5 Reserved List Cards to Watch in a Sideways Market

20 Nov
by Harvey McGuinness

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 Revised Edition printings of the original Dual Lands are the gold standard. Alpha, Beta, and Unlimited were each printed in far smaller quantities, meaning that their prices are exaggerated significantly due to the underlying rarity of their print runs. Revised, however, was far more common in comparison, meaning that, by picking up Duals from this set, you’re paying as close to a “true” price as possible. So, what does that price look like? Well, let’s compare. 

Underground Sea is the current champion by market value, coming in at around $680 for a near mint copy. Conversely, Savannah is the cheapest, clocking it at just above $300. Quite a hefty cost for a Magic card, especially one with modern clones as close in power as the Shock Lands. However, when we look at the price action for these cards against their performance in the past few years, we can see that they’re currently trading at a near 40% discount against highs of $975 and $400, respectively. This isn’t to say they’ll spike again any time soon, but it does put into context the potential for where these cards can go. If you’ve ever wanted a Dual Land, I’d keep an eye on the market.

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 Black Lotus, but the three mana made from pitching your hand to activate a Lion’s Eye Diamond is certainly a worthwhile investment for quite a few combo decks running around across cEDH, Legacy, and anywhere else the card is played. If you’ve ever looked into playing an eternal-format Underworld Breach combo deck, now is an excellent time to think about picking up a copy of the most expensive card in the combo. 

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. Collector Ouphe and Stony Silence are wonderful cards, each with their relevant cross synergies in either creature-heavy or enchantress-focused strategies, but Null Rod is the first and most flexible version of this crippling stax effect available.  

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.

Null Rod
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: Squirrel Nest. 

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, Urza's Saga is making an appearance on our list, not with the most expensive card from the set (*cough* Gaea's Cradle *cough*), but with one of the most notorious cards nonetheless: Yawgmoth’s Will. 

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 Smothering Tithe, it is an opportunity to pick up comparably cheaper, powerful Reserved List cards at significantly lower prices. In the long term, these are the best opportunities for slow and stable prince movements. Blink, and you’ll miss it. 

Check out these other articles:

Powerful Rats for Your Commander Deck

New Horizons - The Lost Caverns of Ixalan and Jurassic World

Hidden Gems from Fallen Empires

Harvey McGuinness
Harvey McGuinness

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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