Yesterday, as of the writing of this article, Wizards of the Coast spoiled the December 2022 Secret Lair Superdrop. There are some fantastic reprints hidden amongst all these new packs, so the financial value is definitely there for a savvy MTG player. With The Scarab God being introduced as, basically, a Secret Lair Box Topper, some MTG players may be looking to spend their money wisely in pursuit of the promotional prize. Here, we will go over almost every Secret Lair in the Superdrop from a financial perspective, so you know what bundles are the most appealing for your wallet. This article is quite long, so you may want to take a break and come back or skip to the Secret Lairs you are interested in.
December Superdrop: Just Add Milk
The Just Add Milk Secret Lair features three reprints done up to look like a children’s cereal box. Notably, these cards will not have MTG backings and will instead continue the cereal box theme. The three cards being reprinted here are Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, Etali, Primal Storm, and Ghalta, Primal Hunger. This seems to be the featured Secret Lair of the drop of the set, even having an incredibly wholesome commercial attached to it. As pictured above, a non-foil version of Just Add Milk! goes for $30, while a foil one goes for $40. These are, generally, all the price for the Secret Lairs in these drops.
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger is a perfect reprint for the current state of MTG. This card currently only has one printing from Battle for Zendikar, and it has demand in multiple formats. The Eldrazi titans will always have an enthusiastic home on Commander, but this card also sees some Modern play in Tron builds.
Currently, Ulamog goes for about $50 in near-mint condition on the secondary market, which completely surpasses the price of the entire Secret Lair. The foil version of this card goes for a whopping $130ish in near-mint condition. Do not expect the foil Secret Lair to replicate this price difference, but for Commander players who need their entire decks foil, this is a much cheaper alternative.
Etali, Primal Storm is a fantastic effect in Commander, but the card has been reprinted to dust. This will remain one of the best budget cards ever to grace the format, but don’t expect a lot of value to be had with Etali. You may get a dollar or two as a full-art premium version of the card, but that is, most likely, where it stops.
Ghalta, Primal Hunger is the MTG card that best represents the Timmy playstyle. This is a gigantic creature that incentivizes you to play more gigantic creatures. As a result, I could easily see some Commander players that are interested in getting their hands on this card.
In terms of value, Ghalta’s cheapest version sits around $3. There aren’t a ton of foil versions of this card out there, so a bit of a multiplier is present. Those cards tend to sell for around $7. This, alongside some other alternate arts of Ghalta having a small premium, suggest that the Ghalta from this Secret Lair, at worst, has a good chance of retaining the card’s secondary market value.
Verdict
Overall, the value of this Secret Lair for you is all on the Ulamog. If you’re in the market for an Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, this is the equivalent of buying one at a $20 discount. Foil Commander players looking for the card should grab this as a no-brainer unless the artwork really turns you off of the Secret Lair. Both sides of this card should be foiled out, so I hope that the pringling isn’t too bad with this particular drop. Just make sure you use sleeves with these. Otherwise, they’re pretty unplayable. If you’re not interested in an Ulamog, and you don’t like the art style, this may be a pass.
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December Superdrop: Transformers: Optimus Prime VS. Megatron
It’s a little unclear to me whether these are double-sided cards or you get two copies of each of the three featured cards in this Secret Lair drop. That said, Blake Rasmussen did identify these as “double-sided” cards, so that’s the interpretation we are going with for this analysis. Once again, if you don’t have sleeves for these cards, they may be unplayable in your MTG decks.
Blightsteel Colossus is a bit weaker of a reprint than Ulamog, but its price tag indicates another reprint is welcome. Blightsteel Colossus has two printings that are rather difficult to access. The average value of the cheaper reprints comes out to be about $60, and for a good reason. The foil multiplier is not as impactful here, with the foil Blightsteel Colossus from Double Masters going for $70.
