret Lair drop is oozing with nostalgic flare. Despite being a fairly out-there design in the grand scheme of MTG, this card frame actually looks really clean. Between the top banner to the embossed Secret Lair symbol on the cabinet, Wizards has knocked it out of the park.

Thankfully, alongside this Secret Lair drop having incredible visual style, it also offers some decent value. While it doesn’t quite break even, there’s still $25 worth of raw reprint value packed inside. Considering some of the duds that we’ve seen recently from Secret Lair, this is a welcome treat.

Final Fortune

Final Fortune

To kick things off with the most exciting reprint in the Arcade Racers Secret Lair drop, Final Fortune is worth around $11. Technically, multiple printings of this card are worth $23+; however, the Mystery Booster 2 variant bucks this trend. Potentially, this could be because players don’t enjoy the Futureshifted border; however, the increase in supply is a more likely explanation.

With this in mind, this new Secret Lair reprint of Final Fortune might not match the current price point. Unless the artwork on Arcade Racers is utterly beloved, there’s a decent chance it won’t sell out. For better or worse, we’ve been seeing a lot of Secret Lair drops refusing to sell out recently, especially non-Universes Beyond drops.

As for the card itself, Final Fortune only really sees play in Commander and cEDH. Given the card’s potential to make you lose the game, it’s unsurprising it’s not too competitive. That being said, a two mana extra turn spell can end the game in your favor, should you play it right.

Heat Shimmer

Heat Shimmer

Unfortunately, after Final Fortune, the prices of the Secret Lair Arcade Racers cards drops off rather hard. Heat Shimmer is technically still a decent reprint, usually selling for $5, but it’s clearly a step down from the top performer. Technically, the same is true of the card’s power, but just like Final Fortune, Heat Shimmer can put in real work.

By letting you copy any target creature, including your opponents, Heat Shimmer can create some hugely explosive turns. Should you have one, or a few, token doublers in play, a well-timed Heat Shimmer can often net you the win. With this in mind, it’s no wonder this card sees play in a healthy amount of red-aligned Commander decks.

So far, Heat Shimmer has only had two printings, the original in Lorwyn, and then in Double Masters. Thanks to this reprint within a high-volume set, there are a fair few copies of this card floating around. Hopefully, this means the new Secret Lair variant can exist as a prized chase variant, but there’s no telling where its price may ultimately land.

Wheel of Misfortune

Wheel of Misfortune

Typically selling for just under $5, Wheel of Fortune is another decent but not outstanding reprint. Much like the other cards we’ve covered, Wheel of Misfortune only sees play in Commander, but it is very popular in the format. Given how much power this card has, not to mention the amount of chaos it can cause, this is unsurprising.

Essentially, Wheel of Misfortune tasks players with not secretly choosing the lowest number around the table. This task may seem rather simple at first since a lot of big numbers exist. Should your number be the highest around the table, however, you’ll take that much damage. As a result, Wheel of Misfortune is a very fun mini-game that can result in huge damage and card advantage.

Outside of being a lot of weird fun, Wheel of Misfortune can sometimes be incredibly valuable. There is already a Secret Lair printing of this card from the Death Is Temporary, Metal Is Forever drop. Currently, this variant sells for $22, so there’s clearly the potential for greatness. Sadly, there’s no telling whether or not this new Secret Lair Arcade Racers variant will sell for anywhere near as much.

Roiling Vortex

Roiling Vortex

While Roiling Vortex is another step down in terms of reprint value, it’s another step up in terms of playability. Not only does this classic Zendikar Rising card see plenty of Commander play, but it’s even competitively viable, too. Occasionally, Roiling Vortex will pop up in Mono-Red Pioneer lists, but this admittedly isn’t too common. The card also makes appearances in Modern burn archetypes.

Most recently, Roiling Vortex made waves as a fantastic upgrade to the Eternal Punishment precon from Duskmourn: House of Horror. While it didn’t quite make our budget-focused list at the time, it undeniably worked wonders alongside Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls. Unsurprisingly, any Commander that likes dealing consistent damage each turn has a soft spot for Roiling Vortex.

In terms of value, Roiling Vortex routinely sells for just $2.50, which is hardly too exciting. That being said, this card hasn’t had a fancy Secret Lair printing until now. Given this card’s status in Commander, there’s a non-zero chance this new variant could be worth a pretty penny. We’ll just have to wait and see about that, however.

Big Score

Big Score

Last and also least, in terms of value, we have Big Score, which is a sub-$1 reprint. While this isn’t too exciting, Big Score does at least see a lot of play in Commander. This playability, which puts it in 220,000+ lists, is largely thanks to the treasure tokens that it creates.

From a raw value perspective, Big Score is essentially just a version of Thrill of Possibility with more upfront cost. Within a Treasure-focused Commander deck, however, this card can be a godsend. Thanks to the overall casual nature of the format, four mana isn’t too outlandish of a price for this draw effect.

Between token doublers and the litany of cards that care about treasures, it’s easy to get extra value from Big Score. Even if you’re not abusing this card, it can always be useful to make treasures to store mana for a later turn.

To date, Big Score hasn’t had any fancy printings, so this Arcade Racers Secret Lair card could be fairly valuable. Exactly how expensive it’ll be, however, is anyone’s guess at this point. If this Secret Lair drop sells out, it might end up being a hidden gem. Ultimately, we can only wait to see what happens once this drop is released.

Secret Lair Arcade Racers Is Coming Soon

Thankfully, if you like the looks of this Secret Lair drop, you won’t have to wait long to buy it. According to Wizards of the Coast, this drop will go live on February 10th at 9 AM PT. If you ask us, it seems like a pretty sweet deal, but we’re admittedly enamored by the artwork more than the cards. Thankfully, no matter why you’re eying up this drop, it seems pretty decent all around, which is always a welcome treat.

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