Stop trading blind: The 5 most valuable MTG cards from every current Standard set

Magic: The Gathering has produced plenty of expensive trading cards over its long history, but you do not need to dig through sets from the 1990s to find singles worth hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars.

The current Standard format (used for competitive MTG) stretches from 2023’s Wilds of Eldraine through to Marvel Super Heroes, covering traditional Magic planes alongside Universes Beyond crossovers such as Final Fantasy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Even among these relatively new collections, you can find enough expensive chase cards to fully fund a pension plan and then some.

With that, we’ve checked the top five leading cards from every Standard-legal set using TCGplayer market prices — including those sporting alternate artwork, premium foil aesthetics, and coveted serialized versions. Just like with the most valuable Pokémon cards in the modern TCG, Magic prices can change as more copies are opened and sold, but these are the five most valuable chase cards right now.

Wilds of Eldraine

Wilds of Eldraine is one of the more affordable Standard expansions at the upper end, with none of its five leading cards currently stretching far beyond $50:

• Agatha’s Soul Cauldron (Extended Art, #366): $50.29

• Agatha’s Soul Cauldron (#242): $38.31

• Beseech the Mirror (Extended Art, #336): $35.51

• Beseech the Mirror (#082): $18.73

• Moonshaker Cavalry (Extended Art, #325): $18.56

The Lost Caverns of Ixalan

The Lost Caverns of Ixalan sits at the opposite end of the scale to Wild of Eldraine. Not only are its top five cards dominated by rare borderless Cavern of Souls variants, but the most valuable version carries a market price of roughly $4,900:

• Cavern of Souls (0410a, Borderless, #410a): $4,900

• Cavern of Souls (0410e, Borderless, #410e): $797.16

• Cavern of Souls (0410d, Borderless, #410d): $528.68

• Cavern of Souls (0410c, Borderless, #410c): $480.07

• Cavern of Souls (0410f, Borderless, #410f): $256.52

Murders at Karlov Manor 

Murders at Karlov Manor’s biggest cards have been dominated by serialized versions of familiar Ravnica characters:

• Niv-Mizzet, Guildpact (Serial Numbered, #319): $695

• Vannifar, Evolved Enigma (Serial Numbered, #323): $600

• Trostani, Three Whispers (Serial Numbered, #322): $500

• Rakdos, Patron of Chaos (Serial Numbered, #320): $400

• Lazav, Wearer of Faces (Serial Numbered, #318): $329.99

Outlaws of Thunder Junction

Outlaws of Thunder Junction is considerably cheaper than many of the sets that came before and after. That’s slightly surprising, given Bristly Bill, Spine Sower, and Terror of the Peaks account for four of its five leading cards:

• Bristly Bill, Spine Sower (Extended Art, #338): $62.40

• Terror of the Peaks (Extended Art, #337): $45.76

• Bristly Bill, Spine Sower (#157): $42.35

• Terror of the Peaks (#149): $30.04

• Goldvein Hydra (Extended Art, #341): $12.20

Outlaws of Thunder Junction: The Big Score

The Big Score was released inside Outlaws of Thunder Junction boosters, pushing the wider set’s value much higher than one might normally expect. Its Raised Foil Vaultborn Tyrant and Sword of Wealth and Power sit very comfortably above the main expansion’s biggest pulls, with market prices well over $200 and $150, respectively:

• Vaultborn Tyrant (Showcase, Raised Foil, #061): $220.83

• Sword of Wealth and Power (Showcase, Raised Foil, #064): $164.13

• Vaultborn Tyrant (Showcase, #050): $86.94

• Simulacrum Synthesizer (Showcase, #036): $68.76

• Sword of Wealth and Power (Showcase, #056): $54.32

Bloomburrow

Bloomburrow's animal-focused setting might be an approachable set to dive into, but its most desirable Raised Foils carry some seriously high prices:

