Let me tell you a quick story about my June 1995 experience, as a sophomore/junior who’d been playing for a few months. My local store (Last Grenadier in Burbank, forever next to the mall, RIP) had a box that they put five-cent uncommons into, and when Ice Age came out, I didn’t know it was going to come out.

I just knew that one day, that box had a label added: Ice Age in here! So I eagerly riffled through the cards, exclaiming, and then I saw it. Counterspell. An $8 rare from Revised, was sitting in the nickel bin! And there was another behind it!

I didn’t look at the rest of the cards, I just went to the register and gave over a buck for the 18 other cards and my $16 pair of counterspells, feeling like I was committing a felony. Then I went to my friend and said, “Look what was in the nickel box!”

He looked at me and said, “Yup, that’s a common now.” I felt the world shift, and then I looked at my stack of commons with new and disgusted eyes. 

That’s the feeling I think a lot of people are going to get as this game deals with the aftereffects of Final Fantasy. 

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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 a GP and you see a giant flashing ‘CUBE DRAFT’ sign, go over, say hi, and be ready to draft.

Edge of Eternities is going to release in about a month, and the previews start Monday. We’ve already found out about spaceships, and shocklands, and at least one Eldrazi. There’s teasers and leaks and all sorts of things, but before we get to some Edge of Eternities packs, something else is coming up fast.

That’s right, on July 14th, we get a chance to buy a Sonic the Hedgehog themed Secret Lair drop. We haven’t been told if there are other drops coming with this, and while I think more is unlikely right now, I can’t rule anything out with Wizards these days. 

So let’s go over the drops, and the cards, and see where we want to put our money. 

As an overview, we’re going to start with the one drop that’s all new-to-Magic, and costs $10 more. The other two are reskins, and they are at the usual $30/$40 price point. I don’t know how much longer we’ll keep that price point as the base setting, as I fully expect Wizards to crank that to $40/$50 as the base price at some point in the future. 

We also haven’t been told of any bundle discounts or add-ins, so if they spring new information on us, I’ll update this post. For the reprints, I’m going to list the most expensive non-serialized version of the card, as well as the EDHREC number. Be careful with that number, because as you’ll see some cards that have been printed in Commander precons (maybe even more than once) are listed here because of the folks who take a deck and do budget upgrades or league additions, it’s not in for power reasons. 

Secret Lair x Sonic: Friends & Foes

I am a bit of a curmudgeon when it comes to new-to-Magic cards being sold via Secret Lair, and while I know Wizards has said that their policy is to make some Universes Within versions of cards eventually, they haven’t really done much of that since they printed all of the Street Fighter cards as Universes Within.

That said, the last few times they’ve done this, it’s been the Marvel cards and those have consistently done well. Those drops were new legend plus favorite cards, and now we’re looking at one $50 drop to get seven new and unique cards? Heck yes. 

The attention has all been on Shadow’s ability to obliterate counterspells by giving all of your stuff split second if artifact mana is involved. That’s a really powerful ability, and Rakdos decks really do despite reactive blue mages who don’t bother to play permanents.

However, most of the rest range from decent to outstanding. Eggman is causing or will cause everything ‘villainous choice’ to spike. Sonic himself is a great headliner for a themed deck. Knuckles gives a Treasures win condition to red, to go with Revel in Riches in black. Amy and Tails are okay at what they do, and Super State goes real nice into your most hated Uril, the Miststalker builds.

If this was $30/$40, it would be even easier to recommend this drop, but it’s still great value at $40/$50, and I will at least be getting the max of foils on this. Probably the nonfoils too.

Secret Lair x Sonic: Turbo Gear 

The Reaver Cleaver (DMC EA $13) – 124k decks – It’s a good card, and getting a premium reprint that should go well into a range of decks. However, to be widely adopted it’s got to be outstanding and this isn’t that. I think we’re going to see a big glut of copies hit the market and this won’t be a pricey card. 

