Secret Lair Countdown: An Encyclopedia of Value?

If you had a spare $200 to spend on Magic, would you rather get a special assortment of cards from a Secret Lair or roughly four Commander decks with some pocket change to spare?

Secret Lair: An Encyclopedia of Magic is an assortment of 26 cards corresponding to each letter of the alphabet. This seemingly random selection has some nuances included in it that make it a slightly better thought out product than I expected. However, the odds of completely wanting all 26 variations of the cards is rather slim. Most people will purchase the product for the mainstage cards, pet inclusions, or the Halo Foil gambling included in each sealed booster.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this kind of treatment. All the way back in November 2022, (I'm not even going to count how many Secret Lairs ago), an assortment of 30 cards were released for 25% cheaper, and after three years, their prices haven't really moved much. There are certainly patterns on Necropotence, Birthing Pod, and Deathrite Shaman showing a small buyout during Tarkir: Dragonstorm. Beyond these, most of the cards have aged like the rest of the special edition slop.

With Cards Like These

Shoveling through the cards and outlining the current price trends, previous printings, and where these may go in the future, there are the multiple duds. Hymn to Tourach is scraping the bottom of the barrel, not worth more than a few cents, being close enough to a $1 for the premium version. 

This is followed by many other cards scraping under the $2 mark with Eerie Ultimatum, Retrofitter Foundry, and Xantcha, Sleeper Agent all bringing the overall price average down. 

$1.85 $2.49

$1.50 $2.99

Having this many low-priced cards makes me wonder what would have been a better choice for inclusion. Should the Secret Lairs always target cards that are at least $5, $10, or $15 reprints?

Shimmer Foil

Now for some odd additions to the list of cards, which may not be super expensive or ultra unique, but stand out for being included. First up is Zo-Zu the Punisher, with a limited amount of reprints and only one previous foil. The foil is over 21 years old and currently holding a very demanding $94 price. This kind of foil reprinting treatment is something we’ve seen previous Secret Lairs do. The problem arises when there are more of these old cards reprinted in a single product.

$9.49

$4.99

There are two other cards receiving the same foil reasoning as Zo-Zu the Punisher. Both Brain Freeze and Vesuva have a rather limited number of printings, including the low foil treatments. Brain Freeze reminded me so much of when we talked about the Ertai, the Corrupted (Step-and-Compleat Foil). The price has not worked out as expected in comparison to the Planeshift edition. The Scourge foil of Brain Freeze is just shy of $270, without any reason to be that high other than pure scarcity of foils from the time period.

My best guess, the new edition will begin to lower in price quite drastically from the current price of $72 to something around $20-$25.

Top to Bottom

Now for the crème de la crème of value included, the card that makes this product account for most of that $200 investment. At the top of the mountain stands Urza's Saga at $52, which, despite being its 4th-ish printing, is not decreasing the overall price of the card. 

There’s a lot that can be said about Urza's Saga and its use among many different formats. One thing is for sure, Saga is here to stay. Unless, in 1-2 years' time, some other card is printed that will further break it or simply enable players to recur it more often.

$43.00 $57.99

Trailing at some distance behind is Phyrexian Altar at $42. This artifact has gone through many reprints and isn’t slowing down in price increases, due to the universal utility that it provides. The first Secret Lair reprint for this card will likely keep climbing in value as many Commander players may look to replace their non-blinged versions of the card.

Out of Bounds

Secret Lair Countdown Kit: An Encyclopedia of Magic is a very niche and dedicated product that requires at least some interest in many cards included, rather than individual letters. Personally, I’m rather disappointed that this product has increased the price of the previous Advent-style inclusions. The $50 uptick in price, as well as a number of cards that don’t hit the mark, create a rather soulless product. 

The question then becomes, do any of the products we’re seeing have any major interest? The other Secret Lair release around here is setting a precedent of being removed before release due to backlashes from collaborators and potential buyers.

See you in 2026 when we go back to caring about daybound.

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