March of Otherworldly Light
26, Feb, 23

Top 10 Most Expensive Cards From Kamigawa Neon Dynasty

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Article at a Glance

Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty was released just over a year ago on February 18th 2022. It was exceedingly popular, earning the title “homerun set of the year” from Magic’s lead designer. The set’s popularity was due, in part, to the long-awaited return to the Shinto-inspired plane of Kamigawa, now with a new cyberpunk coat of paint. The positive reception to the set can also be attributed to the excellent selection of cards it contains, many of which remain valuable today.

A few quick ground rules before we get into the list. The prices we list here are derived from TCGplayer’s Price Guide, we are using the market price of the card, for the date of 26/02/2023. As with our prior top 10 lists like this, we will only be using the base version of cards and won’t be counting alternative artwork treatments (this prevents 40% of the list just being variants of Hidetsugu, Devouring Chaos). With all of that said, let’s get started…

10. Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire $6.11

Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire

The cycle of Legendary Channel lands are one of the main reasons to crack Neon Dynasty booster packs. Just about every deck, regardless of format, can benefit from running at least one copy of whichever of these lands are in their colors. The cards from this cycle come dangerously close to being strictly better than basic lands. These five cards are held back only by the fact that they are legendary, meaning that you can only have one of each in play, and they do not possess the “basic land” tag, meaning they can’t be fetched by cards like Rampant Growth. They also lack a land type, like Forest or Swamp, preventing them from being retrieved by fetch lands.

At $3.19 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance, the Red card from this cycle, isn’t quite eligible to make this list, leaving Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire in the number 10 spot. Like the other cards from this cycle, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire offers a, slightly overcosted, version of a common effect in its color. In Eiganjo’s case, it’s a 3 mana, Gideon’s Reproach, which gets discounted by one for every Legendary Creature you control. While, at first, this effect may seem underwhelming, the fact that this effect uses a land slot is hugely important. There is no real cost to including this card in your deck, as you will only be replacing a Plains. This fact is the secret to the channel land’s success.

9. Takenuma, Abandoned Mire $6.14

Takenuma, Abandoned Mire

The second channel land on our list. Takenuma, Abandoned Mire costs a whole 3 cents more than Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire. This card mills its controller three cards and then allows them to return a Creature or Planeswalker from their graveyard to their hand. Just like Eiganjo, there is no reason not to run this card if you’re playing a Black deck. Many Black decks feature graveyard synergies, and even if your deck does not, a Swamp with some reanimation potential is almost always an upgrade worth making.

8. Junji, the Midnight Sky $6.17

Junji, the Midnight Sun

Junji, the Midnight Sky is a Spirt Dragon with Flying and Menace and a choice of two powerful death triggers. When Junji dies it either forces each opponent to lose two life and discard two cards or resurrects a non-dragon creature from your graveyard at the cost of two life.

The card is a fun inclusion in Commander decks, especially alongside cards like Teysa Karlov or Drivnod, Carnage Dominus which can give you twice as much value from its death triggers. Junji, the Midnight Sky doesn’t really see a huge amount of play in formats other than Commander, so Standard rotation in September is unlikely to alter its price too much.

7. Kodama of the West Tree $9.43

Kodama of the West Tree has a neat ramp effect that can slide into many different deck archetypes. The Kodama gives all modified creatures (that’s all creatures with counters, auras, or equipment on them) Trample. When any modified deal combat damage to an opponent, Kodama of the West Tree ramps out a basic land.

Kodama of the West Tree is primarily seen in Commander. The card saw occasional fringe play in Standard when Zendikar Rising was still a part of the format. Luminarch Aspirant provided a quick and reliable way to modify creatures with +1/+1 counters, enabling the Kodama’s effect. Without Luminarch Aspirant in the format, the Kodama doesn’t really show up anymore and so its price is unlikely to be too severely impacted by rotation.

