4, Feb, 25

New MTG Secret Lair Features $42 Commander All-Star Reprint

On February 10 at 9 am PT, a multitude of Secret Lair products go live for purchase. Last week, the Arcade Racers Secret Lair was revealed, showcasing neat aesthetics. Then, yesterday, the Lorwyn Lightboxes Secret Lair was announced, including a five-card land cycle from back in Lorwyn.

Today, we have yet another set of cards to share. This time around, this Artist Series Secret Lair is designed to show off the talented Jesper Ejsing’s style. There are four cards, all of which have Commander appeal at the very least. However, one reprint in particular pays for the whole Secret Lair by itself.

Deflecting Swat

Deflecting Swat

That card is none other than Deflecting Swat. Deflecting Swat is a terrific Commander card. Once you have your Commander out, it gives you a free way to protect it. If your opponent goes to remove your Commander, you can redirect their removal spell to a different problematic threat.

Deflecting Swat also does a great job fighting counter wars. If you go to resolve something huge and your opponent wants to counter it, Deflecting Swat can change the target of the opposing Counterspell and force your haymaker through. This card is as efficient as it gets, hence why it’s also a tool for cEDH.

Deflecting Swat’s high demand is represented by its massive price tag. Despite being printed as a rare in Commander 2020 and Commander Masters, non-foil traditional copies of Deflecting Swat are worth roughly $42 according to TCGplayer market price. Notably, foil copies are of comparable price. Regardless, Deflecting Swat is an incredible addition to this Secret Lair.

Sun Titan

Sun Titan

As expected, there’s a pretty enormous drop off in price between Deflecting Swat and the other three inclusions. The next card is Sun Titan, which is a popular card in EDH in its own right. There are plenty of potent permanents you can resurrect with this card, including Fetchlands to help you ramp. From Brago, King Eternal to Roon of the Hidden Realm, Sun Titan is a worthy inclusion in any blink deck.

Sun Titan debuted back in Magic 2011 as part of a sweet five-Titan cycle. Unfortunately, Sun Titan’s price has tanked due to its massive number of reprints. This card has appeared in a plethora of Commander Precons, recently showing up in Bloomburrow Commander. As such, this bad boy mythic rare is only worth 25 cents.

Breeches, Eager Pillager

Breeches, Eager Pillager

Our third card is Breeches, Eager Pillager. Breeches is a cool legend to build-around and is fairly simple. As long as you fill your deck with a high density of Pirates, Breeches delivers. This legend is efficient, ramps you, and provides card advantage all at once, assuming you can keep attacking unscathed.

Up to this point, Breeches has only shown up in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan. Even with its lack of reprints, though, the card barely cracks the 30 cent threshold. If you’re not into the Pirate theme in EDH, chances are you don’t have much use for this card.

Llanowar Elves

Llanowar Elves

The last card, Llanowar Elves, is in a very different boat. Llanowar Elves is a multi-format staple. Thanks to its printing in MTG Foundations, it’s set to be in Standard for years to come. Currently, it makes a big impact in Golgari midrange decklists, letting you accelerate into your elite three-drops like Glissa Sunslayer.

Meanwhile, in Pioneer, Llanowar elves is an essential piece alongside Elvish Mystic in green Devotion and Selesnya Company shells. Any Elf deck in EDH wants this card, too. Llanowar Elves is a basic design, but it’s quite effective.

At the same time, it is just a common, so it holds very little reprint value. Not to mention, it’s been reprinted tons of times. Regardless, it’s a nice option to round out the Secret Lair for anyone hoping to upgrade the art on their impactful one-drop.

Total Value and Player Reaction

Overall, players really seem to like the artwork on these cards. The not-so-subtle references to other designs, such as Sun Titan’s callback to Saffi Eriksdotter, were well appreciated by many players as well.

Of course, the real prize is the Deflecting Swat reprint, which singlehandedly makes this Secret Lair a worthy purchase. Most non-foil Secret Lairs check in at $29.99, while the foil variants are usually $39.99.

Well, Deflecting Swat is worth $42 in non-foil by itself. The other three cards combined only add about $1 to the total reprint value, but these Secret Lair versions could still hold value due to less supply and high demand.

This is Deflecting Swat’s first Secret Lair appearance, and it’s certainly a welcome on. Whether you’re looking to add some flare to your Commander deck or just enjoy collecting gorgeous cards, the Jesper Ejsing Secret Lair should be right up your alley.

*MTG Rocks is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more
BROWSE
[the_ad id="117659"]