This card is a one-shot-kill in Commander that comes out in Timmy fashion. Because Blightsteel Colossus has Infect, and Infect only needs ten damage to win the game, closing games becomes almost trivial. The card is also Indestructible, making it very difficult to remove. Blightsteel Colossus also sees a ton of Vintage play alongside Tinker. Putting Dual Commander aside, Blightsteel Colossus sees some fringe Modern play, but it is by absolutely no means a staple.
Darksteel Colossus is, basically, a Blightsteel Colossus that is worse in almost every way. The card comes in a bit earlier, but at 11-12 mana, that probably won’t matter. Like Blightsteel Colossus, Darksteel Colossus is also Indestructible, but, aside from its stats, that’s really the only thing it has going for it.
Regardless of its severe underperformance to the other cards in this Secret Lair, a mint-condition Darksteel Colossus still has a $10-12 price tag. That said, I don’t believe there’s a ton of demand for this card, so I could see the price dropping off a bit after this Secret Lair Drop is released. At least there is some value to be had, however.
Doubling Cube brings in another $15 dollars in terms of value for this Secret Lair. The card had a bit more value before it found its way to The List. The card has been used in some rather interesting combo decks involving Jeweled Lotus in constructed formats. Jeweled Lotus can only be used for Commanders, but the mana is still recognized by Doubling Cube, and the mana it produces has no restrictions.
The real value of Doubling Cube comes in its foil variant. Notably, List cards are not printed foil, so the only printings of Doubling Cube that come in foil have been out of print for quite a while. A foil Doubling Cube now will run you about $90, so there is a ton of value to be had here. However, do not expect this foil multiplier to last for this version of Doubling Cube.
Verdict
This Secret Lair, honestly, seems worth your while. For $30, you’re getting about $85 worth of singles for the non-foil version. Technically, the foil version should offer about $190 in value, but the foil multiplier on Doubling Cube is bumping the numbers up a bit. If you’re a Transformers fan, or you’re interested in the cards offered in this drop, this seems like a great choice. If for whatever reason, you’re after a foil Doubling Cube, you will save a lot of money buying this $40 Foil Secret Lair instead.
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One Shall Stand, One Shall Fall
This Secret Lair contains five basic lands featuring some incredible full-art Transformers-themed masterpieces. If you’re a Transformers fan or like the art, these could be worth it for you. Financially, Basic Lands can be bought for free. If you’re purely interested in Secret Lairs for their financial value, I think your money is better spent on other drops. There is another Basic Land Secret Lair in this drop, and, for similar reasons, I will not be reviewing that one.
December Superdrop: Roll Out or Rise Up
Roll Out or Rise Up features six non-creature cards done in Transformers style. There don’t seem to be any standout reprints here, so the overall price tag will largely depend on how these cards add up.
True Conviction is a fantastic enchantment decks for creatures that want to attack. The card doesn’t have a ton of secondary market value at the moment but still comes in at about $4. Foil multipliers aren’t super relevant, either.
While Dramatic Reversal was initially printed at a Common rarity in Kaladesh, the card is also a part of the infamous two-card Isochron Scepter infinite combo. As a result, there is a demand for premium variants of this card, as the foil multiplier for the original Kaladesh version jumps to $15 from less than a dollar. With that in mind, I think this Dramatic Reversal is probably worth a few bucks non-foil and may retain an $8-10 price tag for its foil iteration.
There are a lot of Fabricate cards out there. Tutors are always fantastic in EDH, and this card is no exception. Fabricate recently got reprinted as a promotional card celebrating the MTG Warhammer collaboration, so there may not be a huge amount of demand for this card in the market currently.
Financially, Fabricate is in a weird spot. The cheapest version of the card goes for about $4.50, but the average for it on the market is about $6. A Secret Lair version is going for a premium of about $10 already. I would probably value this at around $6 for the time being, with these factors in mind. While the original printing of this card has a respectable foil multiplier, other variants of this card do not. For that reason, I would only expect the foil markup of this card to be a couple of dollars.
