Planning for the Marvel Super Heroes Commander Decks

January 30, 2026 Cliff Daigle Leave a comment

We got a lot of previews for Marvel Super Heroes this week, and of note is that we’re getting four Commander decks, each one coming in regular and Collector flavors.

The decks have themes as printed on the box, and while we don’t know any of the contained cards, we made good money off of Elementals and -1/-1 counters as themes, so let’s see what we can figure out ahead of time. That way when the decklists are revealed, we are ready to dive in.

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Cliff (@WordOfCommander at Twitter and BlueSky) has been writing for MTGPrice since 2013, and is an eager Commander player, Draft enthusiast, and Cube fanatic. A high school science teacher by day, he’s also the co-host of the MTG Fast Finance podcast. If you’re ever at an event and you see a giant flashing ‘CUBE DRAFT’ sign, go over, say hi, and be ready to draft.

Casual Fridays, Uncategorized

Are We Buying The Fallout X Magic Secret Lair: Rad Superdrop?

January 23, 2026 Cliff Daigle Leave a comment

It’s been forever since the last time we got a Secret Lair! We were supposed to get Monster Hunter on December 1st, but Wizards pulled that after the litany of errors and the cacophony of unhappy hunters. That means it’s been more than two months! We’re definitely never getting a gap like that again in 2026. Heck, we’re getting a real set every two months!

This is the second Fallout Secret Lair drop and it’s timed to come out a little after Fallout’s second season has aired, so we’re getting some new cards, some awesome reprints, and a little something for everyone.

For each card, I’ll give you the number of special printings, and the current retail for each. In addition, I’ll give you the EDHREC number, because that’s a great indication of the popularity of the card, even if EDHREC is skewed towards precons and the most invested players, it’s still data worth knowing. Also, all the Lairs are $30 for the nonfoils and $40 for the foils, unless otherwise noted.

Lucy, The Ghoul, and Maximus are new to Magic and have no stats to speak of.

Pre-War Formalwear (FEA $8, 18k decks)

Spirit Mantle (M12 foil $15, 68k decks)

T-45 Power Armor (FEA $2, 13k decks)

First off, this Lair is $40 for nonfoils and $50 for the foils. That’s important context when the cards themselves are kind of mid. Mantle is a popular choice in decks where a Commander needs to get through and deal damage to a player, but it’s not expensive. The three new cards are interesting, and I think The Ghoul is the most powerful, by far, but I also think there are going to be some crazy Energy combos with Maximus and Lucy is just a value engine, since tokens are made all the damn time in Commander.

Considering that this is the headliner, I’m expecting supply to be high on this one but as we’ll get to, I think FOMO will make this sell out eventually and it’ll turn a profit. I don’t think the cards are good enough on their own, just so I’m clear, but I’m preparing for the psychological aspect and the bot networks to make it sell out.

Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful (EA $12, Magicfest $30, SLD 2021 $80, 15k as partner and 30k as card)

Arcane Signet (tons, all the decks)

Sol Ring (tons, all the decks)

Lightning Greaves (50 printings, most borderless are $5-$10, 2 million decks)

Patchwork Banner (pack foil $8, 307k decks)

No, seriously, Signet has 80 printings and Sol Ring has 122.

Yoshi is popular in Jodah as a legend that’s only one mana, Signet and Sol Ring can’t really go wrong, Greaves is everywhere, and this is the first special printing for the Banner. Most importantly, though, this is a Lair focusing on adorable dogs, and we’ve proven, over and over again, that it’s a recipe for success.

I’m going to buy every copy I can of this, and I encourage you to do the same. I fully expect this to be the first Lair to sell out, just because plenty of folks will buy the bundle and then add a couple of these to the cart. This is pure profit, easy money, Eddie/Kieran Yanner level of demand, thanks to the combo of staples and good boys.

