5 Reserved List Cards to Watch in a Sideways Market
The macro-environment for Magic card prices has been…less than great over the past two years. Reserved List cards, the benchmark for the health of Magic’s secondary market, are still averaging 40%+ off their pandemic-era highs, while the modern trend of repetitive reprints has demolished the price of new cards.
Comparative price lows aside, there has been some stabilization in the price of old Magic, enough to reward the patient among us with opportunities for value-pickups if we play it right. So, what are some of the best cards to keep your eyes on as the economy firms up?
1. Revised Dual Lands
They might not be “one card,” but financially they move as a group, so let’s start off the list with a bit of a bonus. If the Reserved List is Magic’s benchmark, then the
| Underground Sea | ||
| Savannah | ||
| Volcanic Island | ||
| Tropical Island | ||
| Bayou | ||
| Badlands | ||
| Plateau | ||
| Taiga | ||
| Scrubland | ||
| Tundra |
2. Lion's Eye Diamond
Alright, we’ve talked about powerful lands, now let’s look at the next best mana source Magic has to offer: artifacts.
It might not be a
While Lion’s Eye Diamond might not be quite as low off its market high of roughly $600 as the Dual Lands, its current price of $450 is certainly a significant discount (and that’s for near mint copies). Plus, if you look into more played copies of the card - lightly played, moderately played, etc. - these discounts quickly snowball, and suddenly you’re rounding the corner on $350. Not bad for one of Magic’s most notorious mana rocks.
| Lion's Eye Diamond | ||
| Underworld Breach |
3. Null Rod
Speaking of mana rocks, it's always useful to have something in your back pocket to shut of opposing ramp.
As far as price discounts goe, Null Rod is selling at a heavy loss versus its $180 all-time high, with copies frequently trading hands at $80 or less. Certainly more than $2-$3 for the modern alternatives, but if you’re in the market for powerful Reserved List playables that aren’t quite as expensive as the Dual Lands, then Null Rod is an excellent option to look into.
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| Stony Silence | ||
| Collector Ouphe |
4. Earthcraft
Similar to Null Rod, Earthcraft has also experienced one of the heftier price cuts of cards on our list, tumbling from nearly $200 to just shy of $100 - a clean 50%. Unlike Null Rod, however, no other cards fulfill quite the same slot as Earthcraft, so its status as a Reserved List card serves to make its role all the more unique in Magic lists going forward. Enter:
A favorite of many green combo decks in Commander, Squirrel Nest and Earthcraft are a two-card combo that creates an infinitely large army (for a turn) of tapped 1/1 green Squirrel tokens. Powerful, certainly, but frequently too cost-intensive (in terms of real-world dollars) for many players to make the purchase. Now, with $100 of the total cost shaved off, the Earthcraft combo is a more accessible investment. With the cost of sealed Magic going up at the same time as Commander’s popularity skyrocketing, who knows? Maybe swap out a Draft box for a Reserved List combo piece.
Beyond Squirrel Nest, Earthcraft itself is an independently powerful card. Enabling all of your creatures to provide mana is the floor, and we’ve seen that effect time and time again pop up in green lists of all shapes and sizes.
| Earthcraft | ||
| Squirrel Nest |
5. Yawgmoth's Will
Last but certainly not least,
The long undisputed king of graveyard recursion and deadly storm turns (until Underworld Breach, that is), Yawgmoth’s Will’s price decline has been compounded by both a downturn in the overall market as well as a downtick in the number of lists playing it. With a high of over $300 versus a current price of $150, the cost of picking up Yawgmoth’s Will has been slashed in half, putting it in the same financial group as something like Earthcraft.
Yawgmoth’s Will, however, is a significantly more notorious card that still holds a wide appeal, even if it isn’t dominating competitive tables anymore. Because of this, its price has been a bit more stable in the long run, with price support coming as much from Magic collectors as Magic players. With the gradual decline in play now out of the way and the overall market stabilizing, Yawgmoth’s Will is a prime candidate for a value pickup - always playable somewhere, and never a card to be forgotten.
| Yawgmoth's Will |
Wrap Up
The Magic market is full of discounts - reprints, condition swings, macro-weakness, you name it. While this certainly isn’t the best of news for folks holding tight to base printings of cards like
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Harvey McGuinness is a student at Johns Hopkins University who has been playing Magic since the release of Return to Ravnica. After spending a few years in the Legacy arena bouncing between Miracles and other blue-white control shells, he now spends his time enjoying Magic through CEDH games and understanding the finance perspective. He also writes for the Commander's Herald.
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