Swiftfoot Boots (SLD bonus $35) – 1.72 million decks – I’d like the art better if we saw more of the character’s face, but I get it, this is is a pair of shoes that you had to have in a Sonic-themed drop. Some players love the cartoon look, others hate it, and this should be a middle of the pack sort of price. 

Myr Battlesphere (pack foil $10) – 113k decks – There hasn’t been a foil of this done in a long time, but the power of this card has been in making a horde of tokens on its own. I have a hard time thinking the demand for the singles will be enough to keep the foil over $10.

Hammer of Nazahn (CMM etched foil $27) – 108k decks – There’s a few ways to make your commander indestructible, and this is one of them. The cheapest versions are in the $10 range but that’s on the back of very few copies entering circulation. Plus, as I said with the Boots, it’s just a hammer and not really iconic with the character or the art. 

Lightning Greaves (Inventions $220) – 1.57 million decks – With 47 printings, including the memetastic Chancla we are getting in the Nuestra Magia drop, it’s very hard for a new version of this to break $20. I don’t think this will, but should be a solid $10 card. 

Weatherlight (prerelease foil $5) – 42k decks – It’s got to hit to draw a card, though it can only draw historic cards, though this is sweet art with two characters from the theme. Won’t be expensive.

Secret Lair x Sonic: Chasing Adventure

Generous Gift – (SLD Kitties foil $45) – 700k decks – This is perhaps the worst case of precon bias around. Stroke of Midnight gives a 1/1 and while it’s good to hit lands, that’s a big change on a creature’s stats. The kitties version is from four years ago, and this version, while cute, isn’t going to make a splash.

Open the Armory – (CML foil $4) – 130k decks – With Captain America, Cloud, and all the other Equipment themed commanders, this will be an excellent target for Dump Week, getting in cheap on a wanted card. 

Fabricate – (SPG foil $20) – 172k decks – There are multiple good versions of this card, and I think it’ll settle in the $10 range, given the number of copies about to enter circulation.

Deadly Dispute – (Fallout surge foil $10) – 368k decks – I can’t remember seeing a card printed this many times in a row, albeit with a sweet art/frame each time. Shadow the Hedgehog here, the FCA version coming out of Final Fantasy, and the Frank Frazetta SL that dropped a month ago. If there was just one, I would feel good about it. Three all at once means they all have a steep climb to being expensive. We might be able to get these cheap later too.

Unexpected Windfall – (Fallout surge foil $17) – 196k decks – A decent card, if you want the treasures, but only the low supply of Fallout surge foils made this expensive. 

Sol Ring – Too many to count, honestly. Has had 111 printings, and is the banner card for the format. I think this is a very cool Sol Ring, and as we’ve seen, there’s room for lots and lots of $15-$20 Sol Rings. The foils especially should look awesome, with how the ring is laid out. 

What I’m Buying

This may come as a surprise, but I’m lukewarm on this drop. I think the friends and foes is a great buy, given that many unique cards, but the other two…I don’t think I need to purchase the whole drop. I’ve written about Dump Week a few times now, and this drop is going to be an excellent time for me to put into practice what the data indicates. I fully expect the lairs to sell out within a day or two, and when people get their copies and crack them, I’ll want to target the Sol Ring, Open the Armory, and Hammer of Nazahn. The rest just don’t interest me and will have a hard time appreciating in value. 

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 a GP and you see a giant flashing ‘CUBE DRAFT’ sign, go over, say hi, and be ready to draft.

The main set of Final Fantasy is out and being bought and sold fast. I’m not trying to keep up with much from that, nor am I interested in thinking about Standard until after the bans come on the 30th. The Pro Tour Top 8 being 4 Izzet Cutter and 4 Mono-Red, with Cutter being a huge metagame chunk, means that some bans are inevitable here.