Ripples of Potential (EA $7, 105k decks)

Mutational Advantage (FEA $10, 60k decks)

The Wise Mothman (Surge Showcase $200, Foil Showcase $20, 28k decks as commander, #11 in last two years)

Mindcrank (NPH pack foil $40, SLD foil $21, 121k decks)

Mesmeric Orb (Retro foil $30, 109k decks)

Wizards likes to do this sort of thing, where there’s one commander, and several of the accessories. This time, they picked one of the most popular commanders of the last couple years, and added several favorite cards. Does it matter that Mindcrank just got a badass version in Iron Maiden? Not at all! This is a fantastic Lair and I plan to max out here as well. Rad counters are just too good a theme and too fun an experience for me to pass up these cards.

Tinybones, Trinket Thief (SLD foil $35, 4k as commander, 19k as card)

Isshin, Two Heavens as One (FCA foil $55, 25k decks as commander, 69k as card)

The Deck of Many Things (Ampersand foil $25, 28k decks)

Caged Sun (Surge foil $8, Retro foil $5, 137k decks)

Nuka-Cola Vending Machine (Borderless foil $40, Surge foil $80, 89k decks)

The big draws here are Tinybones and the Nuka-Cola Machine. The Machine is a terrifying card in any Food-based deck, and thank goodness the Treasure comes in tapped. We’re a few months away from The Hobbit, and where there’s Hobbits, there’s Food synergies. I fully expect this to get to a floor in Dump Week and take off from there. Isshin just got a sweet Lightning version in the Final Fantasy bonus sheet, so that should recover nicely unless they go for a third printing in the next few months.

I’m in for this Lair, but mainly for the big two.

We don’t know what the bundle prices will be (my expectations are that it’ll be a very meager savings) but I don’t mind spending the money, because we’ll get a Silver Shroud Costume promo for every $149 we spend. This is $45 for the surge foil, but a regular frame, and even $12 for the regular nonfoil, and it’s in 67k decks. You’ll get at least $20 for selling that, and every bit helps bring down the price.

My personal plan is to max out on bundles, and add extras of everything but Vault 33. I don’t know what the max amounts will be, but I’m expecting it’ll be limited to two of each item/bundle again. I’m going after foils and nonfoils equally here.

Finally, please notice that Wizards is telling you to get in the queue and be ready Monday morning. You can load a cart starting an hour early, and when 9 am (12 noon EST) hits, you’ll be randomized for your place in line. So get logged in, get your carts ready, and keep your fingers crossed!

Casual Fridays

The Mana Math of Lorwyn Eclipsed

January 16, 2026 Cliff Daigle Leave a comment

With seven sets coming in 2026, there’s going to be a lot of times I say these words: It’s time to do some math!

That’s right, Lorwyn Eclipsed is about to be released, and we need to do some arithmetic in order to figure out how likely it is that Collector Boosters will contain what we want.

So strap on a calculator, kids, and let’s get into it!

In running these numbers, I’m just using Wizards’ released information about the makeup of Collector Booster packs. The focus is on those CBs, because that’s where the best stuff will be. There’s a tiny chance of these showing up in Play Boosters, but generally, don’t waste your time with those if you like to crack packs.

First off, let’s talk about nonfoil cards.

It’s not every set where Wizards puts two nonfoils in the CBs this way, but when they do, it leads to a LOT of nonfoils entering the market. Especially the rares of each type, you’re at just over 83% of these slots having rares. Definitely could lead to some bricks being bought down the line, depending on the cards.

Even with the double-up on the slot, you’re still looking at ten boxes of CBs to get that one fetchland in particular. Pretty tough pull, as nonfoils go.I’d look for these to be a little bit pricier than expected.

The foil slot, as always, has the best stuff:

The official MSRP of a CB pack is $27, so that’s what I’m using for my estimates.

In case you missed the bit in the article about collecting this set, we’re done getting Japanese-language Fracture Foils in English-language CBs. Those will only be found in the Japanese-language CBs. This is phrased as a permanent change, but we’ll see if that holds.

As for the cards in this slot, we’re not seeing anything too wildly rare. Everything can be had in under 200 packs, which is pretty good for this sort of thing. If you’re expecting the mega-rares of the recent Universes Beyond sets, well, this won’t be as difficult.

With the shift in Fracture Foils, now we’ve got an interesting case. We know precisely what the ratio is of regular foil to Fracture Foil, it’s 9:1 and that means the expectation is that if a Fracture Foil costs $100, then the regular foil should be $11. To put another way, according to the math, nine regular foils should add up to the price of one Fracture Foil.

