Brisela, Voice of Nightmares | Illustration by Scott M. Fischer
If Magic players have proven anything over the years, itโs that we like Commander precons, and we like different and exclusive art. Some of us like them as collector and showcase pieces, but some (like me) want to trick out our decks with a few foil, bonus sheet, and Secret Lair prints.
Eventually, Wizards got wise and married the two ideas: How about a precon that includes a Secret Lairโs worth of gorgeous or thematic reprints? And then everyone cheered and celebrated like that Old El Paso commercial with the โWhy Not Both?โ girl.
They come around only once or twice a year, but Secret Lair Commander decks have become a fun part of the product line, if you have the desire and budget for them. Iโve delved into the secrets of these precons to extract their most potent reprints and judge which ones are worth your time.
TCGplayer market prices and listings mentioned are sourced on June 1, 2026 and are subject to change.
What Are Secret Lair Commander Decks?
Rin and Seri, Inseparable | Illustration by Paul Mafayon
Secret Lair Commander decks are preconstructed 100-card Commander decks sold as part of the Secret Lair series of products. These precons were available on the Secret Lair website for a limited time prior to being shipped to those who ordered them.
Secret Lair Commander decks have a theme around which theyโre built, and usually have a number of Secret Lair reprints of some of their headlining cards. Other cards in the deck will be reprints of a previous version of the card with the planeswalker symbol in the bottom left corner, just like The List cards.
The first Secret Lair Commander deck was Heads I Win, Tails You Lose, a coin-flip themed deck released in 2021.
How Many Secret Lair Commander Decks Have They Made?
As of June 2026, Wizards has released seven Secret Lair Commander decks.
How Much Do Secret Lair Commander Decks Cost?
Most Secret Lair Commander decks go for $149.99 when theyโre available on the Secret Lair website. The exceptions are the first deck, Heads I Win, Tails You Lose, which sold for $99.99, and Everyoneโs Invited!, which went for $199.99.
On the secondary market, the price can spike a lot. The Raining Cats and Dogs deck currently goes for somewhere in the $600-700 range on TCGplayer, though most of the others are closer to $250-400.
When and Where Can You Buy Secret Lair Decks?
Secret Lair decks are available for preorder on the Secret Lair website for a limited window of time after they are announced. If a deck is announced that interests you, you can sign up to be notified of when the purchase window opens. Depending on whether itโs a limited quantity run or a print-to-order run, you may have difficulty getting the deck if you wait until later in the availability window.
List of Secret Lair Precons
These decks are presented in the order in which they were released.
Heads I Win, Tails You Lose
Deck Description
The first Secret Lair Commander deck, Heads I Win, Tails You Lose is a coin flip deck focused on Zndrsplt and Okaun, a partners with commander pairing from Battlebond. The deck only has five Secret Lair reprints with new art, though every one of them is reversible. Itโs a nice tie-in: Youโre flipping coins, so some of the key cards in this deck have two sides, too.
Now I know what youโre thinking. But donโt. Donโt flip these. Dexterity cards were phased out ages ago, and the wear and tear will not help their future resale value.
Commanders
The pairing of Okaun, Eye of Chaos and Zndrsplt, Eye of Wisdom gets a gorgeous Secret Lair reprint. Both have combat step triggers that generate as many coin flips as you can win, and both pay you off whenever you win them. Okaun is built to be your primary threat, while Zndrsplt is your card advantage engine.
Notable Reprints
Propaganda, Krark's Thumb, and Stitch in Time are the other cards besides the face commanders to receive double-sided Secret Lair reprints in this deck. In addition, the precon comes with two exclusive alternate art basics, an Island and a Mountain.
As for planeswalker stamped reprints, thereโs lots of value to be had. In the mana base, thereโs Training Center, Inventors' Fair, and Academy Ruins.
The creature base has some value in The Locust God, Spark Double, Sakashima the Impostor, and Goblin Engineer.
The deck also includes a Game Changer in Gamble, a great artifact tutor in Fabricate, plus iconic equipment cards to grab like Shadowspear, Embercleave, and Commander's Plate.
Deck Price
The first Secret Lair Commander deck was incredibly affordable at $99.99. TCGplayer lists a market price near $530, though the only available listing at time of writing asks for $100 more.