What I’m thinking about is this: 

This Fallout version of Mystic Monastery, and the Dr. Who version, are both at $5+ in surge foil, and they are excellent examples of a phenomenon where the surge foils (or in the case of Modern Horizons 3, ripple foils) from the Collector versions of the Commander decks are the most expensive version of a card, or notably expensive.

Let’s get into the four decks, the cards they have, and which ones are most likely to gain some value.

Final Fantasy has four Collector decks, and they are themed in terms of art, mechanics, and even which Final Fantasy game they are influenced by, and each of the decks has all new art, even for the reprints. Let’s look at some of the cards that are new, and some that are reprints, but worth getting right now as people crack the decks and sell the singles. 

All of these are surge foil picks. There’s going to be waves of the regular decks out there, and if they pop up at Costco the way LOTR decks did, I will absolutely pick those up for cheap, but the plan right now is to focus on the surge foils as people are cracking decks for singles. 

We’ve got to talk about the special conditions around this set. In case you didn’t know, there’s a lot of serious Final Fantasy collectors out there, and these folks have really come out in support of the cards/art that depict their favorite characters or scenes. Examples include the FFX’s Farewell or Protection Magic, Tifa’s Lightning Greaves, and basically anything with Cloud, like Arcane Signet 0333, Dispatch, or Clever Concealment. 

Also keep in mind that these cards come out of decks currently going on TCGPlayer for $170-$250. That’s a big bite, to open up a set like this and sell off the singles. A lot of these decks either won’t get opened as collectibles, or they will get opened by people who want the cards for their own deck. We’ve got a glut on the market right now, but that won’t last long. 

This list is also focused only on the reprints. I’ll talk about the new cards soon, but this list will be long enough. 

The Dominaria Common lands (Geothermal Bog, Idyllic Beachfront, etc): The only other foils are from DMU, and these are sweet. They get more play in Commander decks than you’d think. I don’t think these will get wildly expensive, but if you buy a dozen at under $1 and buylist them for $3, that’s easy money. 

Arcane Sanctum ($1.50) – Important art and only one other foil to compete with, it’ll hit $5 before the end of the year. 

Arcane Signet (0334) ($7) – The 0333 version is over $20, but that’s showing Cloud with the Buster Sword, and frankly, that is some iconic stuff. Anything with Cloud or Sephiroth gets more attention from collectors, and don’t forget we still have one more FF7 game coming on PS5. This version is Tidus’s medallion (his dad’s tattoo) and is also relevant to the collectability. 

Archmage Emeritus ($8) – There’s no other alternate art version, and while it doesn’t have main character art, it’s got big demand for the card. 

Bane of Progress ($7) – The Commander Collection: Green foil is $16, and this is a nicer foiling. I won’t be shocked when this is the most expensive version of the card in six months. 

Bonder’s Enclave ($1.50) – It’s in 151k decks online, there’s no other special version and the chocobo art is not to be underestimated. 

Command Tower 0485 and 0486 – These are super underpriced for their art and setting, and should easily break $10 before too long. 

Cultivate ($6) – There’s other special versions, but discount Aerith at your own risk. 

Inspiring Call ($3) – The other surge foils of this card are all at least double, and this has Tidus and Yuna being adorable together. 

Jungle Shrine ($2) – The only other surge foil is from Fallout, and it’s $12. This only has flavor text from Aerith, but again, we’re gaining some serious value by getting in at a buck plus shipping.

Mask of Memory ($2) – Another iconic moment in the FF7 games, we’re getting in at half the price of the 40K surge foil. 

Mind Stone ($4) – Some versions of this card are over $10, and they are far less pretty than this is. I think this is supposed to be Celes, but it doesn’t matter. Magic cards don’t have a lot of gorgeous art like this.

Morbid Opportunist ($3) – Commander staple, good art, awesome foiling, price is far too low. 

Nomad Outpost ($2) – Feeling the theme here? Surge foil lands will get expensive. 