Collective Brutality saw an excellent reprint with the Mystery Booster Boxes. While the card was, once upon a time, a great option in Modern, power creep has left it in the dust. The card still sees some occasional Modern and Pioneer play, but not enough to make it noteworthy.
Collective Brutality generally goes for a bit under $3. I don’t think there will be a ton of demand for this, and the card is somewhat underwhelming in Commander, so that is where I would evaluate this card. This card does have a bit of a foil multiplier, but I would expect that to be undermined in this reprinting of the card.
By Force has shown up occasionally in the sideboard of decks on Historic and Modern. That said, the card does not really have any secondary market value. There is a slight foil multiplier, so that I would value the foil version of this card at about $3. The non-foil version will probably be worth around a dollar.
Greater Good is the main attraction of this Secret Lair, but a recent reprint has knocked the value of this card down a fair bit. Don’t get me wrong, this card did need a reprint previously, but it’s not in dire need of one now. The card fits very well thematically with its Transformers-inspired reprint, but a value of about $2 may hold this one back. The foil multiplier on this one does exist, but it only bumps the price up to about $5.
Verdict
Overall, there are a lot of interesting Transformers-themed cards available with this Secret Lair. Unfortunately, the secondary market value is being beaten out by other Secret Lairs in this Superdrop. I would value the non-foil cards in this Secret Lair at about $20, and you’re paying $30 for the product. If you’re a Transformers fan, this may be worth the time to pick up. Otherwise, I’d encourage buying the Blightsteel Colossus Secret Lair instead.
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December Superdrop: Artist Series: Aleksi Briclot
This artist series features four Eldrazi-themed cards that make up a panorama when put side-to-side! While this is a very cool feature artistically, it doesn’t do much for calculating the cards’ secondary market value. Either way, the art for this Secret Lair may be a draw you want to consider.
The most common places you’re going to see Thought-Knot Seer is in Eldrazi Tron in Modern. The card also shows up in colorless Commander decks, but you won’t see it much outside of that. The card does see some experimentation in Pioneer, however.
Thought-Knot Seer currently goes for about $3 on the secondary market. Considering that this is the first premium copy of the card being printed, I may value this tentatively at $4-5.
Inquisition of Kozilek is commonly played in Modern and Historic. Losing two life off of Thoughtseize[/toolitps] can be a big deal in Modern, so some players prefer Inquisition, which, for the most part, can take almost everything in the format outside of some Evoke Elementals.
Printings of this card vary in value between $0.50 and $2, with a few premium versions going for $4 or more. Since this is a premium version of the card, I would probably value it at the higher point in that spectrum at around $2.
Reality Smasher only has one printing but it really only sees play in the same places that Thought-Knot Seer does. The card only goes for about $2.30 on the secondary market, so that I would pin this card’s value at about $3. This will be the first reprinting that the card has, and, with a low value considering this, the card may end up dipping in price even more. That said, I’m not expecting this particular Secret Lair to be very popular.
Eldrazi Temple is one of the main reasons why Eldrazi Winter ever happened. The new cards in Oath of the Gatewatch were what broke the straw on the camel’s back, so to speak, but this is one of the main enablers that genuinely let the deck flourish. The card goes for about $5 on the secondary market, but there are only two foil printings currently available for Eldrazi Temple. The cheaper variant between these goes for $10, so $5 and $10 is where I would value this card appropriately.
Verdict
According to my valuations of these cards, the non-foil version of this Secret Lair comes in somewhere between $12 and $13. Considering the price of this Secret Lair is $30, this misses the mark a bit financially. That said, players looking to spice up their colorless EDH decks or Eldrazi Tron decks should be excited for some premium treatment for these otherwise rarely-played cards.
