While they’re not the most common cards in the world, The List is nonetheless incredibly exciting. Changing with the release of every set, this evolving list of cards can hold some real value. Potentially paying for your pack and then some, these Set Booster exclusive reprints are well worth keeping an eye out for.
For better or worse, The List cards are far from guaranteed, only appearing in around 25% of Set Boosters. Even when finding a card from The List, there are 300 potential pulls, many of which are next to worthless. Thankfully, while this can make The List rather disappointing, it’s soon getting a massive overhaul next year.
Before The List can be overhauled with Murders at Karlov Manor, The Lost Caverns of Ixalan is sending it out with a bang. Introducing multiple deeply flavorful, and incredibly valuable cards, The List is potentially the best it has ever been! Thanks to this, there are a few notable cards making their way onto this edition of The List.
As a quick note, before we dive into things, the prices we’ll be citing in this article are based on TCGplayer’s Market Price at the time of writing. With that in mind, it’s important to remember that the prices of MTG cards are always subject to change, especially after being reprinted. Subsequently, once The Lost Caverns of Ixalan gets released, the prices of these cards may fall dramatically.
Now, without any further ado, let’s dive right into the list! Here are the top 10 most expensive MTG cards on The List for The Lost Caverns of Ixalan.
10 | Eldrazi Conscription
Price: $9.24
Played primarily in Commander, Eldrazi Conscription is an absolute ton of fun. Capable of turning any creature into an absolute monster, this Enchantment is expensive but well worth the price. After all, Eldrazi Conscription has Annihilator 2, one of the most oppressive and brutally fun mechanics in MTG.
While it’s far from the most popular card in Commander, Eldrazi Conscription still commands a decent value. Since joining The List in Wilds of Eldraine, however, this price has taken a bit of a plummet. Once valued at around $12, copies of Eldrazi Conscription can now be yours for just $9.24.
For better or worse, Eldrazi Conscription may not be on this list for much longer, as prices will likely continue to decline. While this is bad news for anyone hoping for maximum Set Booster value, it’s great news for Commander players. If you ask me, the more people that get to enjoy this fantastic card, the better!
9 | Harmony of Nature
Price: $9.39
Joining this list of the best cards in The List, Harmony of Nature is a pretty meh MTG card. Capable of gaining you a decent sum of life, at the expense of tapping your creatures, this card’s usefulness is rather minimal. Outside of potentially saving you in a pinch, Harmony of Nature could be useful with cards like Halo Fountain. That being said, however, there are plenty of better options for this role.
Despite not being the most useful MTG card in the world, Harmony of Nature is still obviously rather expensive. Obviously, since this price isn’t due to the card’s strength, it’s instead due to the rarity. Printed only in Portal Second Age, this card is incredibly rare, with not many Near Mint copies available.
Thanks to now being included on The List, this supply issue is soon going to be rectified. As a result, it’s incredibly likely that Harmony of Nature will fall off this list incredibly quickly, once the set launches.
8 | Counterbalance
Price: $10.52
Once one of the most expensive cards on The List, Counterbalance has had quite the fall from grace. Over the past few months, the value of the card has dropped from around $16, to only around $10. While this is a decent chunk less than before, it’s admittedly still a great pull from a Set Booster.
Curiously, while The List prices typically fall over time, the cost of Counterbalance has actually been increasing. Previously, copies of the card from The List were only $5 but they have since doubled in price. Over the coming weeks and months, it’s possible this price will climb even higher, or at least equalize with the price of other printings.
As a card itself, Counterbalance sees a decent amount of play within Legacy and cEDH. Here, the card is at its most effective due to the well-defined metagames of these formats. Playing into this consistency, Counterbalance can occasionally provide a huge number of essentially free counterspells. Thanks to this, it’s no wonder the card commands some decent value.
7 | Greensleeves, Maro-Sorcerer
Price: $12.05
Formerly sitting at the number 2 spot, Greensleeves, Maro-Sorcerer has seen a substantial price drop since joining The List. Initially valued at around $25, now, this Commander card is worth just $12. Curiously, just like Counterbalance above, however, the value of this card has been slowly climbing over the past few weeks.
Much like Counterbalance, the slow and steady climb of Greensleeves, Maro-Sorcerer’s price isn’t entirely due to demand. Instead, the fluctuations are simply closing the gap between the cheapest variants of the card. Thanks to this, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the price of Greensleeves settling at around $13 or so.
To justify this price point, Greensleeves, Maro-Sorcerer is an excellent addition to Landfall-themed decks. Capable of creating a swarm of 3/3 Badgers while scaling themselves, this card can become a devastating threat. For those who really want to lean into this ability, they’re also a compelling Commander choice.
6 | Burgeoning
Price: $14.52
Since joining The List with Commander Masters, Burgeoning has been on quite the journey. Previously, it was one of the most expensive cards around, costing around $20 to buy. A few months after this, however, its price had halved, only selling for around $10. Now that another few months have passed, this price has bounced back somewhat, as it’s now selling for around $15.
