Worst Drop Ever? Magic: the Gathering Lord of the Rings Secret Lair
Ella Burch
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The Secret Lair Spring Superdrop 2023 has finally faded from view after first arriving two months ago. Magic: The Gathering players will have to wait patiently until the next Magic: The Gathering Lord of the Rings Secret Lair drop is announced after the item was delisted from sale this morning. Thankfully, gamers won’t have to wait long to see what the next Secret Lair drop’s treasure will be.
The Summer Superdrop 2023 is the upcoming significant Magic: The Gathering Lord of the Rings Secret Lair release, as you may anticipate given the seasonal naming structure. This has already been verified by Wizards of the Coast thanks to a redesigned landing page, which goes beyond simply following convention. This suggests that players will just have to wait a short while. Unfortunately, there are also dark sides to this Summer Superdrop.
The Lord of the Rings Crossover
More Adventures in Middle-earth is the most recent release in Magic: The Gathering’s exclusive line of reprinted cards with alternative art. Previously, crossover products with Fortnite, Street Fighter, and, obviously, the Magic: The Gathering Lord of the Rings Secret Lair as part of the Universes Beyond imprint were available.
The success of Tales of Middle-earth is exceptional. Wizards of the Coast’s first set entirely devoted to an outside universe is a resounding success, thanks in large part to the Magic: The Gathering Lord of the Rings‘ enduring appeal and the attention and familiarity with the genre that Magic: The Gathering’s design team displayed. The trading card game may attempt to tackle something like Marvel or Star Wars in the future, but perhaps this mythical era’s lightning can only strike once.
If you, a Magic: The Gathering novice or not, sat down and played through several Tales of Middle-earth decks this past weekend, thinking you were finished with the game? There will soon be even more incredibly cool cards, which is both good and bad news.
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What’s in the Secret Lair drop?
The popular 1978 animated adaptation of Tolkien’s work by Ralph Bakshi will serve as the inspiration for the first “Secret Lair” drop, a limited-time collection of special variants of cards, whether through crossover collaborations, artist series, or other themes, associated with the release of Wizards of the Coast’s Lord of the Rings expansion. This highly anticipated Magic: The Gathering Lord of the Rings Secret Lair drop is not free from controversy.
The sprawling and fantastical animation in Bakshi’s animated Lord of the Rings film, which served as the inspiration for many people’s conceptions of Middle-earth (including Peter Jackson’s), is remembered just as much as the strange and experimental rotoscope battle scenes and inventive solutions he learned throughout his career as a filmmaker.
The four-card set includes “new” artwork for four cards from the base Tales of Middle-earth expansion: Slip on the Ring, Gandalf, Friend of the Shire, Mirror of Galadriel, and Shire Terrace. It is available in normal or shiny foil forms. The Tolkien estate worked with the Wizards of the Coast and the Magic team to choose appropriate Magic: The Gathering Lord of the Rings Secret Lair screenshots to replace their regular artwork.
Only one card from the Magic: The Gathering Lord of the Rings Secret Lair Summer Superdrop 2023 has been made public thus far. Unfortunately, this early spoiler has had the opposite impact despite being teased to build anticipation. The upcoming Magic: The Gathering Lord of the Rings Secret Lair has failed to ignite the excitement train, and Magic: The Gathering players are already feeling let down.
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The Controversy
Many Magic: The Gathering players expressed their displeasure on Twitter and Reddit when they saw a card from The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth already being reprinted. Particularly not a rare card from the recently published set. Even if they are intriguing, Gandalf, Friend of the Shire isn’t a particularly popular card. In actuality, the card is currently only being sold for about $0.09.
In addition to being an unappealingly cheap card, Gandalf, Friend of the Shire’s appearance dissatisfied several Magic: The Gathering Lord of the Rings Secret Lair fans. Strangely, the objections weren’t over the card’s artwork but rather the card’s frame. Many players thought the magnificent old graphics seemed out of place because of the use of the contemporary legendary card frame. Players then complained that Wizards hadn’t used the retro card frame.
Wizards must have known Gandalf, Friend of the Shire, wouldn’t be a costly bomb even before Tales of Middle-earth came out. Therefore, it makes sense that the other cards in the drop will support the value. In general, the worth of Secret Lair drops is within a few dollars of their purchase, so at least that is the assumption.
There is no guarantee that More Adventures in Middle-earth will have value, despite the fact that Magic: The Gathering players do, for better or worse, love value. Even though some people might find this disappointing, it’s not the end of the world. Finally, while Magic: The Gathering Lord of the Rings Secret Lair drops can be a great source for certain low-cost reprints, that isn’t the sub-brands primary benefit.
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The Price Breakdown
This is a simple but lovely twist on what is already a loving tribute of a set. There will undoubtedly be some people who are a little disappointed that the other theatrical adaptation of The Lord of the Rings isn’t getting some representation—the same people who are disappointed that Tales of Middle-earth itself depicts its own spin on Tolkien’s world and characters.
Wizards directly sells the More Adventures in Middle-earth collection, with the standard set costing $30 and the foil versions costing $40. You have more than two months to place your purchase before they are released in late September 2023.
Online Magic: The Gathering enthusiasts claim that the most recent Magic: The Gathering Lord of the rings Secret Lair drop is the worst value to ever be published. 1978 The Lord of the Rings film’s artwork is added to cards from the new Magic: The Gathering Lord of the Rings Secret Lair set in “More Adventures in Middle-earth.” The Magic: The Gathering Lord of the Rings Secret Lair is full of nostalgia, although some people have criticized the release for the cards’ low secondary market value.
The Value
The non-foil Magic: The Gathering Lord of the Rings Secret Lair is presently valued at $0.92 ($0.72), according to MTGGoldfish. Slip on the Ring costs $0.18, Gandalf, Friend of the Shire costs $0.35, Mirror of Galadriel costs $0.19, and Shire Terrace costs $0.20.
The arithmetic indicates that Wizards is selling this Magic: The Gathering Lord of the Rings Secret Lair with a markup of about 3,000%, which is a little higher than our estimate.
Final Thoughts
Of all, worth is more than just a matter of money; otherwise, no one would purchase the basic land cards in Secret Lairs. However, a Magic: The Gathering card’s monetary worth frequently corresponds to its appeal, scarcity, or playability. The Magic: The Gathering Lord of the Rings Secret Lair appears to lack several of these attributes in the eyes of many players.
Thankfully, More Adventures in Middle-earth is far from the only Secret Lair being published, even though it is widely seen as a failure. There is a lot more in store since Secret Lair Superdrops often include eight separate bundles.