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December Superdrop: Wizards of the Streets
For those doing double-takes, you see that right! We finally have a Spellseeker reprint! Spellseeker has been getting absurdly expensive, so the price of this Secret Lair is worth that alone. We will take some time to evaluate this Secret Lair anyway, but the Spellseeker is good enough here.
Spellseeker is currently all over Commander, Legacy, and Vintage. This card combos hard in Commander when combined with something like [tooltips]Displacer Kitten, and very commonly ends the game a few turns after resolution.
Interestingly, of the home run reprints seen in this Secret Lair, Spellseeker is the cheapest, coming in at $31. The foil version of this card also has a strong multiplier, coming in at $65.
Alongside being a popular Commander option, Baral is beginning to see play in one of Pioneer’s most powerful decks: Lotus Field Combo. These allow a $3 price tag for Baral’s cheapest iteration, but the old-bordered versions of this card for about $5. Chances are there’s a place for this card if you play Commander, but the card also has a little value.
The Magus series of MTG cards are creatures that have some sort of functioning effect of a powerful MTG card, like Magus of the Moon functions like Blood Moon. Magus of the Wheel is a fixed version of the Reserved List card Wheel of Fortune. As powerful as this may sound, Magus of the Wheel has seen its share of reprintings and is not played anywhere very much. For all intents and purposes, this card is worth a dollar or less.
Kess, Dissident Mage is a rather popular Commander, but the card has recently seen a lot of reprints. Those who want to give their Commander a facelift may be interested in the foil version of this card. Additionally, the only foil version of this card is currently going for about $11. I can, therefore, see this foil Kess go for as much as $15. The non-foil version, however, is worth less than a dollar.
Verdict
This Secret Lair, financially, falls on whether you’re looking for a Spellseeker or not. If you are, you get your Spellseeker plus a couple of freebies. If not, some of the other Secret Lairs on this list are more interesting. The non-foil value of this Secret Lair ends up being about $35. For $30, you’re basically getting what you paid for.
This is the first time for the December Superdrop, where I think getting the foil version of this Secret Lair is strictly better than the non-foil one. Assuming that Pringling problems are not terrible, the foil multiplier on Spellseeker and Kess, Dissident Mage makes this Secret Lair a lot more appealing in foil. While the foil multiplier for Spellseeker is likely to be dulled a bit, you’re paying $40 for what is about $80 in value.
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December Superdrop: Time Trouble Two
Based off the original Time Trouble Secret Lair, this Secret Lair features three reprinted Planeswalkers with old-bordered and old rules treatment on their cards. The Planeswalkers in the past Secret Lair were much more sought-after than this one, so it may be a bit difficult to evaluate how valuable these will be.
Narset, Parter of Veils may be one of the most powerful Uncommon cards ever printed. This sees varying amounts of play in almost every legal format, and it’s a complete menace in Commander. Chances are, if an opponent resolves this card, your number one priority should be killing it. Otherwise, they’re likely to cast a wheel effect like Windfall and will basically end the game on the spot.
Narset is a strange card financially. The uncommon version of this card is pretty common, so it still goes for less than a dollar. The problem emerges when one looks at the other premium printings of this card that already exist. These skyrocket in price to anywhere between $30 and hundreds of dollars. For that reason, this card is very difficult to evaluate. I would probably put the non-foil version of this card at $10 and the foil at $30 with a VERY big disclaimer about not being sure how much it will be worth.
Nissa, Who Shakes the World, is an absolute Commander powerhouse and sees play in Pioneer. This card dominated Standard when it was legal and is a fantastic ramp tool for any deck playing a surplus of Forest lands. The cheapest version of this card goes for about $4.50, and most premium iterations don’t have a massive markup. I would put the non-foil version of this card at about $5 and the foil one at about $8(ish), according to the available markups.
Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas only has two printings, one of which is a Mythic Edition one. This card may see a bit of an uptick because it’s pretty useful in both of the new preconstructed Commander decks that were released as a part of The Brothers’ War.