From Cute to Brute
Deck Description
From Cute to Brute is themed around double-sided cards. The Secret Lair cards, like the commander and Archangel Avacyn, have art that portrays their subjects in conventionally attractive and โcuteโ styles on the front side, while the back side shows them in a dark, demonic, dare I say, brutish light.
Commanders
From Cute to Bruteโs theme isnโt tied together by mechanics, which explains why we have a potential 5-color good-stuff commander at the helm: Esika, God of the Tree / The Prismatic Bridge. One side gives you a mana advantage by turning your legends into mana dorks, and there are enough of them in this deck that the Esika face works fine.
The Prismatic Bridge is where things get scary, since you get to pull creatures or planeswalkers out of your library during each of your upkeeps. Two sides of value, whether you need fuel to cast your spells or build your board.
Notable Reprints
Aside from Esika, the cards that received new Cute to Brute art include Archangel Avacyn, Bloodline Keeper, Nicol Bolas, the Ravager, and Westvale Abbey. Delver of Secrets also gets this treatment, but it sits in the sideboard as a Secret Lair bonus card.
The regular reprints include MDFCs like Bala Ged Recovery and Valakut Awakening and other format staples like Beast Whisperer, Guardian Project, and Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy.
Deck Price
From Cute to Brute was originally sold for $149.99 on the Secret Lair website. TCGplayer lists the market price for the From Cute to Brute deck around $330, and current listings as roughly in line with it.
Angels: Theyโre Just Like Us but Cooler and with Wings
Deck Description
I meanโฆ yeahโฆ. The deck name kinda says it all.
Angels are a notoriously powerful creature type when you go all-in, and theyโre one of the best ways to build a viable mono-white deck in EDH. So naturally, the best, rarest, and least printed angels and their enablers cost a pretty penny. Why not give us a one-stop shop with some pretty, shiny, exclusive art?
Commanders
Bruna, the Fading Light is nominally the face commander, but it melds with Gisela, the Broken Blade into Brisela, Voice of Nightmares. If you can get there, Brisela is a massive threat that shuts off your opponentsโ ability to cast many mana rocks, ramp spells, counterspells, etc. It also virtually shuts off spellslinger decks that aim for a critical mass of 1- and 2-mana spells.
Notable Reprints
Aside from Bruna and Gisela, the other cards with Secret Lair art are Archangel of Thune, Commander's Plate, and Court of Grace. Sigarda's Aid acts as this Secret Lairโs bonus card, and what a bonus it is! Angelsโฆ Theyโre Just Like Us also received four new Plains with Rob Alexander art.
The regular reprints have a lot of value for angel decks like Angel of Destiny, Archangel of Tithes, The Book of Exalted Deeds, and Serra Ascendant, plus important mana base cards like Emeria, the Sky Ruin, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Urza's Incubator, and Pearl Medallion. Sword of the Animist is also popular in equipment decks and beyond, anywhere that needs more ways to build their mana pool.
Ajani, Strength of the Pride is one of the better Ajani planeswalker cards, and a fantastic top-end piece for decks that plan to gain a bunch of life. Sounds like angels, donโt it?
A neat bit of MTG history for ya: Arden Angel first appeared as a card exclusive to the Sega Dreamcast Magic: The Gathering video game. In the game, you would โchooseโ a number at random as part of its upkeep trigger. To make it playable in paper, this has been changed to rolling a d4. Arden Angel was the first and only Dreamcast paper reprint until Velukan Dragon was similarly modified to be printed in Mystery Booster 2.
Deck Price
The original Angelsโฆ deck sold for $149.99. The TCGplayer market price for this Secret Lair precon has climbed to $651, though the current listings start at about $800.
Raining Cats and Dogs
Deck Description
A deck made to bridge the gap between cat lovers and dog lovers, Raining Cats and Dogs is pure typal. It continues the trend of double-sided Secret Lair cards. These reversibles usually have cat-based art on one side and dog art on the other.
Commanders
Rin and Seri, Inseparable is no stranger to Secret Lairs (including a Garfield reskin), and thank goodness. As a card originally released as a buy-a-box promo, one of the cutest themed cards in Magic was bound to be a popular commander, and these help to keep the price down without totally cratering it the way a regular precon printing might.
