Bonus cards, bonus value.
The collectibility of Magic: The Gathering is bigger than ever, which is something you wouldn’t imagine at the turn of the decade. With the introduction of Collector Boosters with an extensive range of treatments, Wizards of the Coast is tapping into the collector market as it’s such a desirable space, as seen with Pokémon over the last few years. One approach to accommodating the collector space is the vast Secret Lair Drop Series — a curated set of cards featuring unconventional art and design that you don’t often see in a typical Magic set release.
While snapping up a Secret Lair or two seems reasonable, there’s always a bonus card that could be worth something. Wizards usually keep quiet about the bonus cards as it’s a way to offer a better experience when opening these Secret Lair products. That said, understanding the value of a bonus card from the Secret Lair Drop Series can present challenges since the price can vary on several factors, such as rarity and general demand.
Top 10 Most Valuable Secret Lair Bonus Cards in Magic: The Gathering
Market Price: $236.60
Market Price: $179.21
Market Price: $255.55
- Read More: The Most Valuable Magic: The Gathering Cards in Packs Right Now
- Read More: The Most Valuable Secret Lair Cards in Magic: The Gathering
Given the sheer number of Secret Lair releases since the sub-brand’s inception in 2019, finding out which bonus cards are worth something can be overwhelming and confusing. With that, let’s look at some of the most valuable non-serialized bonus cards from the Secret Lair Drop Series right now.
#10 Persistent Petitioners (#595 and #600)
Market Price: $309.50
Market Price: $131.91
Persistent Petitioners sees a flurry of unique Secret Lair printings as it’s a bonus card appearing in a wide range of drops. At the time of publication, there are eight unique Secret Lair variants of the card to collect, with collector number 595 being the most valuable. After that, collector numbers 600 and 598 follow shortly behind in terms of value. These variants of Persistent Petitioners are pretty uncommon, given the nature of only opening them as bonus cards in older Secret Lair releases. While Wizards won’t disclose the pull rates, you can be sure this common (first printed in Ravnica Allegiance) will garner attention from casual Commander players.
#9 Shadowborn Apostle (#685, #681, and #683)
Market Price: $390.38
Market Price: $150.54
Market Price: $98.19
Like with Persistent Petitioners, cards that can bend deckbuilding habits in Commander are evegreen in terms of casual play. Take Shadowborn Apostle, a card that became a massive hit thanks to Josh Lee Kwai’s Athreos, God of Passage deck built on Game Knights many years ago. Since the episode, Shadowborn Apostle has seen consistent demand as you can play as many copies of Shadowborn Apostle as you want, where Wizards chose the Apostle as one of the many variants you can open in a variety of Secret Lairs as a rare bonus card.
However, five Shadowborn Apostle printings in particular are incredibly valuable at the time of publication. Be sure to keep an eye out for collector numbers 685, 681 (Step-and-Compleat Foil), or 683 as your Secret Lair bonus card because these are the most expensive variants at the time of publication. There’s also demand for these variants because players want to upgrade their Commander decks with these stunning Secret Lair printings instead.
#8 Echo of Eons (Rainbow Foil)
Echo of Eons
Secret Lair Drop Series, Rare
Appearing as the rare bonus card in the Secret Lair x Brain Dead: Staples release is Echo of Eons, which comes with some pretty unconventional art for a Magic card. First printed in Modern Horizons, Echo of Eons is a powerful option for any strategy looking to “reset” the game by shuffling their hand and graveyard into their library to draw a fresh seven cards. While giving your opponent the option to draw seven cards may seem suspect, you often pair this with Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Narset, Parter of Veils, or even Hullbreacher in Cube to cripple the opponent’s resources while you expand your own.
Typically, you see Echo of Eons in flavors of Storm and Goblin Charbelcher in Legacy Constructed and sometimes paired with Nekusar, the Mindrazer in Commander. As for the unique printing, this is the rare bonus card from an older Brain Dead collaboration, and it remains a high-value hit from the Secret Lair Drop Series.
#7 Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes (Dungeons & Dragons – Rainbow Foil)
Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes
Secret Lair Drop Series, Mythic
Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes remain some of the more iconic characters from the Dungeons & Dragons universe, where they have both made appearances in Baldur’s Gate II and 3. Since the release of Baldur’s Gate 3, there’s been growing demand for Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate cards due to the game’s critical acclaim, so it isn’t much of a surprise to see more Dungeons & Dragons cards being released. What makes this crop of Secret Lairs so special is it was the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons a while ago, which meant Wizards went all out with unique treatments and rare cards to help celebrate the milestone.
While it seems Druid of Purification, Prosperous Innkeeper, Archivist of Oghma, and Xorn are the more common bonus cards you can open in these Dungeon & Dragons Secret Lairs, Minsc & Boo is the much rarer version that commands incredible value. Furthermore, Battle Angels of Tyr is another bonus card from this crop of Secret Lairs, and it is rarer than Druid of Purification but much more common than Minsc & Boo. Either way, these Dungeon & Dragons cards are already a hit with players given the overlap in audiences, which means there’s ongoing collector demand.
#6 The FINAL FANTASY Summons: Yojimbo, Shiva, Anima, Ifrit, and Magus Sisters (Rainbow Foil)
Market Price: $633.60
Market Price: $553.03
Market Price: $481.73
Market Price: $375.49
Market Price: $389.25
Next up is the incredible set of chase cards supporting the Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY release, which saw three Secret Lair Drops coupled with stunning reskins. While there were several common bonus cards, it’s the Summon cards that remain the big ticket items when it came to opening these Final Fantasy-themed Secret Lairs. That said, opening up a Primogenesis (Feed the Swarm), Armiger Unleashed (Forge Anew), or Porom’s Silence Magic (Silence) remains a decent hit given how incredibly popular FINAL FANTASY is and continues to be since the release last year. That said, opening any of the Summon cards is going to bring you insane value, and there are collectors out there eager to own every single card from the release.
