This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/magictcg by /u/Ninjaboi333 on 2024-04-08 18:44:52.
NEW SECRET LAIR ALERT
This is from a strictly financial perspective looking at versions of these cards that are already on the secondary market and how cheap it would be to get these if you needed them for deckbuilding, in order to help you make an informed decision as a consumer. Artistic and Aesthetic taste is subjective. Numbers come from Scryfall at time of writing, analysis does not factor in discount for bulk purchases on the website or shipping.
Secret Lair x Fallout: Vault Boy - $29.99 nonfoil / $39.99 foil
- Grand Arbiter Augustin IV aka Vault Boy, Cap Collector - $3.46 nonfoil / $5.54 foil
- Sphere of Resistance - $32.22 nonfoil / $85.88 foil (only Kaladesh Exhibition previously - first non Exhibition foil version)
- Trinisphere - $15.21 nonfoil / $15.56 foil
- Winter Orb - $11.74 nonfoil / $33.46 foil (first foil reprint since EMA)
- Total - $62.63 nonfoil / $140.44 foil
The first of three Fallout crossover secret lairs, which also happens to doubles as baby's first stax EDH deck starter kit. And this one delivers on the value - the three stax pieces themselves are all fairly valuable, and have high foil prices. The only potential downside to this drop I think will be the number of friends you lose when you do start running stax.
Secret Lair x Fallout: Points of Interset - $29.99 nonfoil / $39.99 foil
- Bojuka Bog - $0.98 nonfoil / $20.12 foil
- Command Beacon - $10.14 nonfoil / $10.21 foil
- Fabled Passage - $5.55 nonfoil/ $6.12 foil
- Reflecting Pool - $5.38 nonfoil / $7.24 foil
- Reliquary Tower - $0.99 nonfoil / $1.70 foil
- Total - $23.04 nonfoil / $45.39 foil
The second Fallout crossover focuses on lands, and frankly they're not a bad selection even if the surface level value doesn't look great. Bojuka Bog may be less than a dollar normally due to beg in most black precons, but the demand (31% of EDH decks) combined with the relatively few foil printings means the foil at least is worth $20 or so. Command Beacon hasn't had a lot of printings and is key for decks like Phage and such to work / a way to get around commander tax and so holds a $10 value regardless, with a 5% deck appearance rate. Reflecting Pool and Fabled Passage are decent mana fixers - 6% and 10% respectively, with the latter also showing up in Pioneer manabases. Reliquary Tower is probably the only true miss value wise due to its ubiquity, but that goes with its demand - it may be slightly overplayed but still comes in at 28% of decks in EDH, so this is a nice way to bling it out.
Secret Lair x Fallout: SPECIAL - $29.99 nonfoil / $39.99 foil
- Steelshaper's Gift - $2.73 nonfoil / $3.74 foil
- Propaganda - $4.77 nonfoil / $12.75 foil
- Elixir of Immortality - $0.45 nonfoil / $5.49 foil
- Council's Judgement - $0.55 nonfoil / $1.98 foil
- Idyllic TUtor - $5.82 nonfoil / $7.09 foil
- Anger - $3.40 nonfoil / $9.34 foil
- Lightning Bolt - $0.23 nonfoil / $0.94 foil
- Total - $17.95 nonfoil / $41.33 foil
The final Fallout crossover gives us a higher than average 7 cards, though the average price of each card is reduced, especially on the nonfoil side. I don't really see these all fitting into a single deck together unfortunately - probably the biggest pickups here would be the foil Propaganda and Anger (which both have surprisingly few foil versions).
Featuring: Phoebe Wahl - $29.99 nonfoil / $39.99 foil
- Swords to Plowshares - $0.88 nonfoil / $1.98 foil
- Faerie Artisans - $0.68 nonfoil / $1.26 foil
- Dockside Chef - $0.19 nonfoil / $0.40 foil
- Alela, Artful Provocateur - $0.75 nonfoil / $1.94 foil
- Door of Destinies - $5.95 nonfoil / $15.98 foil
- Total - $8.45 nonfoil / $21.56 foil
Art aside (which I find charming personally), the big downside here is that these cards are simply not worth what you are paying for the secret lair (again unless you specifically want this art). The closest thing to value here would be the foil Door of Destinies but even then it would be cheaper to just get an M14 foil version. So the way to think about this drop would be A) were you looking to bling out and/or start an Alela deck already (which all these cards would go into), and B) would you be willing to play a $4.30 premium in nonfoil / a $3.69 premium in foil for each of the 5 cards to have cute art?