Jetmir, Nexus of Revels and Jinnie Fay, Jetmir's Second are the other commanders that get the reversible Secret Lair treatment. Jetmir is a popular Naya () tokens commander, and Jinnie Fayโs replacement effect is thematic, though it works better in support of a deck that creates tokens reliably.
Notable Reprints
The Sol Ring from the Raining Cats and Dogs Secret Lair Commander deck is among the more expensive printings of the iconic fast mana artifact, and one look at either side of it should tell you why. Oh, my heart.
Anointed Procession is the only other main deck card to get a Secret Lair print here, but Nine Lives and Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful are the bonus cards. Yes, two bonus cards, because itโs only fair for cats and dogs to get one each. Raining Cats and Dogs features a set of basics with the titular animals flooding the landscape. So cute itโs almost overwhelming.
Among the other reprints, Jetmir's Garden and Three Visits are always welcome, and thereโs money cards in Brimaz, King of Oreskos, Marisi, Breaker of the Coil, and Lurking Predators.
Deck Price
The Raining Cats and Dogs Commander deck originally sold for $149.99. TCGplayer lists a market price just over $500 for this Secret Lair Commander deck, but the only current listing goes for $100 more.
20 Ways to Win
Deck Description
20 Ways to Win does what it says on the tin. It boasts a bunch of alternate win conditions, plus combos like Maskwood Nexus + The World Tree, Biovisionary + Rite of Replication, and Triskaidekaphile + Drown in Dreams.
Commanders
The only eligible commander in this deck showcases its main problem, or rather the joke in its premise: With so many win conditions, the deck becomes unfocused.
Go-Shintai of Life's Origin can only reanimate enchantments in this deck. There are no other shrines, so you have to ignore half of your commanderโs text box. The popular shrine commander needed a reprint, but the deck isnโt built to support it in any way.
Notable Reprints
More cards get the Secret Lair treatment in 20 Ways to Win than previously: Felidar Sovereign, Triskaidekaphile, Approach of the Second Sun, Sol Ring, Happily Ever After, Helix Pinnacle, Revel in Riches, Simic Ascendancy, and Maze's End all get new art; Enduring Ideal is the bonus card.
Other notable reprints include Crib Swap in its first appearance with the kindred card type and Homeward Path with new art to replace Tomasz Jedruszekโs original work. Some of the enchantments, like Ghostly Prison, Mystic Remora, Ghoulish Impetus, and Mechanized Production, are reprinted for the first time in the now-standardized enchantment frame.
The regular reprints donโt lack money cards either, including but not limited to Dryad of the Ilysian Grove, Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis, Seedborn Muse, Bountiful Promenade, and Wooded Bastion.
Deck Price
When it was originally available, the 20 Ways to Win Secret Lair Commander deck sold for $149.99. TCGplayer lists a market price of around $280, though the current listings start at $340.
Everyoneโs Invited!
Deck Description
Everyoneโs Invited pairs changelings with an abundance of lords or other type-matters payoffs, from one-sided sweepers to triggered abilities like Atla Palani, Nest Tender and Sophia, Dogged Detective.
Commanders
Morophon, the Boundless is often used as a commander for creatures that donโt necessarily have a good option, or types that are spread across all colors but donโt have their own 5-color commanderโฆ yet. The leader of cards without a dedicated home is perfectly suited for a deck called Everyoneโs Invited!
Notable Reprints
Avenger of Zendikar, Taurean Mauler, Tendershoot Dryad, Raise the Palisade, Kindred Summons, Coat of Arms, Maskwood Nexus, Sol Ring, and Bitterblossom get Secret Lair art themed around a massive party. Itโs notably the first in-universe printing of Raise the Palisade, a typal mass-bounce spell introduced in Lord of the Rings Commander.
The deckโs bonus card is Changeling Outcast, left all alone in the sideboard. What they did there. I see it.
The regular reprints include staples like Black Market Connections, Kindred Dominance, and Kindred Discovery, plus another Rin and Seri, Inseparable.
Harabaz Druid has become more desirable for anyone running Avatar ally commanders. Gilt-Leaf Palace was less sought after before Lorwyn Eclipsed and its revisit of Golgari elves.
Deck Price
This is the only deck that was sold at a higher price than the others so far, at $199.99. TCGplayer lists the market price of a rainbow foil Everyoneโs Invited precon around $300.
