Five of the most desired Land cards for Magic: The Gathering are finally getting reprinted, but their cost and availability get players riled up.
It’s all about the land
This is important, as Fetchlands are some of the most popular and needed cards for optimized decks in formats such as Modern and Commander. The cycle is viewed almost as a mistake by game makers Wizards and it was heavily implied that these particular cards won’t ever be reprinted again in a Standard set. They are also banned in the recently introduced and very popular format Frontier. However, the Lands are still legal in Vintage, Legacy, Modern and Commander and their high demand and low supply makes them extremely desirable and pricey.
Five lands will be available for sale again, namely, the “enemy” fetch lands (enemy meaning they come in a combination of colors opposite in the color pie: white-black, blue-red, etc.) They will feature brand-new art by beloved Magic artists that represent classic planes in the Multiverse. The list looks like this:
- Marsh Flats depicting Lorwyn by the hands of artist Alayna Danner
- Scalding Tarn in the Shiv part of Dominaria crafted by artist Adam Paquette
- Verdant Catacombs in an Innistrad chapel created by artist Sam Burley
- Arid Mesa in the desert Amonkhet drawn by artist John Avon
- Misty Rainforest in the jungles of Ixalan in the striking aesthetic of artist Seb McKinnon
Is there a problem?
Well, yes. These cards don’t come in a Standard set, or even a Masters-type product. Instead, the five pieces of cardboard will come in a rather fancy box dubbed Secret Lair Ultimate edition. EarlyGame readers might remember us mentioning Secret Lair in passing while we were discussing cute cats.
Unlike previous Secret Lair products that were only available to buy online and only for a 24-hour, blink-and-they’re-gone time frame, the Fetchlands will be given to local game stores from the WPN network.
That’s good, but availability is a huge concern. Remember, this big box comes with one copy of each land, meaning you need to buy 4 boxes to get your playsets. There’s a good chance that your entire local card shop will be allocated 4 boxes or less.
The final announcement that got people angry was the price. While Wizards is not issuing MSRP anymore, spokesperson Rasmussen claimed the big black treasure chest will cost slightly more than the Commander Anthology (priced $164.99). This let to the unanimous conclusion that the five precious Fetches will cost $199.
Commander Anthology offered four complete 100-card decks full of Commander staples and goodies, and Secret Lair Ultimate edition offers five cards and costs more. You can see how people are not happy about it.