In its cheapest variant, this card goes for about $6 non-foil and $25 foil. I think the foil multiplier, as is normal with most Secret Lair cards, will be scaled down a bit. That said, I think these price points are somewhat accurate.
Verdict
I have absolutely no idea how to rate this one, mainly because Narset, Parter of Veils is such an anomaly on the secondary market. My general call would be to encourage financially cautious players interested in this drop to buy the foil version since you are much more likely to retain your value financially.
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December Superdrop: The Meaning of Life, Maybe
Forced Fruition is definitely a bizarre Magic card that I did not know existed until reviewing this Secret Lair. The card only has two printings, one of those being The List and the other being Lorwyn. Neither of these is widely available, presenting a strong possibility that this reprint will crash the price a bit on Forced Fruition, which is a good thing.
Even though this is the first premium version of Forced Fruition that has ever been printed, an $8 price tag, regardless of the scarcity factor, makes me think that the card will stay around there. There is a significant foil multiplier here that marks this card at $30. Remember that this effect is symmetrical, so you will likely need a wheel floodgate like Narset, Parter of Veils to truly see what this card can do.
Here’s another card that’s been reprinted into irrelevance on the secondary market. Future Sight does present an exciting ability that could be fun to play around in Commander. If this interests you, it is available on the secondary market for 25 cents.
I present to you what may be the best reprint in the entire December Secret Lair Superdrop. Mental Misstep only has one printing, and the card sees a ton of competitive Commander play. This may not be the best at a casual Commander table since it’ll probably end up countering a Sol Ring that’s not coming into play in the first few turns of the game, but the foil multiplier for this card is absolutely disgusting, and it needs to be curbed down.
A nonfoil version of this card will currently run you about $5-6. A foil version runs a completely unacceptable price of $150 or more depending on condition. Its not uncommon for Foil versions to go for $200 or more. Strictly for the purpose of getting this multiplier down a bit, this reprint is a fantastic one.
Mind’s Dilation is a $6 card that looks incredibly fun to play in Commander. Only one printing of this is currently available, and Eldrich Moon was an under printed set. There is a chance that this card drops in price once it’s printed as a result, but $6 is probably a safe assessment right now. The foil version of this card sees a slight increase in price, but I will value these at the same price since the Mental Misstep is already going to warp the foil value of this Secret Lair.
Well of Lost Dreams recently got printed as a retro frame artifact in The Brothers’ War! As we previously stated, these cards will be printed into oblivion for a while, so this card will not have any value towards the verdict of this Secret Lair.
Verdict
Here’s another instance where the foil version is worth the time of those who are interested in these cards or artworks. Do not expect your foil Mental Misstep to be $100+. I wouldn’t be surprised if they retain a value of $30ish, but I wouldn’t expect to break the bank with this Secret Lair. If you like the artwork or are after a foil Mental Misstep that isn’t over a hundred bucks, this Secret Lair is a good buy. Otherwise, the Blightsteel Colossus Secret Lair looks like the overall winner here.
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The Art of Frank Frazetta
For reference, Frank Frazetta is a legendary fantasy artist who is no longer with us. Wizards of the Coast partnered with his estate to make this Secret Lair possible. Some of these cards also have some decent secondary market value, so this may not be a bad one to pick up.
Soldiers got a lot of support in The Brothers’ War, and cards in-theme like Field Marshal have seen a spike as a result. Because this card is currently mid-spike, it’s a little difficult to assess. That said, the average value of this card seems to be about $6, with some copies of the card going for as much as $10. The foil multiplier is there, but it’s not super significant.
The cheapest copies of Temporal Manipulation currently on the market run about $25. Some of these printings only come in non-foil, so the foil multiplier moves the card up to about $35. As degenerate as they may be, extra turn spells are very popular amongst certain circles of MTG players. I would expect this card to retain a decent amount of its value.
