Marvel Secret Lair Superdrop Live On November 4th
At New York Comic-Con last month, Wizards of the Coast announced five new Secret Lair drops.
These drops are themed after five iconic superheroes in the Marvel Comics canon. They drop on November 4th, be sure to go to the Secret Lair site to be emailed when they're live for purchase!
If you're reading this article just as it goes live, that means the Marvel Superdrop is either live right now, or it will go live in no time at all. But what cards within these drops are worth the effort of queueing up to purchase them? Let's take a look!
Captain America, First Avenger
The first cards we will discuss come from the drop containing Captain America, First Avenger. But first, a brief disclaimer. We can't evaluate the financial value of the new mechanically unique cards in good faith, simply because they haven't hit the market past preorders at the time of writing. This goes for all the drops discussed in this article.
That said, we can take a look at the current prices for cards already in print. So, let's do that. Cap's Secret Lair drop contains four reprints: Sigarda's Aid, Sword of War and Peace, Flawless Maneuver, and In The Trenches. The first three are apt to hold more value overall than the last one, given time and market saturation.
Captain America's Aid, the Sigarda's Aid reskin, is currently preordering for $10. Meanwhile, Shield of War and Peace, the reskin of Sword of War and Peace, is currently going for $20 on preorder. Flawless Maneuver is preordering for $12 at this time, while In The Trenches, completely bedecked with art of the Invaders hero team, has yet to show a preorder price on Scryfall. However, on MTGStocks, the card shows to be settled firmly at $12 as well.
Overall, America's Posterior excluded, this drop is already worth its cost of $40 for nonfoil and even justifies a $50 price tag assuming everything holds up when the market is saturated. Moving on!
Black Panther, Wakandan King
Next, let's take a look at the drop containing Black Panther, Wakandan King. This Secret Lair drop contains Black Panther himself, a mechanically unique card, as well as four reprints and a Warrior creature token.
For tokens, we must treat them similarly to the unique cards in that their prices aren't often similar to those of proper cards. Therefore, we will exclude them from our analyses as well.
The four reprints in the Black Panther drop are Secure the Wastes, Heroic Intervention, a reskin of Primal Vigor as Bast's Blessing, and a reskin of Karn's Bastion as Wakandan Skyscraper. The only card out of these that Scryfall has price data on right now is Heroic Intervention at $12.
That said, at this time, MTGStocks says that Secure the Wastes, Bast's Blessing, and Wakandan Skyscraper are each approximately $10 for nonfoil. Despite a less-than-stellar price point for these singles versus the whole Marvel drop itself, the drop is technically worth its cost.
(Not shown: Warrior token)
Iron Man, Titan of Innovation
The next Marvel drop we want to talk about is Iron Man, Titan of Innovation. Tony Stark's drop is surely a mechanical nod to combo decks and their frequent reliance on artifacts. Iron Man makes a Treasure token as well. We will exclude both that token and Iron Man himself for this analysis.
The other four cards in this drop of five cards, one token, are the following: Sol Ring, Commander's Plate, Inventors' Fair, and Galvanic Blast. Sol Ring here is priced at $15 on preorder, while Commander's Plate is $30. Meanwhile, Inventors' Fair is $11 and Galvanic Blast, while not showing up on Scryfall, lists on MTGStocks for $10.
The two reprinted artifacts alone justify the nonfoil copy with some flow to spare, while any other additional card in this drop justifies it in foil. Again, this says nothing of the value to be added with the inclusion of the mechanically unique card or any token that may be in these drops.
(Not shown: Treasure token)
Wolverine, Best There Is
The best there is at what he does, Wolverine, Best There Is is the next topic of discussion for this article. This Marvel Secret Lair drop has the distinction of being a financial hit according to many sources, including The Professor of Tolarian Community College fame. This is primarily due to the glut of massively-impactful reprints in his drop.
Wolverine's drop contains the following four reprints: Berserk, Rhythm of the Wild, Rite of Passage (in its first-ever reprint), and a reskin of The Ozolith, as the Adamantium Bonding Tank used to weaponize Logan. Berserk goes for just over $21, and The Ozolith goes for just under $33.
At the same time, Rhythm of the Wild is currently just over $9, while Rite of Passage is priced at $11 and change. Taking any amount of loose change out of the equation, Berserk and The Ozolith by themselves fully justify getting this drop in foil for $50 - the rest is just gravy on the poutine.
Storm, Force of Nature
Finally, we have Storm, Force of Nature. Already the boogie-mutant of some cEDH doomsayers, Storm boasts an impressive spellslinger suite in her Secret Lair drop. Let's look at what those cards are and what they mean for your wallet.
The Storm, Force of Nature drop contains the following four reprints: Lightning Bolt, the first-ever reprinting of Ice Storm since Unlimited, and two reskins; one of Manamorphose as Ororo Borealis, and the other of Jeska's Will as Storm's Will. Lightning Bolt currently is priced at $10 for nonfoil on MTGStocks, and Ice Storm is $12 on Scryfall, as is Ororo Borealis.
Storm's Will is $18 at the time of writing. This all means that this drop is mostly hinging on Storm to carry the weight of the pricing. Although the reprinted cards exceed the $50 price tag of a foil drop, let alone the $40 of nonfoil, they only do so by the skin of their cardstock.
Marvel At These Drops
Ultimately, these Secret Lair drops aren't quite as Marvel-ous as one might make them out to be, on the financial front, but they're sure to be a good collector's item for Marvel fans. Plus, the cards themselves are pretty great for actual gameplay. But let's hear what you have to say. Will you be picking up any of these drops? Sound off below!