• Lumra, Bellow of the Woods (Borderless, Raised Foil, #343): $769.57

• Baylen, the Haymaker (Borderless, Raised Foil, #345): $412.83

• Ral, Crackling Wit (Borderless, Raised Foil, #353): $359.81

• Camellia, the Seedmiser (Borderless, Raised Foil, #346): $244.41

• Vren, the Relentless (Borderless, Raised Foil, #354): $226.66

Duskmourn: House of Horror

Duskmourn: House of Horror has a strong collection of premium cards without reaching the four-figure price brackets of Standard’s biggest releases:

• Valgavoth, Terror Eater (Showcase, Textured Foil, #407): $303.06

• Enduring Vitality (Showcase, Fracture Foil, #404): $282.09

• Overlord of the Balemurk (Showcase, Fracture Foil, #401): $256.26

• Enduring Curiosity (Showcase, Fracture Foil, #398): $197.46

• Overlord of the Hauntwoods (Showcase, Fracture Foil, #405): $191.82

Foundations

Magic: The Gathering’s Foundations offers plenty of recognizable Magic staples, and its Fracture Foil treatments have ended up becoming very high value in terms of chase cards:

• Llanowar Elves (Showcase, Fracture Foil, #439): $778.73

• Doubling Season (Showcase, Fracture Foil, #438): $624.11

• Twinflame Tyrant (Showcase, Fracture Foil, #437): $469.21

• Bloodthirsty Conqueror (Showcase, Fracture Foil, #436): $354.33

• Progenitus (Showcase, Fracture Foil, #441): $294.72

Aetherdrift

Aetherdrift's most valuable cards are relatively cheap compared to other expansions released around the same time. Radiant Lotus and Loot, the Pathfinder lead through their Fracture Foil treatments, but neither currently reaches much beyond $140:                                                                                         

• Radiant Lotus (Showcase, Fracture Foil, #416): $136.34

• Loot, the Pathfinder (Showcase, Fracture Foil, #414): $104.25

• The Aetherspark (First-Place Foil, #496): $86.59

• Chandra, Spark Hunter (Showcase, Fracture Foil, #411): $72.86

• Cursecloth Wrappings (Showcase, Fracture Foil, #410): $51.73

Tarkir: Dragonstorm

Tarkir: Dragonstorm was released with one enormous chase card separating it from almost everything else in the expansion. The serialized Mox Jasper carries a market price of roughly $1,757, putting it more than $1,200 ahead of the Halo Foil Ugin, Eye of the Storms:

• Mox Jasper (Serial Numbered, #419): $1,757.08

• Ugin, Eye of the Storms (Showcase, Halo Foil, #409): $464.06

• Elspeth, Storm Slayer (Showcase, Halo Foil, #411): $303.04

• Craterhoof Behemoth (Showcase, Halo Foil, #414): $270.18

• Dracogenesis (Showcase, Halo Foil, #412): $125.90

Final Fantasy

Magic: The Gathering’s Final Fantasy expansion was one of the most anticipated trading card releases in a long while — and is now one of the most expensive by far. Unsurprisingly, for those who kept up with MTG Final Fantasy at launch, all five of the most valuable chase cards are the Traveling Chocobo variants:

• Traveling Chocobo (Borderless, Japanese Exclusive, #551): $5,950

• Traveling Chocobo (Borderless, Neon Ink Blue, #551c): $1,937.28

• Traveling Chocobo (Borderless, Neon Ink Green, #551d): $1,862.90

• Traveling Chocobo (Borderless, Neon Ink Yellow, #551a): $1,766.81

• Traveling Chocobo (Borderless, Neon Ink Pink, #551b): $1,754.61

Edge of Eternities

Edge of Eternities mixes a single four-figure showstopper with several more moderately priced Fracture Foils. Leading the top five by far is the Singularity Foil version of Sothera, the Supervoid, with a market price of over $1,200, while Icetill Explorer drops to around $348 in second place:

• Sothera, the Supervoid (Singularity Foil, #382): $1,222.82

• Icetill Explorer (Showcase, Fracture Foil, #388): $347.95

• Exalted Sunborn (Showcase, Fracture Foil, #384): $222.85

• Starfield Vocalist (Showcase, Fracture Foil, #385): $196.77

• Sothera, the Supervoid (Showcase, Fracture Foil, #386): $128.71

Marvel’s Spider-Man

Marvel’s Spider-Man unexpectedly included a high-priced Infinity Stone sitting at the top of its rankings, with the borderless Soul Stone carrying a market value of nearly $1,700:

• The Soul Stone (Borderless, #243): $1,698.11

• Spectacular Spider-Man (0235, Borderless, #235): $417.15

• Spectacular Spider-Man (0236, Borderless, #236): $308.02

• Spectacular Spider-Man (0240, Borderless, #240): $267.55

• Spectacular Spider-Man (0238, Borderless, #238): $264.05

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Magic: The Gathering’s Avatar: The Last Airbender expansion brought the iconic Nickelodeon series’ bending to the tabletop and has one of Standard’s most valuable collections of premium treatments:

• Avatar Aang (Raised Foil, #363): $3,908.42

• Toph, the First Metalbender (Borderless, Neon Ink Foil, #362): $900.80

• Aang, Swift Savior (Borderless, Neon Ink Foil, #359): $534.64

• Katara, the Fearless (Borderless, Neon Ink Foil, #361): $479.35

• Fire Lord Zuko (Borderless, Neon Ink Foil, #360): $466.79

Lorwyn Eclipsed

Lorwyn Eclipsed returned to the land of light and shadow with a noticeably smaller gap between its premium pulls and the rest of the expansion. Bloom Tender leads through its Fracture Foil treatment at approximately $356, followed by Moonshadow at just under $150:

• Bloom Tender (0400, Showcase, Fracture Foil, #400): $355.52

• Moonshadow (0396, Showcase, Fracture Foil, #396): $147.77

• Selfless Safewright (Showcase, Fracture Foil, #401): $75.11

• Spinerock Tyrant (0399, Showcase, Fracture Foil, #399): $74.81

• Winnowing (Showcase, Fracture Foil, #392): $70.75

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles emerged from the sewers and became another heavyweight Universes Beyond release, largely thanks to its beautiful Gold-Stamped borderless cards:

• Leonardo, Sewer Samurai (Borderless, Gold-Stamped, #301): $2,957.03

• Donatello, Mutant Mechanic (Borderless, Gold-Stamped, #302): $2,700

• Michelangelo, Improviser (Borderless, Gold-Stamped, #304): $2,250

• Raphael, Ninja Destroyer (Borderless, Gold-Stamped, #303): $2,175

• Super Shredder (Showcase, Fracture Foil, #295): $320.47

Secrets of Strixhaven

Secrets of Strixhaven has perhaps the most uneven top end of any expansion on this list. Its serialized Double Rainbow Foil Emeritus of Ideation is valued at approximately $2,900, but the second-place card sits at only around $18:

• Emeritus of Ideation (Retro Frame, Serial Numbered, Double Rainbow Foil, #306): $2,900

• Emeritus of Woe (Extended Art, #324): $18.04

• Witherbloom, the Balancer (Borderless, #288): $13.30

• Improvisation Capstone (Borderless, #294): $12.99

• Emeritus of Woe (#080): $12.86

Marvel Super Heroes

Magic: The Gathering’s fun Marvel Super Heroes expansion closes out the current Standard lineup with another hugely valuable Infinity Stone:

• The Mind Stone (Borderless, #386): $1,641.39

• Thanos, the Mad Titan (Borderless, #400): $222.82

• Doctor Doom (Borderless, #394): $150.50

• Ultron, Artificial Malevolence (Borderless, #401): $93.71

• Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu (Borderless, #396): $84.89