Path of Ancestry ($2) – I like Red XIII being on the cliff here, but I also love a special version of a card in 130,000 decks on EDHREC getting a special version so cheap. Dr. Who’s version is at $4, Fallout at $10.

Path to Exile ($9) – Another mega-staple, we can see that the Fallout version is now over $20 and that one doesn’t even have Tidus on it.

Protection Magic (Extended Art Foil) ($4) – The Surge Foil regular frame is $10 and this is the same art. When the sweet shiny version is so much higher, I’d rather take a flier on the same art and different finish. 

Pull From Tomorrow ($2) – The whole father/son thing with Jecht and Tidus is going to move some prices on mediocre cards like this. 

Rise of the Dark Realms ($10) – We definitely don’t get enough group photos, and this is art I’d love to have on a playmat. 

Seaside Citadel ($2) – Yes, all four of them are on the list of things you should stock up on. 

Skullclamp ($20) – If you think the sealed Commander deck can reach $400 (and I do) then this will be one of the surprisingly $40+ cards in the deck. Cool moment, cool art, Sephiroth connection. 

Slayers’ Stronghold ($2) – This is in a lot more decks that you think, and aside from the SL version that’s all in black, one of the only special versions out there. 

Sublime Epiphany ($8) – One of the themes we’ve learned in the past year or two is ‘don’t ever underestimate the waifu cards’ and this should be one of those examples. 

Swiftfoot Boots ($9) – Pretty shoes are also not to be underestimated.

Tireless Tracker ($3) – Almost every card with both Tidus and Yuna on it is already pricey, but this isn’t and I want to get a few copies while they are cheap.

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 a GP and you see a giant flashing ‘CUBE DRAFT’ sign, go over, say hi, and be ready to draft.

Final Fantasy is out this weekend, and that’s the start of a wild time in Magic finance. We’ve never seen prices like this for the premium products, on top of the markup Wizards was already frontloading in. 

Given the influence of outside collectors, I don’t feel great about recommending cards right now. If you want some of the really chase stuff, I still think you should wait a week or two before moving in. 

What I do want to talk about is a phenomenon I’ve noticed when it comes to Secret Lairs. I’ve been looking over some recent lairs that sold out and didn’t, and there’s a trend that may or may not change how I approach my budget for such Lairs. 

Come with me and explore the idea of Dump Week.

The core idea here is that when a drop sells out, there is a large group of people who want to get their profit margin out as fast as possible, so they can re-invest in the next drop or whatever else they are going to do. Sometimes, they are selling the sealed drop for something like $45 or $50, but that’s barely enough to cover the taxes, fees, and shipping. 

The singles, however, represent a very different opportunity. Let’s start with a relatively recent example: Counterspell from the Spongebob Internet Sensation drop.

Like most cards that are released, the initial pre-order prices are crazy high, and then as the number of copies in circulation grows, people (both vendors and individuals) get their cards in hand and sell the extras. Which is good, as it looks like people were getting about $13 per foil copy. Within a month, that was up to $20 a copy, and it’s crept upwards a bit more since then, into the $23-$25 range. 

This is one data point, but it’s got me thinking: If I know which lairs sold out, that means I can know when Dump Week is going to be. And if I know that, I should be able to get in very cheap on the most desired singles. 

And as an add-on to that hypothesis, that I might be able to explore in the future: Should I focus the money I was spending on sealed Lairs on the most in-demand singles during Dump Week instead? For a lot of Lairs, the value is clearly there if I can get them at cost, but even if I miss out on a Lair, can I make good money on singles too?

Before I can have an answer, though, we need to do some research on other examples. I’m going to work chronologically backwards, looking at the Lairs that sold out (mostly) to see where we are at on this idea.

One of the cards that got me thinking on this path is the raised foil Underworld Breach, from the Vroooooom! Lair that didn’t, and still hasn’t, sold out. I put the Breach as a card to watch this week on MTG Fast Finance, because even though it’s banned basically everywhere, it’s a low-supply $40 card that will cost $100 to get the Lair which contains it. Seems like a decent formula for a card to be a hold for about a year till it hits $75. 