Diabolical Dioramas - $29.99 nonfoil / $39.99 foil
- Gravebreaker Lamia - $0.30 nonfoil / $0.65 foil
- Aura Shards - $9.59 nonfoil / $107.57 foil (first foil reprinting since Invasion)
- Fiend Artisan - $7.52 nonfoil / $8.65 foil (first reprint since Ikoria)
- Karador, Ghost Chieftan - $0.19 nonfoil / $0.25 foil
- Total - $17.60 nonfoil / $117.12 foil (mostly in first time aura shards foil reprint)
If you haven't seen the promotional videos of these diorama sets using puppetry over on the Secret Lair twitter, I highly recommend. As is, the nonfoil version is not worth it. However on foil, we are blessed with the first time foil reprinting of Aura Shards since Invasion block. Now you're not going to be able to flip this for $100+, but if you were in the market for a foil Aura Shards for your cube or deck, this would be the place to do so. There is also some value in Fiend Artisan, which has its first ever reprint here since Ikora - it does show up in Legacy and Pioneer and Modern here and there, so outside of EDH it has some value. And on top of all that, this selection of cards all actually go into the hypothetical Karador EDH deck you could built using this as a starter kit. On nonfoil, since it's below value you are basically being asked to pay a $3.09 premium per card for the art.
Artist Series: Rovina Cai - $29.99 nonfoil / $39.99 foil
- Inalla, Archmage Ritualist - NA nonfoil (First time printing) / $3.21 foil (notably the hypercurled C17 face commander is the only printing)
- Aether Vial - $5.46 nonfoil / $5.90 foil
- Arcane Signet - $0.34 nonfoil / $0.95 foil
- Sword of the Animist - $6.56 / $9.07 foil
- Total - $12.36 nonfoil + first nonfoil Inalla / $19.13 foil
Again a lair that on the surface seems underwhelming but actually has some hidden value. The headline here is that Inalla (who is the 144th most popular commander) is getting her first nonfoil printing (which is kind of rare nowadays). Given that the previous version was the notoriously hypercurled c17 versions (that led to Legacy decks running Kess from the same precon to be cosnidered marked), so if you're looking for a flat version of Inalla you're in luck. The other three cards are also pretty decent constructed staples (Vial in Modern and Legacy, Signet being Signet, and Sword showing up in 5% of EDH decks). The premium you're paying for the art of these versions are about $7.72 in foil (can't calculate for nonfoil due to Inalla not having a prior version).
Bundles
- Fallout only Bundle - 74.99 nonfoil / $99.99 foil vs 89.97 nonfoil / 119.97 foil if bought separately) vs 103.62 nonfoil / 227.16 foil if bought as singles
- Sunlight and Moonbeam Bundle (the 3 non Fallout drops) - - 74.99 nonfoil / $99.99 foil vs 89.97 nonfoil / 119.97 foil if bought separately vs 38.41 nonfoil (+ Inalla) / 157.81 foil (mostly due to Aura Shards being 107).
- All Nonfoils - 159.99 vs 179.94 if bought individually vs 142.03 + Inalla if bought as singles
- All Foils - 209.99 vs 239.94 if bought individually vs 384.97 if bought as singles
I'm not going to do the super combined all foils + all nonfoils, if you're willing to spend that much on all of these, money is probably no object to you.
Also worth noting that you get an exclusive Ignoble Hierarch for buying either the all nonfoils / all foils / everything bundles, but that's only a $5 card so won't sway the balance much. You also get free shipping at $99, which all of the 3-drop bundles conveniently fall short of.
TLDR
- All of the Secret Lair drops are pretty good value, and I would recommend getting the bundle there at least - In descending order of value - Vault Boy > Points of Interest > SPECIAL
- None of the non-Fallout drops are worth it in nonfoil, with only Diabolical Dioramas having value in foil thanks to foil Aura shards.
- However, if you are looking to build a deck with any of the commanders included, this would be a good starter kit perhaps with unique style. You're paying about $3-4/card premium for unique art for Karador and Alela drops, and about $7 in foil for the Inalla drop. Also worth noting you can get a non-curled Inalla finally.
For me, I'm probably going to get only the Fallout bundle plus the Inalla drop (to go into my Grixis SLD-only deck I'm building) to get to $99 for shipping.