The problem here is that we don’t know what the demand will look like, and if the Fracture Foil collectors was to go ham, they will, and throw the ratio all out of whack. As an example, let’s look at the Japan Showcase of Bloodthirsty Conqueror. The regular foil is right at $100, and the Fracture Foil is just about three times that much. (both of those are in English, for the record.)

Blessed few of the Fracture Foils currently have a ratio near 9:1, but that’s with the JPN versions getting opened. We’ll have to keep an eye on where the prices end up.

The Special Guests part of this is about in line with other sets too. Specific cards are usually between 150-200 packs, and that’s what we’ve got here. There will be some excellent targets among the foils, I think, but the truly interesting case will be the nonfoils. Those are only found in the Play Boosters, and you’re 1 in 55 to get a SPG card. Since there’s 20 options, that means it’ll take 1,100 Play Boosters to get one particular nonfoil.

Using Wizards’ MSRP, we can see that the cost in Play Boosters will be just over six grand, and that’s roughly $900 more than it’ll cost to open a foil version. It’s rare enough for the foils and nonfoils to be close in price, much less have the nonfoil as costing more. I’ll be watching to see if there’s deals to be had early, but this is another case where collectors might end up pushing the price to illogical levels.

The final point that jumps out at me is that 62.8% of the CBs opened will have a Rare FEA, a Foil Rare Fable Frame, or a Foil Rare Borderless card. They have a vested interest in keeping mythics at a lower drop rate, but if you add in the 10% of SPGs, now you’re talking about only 1 in 4 Collector Boosters having a foil mythic, and that’s a bit of a change from previous sets. It remains to be seen if that’ll damage the finances of those mythics, but really, it’ll be all about Commander demand.

Last but not least, let’s talk about the Double Rainbow Foil Serialized Bitterblossom Bearer. I’ve made a table to show some of the likely drop rates, and how they contribute revenue for Wizards.

($250 is our estimated distributor buy price, or what Wizards makes when they sell the boxes to a distributor)

For a little context, Lord of the Rings Holiday edition was at 1.5 million packs, and the main summer set was 3.3 million. We’re estimating this is closer to Edge of Eternities’ print run, which was probably in the realm of 2 to 2.5 million packs. So I’m giving the estimate of about 1 in 5,000 Collector Boosters to snag a serialized card.

I want to repeat, this is an estimate. If you get me some solid data on how many Collector Boosters Wizards makes for a set, I’d love to have that piece of information.

I hope these charts are helpful as you decide what to buy and what to open. If you have questions or concerns, I’m happy to talk about the specifics on social media or in the ProTrader Discord. Good luck with your packs!

Uncategorized

Potential Specs for Previewed Lorwyn Legends

January 9, 2026 Cliff Daigle Leave a comment

Now I know we haven’t gotten all of the Lorwyn Eclipsed legendary creatures yet, but the ones we’ve gotten are very good at different things. I always have trouble picking the one that will blow up, so I’m going with a ‘two for all’ mentality.

If you end up building these Commander decks, I hope these picks work out, both in gameplay and financially.

Abigale, Eloquent First-Year

Yargle, Glutton of Urborg (Secret Lair foil) – Abigale wants max power/toughness and minimum drawback, and the memeing of Yargle is real. Damn shame you can’t play Multani and Yargle in an Abigale decks, but that’s how it is.

Hunted Bonebrute (FEA) – There’s a lot of cards in the EDHREC file for this Commander that come with a drawback, like Phyrexian Soulgorger or Nyxathid, but I don’t want to lose out on anything like that. Instead I’d rather lay the Dog down, give away two tokens, then play Abigale and smash for 6 lifelink and flying

Ashling, Rekindled // Ashling, Rimebound

Archmage Emeritus (Surge Foil) – There is an FEA version, but I like the supply on this better if people start buying copies.

Longshot, Rebel Bowman (foil) – Gotta love the big array of spellslinger accessories, but I’m going with the new one who both makes it cheaper and deals damage. Avatar Jumpstart is going to be impressively pricey for some time to come.

Bre of Clam Stoutarm

Ken, Burning Brawler (foil) – I love the Street Fighter cards, but Ken needs help. Bre gives that help, and they give so so many free things to do together!