Goblin Storm
Deck Description
After cats, dogs, and angels, goblins finally got their turn with a Secret Lair Commander deck. โAbout time!โ proclaimed every goblin player everywhere. You know who yโall are.
Commanders
Goblin Storm is nominally fronted by Zada, Hedron Grinder, but it only has like seven combat tricks to copy. Despite the instant and sorcery count here, most of it is rituals, token generation, and interaction. Zada is a popular goblin commander that mixes a desire to go wide with a desire to cast single-target spells, but there just arenโt enough of the latter.
Krenko, Mob Boss also gets a reprint here, and thatโs a commander that should need no introduction. Krenko asks you if you want more board presence with your board presence and provides more to heap on some more just for laughs.
Pashalik Mons sees less play in the command zone, though it complements impact triggers nicely when you know your goblins are going to die.
Notable Reprints
Aside from the potential commanders, this deck has a lot of Secret Lair cards between Brightstone Ritual, Broadside Bombardiers, Conspicuous Snoop, Empty the Warrens, Grapeshot, Skirk Prospector, Roaming Throne, Skullclamp, and Sol Ring. The three Mountains are also exclusive and form a landscape when placed side-by-side.
Goblin Chieftain, Goblin Lackey, and Vandalblast each got new art in this deck, too.
General Kreat, the Boltbringer and Goblin Trashmaster are the more important goblin reprints at the planeswalker stamped level, but the deck also boasts copies of Great Train Heist, Seething Song, Ruby Medallion, Throne of Eldraine, Arena of Glory, and Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep.
Deck Price
Non-foil copies of the Goblin Storm deck sold for $149.99 when they were available on the Secret Lair website. TCGplayer shows a market price of around $400, though the asking price on the only listing for an unopened copy is more than twice that.
What Is the Best Secret Lair Commander Deck?
Goblin Storm is probably the most competitive out-of-the-box experience. If you play in a precon league, it could hold its own with other precons if you run Krenko instead of Zada. A decent pilot could get a high win rate in that context, and even at some low- to mid-power casual tables. The card value isnโt quite there for the current asking price though, so you may be better off to home-brew it unless you really need those Secret Lair gobbos.
But Goblin Storm does boast one of the highest numbers of Secret Lair treatments among these decks, and thatโs one of the more appealing factors of these decks in general. 20 Ways to Win also has a high count of special prints.
In terms of pure reprint value, each has standout cards in both the Secret Lair and planeswalker stamped reprints, but Angels is by far the best between Nykthos, Emeria, and Urza's Incubator.
What Bracket Are Secret Lair Commander Decks?
Secret Lair Commander decks usually grade out as low to mid-power Bracket 2 decks. They may have a few powerful cards or interactions, but many flaws can be improved: weak cards, poor mana bases, and high mana curves.
Raining Cats and Dogs is firmly a Bracket 2 deck, as are Angels and Cute to Brute.
20 Ways to Win is technically a Bracket 3 deck because of its combos and the presence of a Game Changer in Seedborn Muse. Combos in Everyoneโs Invited! with The World Tree and Realmbreaker, the Invasion Tree also technically land it in Bracket 3.
Goblin Stormโs combo of Haze of Rage and Storm-Kiln Artist gives it Bracket 3 potential, as does Heads I Winโs consistent theming and lean curve. I think either could eke out a few wins in Bracket 3, while 20 Ways and Everyoneโs Invited! only really do so in the rarest situations.
Commanding Conclusion
Morophon, the Boundless | Illustration by Natalie Andrewson
Secret Lair Commander decks are definitely worth your while when theyโre available from Wizards, but especially if youโre into their particular theme. Their total reprint value often more than doubles the asking price, especially if you sit on the cards for a while, but donโt expect a consistent win rate if you bring these anywhere other than a casual table.
Have you bought one of these decks? Will you keep your eye out for the next Secret Lair Commander deck? Which other creature types or themes would you like to see explored in a future drop? Let me know in the comments below or on the Draftsim Discord.
And while the Secret Lair websiteโs email list is probably your most direct source for Secret Lair news, The Daily Upkeep newsletter will keep you up to date on all things Magic (and we might even share any rumors we hear before official decks are announced!)
Until next time, happy hunting!
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