Dark Ritual is yet another card that has been reprinted to oblivion, BUT I could see this artwork fetching a premium for this particular copy of the card. For that reason, I would assign the value of this card at a few bucks. This card does have a slight foil multiplier in most of its iterations, so that is also something to keep a note of.
This card has a few printings, and none of those printings exceed a dollar. I would expect this one to, but not by very much. On the plus side, this card should be playable in a creature-based EDH deck.
Seize the Day is another card in this drop with some secondary market value. Currently priced around $5-6, Seize the Day sees play in any creature-based deck that wants to end the game by hitting your opponent’s face. The card has Flashback, making its status as a win condition even more deadly. Notably, this card has been reprinted in Secret Lairs multiple times, so I may not expect a premium for this particular card.
Verdict
This Secret Lair, financially, is a decent choice. If you’re interested in Frazetta’s artwork, this probably gets upgraded to a home run. I would expect about $40 worth of value for the non-foil version, putting you up about $10. I would expect the profit margin to be similar for the foil version. However, this Secret Lair could be subject to premiums due to the art.
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December Superdrop: Welcome to the Fungal
I did not realize this drop’s size when starting to write this article. There is one more review after this one, but I will cut this one short and get straight to the verdict: the numbers do not add up for this Secret Lair. None of these cards are worth more than $4 on the secondary market individually, and two of these cards aren’t even worth a dollar. That said, Abundant Growth is becoming a popular Modern option for 4+ color decks needing to fix their mana while dodging Blood Moon. However, the recent banning of Yorion, Sky Nomad has made this a much worse option. Finally, Mycoloth does have a relevant foil multiplier, but it’s not enough to save the value of this Secret Lair financially. I do genuinely love the artwork for this Secret Lair, however. If that is of interest of you, then this may be worthwhile after all.
December Superdrop: Special Guest: Kozyndan: Another Story
Two standout Commander staples are showing up in this Secret Lair, which almost ensures that buying the foil version is worth your time. This artwork is also genuinely impressive and is done in a way that MTG players traditionally are a fan of.
Serra Ascendant only has two printings, and both are worth about $25 on average. This card comes in as a 6/6 for one mana in Commander, hence its impressive price tag. This also has Lifelink, ensuring that the conditional buff on this card will not leave any time soon.
Since neither of these printings is widely available, the foil multiplier is also quite impressive, coming in at $40 for the cheaper one.
Rapid Hybridization has a lot of printings, but these Pongify-esque removal effects are very popular in Commander, so it retains a $2-3 value regardless. Like Serra Ascendant, this card has a relevant foil multiplier since most of its reprintings are nonfoil exclusive. I would value this foil card at around $15 as a result.
This is the first-ever foil printing for Demonic Consultation! This Commander menace is part of a two-card combo that wins the game for only three mana. Thassa’s Oracle is the other half of the combo and is currently on the list of cards that may be banned from the format in the near future. Demonic Consultation only has one printing, and that card now goes for about $15. I would price the foil at around $30-40, considering that this will be the only one in existence for a while.
Wheel decks in Commander are quite popular. As such, Winds of Change has found a decent home in the format. This cheap one-mana refresh is surprisingly expensive, going for $15+. This is mainly due to all the printings of this card being rather old and difficult to find as a result. This, to my knowledge, will also be the first foil printing of Winds of Change, so I would expect that version of the card to be worth about $30.
Verdict
This is among the best Secret Lairs in the December Superdrop financially. You can easily recur the $30 non-foil asking price financially, with the cards coming up to about $55-60 in value! The foil version is a bit harder to analyze since two of these cards have never had a foil printing before. That said, the foil multipliers for all of the cards with foil printings are rather extreme, making the foil version of this Secret Lair likely the most valuable one of them all. If I were to buy only one Secret Lair from the December Superdrop, the foil version of the Special Guest: Kozyndan: Another Story would be my choice. That said, Optimus Prime VS. Megatron also looks quite strong financially.
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