Joshua, Phoenix’s Dominant (Surge Borderless) – One of the cheapest Surge Borderless characters, it won’t take much demand to start pushing his price.

Brigid, Clachan’s Heart // Brigid, Doun’s Mind

Caretaker’s Talent (foil) – There’s a lot to be said for an enchantment that gives you a card every time you cast your commander, and in addition, you get the other bonuses of the other levels.

Divine Visitation (Anime Foil) – You’ll be playing a deck where you’re maxing out the token production, and Divine Visitation is one of the most unfair things you can do.

Doran, Besieged by Time

Felothar, the Steadfast (FEA) – There’s a lot of cards that give both the ‘damage equal to toughness’ and ‘defender doesn’t matter’ but this one also has an awesome sacrifice ability too.

Sapling of Colfenor (regular) – The only foils are $50, so I can’t recommend buying in on those, but the Sapling kicks a lot of butt.

Eirdu, Carrier of Dawn // Isilu, Carrier of Twilight

Abandoned Air Temple (foil) – Adding the plus counters just nullifies the Persist counters, giving you inevitability.

Mikaeus, the Unhallowed (borderless foil) – If your creatures have both persist and undying, they can die over and over again, Interestingly, they switch off coming back with plus counters or minutes counters, but it’s all infinite. Enjoy.

Grub, Storied Matriarch // Grub, Notorious Auntie

Ultimate Green Goblin (FEA) – New, big, undercosted, and can be brought back. What’s not to love?

Wort, Boggart Auntie (regular) – No reprints since original Lorwyn, and if you’re recurring Goblins, she wants to help.

High Perfect Morcant – I wrote about Jund -1/-1 counters, and a lot of those got the reprint. Gonna stick with Maha, Its Feathers Night and Yawgmoth, Thran Physician for this gal.

Kirol, Attentive First-Year

Animal Pakal, Thousandth Moon (showcase foil) – This is everything you want to do together.

Aurelia, the Law Above (Ravnica frame foil) – There’s a lot of sweet choices here, and you even get to pick which of her triggers to copy!

Lluwen, Imperfect Naturalist

Out of the Tombs (surge foil) – 40K cards can do some wild things, and if you want to maximize your self-mill, this is the way.

Ripples of Undeath (FEA) – It’s getting pricey, but it’s an amazing enabler for what you’re doing in this deck, giving you choices of what to get back.

Maralen, Fae Ascendant

Sylvan Offering (Secret Lair foil) – We’re going to get a lot of ‘make X Elves’ going on, and this is a cheap sweet version. Make some friends!

Galadrim Ambush (Scrolls foil) – I picked this on a recent MTG Fast Finance cast, and this does a great job of making you Elves and fogging other people.

Rhys, the Evermore

Summon: Yojimbo (Anime Foil) – Rhys is busted good with Sagas, resetting them and letting you use abilities. Yojimbo is one of the best for this.

Patched Plaything (foil) – This isn’t busted good, but it’s combo-riffic, allowing you to hit hard and early.

Sanar, Innovative First-Year

Charred Foyer // Warped Space (showcase foil) – You’re going to do a lot of exiling, why not get some free mana for that?

Nalfeshnee (EA) – No foils to be had, but this is an awesome card if you’re exiling things.

Sygg, Wanderwine Wisdom // Sygg, Wanderbrine Shield

Augury Adept (pack foil) – Giving this a sort of unblockable is pretty amazing, gain some life and draw some cards!

Brago, King Eternal (SLD foil) – One of the best things to make unblockable, you can gain all sorts of value.

Tam, Mindful First-Year

Scuttlemutt (M19 foil) – Does what you need it to do with your commander, giving hexproof all over.

Tidal Visionary (pack foil) – Won’t you enjoy changing the colors even more?

Trystan, Callous Cultivator // Trystan, Penitent Culler

Defiled Crypt // Cadaver Lab (pack foil) – Gotta get a benefit for all the exiling you’re doing!

Amzu, Swarm’s Leader (regular) – No special versions to be had, but there are a lot of fun accessories for doing this exiling and this makes big flyers.

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