As for the cards themselves, the Elemental Incarnations (first printed in Modern Horizons 2) are some of the more polarizing cards seen in competitive play, with Grief and Fury being the ones most-discussed and have since been met with a ban in Modern Constructed. However, a few of these cards do see Commander play, with Solitude and Subtlety being more prevalent. This is dictated in the current Market Price as Shiva (Subtlety) and Yojimbo (Solitude) are the most valuable out of this bunch, but opening any of these will present you with some solid value.
#5 Smothering Tithe (SpongeBob SquarePants – Rainbow Foil)
Smothering Tithe
Secret Lair Drop Series, Rare
Everyone’s favorite Commander card in Smothering Tithe is one of the highly sought-after cards from the Secret Lair x SpongeBob SquarePants collaboration released last year, and continues to climb in value even today.
The card is about as conflicting as it gets for casual play. A Game Changer in Commander, Smothering Tithe grants you a steady stream of Treasure tokens whenever an opponent draws a card and doesn’t pay the two generic mana whenever this happens. Rather fittingly, this printing features Mr. Krabs happily lying on a pile of money, which is a common feeling when you’re the one with a Smothering Tithe in play. One thing we don’t often think about when it comes to Magic cards is the cultural trends that can often tie into the card’s value, and anything that’s meme-worthy can command serious value while remaining financially resilient long-term.
#4 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite (Rainbow Foil)
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Secret Lair Drop Series, Mythic
As part of the Poker Faces Secret Lair release is Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, who is depicted being on Thunder Junction, causing absolute mayhem with the locals. This particular printing is the incredibly rare bonus card from this specific Secret Lair Drop, with a more likely case of opening any of the Extended Art Elf cards, such as Fierce Empath or Evolution Sage, which are nowhere near as valuable compared to the white-aligned Praetor.
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite is a powerful card that sees play in Commander as it’s an easy way to turn the tide in your favor. It’s also a fantastic synergy card alongside Kudo, King Among Bears in the casual format, as you can turn all creatures into 2/2s where Elesh Norn wipes all the opposing threats away! And since the card’s reveal in this particular Secret Lair, the value has slowly crept up and has become one of the high-value bonus cards you can open from the subset.
#3 The Magic: The Baseballing Autographed Cards
Market Price: $652.05
Market Price: n/a
Market Price: $303.44
Market Price: $307.00
Market Price: $114.99
A rare selection of bonus cards only appearing in the Magic: The Baseballing Secret Lair release is the autographed variant of the Lorwyn Five (Jace Beleren, Chandra Nalaar, Liliana Vess, Ajani Goldmane, and Garruk Wildspeaker), which are becoming notable collector pieces amongst Magic fans.
Everyone has a favorite planeswalker, and having these autographed versions of Baseball cards is a really novel way to celebrate the appreciation of Ajani, Liliana, Chandra, Jace, and Garruk. At the time of writing, Liliana Vess is the most valuable of these autographed cards at roughly $600 on TCGplayer’s marketplace). These bonus cards are extremely rare to open from the Magic: The Baseballing release, making these some of the most valuable Secret Lair cards you can own right now.
#2 Mana Vault (Fallout – Rainbow Foil)
Mana Vault
Secret Lair Drop Series, Mythic
Appearing as an extremely rare card in the Fallout x Secret Lair release, Mana Vault quickly became one of the more expensive Secret Lair cards due to featuring the iconic Vault Boy in the Borderless and rainbow foil treatment. Since its release in early 2024, Universes Beyond: Fallout became a massive hit for Wizards as it tapped into a market that brought newer audiences to the game. Combined with the critical acclaim of the television series on Amazon Prime, the Collector Boosters and Commander Precon Decks were popular purchases amongst players and collectors. As a result, it also made the adjacent Secret Lair release a must-have for Fallout fans.
As for the card, Mana Vault is a Commander staple that propels you on mana with little effort (it’s also part of the Game Changers). The card often sees play in Artifact-focused Commander builds, as there are numerous ways to untap Mana Vault without paying the four colorless mana cost on Mana Vault. Either way, this printing of the card is a massive hit from these Fallout x Secret Lairs and has been around the $1700 range on TCGplayer’s marketplace since.
#1 Encore Electromancer (Snapcaster Mage) (Hatsune Miku – Rainbow Foil)
Encore Electromancer – Snapcaster Mage (Rainbow Foil)
Secret Lair Drop Series
The Hatsune Miku printing of Encore Electromancer (Snapcaster Mage) is an interesting one, as it’s one of the ultra-rare bonus cards from the four Hatsune Miku Secret Lair releases. At one point, the Summer and Autumn releases accidentally featured the winter-looking Encore Electromancer (Snapcaster Mage) as one of the rare bonus cards from these releases. Whether if it was intentional or otherwise, it took everyone by surprise and commanded an incredible amount of value due to the card’s scarcity.
Market Price: $24.59
Market Price: $27.25
Market Price: $1,300.00
That aside, the Encore Electromancer (Snapcaster Mage) is remarkably rare, and it’s currently commanding a ton of value on the secondary market. Currently, a handful of rainbow foil copies are on the market for about $1,800, and non-foil variants are around the $1,300 mark at the time of publication. While there’s going to be some price changes between this and Fallout’s Mana Vault, the Encore Electromancer (Snapcaster Mage) in rainbow foil is currently the most valuable non-serialized bonus card you can open from the Secret Lair Drop Series.