The graph hasn’t started to rise yet, but there’s other factors to consider. It’s a new price point and foiling type, it hasn’t sold out, and there isn’t a lot of demand for it. I don’t think it’s a good indicator of the factors I want to look at, but it’s a data point I want to be aware of, in case my supposition is wrong. 

Another card I’ve picked recently is Deadpool’s Deadly Rollick:

This stings a little, because I picked it at $17 and it’s gone to $15 since. I still believe in the card, though. We can see Dump Week happening right away, as the price falls like a rock, then starts to rebound, and then it careens up and down some. If this wasn’t quite so recent, then we may have had a chance to see a smoother overall graph. 

Gary the Snail as Toxrill is exactly what I’m looking for here. Immediate dive, recovered quickly, has trended down a little since that big recovery but still on point for the pattern I’d like to find. This is all from people upgrading their current Commander to the cartoon art, though, and that’s not a huge growth market. 

Swan Song in Rainbow Foil, though, is a fantastic example of what I want to find. Dumped hard the first week down to $24 or so, and up about $10 in the four months since, with no sign of slowing down. This was a Lair that didn’t sell out immediately in English foil, too, but the quantity dumped that first week was great enough to push the price down nicely. If I can pick out the cards most likely to drop and then recover, this should work out very profitably.

Flawless Maneuver is the right set of conditions, but the graph isn’t as, well, flawless. The first week, it took a dive, but fell a bit further still. I can’t believe I didn’t ever pick this card when it was a $7 foil. Still, it demonstrates the concept that even if I missed out on the Marvel drop, as lots of people did, I could have made great money by picking up $7 foils. 

Not every Marvel card has this growth pattern, but we’re not expecting that. We’re looking for the ones that got really cheap as the market got flooded, and then they rebounded. This is going to happen faster with staples, and slower for cards with lesser adoption rates. Another great example, Wolverine’s version of The Ozolith: 

It went straight down to $25 the first week as people sought to list theirs and sell immediately, but it’s been pure growth since then. Not all the cards have shown this pattern, or this amount of growth, but I think the concept is sound.

So with that in mind, let’s look at a couple of examples in the Summer Superdrop that have sold out, and as a result, there’s one big wave of inventory to land. We’re looking for staples, preferably without special versions, and we’re looking to get in cheap. We don’t know how cheap these will be, as they haven’t all arrived yet. I think there’s a couple of cards that meet the criteria, but only time will tell if I’m right.

Since these are all from the summer superdrop, they don’t have a big chunk put online yet, but they should in the next couple of weeks. My price predictions are pure speculation, so while I’m planning on buying these cheap, I’m fully willing to admit that the actual buy price might be quite different.

I think that as the most popular card in this drop, and a gorgeous piece of art in its own right, this version of Zulaport should get there. It helps that there’s another SL version already, but that’s from 2020, a different era of Secret Lair. Hopefully this gets below $10 in foil, we’ll see.

The cheapest nonfoils of Rift in RVR were about $37 last year, and they are pushing $45 now. The original copies can be had at NM for under $35, indicating people like the new art. The Final Fantasy version should be one that people are looking to dump quickly and extract fast profit, so I’m hoping for nonfoils to go near $25 and foils for $40. If these don’t get cheap, I’ll have to evaluate again.

Toxic Deluge gets a lot of play, and there’s already a borderless foil going for $32. It doesn’t have the hype that Final Fantasy has, and while this doesn’t have a super popular character on the art (Kefka is an iconic villain, that 8-bit laugh haunted my dreams) I am counting on the number of people who play the card to help this recover and get expensive. 

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 a GP and you see a giant flashing ‘CUBE DRAFT’ sign, go over, say hi, and be ready to draft.