High-Value, Staple-Filled 2012 Commander Product Resurfaces

Last updated on March 17, 2026

Command Tower | Illustration by Adam Paquette

More than 13 years after release, one of the first Commander products is back on players’ radar!

Commander’s Arsenal, originally released in 2012, has gained a lot of attention recently, probably thanks to a recent (and glowing!) review from MTG content creator Robertredbeardmtg.

What is Commander’s Arsenal though? Let’s dive in.

What’s Commander’s Arsenal?

Rhystic Study – Illustration by Fuzichoco

The short version would be: Commander’s Arsenal is like a Secret Lair that you could buy from LGS and other retailers.

Released on November 2, 2012, it brought 18 foil cards which included some of the biggest Commander staples at the time… and that are still among the most popular cards in the format, like Rhystic Study, Sylvan Library, Scroll Rack. You always find all the cards in each box. In that sense it’s exactly like a Commander precon; what gives it a Secret Lair feeling is that you’re getting a bunch of cards that just happen to be good, but you’re not supposed to play them all in the same deck.

It also had 10 oversized foil cards, 120 sleeves, 20 double-sided “Battle Marks,” and a life counter that goes to 99.

What makes Commander’s Arsenal historically interesting is that it comes from a time in which Commander was getting a lot of traction, but years before products became the norm for most premium MTG sets.

That also helps explain why the product still feels unusual today. Wizards was not trying to sell players a deck, a draft experience, or a bunch of random packs. This was a curated pile of Commander goodies, with a very collector-focused feel. In that sense, it really does resemble a Secret Lair before Secret Lair existed.

Here’s the full Commander’s Arsenal card list, and all of them were included in each box:

Every card is foil, which is the norm nowadays for Secret Lairs but, in this case, several cards got new art or first-time foil treatments.

The original reaction among Magic players was somewhat split. Some players saw obvious value in the card selection, while others strongly disliked the limited print run and premium pricing on a product tied to a casual format. WotC’s suggested retail price back then was $74.99, but it was resold at 3-4x times that much.

Even back in 2012, the conversation was already drifting toward the same complaint players still have today about Secret Lairs: cool product, bad accessibility, huge markups from resellers.

Commander’s Arsenal Best Cards

The biggest headliner is clearly Rhystic Study, one of Commander’s most infamous staples and so strong that it’s rated as a Game Changer. The cheapest available prints (from Jumpstart 2022, for example) cost about 60 bucks, while the Commander’s Arsenal foil print costs above $90 for near-mint copies.

Then comes Scroll Rack, a hand-fixing and topdeck manipulation engine which shines with fetch lands, shuffle effects, tutors, and commanders that care about the top of your library.

Sylvan Library is another major name and, interestingly, the card most players seem to have been excited about when Commander’s Arsenal was launched. It is one of green’s cleanest card-selection engines, as it ensures smooth draws.

Kaalia of the Vast remains one of the most recognizable commanders ever printed thanks to her ability to cheat angels, demons, and dragons straight into combat.

Is Commander’s Arsenal Worth It?

Kaalia of the Vast – Illustration by Michael Komarck

It depends a lot on which cards you find useful, and if you’re willing to pay a premium for foils.

You’re definitely paying a lot more than what the cheapest printings are worth. Thanks to later reprints, many of the Commander’s Arsenal cards have cheaper alternatives, and that shows in its price curve across the years: it costed a lot more back in 2022 than what it costs now.

Source: MTGStocks

As a quick, off-the-cuff tally, you can get all cards from Commander’s Arsenal for about $175 (if you buy the cheapest, non-foil reprints from other sets), while a Commander’s Arsenal box goes for about $275.

But, of course, you’re getting foil versions from an out-of-print set, which makes them more valuable to collectors.

Fun fact: When Commander’s Arsenal released, Magic’s Head Designer Mark Rosewater estimated that, going forward, Magic would have one Commander product every year

At the very least, Commander’s Arsenal does feel like a nostalgia piece for players who want a snapshot of what Magic looked like Commander became the WotC’s full-time job.

Note: this post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to make a purchase, you’ll help Draftsim continue to provide awesome free articles and apps.