Summary
With hundreds of cards being released every year,Magic: The Gatheringhas a huge range of cards with detailed art in fantastical styles. MTG has some of the most prestigious cards, and some of the best will always be from the limited Secret Lair drops.
One thing that drives some to buy Secret Lair drops outside the amazing collaborations or fantastic reprints is the chance of obtaining a rare bonus card. Compared to the drops themselves, these have rarities, making certain cards worth a ton more than any in the drop.
All prices have been taken from theirTCGPlayerMarket Price. Keep in mind that these can fluctuate very rapidly as listings of these cards appear on the market.
10Blacker Lotus (Rainbow Foil Rare, Secret Lair Bonus 869) – $310.19
A Legendary Card Now Even Better
If you are an MTG player or collector and don’t know the legacy of the Black Lotus card, you need to catch up on some MTG lore. This wonderful Bonus card comes from the Deadpool Secret Lair drop and features the same fantastic humor the rest of the drop has and combines it with a reprint of a card from the Unglued joke set.
This unique reprint of the Blacker Lotus has a Black Lotus card scribbled all over in various markers to make it into the silver-boarded and cooler Blacker Lotus, onlyslightlydestroying it in the process. The effect is even better on this reprint as it is written crudely onto a piece of tape, making it more fitting for the horrifying task of ripping the card up into pieces for some mana. The tongue-and-cheek humor of this card is perfectly matched with Deadpool’s and combines the legacy of MTG with some creative, fun and silly touches.
9Garruk Wildspeaker (Autographed Mythic, Secret Lair Bonus 749) – $366.74
Striking A Home Run
In the world of Trading Card Games, there is a massive range of games to get into collecting and playing, but with Secret Lair drops MTG is able to represent and reference nearly all of them to be the ultimate one. The Magic: The Baseballing drop was one that takes iconic Gatewatch characters and gives them a sports-themed makeover in baseball card-styled reprints.
For this drop, there is a slim chance that your Bonus card could be an autographed version of one of the cards, signed by the character themselves. Garruk Wildspeaker is set to take up the role of the Designated Hitter in this baseball match and, with his tall stature, and this reprint of his iconic cheap Legendary Planeswalker card, he is the best one for the team. The aesthetic of this card is more than enough to make it worth a ton, but the fake signature adds even more charm.
8Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes (Rainbow Foil Mythic, Secret Lair Bonus 879) – $390.66
Heroes Of Legend
This card is part of a pool of six potential Bonus cards for the Dungeons & Dragons drops in 2024 and, since it is a Mythic rare, it is also the hardest to pull, which is a shame as it is the favorite of many. The two heroes, Minsc and Boo, are a pair of allies who are always looking to do good and save the day from evil despite their powerless abilities, but that did not stop this card from being a strong Legendary Planeswalker that put terror into the hearts of any decks that go against it.
Minsc and Boo are seen riding upon a fierce mighty dragon in this beautiful reprint of the Timeless Heroes card, showing them in the midst of their usual hero business. The strength of this card comes from its ability to instantly summon a Boo Legendary Creature with Haste when entering the field creating instant board pressure at the cost of only four mana. These two are some of the silliest characters in all of D&D and this card gives them the spotlight they deserve.
7Smothering Tithe (Rainbow Foil Rare, Secret Lair Bonus 7009) – $392.48
SpongeBob Me Boy, Pay Up Yer Two Mana!
Coming in as one of the rarest potential Bonus cards from the funSpongeBob SquarePants Secret Lair dropsMr. Krabs does what he does best on a card that couldn’t suit him better. Smothering Tithe is an enchantment card that many despise as it forces your opponent to pay two mana whenever they draw a card for the rest of the game, but if they refuse to, you get to create a Treasure Token.
Considering this effect is like forcing your foe to pay taxes, there is really no better character than the money-obsessed Mr. Krabs to be on the card. Smothering Tithe is a card that is reprinted quite alot thanks to how many annoying decks love to run it because of how strong the effect is. Using this card, you will be guaranteed to get value out of it, as drawing is a mechanic that is core to any deck, and it will often mean you get to generate a bunch of free Treasure Tokens due to how brutal wasting two mana can be.
6Shadowborn Apostle (Rare, Secret Lair Bonus 685) – $404.29
Wonderful Art, Unfortunate Bonus Card
Meyoco is the famous, beloved artist who illustrated the gorgeous art featured on this card and is known for her fashion design and her distinctive soft art with bright colors. In this reprint of Shadowborn Apostle her style pops to make it the best print of the card. This card was limited to the Look at the Kitties drop and is one of countless cards that deserve to be displayed in an art gallery.
