Rise of the Polygons is Magic: The Gathering’s Extra Life 2026 Secret Lair. It’s four cards plus an Elemental token, redrawn as late-1990s, low-polygon video game art by Brendan “Sully” Sullivan. It costs $39.99 non-foil or $49.99 foil on the Secret Lair store from November 16 at 9 a.m. PT to November 30 at 1 a.m. PT, and half of the purchase price, minus transaction fees, goes to Extra Life for Seattle Children’s Hospital.
My verdict: it’s worth it if you’d play or display the cards. The four cards’ cheapest printings cost about $43 together today, led by Sword of Truth and Justice ($26.70), so the non-foil is roughly break-even before you count the donation. The last two Extra Life drops’ cards sell for more than their $39.99 price now, but that’s no guarantee for this one.
Facts from Wizards of the Coast’s November 3, 2026 announcement · Card prices are TCGplayer market prices via Scryfall on November 12, 2026
Table of Contents
Rise of the Polygons at a glance
| Drop | Rise of the Polygons (Extra Life 2026) |
|---|---|
| Cards | Balefire Dragon, Big Score, Young Pyromancer, Sword of Truth and Justice, plus an Elemental token |
| Art | Low-polygon 3D inspired by 64-bit consoles, by Brendan “Sully” Sullivan |
| Price | $39.99 non-foil, $49.99 foil |
| On sale | November 16, 9 a.m. PT to November 30, 1 a.m. PT, at MagicSecretLair.com |
| Early copies | Limited stock at the MagicCon: Atlanta merch booth, November 13 to 15 |
| Charity | 50% of the price, minus transaction fees, to Extra Life for Seattle Children’s Hospital (100% of proceeds at the MagicCon booth) |
| Shipping | Free on Secret Lair orders over $99 |
Prices move fast. Follow @HelloNerdsnack on X for price drops and new chase cards.
What’s in Rise of the Polygons?
The art tells one retro-game story: Young Pyromancer and her Elemental sidekick fight through polygon worlds, and the card frames look like a 64-bit game screen, with health bars and item icons. Here’s what each card does:
- Balefire Dragon (seven mana): a 6/6 flyer. When it deals combat damage to a player, it deals that much damage to each creature that player controls.
- Sword of Truth and Justice (three mana): equipment that gives +2/+2 and protection from white and blue. When the creature deals combat damage to a player, you put a +1/+1 counter on a creature and proliferate.
- Big Score (four-mana instant): discard a card to draw two cards and make two Treasure tokens.
- Young Pyromancer (two mana): makes a 1/1 red Elemental token whenever you cast an instant or sorcery, which is where the drop’s Elemental token comes in.
These are the cards’ current printings, with today’s cheapest prices on TCGplayer:
$26.70
$15.77
$0.45
$0.24
Is Rise of the Polygons worth $39.99?
On card value alone, it’s about even. The cheapest printings of the four cards add up to about $43 today, and Sword of Truth and Justice is 62% of that. Balefire Dragon is the other real card at about $16, while Big Score and Young Pyromancer cost under 50 cents each. The foil costs $10 more for the same four cards.
The real reason to buy is the cause: about $20 of a non-foil order goes to Extra Life before fees, and the art is unlike any other version of these cards. If you only want the Sword for a deck, buying a single is cheaper.
Tip: two foil copies come to $99.98, just over the $99 free-shipping line on the Secret Lair store.
How past Extra Life Secret Lairs held up
Both of the last two Extra Life drops also sold for $39.99 non-foil, and their cards are worth more as singles today. Here’s what each drop’s four cards sell for now, using the Secret Lair printings:
| Drop | Cards | Value now |
|---|---|---|
| Pixel Perfect 2024 | Fierce Guardianship ($63.92), Delayed Blast Fireball ($14.32), Mana Geyser ($9.49), Lightning Bolt ($4.38) | $92.11 |
| Squishful Thinking 2025 | Academy Manufactor ($15.67), Polyraptor ($14.80), Greensleeves ($13.27), Wurmcoil Engine ($9.84) | $53.58 |
| Rise of the Polygons 2026 | Cheapest current printings of its four cards | about $43 |
Those are prices for single cards, not sealed drops, and a single expensive card did most of the work for Pixel Perfect. Rise of the Polygons has no card as strong as Fierce Guardianship, so I wouldn’t buy it expecting the same result.
$63.92
$14.32
$9.49
$15.67
$14.80
$13.27
How to buy Rise of the Polygons
- Secret Lair store: MagicSecretLair.com, November 16 at 9 a.m. PT through November 30 at 1 a.m. PT.
- MagicCon: Atlanta: limited copies at the merch booth, November 13 to 15. Wizards says 100% of its Extra Life merch proceeds there, minus fees, go to Extra Life.
- MTG Arena: from November 16 to 30, an Extra Life Secret Lair Sleeve Bundle (3,000 gems, five sleeves with this art), a Sleeve Bundle (1,800 gems) and a Sticker Emote (800 gems). All proceeds, less fees, go to Extra Life.
Next step
For more Secret Lairs, see our Star Trek Secret Lair Superdrop guide. If you’re at MagicCon this weekend, our MagicCon Atlanta 2026 guide has the hours and the Worlds 32 metagame.
Just want the cards? The buttons below load the four Rise of the Polygons cards in their cheapest printings, or the 2024 Pixel Perfect Secret Lair versions, into one TCGplayer cart.
Just want the cards? Shop them on TCGplayer
Sources: Wizards of the Coast, Magic Levels Up With Extra Life for 2026 (November 3, 2026); TCGplayer market prices via Scryfall, November 12, 2026. Images: Wizards of the Coast.
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