It’s clear that Magic: The Gathering is entering into a collector space, something you wouldn’t have imagined at the turn of the decade. With the introduction of Collector Boosters and various frames and foil treatments, Wizards of the Coast are tapping into the collector market as it’s a favored space for other trading card games such as Pokémon. One of Wizards of the Coast’s approaches to accommodating the collector space is the Secret Lair series — a curated set of cards including unconventional art and design that you don’t typically see in traditional Magic: The Gathering releases.

Furthermore. Wizards of the Coast have broadened the Secret Lair ideology to Commander, where you can pick up Heads I Win, Tails You Lose and Cute to Brute Commander Precons with some gorgeous treatments of popular cards such as Archangel Avacyn and Nicol Bolas, the Ravager.

What is the Secret Lair in Magic: The Gathering?

A sub-brand of Magic: The Gathering, Secret Lair is a series of cards incorporated into small collectible sets called drops, often coming with strange art styles and themes. Beginning in 2019, the Secret Lair is Wizards of the Coast’s full foray into selling single reprints directly to players. After a while, Wizards of the Coast extended the Secret Lair into original Magic: The Gathering cards with The Walking Dead and Stranger Things Secret Lair drops, both released under the Universes Beyond banner. Even now, Secret Lairs offers players and collectors the opportunity to acquire something unique and some cases, incredibly valuable. These Secret Lair products are sold for a limited time with a fixed print window directly through Wizards of the Coast, making them ideal for card collectors and those who collect sealed products.

With that in mind, it is easy to ignore the value of some of these Secret Lair cards if you have never seen the card or art before, but it is always worth checking the price. As mentioned earlier, Magic: The Gathering is entering a broad collector space where these quirky designs and themes can command a high price. Let’s run down some of the most valuable cards from the Secret Lair series, including cards from Secret Lair Showdown, the Secret Lair: 30th Anniversary Countdown Kit, and bonus cards you can open from Secret Lair products.

10 Galerider Sliver (Extended Art)

A card that rose in value in reaction to Commander Masters and the Sliver Swarm Precon is the Extended Art Foil printing of Galerider Sliver who gives Sliver creatures you control flying. Something you’ll see throughout this article is the value in these Extended Art Sliver cards, which only appear as bonus cards in certain Secret Lairs. And since there aren’t that many alternative variants of Slivers, Extended Art copies from these Secret Lairs will just have to do. And as a result, many of the other Extended Art Sliver cards continue to rise in value and see niche demand thanks to Commander. It’s unsure how many copies of these Extended Art cards exist in the wild, but you can be sure there will be more variants coming in future Secret Lairs soon.