6. Farewell $10.38

Farewell

Farewell is a board wipe, and honestly a very good one. It stands out even in White, which has the largest range of board wipes to choose from. Despite the fact that Farewell costs two more mana than Wrath of God it offers significantly more versatility. Farewell can not only wipe out all of the creatures in play, but it can also go for Artifacts and Enchants, as well as clearing everyone’s graveyard. The fact that this card can do all of the above, or only the modes which are useful in a given context, makes it incredibly potent. Farewell also exiles all of the cards it hit, rather than merely destroying them.

Farewell sees play in Standard, as well as Pioneer and the MTG Arena exclusive Historic format. Because this card will no longer be eligible for Standard play in September, its value may take just a bit of a dip, but its presence in other formats ensures there will still be demand for this card.

5. Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant $10.83

Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant

Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant is a formidable Phyrexian Praetor and an exceedingly frustrating Control card to come up against. Jin-Gitaxias copies the first Instant, Sorcery, or Artifact spell which its controller casts on any turn, and automatically counters the first Instant, Sorcery, or Artifact any opponents cast each turn. This card is very difficult to destroy because in order to hit it with a removal spell likd Swords to Plowshares or a Doom Blade first another Instant, Sorcery or Artifact must be wasted in order to disarm its counter effect.

4. Otawara, Soaring City $14.63

The third card from the Legendary Channel lands cycle on this list. Otawara, Soaring City can bounce a wide variety of different permanent types. In addition to all the reasons listed above, cards from this cycle are particularly good because they can’t be countered. Using the Channel effect does not qualify as “casting a spell”. Even though this card is more pricey than something like Unsummon it’s still overall a much more useful card.

3. Fable of the Mirror Breaker $22.43

Fable of the Mirror Breaker

Fable of the Mirror Breaker is something of a rising star. Initially dismissed as a bulk rare, worth only around 50 cents, the incredible strength of this card was discovered in late March of 2022 and its price has been steadily rising ever since. Fable of the Mirror Breaker is now worth more than $20 and, given its presence in the deck that one the most recent Pro tour, it probably won’t be slowing down any time soon.

This card provides a lot of value for only three mana, first generating a 2/2 Goblin token, which then has the power to create treasure tokens, then enabling you to discard up to two cards to draw the same amount and then transforming into a 2/2 Goblin with a similar ability to the iconic Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. Fable of the Mirror Breaker is a multi-format all-star and, if current trends continue, its value is only likely to rise in the future.

2. The Wandering Emperor $22.80

The Wandering Emperor

The Wandering Emperor is a powerful combination of a Planeswalker and a combat trick. Uniquely among Planeswalkers, The Wandering Emperor has Flash and can be brought into play during an opponent’s combat step to cause massive disruption. The Emperor can put a +1/+1 counter on a creature and give it First Strike, enabling it to survive a fight it may otherwise have lost. The emperor can generate a 2/2 Vigilant Samurai token to surprise an opponent with a blocker that they hadn’t anticipated. The Emperor can even just outright exile an attacking creature completely. If you’ve got a Wandering Emperor in your deck, no opponent will ever feel secure attacking you again whilst you’ve got mana open.

The Wandering Emperor sees play in Standard, Pioneer, and even, at times in Modern. The card most recently showed up in several Blue/White control decks at Pro Tour: Phyrexia.

1. Boseiju, Who Endures $35.75

Boseiju, Who Endures

Finally, bookending our list, is another Legendary Channel land Boseiju, Who Endures. This card is great for all of the reasons discussed above about why these channel lands are powerful. A useful effect, which uses a land slot, rather than a slot that could otherwise house an impactful card. a significantly better Naturalise which can target non-basic lands, as well as Enchantments and Artifacts, even if it does allow opponents to fetch a basic land from their deck. What makes this card the most valuable in the cycle is that it allows you to free up sideboard slots. Usually, sideboards need to reserve some space for Artifact, and Enchantment removal effects, but Boseiju allows such effects to be run in the main deck.

If you were ever wondering why Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty packs sell out very quickly, one of the reasons is the fact that the most valuable cycle in the set is available at Rare, rather than Mythic. Like the other cards from its cycle, Boseiju sees play in every format in which it is legal.

Read more: Top 5 Most Expensive MTG Uncommon Cards

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