This card is a strange pick for a Bonus card though, due to the rarity system. You can’t guarantee you will get a specific Bonus card when purchasing a drop, but Shadowborn Apostle is a card that you can have an endless amount of in your deck, and it requires you to have at least six of them to make its effect work. Some players run upwards of 30 copies of the base card in their deck, and if you wanted to do that with this stunning reprint, it would set you back a loan’s worth of money, but at least you would have the fanciest deck around.
5Chandra Nalaar (Autographed Mythic, Secret Lair Bonus 748) – $415.00
Defeating Eldrazi Through A Bat And A Ball
Secret Lair drops really aren’t afraid to push the MTG branding and theming to absolute extremes and create some of the most absurdly cool cards for collectors and players alike. That is no more clear than with one of the silliest conceptual drops, the Magic: The Baseballing drop, which reprinted some great Legendary Planeswalkers in an awesome style.
This drop was themed all around making five of Gatewatch’s best kit up and get ready to face Eldrazi in the ultimate showdown, a baseball match! Chandra Nalaar comes burning on in as the team’s All-star Legendary Planeswalker in a fantastically designed card. This Bonus version of the regular drop card has been signed by her and, like actual signed baseball cards, this gives its value a home run of legendary status.
4Liliana Vess (Autographed Mythic, Secret Lair Bonus 747) – $612.74
Swing And A Vess
Lilliana Vess is the necromancer from Dominaria every MTG fan knows and loves, with tons of cards and stories to her name. One card with her that stands out from them all is her Magic: The Baseballing Secret Lair card that features a reprint of her Legendary Planeswalker card in a baseball card-inspired style, and one of the Bonus cards for this drop even has her signature on the card.
Unfortunately, like all The Baseballing drop signed cards, the signatures are just printed on them, but these cards are still excellent looking because of the aesthetic, perfectly replicating a retro baseball card. Liliana’s cards are usually quite drab and so this super-unique double-sided card makes her a star Legendary Planeswalker for any collection but a must-have for any Liliana collection.
3Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite (Rainbow Foil Mythic, Secret Lair Bonus 811) – $622.80
The iconic now-gone, Phyrexian leader of New Phyrexia, Elesh Norn, has been a highlight of many cards across her conquering history and not even the Secret Lair drops are safe from her dominating grasp. One of her best appearances was in the Outlaw Anthology drops, which featured some stylish wanted poster-like cards featuring villains and evil foes from across MTG history.
Ripping on into this drop as a Bonus card, Elesh Norn returns with a reprint of her popular Grand Cenobite card. This Legendary Creature card has a high cost to play, but it is very much worth it with the game-shattering effect of giving your Creatures plus two / plus two while giving your foes Creatures negative two / negative two, which has shown itself to be absolutely game-defining in the Commander format. The striking yellow background and the totally alive cowboy make this card one of the most distinctive of any Elesh Norn card, and it is a treat.
2Mana Vault (Rainbow Foil Mythic, Secret Lair Bonus 796) – $1,028.84
Value. Value Always Changes.
The Fallout collaborations with MTG have been one of the community’s favorite and the prices of the sets and cards definitely reflect that. Alongside the release of theMTG -Universes Beyond: Falloutset, three Secret Lair drops were also released. The set had many great cards, but these drops had something special in the form of some excellent Vault Boy-themed reprints and Bonus cards.
Vault Boy is one of the most iconic Fallout characters and so combining him with a reprint of the fitting Mana Vault card and making it super rare to obtain created one of the most valuable pieces of Fallout merchandise. Mana Vault is a card that has seen huge success over multiple formats because of its simple yet powerful ability when tapped to grant you three colorless mana for a single mana. This rainbow foil reprint is one of the few where the foil actually makes the card even more appealing, as the rainbow coming out of the vault looks great with added shine.
1Encore Electromancer (Rainbow Foil Mythic, Secret Lair Bonus 808) – $1,157.82
Miku-Miku Beaming A Hole In Your Wallet
This card comes singing on in, featuring the world’s beloved virtual diva, Hatsune Miku. In 2024, we received four season-themed Secret Lair drops featuring the Japanese star herself and her other Vocaloid friends. Despite how niche of a collab it is, the first few drops made collectors go wild because of one single card.
TheHatsune Miku dropswere some of the most sought-after drops due to the potential to pull this reskin of Snapcaster Mage as a Bonus card. Snapcaster Mage is a massively popular Creature card with very few reprints that is known for its speed. Having both Flash and Flashback, it is a key piece in many control decks. With fantasy embedded into every inch of rich detailed art as well as eye-catching blue hues, this card is well worth the hype.
