Top 5 Most Expensive Commander Cards
Magic: the Gathering recently got a lot of media attention when a Black Lotus sold for over $500,000 a few weeks ago, a new record high for an individual Magic card.
This got me thinking: what are the most expensive cards in Commander? How high has the price on the most baller cards gotten up to, and are they worth the price? So I did a bit of research and came up with the top 5 most expensive Commander cards.
But first quick disclaimers: Card prices are volatile and differ depend where you're looking them up. For this particular list I'm using MTGGoldfish prices. I'm also using the cheapest version of each card, otherwise four of the cards on the list would just be original dual lands which would be boring. And I'm excluding Juzam Djinn for being terrible in Commander; sorry, Mr. Djinn, you don't cut it anymore. Alright, let's get started!
#5: Chains of Mephistopheles ($2,314)
Kicking things off at a modest $2,314 is Chains of Mephistopheles. Chains is not only one of the most expensive cards in the game, it's also famous for being one of the most confusing cards ever printed. Basically this enchantment stops players from drawing extra cards: anyone draws a card except for the card they draw on their draw step, they instead discard a card and then draw a card (also known as "rummaging"), and if they can'tdiscard a card then they instead mill a card. So if someone casts Mulldrifter and would draw 2 cards, Chains would instead make that player discard + draw or mill a card, then discard + draw or mill a card again.
Since most Commander decks are full of card draw, Chains is effectively a Stax piece, shutting down everyone's card draw. However there are still ways to play around Chains, such as putting cards into your hand instead of drawing them with Ad Nauseam or playing cards off the top of your library with Future Sight. So decks built around Chains could still generate tons of card advantage, while everyone else looking to draw cards will be unable to do so.
Is It Good? Well, sort of. It's still a powerful card, but these days we have more effective ways to deny our opponents card draw with cards like Notion Thief and Hullbreacher; these new cards only affect our opponents while we can still draw cards just fine, they can be flashed in response to opponents drawing cards for major blowouts, and they can be paired with wheels like Windfall to strip away our opponents' hands. With such better card draw denial these days, Chains isn't an attractive option anymore, especially at its current price.
#4 Bazaar of Baghdad ($4,717)
Bazaar of Baghdad is a land that can be tapped to draw two cards, then discard three cards. It's one of the most mana-efficient ways to immediately start discarding cards and get stuff into your graveyard. There's clear drawbacks to Bazaar -- it doesn't tap for mana and its ability is a net loss in cards -- but these things are irrelevant if your only goal is to fill your graveyard as quickly as possible. So if your deck is all-in on quickly discarding stuff for value, Bazaar is a solid pick. You can also get around the issue of it not tapping for mana by pairing it with cards like Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth or Riftstone Portal.
Is It Good? Yeah, it's still a strong card in any deck that wants to quickly discard for value, like Rielle, the Everwise and The Gitrog Monster. There are alternatives like Magus of the Bazaar but nothing really matches what this land can do.
#3: Mishra's Workshop ($7,000)
Mishra's Workshop is a land that taps for 3 colorless mana, but you can only spend that mana to cast artifact spells. This is an absurd amount of mana and while it's restricted to spending that mana on a specific card type, Artifacts happens to be one of the best supported archetypes in the format so there's plenty of decks that could benefit tremendously from this land. Pairing Workshop with other busted artifacts like Sol Ring and Mana Vault can lead to huge explosive turns.
Is It Good? YES! Honestly I can't think of much bad to say. I guess if your deck absolutely hates colorless mana then Workshop is less than ideal, but any Artifact deck would love this card if you can afford it (or proxy it).
#2: The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale ($9,500)
Nearly cracking the the $10k mark is The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale. Like Bazaar, this Vintage all-star land doesn't tap for mana by itself, so it potentially sets you back mana unless you pair it with a card like Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, but its effect is well worth it: all creatures have "At the beginning of your upkeep, destroy this creature unless you pay 1." So anyone with creatures will have to commit a chunk of mana keeping their creatures alive or remove them, with the more mana they have the more they gotta pay.
The idea here is to run Tabernacle in a deck with few if any creatures, or creatures that won't be removed if you don't pay the cost, like Avacyn, Angel of Hope. Any opponent that runs a creature-heavy deck will be shut down while you remain unhindered.
Is It Good? Yeah, absolutely. Tabernacle remains a great way for creature-light decks to lock down creature-heavy opponents. Thankfully for us poors there's always Pendrell Mists and Magus of the Tabernacle, and while they're slower and more vulnerable to removal they still accomplish the same goal well enough.
#1: Timetwister ($32,500)
Finally at the top of our list is Timetwister, the only Power 9 card that is legal in Commander. This three mana sorcery makes each player shuffles their hand and graveyard into their library, then draw seven cards. Now the Goldfish price is showing that it's $32k but the actual selling price of this card is probably significantly lower, around $15k to $20k for a near mint copy. Even so, it's still the most expensive card in Commander, and for good reason: it's arguably the best Wheel in the format. Being able to draw 7 cards for 3 mana is a ridiculously efficient rate when properly built around. The idea here is to play a bunch of fast mana and low-cost spells to quickly empty your hand before your opponents, then Timetwister, refilling your hand while disrupting your opponents. Wheels like Timetwister keep getting better and better in Commander: not only are more fast mana options keep getting printed to make quickly deploying your hand easier, but recent printings of super pushed card draw denial like Hullbreacher and Narset, Parter of Veils are absolutely devastating with wheels, forcing your opponents to discard their hands but preventing them from drawing back up to seven.
Is It Good? Yes, absolutely. It's one of the best cards in the format and it keeps getting better.
Conclusion?
Alright, so conclusion time: I guess the main takeaway here is that Magic: the Gathering can be really expensive, and the price of certain cards, especially the reserved list, is quickly becoming out of reach for most people. I’ve built my brand on showing folks how to build powerful and optimized Commander decks on a budget, so the format can be more accessible to everyone. But if you want to play with these cards in a casual setting with your mates, I highly recommend just proxying them. At the end of the day this is all just pieces of cardboard that represents game mechanics, and paying thousands of dollars to have access to game pieces is frankly ridiculous. So budget is good, proxying is good, and play what you want.
