Image courtesy of Scryfall.com
Nostalgia Waves and the Lara Croft MTG Price Narrative
If you’ve been tracing MTG price charts lately, you’ve probably noticed a familiar pattern: when a beloved, cross-media icon surfaces in a card, the market hums with a distinctive old-meets-new energy. The recent addition of Lara Croft, Tomb Raider to the Secret Lair Drop line isn’t just a cool collectable; it’s a perfect case study in how nostalgia waves ripple through value, print runs, and deck-building decisions. 🧙♂️🔥 This is where fans and financiers alike whisper about scarcity, art-forward appeal, and the magical moment when “remember this” collides with “play this.” And yes, the tri-color mana cost—green, blue, and red—sets up some spicy, three-color dynamics that appeal to players who love both flavor and flexibility. 💎⚔️
Why this card stands out beyond the name
First, the card is a mythic in a borderless, inverted-frame presentation—an eye-catching spray of nostalgia and design that Scryfall’s data highlights with distinctive styling. In-game, Lara Croft, Tomb Raider offers two evergreen combat tricks—First strike and Reach—making her a reliable attacker regardless of how you swing. But the real soul of the card lies in its top-end play pattern: a powerful attack trigger that exiles up to one target legendary artifact or legendary land from a graveyard, places a discovery counter on it, and lets you play that exiled card that turn. It’s a clever nod to legendary legends and legendary lands alike, a mechanic that rewards careful timing and graveyard diplomacy. Then, the Raid clause stacks another layer of value: if you attacked that combat, you get a Treasure token at end of combat. Treasure tokens—those little mana factories—have long been a price-of-entry for multi-color, ramp-heavy decks to accelerate into late-game power. ⚔️🎨
From a design perspective, this card sits at an intersection where lore-engineered crossovers meet modern gameplay. The Universes Beyond lineage behind Secret Lair Drop cards brings a unique collector’s aura: tri-color mana demands, full-art presentation, and a story-driven edge that resonates with fans who grew up with Lara Croft’s adventures. The art by Greg Staples only amplifies that pull, offering a vivid homage that collectors prize as much as players do for the potential in their multi-color builds. And with the card’s EDHREC rank hovering around the mid-teens in terms of popularity, it’s clear this is a piece that earns shelf space in both display cases and battle boards. 🧙♂️💎
Pricing in practice: what nostalgia looks like in dollars
- USD (non-foil): approximately $38.46
- USD foil: approximately $41.86
- EUR: approximately €34.59
- EUR foil: approximately €36.34
Those numbers aren’t just digits; they’re a reflection of several forces at work. First, the cross-media appeal creates a built-in demand pool from both MTG players and Tomb Raider fans. Second, the card belongs to a Secret Lair Drop, a printing line whose runs are typically more restricted than standard Superset releases. Third, the card’s triple-color identity makes it a natural fit for ambitious Commander decks and multi-color builds, increasing the likelihood that players will desire a crisp foil or a borderless specimen for their display shelves. All of this nudges prices upward, especially for a mythic rarity card that isn’t prone to easy reprint in a standard set. The fallout is a market where nostalgia becomes a usable price signal, not just a memory trigger. 💎🔥
“Nostalgia isn’t merely sentiment—it’s a market driver that adds a durable premium to cards that stitch together memory and play.”
—Market observer note
Deck-building implications and playstyle vibes
In a tri-color shell, Lara Croft, Tomb Raider gives you a flexible strategic canvas. The two keywords—First strike and Reach—offer resilience on defense while keeping pressure on aggressive boards. The exile-on-attack ability functions as a miniature tutor over time: you can stash a legendary artifact or legendary land in exile and then tap into it via the discovery counter mechanic, potentially turning a single attack into a near-instant upgrade. When you add Raid’s Treasure token generation, you’ve got a built-in ramp engine that rewards you for pressing the assault and expanding your mana base. This combination is especially potent in Commander formats that lean on legendary creatures and multi-color—where treasures and fancy artifacts are common accelerants. 🎲🧙♂️
Strategically, you’ll want to build around both the graveyard and the exile themes. Cards that interact with artifacts or legendary lands from the graveyard can synergize with Lara’s attack trigger, while treasures after combat help you surge into a critical mass of plays on subsequent turns. It’s not just about raw numbers; it’s about tempo and value lines that keep you ahead as the game shifts from the early game into a treasure-fueled mid-to-late game. The card’s status as a Universes Beyond drop adds a slice of collectible drama to the mix, making it a centerpiece for both casual nostalgia nights and more serious deck-building conversations. 🧭⚡
Collector value, print dynamics, and the quiet economics of memory
In the current climate, cards born from cross-media collaborations tend to display stronger short- to medium-term price momentum, especially when their print runs are finite and the artwork is both iconic and premium. Lara Croft, Tomb Raider sits in that sweet spot: a mythic, borderless, full-art presentation with a recognized IP, backed by a strong EDH/legacy footprint. The absence of a standard-legal path for this card underscores its status as a collector’s piece and a showpiece in the right playgroups. For buyers, that means watching for volatility around new releases or reprints in related Universes Beyond lines, while players will evaluate how realistic it is to incorporate triple-color strategies into their casual to competitive arsenals. The synergy between nostalgia and playability often translates into a durable price floor, with occasional spikes when reprint chatter surfaces or when new art appreciation circles gain momentum. 🧠🔥
In the end, the market’s romance with crossovers is a reminder that Magic isn’t just about spells and creatures; it’s about stories you carry to the table. Lara Croft, Tomb Raider is more than a card name—it’s a doorway to a shared memory, a new engine for your deck, and a chat-room catalyst for collectors everywhere. If you’re eyeing a purchase, consider how you’ll use shadows of the past to shape your present games—and how the memories you bring to the table might just fetch a few more treasures for your collection. 🎨🎲