To explain this rollercoaster pricing, Burgeoning is simply a great MTG card. Offering some of the best ramp in Commander, Burgeoning can get you ahead in the early game like little else. Thanks to this strength, Burgeoning is almost always in demand, leading to a consistent and healthy price.
5 | Murktide Regent
Price: $14.74
If you play Modern, you absolutely know of Murktide Regent. Hell, if you’ve even heard of the format, you likely know about this card, as it’s the namesake of one of the biggest decks. Known as Izzet Murktide, this delve card is an absolute powerhouse that’s capable of utterly devastating opponents.
Providing an immense body after an aggressive early game, Murktide Regent has been a staple in the format since its release. Thanks to this power, Murktide Regent is unsurprisingly rather expensive. While this detail hasn’t been helped by a lack of reprints, this is now finally changing thanks to The List.
Providing slightly more supply of this Modern Horizons 2 card, it’s likely that Murktide Regent’s price will fall slightly. Considering how well Modern Horizons 2 sold, however, I wouldn’t expect it to suddenly become as cheap as chips. Nevertheless, this reprint is fantastic to see and we hope they stick around on The List for quite some time.
4 | Flusterstorm
Price: $19.30
Since arriving on The List in Commander Masters, Flusterstorm’s price has been rather consistent. In fact, over the past six months, it’s barely moved at all, having recovered from a precious dip. Initially joining The List at $19.95, Flusterstorm is still worth around $19 on TCGplayer.
To explain this price, well, just look at the card above. Very simply, Flusterstorm is an incredible counterspell that can shut down a huge number of spells and combos. This is all thanks to its Storm ability, which makes it excel in both Competitive and causal formats. Seeing play within Modern, Legacy, Vintage, and Commander too, there’s plenty of demand for Flusterstorm.
3 | Esper Sentinel
Price: $26.38
Just like Murktide Regent, Esper Sentinel is another new addition to The List from Modern Horizons 2. Seeing a decent amount of play within Modern Hammer Time decks, this fantastic draw engine definitely has competitive appeal. More than this, however, Esper Sentinel is an absolute star in Commander.
Synergizing with the increased number of opponents, and ever-increasing casting costs, Esper Sentinel can easily control and determine games. Thanks to this, the card is obviously incredibly popular, and expensive as a result! Currently, Esper Sentinel sells for around $25 thanks to a lack of reprints.
Since this powerful Modern Horizons 2 card is finally being reprinted, its price is surely going to drop some. For better or worse, however, since the reprint is only via The List, the price likely won’t plummet too much. In any case, seeing this long-awaited reprint is nothing to complain about.
2 | The Meathook Massacre
Price: $29.62
Formerly the most expensive card on The List by a decent margin, The Meathook Massacre has been usurped with no contest. Before we get to that, however, we should say that The Meathook Massacre is still a fantastic card. Seeing play within Pioneer, and primarily Commander, this card is often an incredibly oppressive force.
Beyond being a potent, albeit expensive, board wipe, The Meathook Massacre consistently dishes out damage. Hurting each opponent while healing you, depending on which creature dies, this card is a nightmare to play against. This is true even within 1v1 games, but The Meathook Massacre gets even better around four-player Commander tables.
As for its price, The Meathook Massacre has fallen a little since joining The List with Wilds of Eldraine. Saying that, however, its value has hardly crashed, as it has only fallen by around $5. Now sitting at around $30, The Meathook Massacre is definitely an expensive card, to say the least. Hopefully, as it sticks around on The List for a little while longer, that can change before too long.
1 | Dockside Extortionist
Price: $64.38
Last, and by certainly no means least, we have a brand new entry to The List for The Lost Caverns of Ixalan. Clocking in at a staggering $64, Dockside Extortionist is easily the most expensive card The List has ever seen. It’s so expensive, in fact, that one could easily call the price of this card extortionate!
Given the strength of the card, it’s no wonder that Dockside Extortionist is so expensive. Hardly needing any introduction, this card is capable of delivering utterly immense amounts of mana, especially in Commander. Potentially leap-frogging not just one, but all your opponents for just two mana, Dockside Extortionist is a true Commander staple.
Having only been reprinted once before, it’s unlikely that Dockside Extortionist will fall too much now it’s on the list. After all, the card is extraordinarily popular, seeing an immense amount of play. Still, since there will be more Dockside Extortionists in the world, we can only hope the price will drop somewhat. Even if this is only by a few dollars, this reprint is definitely better than nothing
Special Guests
As a final note, The List slots within The Lost Caverns of Ixalan also have a slim chance to be a Special Guest card instead. Ranging from just $0.10 to almost $150, these cards are a very varied and collectible mix. Featuring new art to enhance their flavor, these cards provide a sneak preview of what The List will soon become.
While Special Guests can appear within The List slot in Set Boosters, we won’t be going over them here. Instead, we’ve got another article for that exact purpose, detailing the best and worst of what Special Guests have to offer!
Read More: Crazy Second MTG Set Release Creates New $100 Card!
