A legacy of high value cards!
Examining a set like Urza’s Legacy is very interesting today, given that a slew of recent reprints have brought cards from this old set back to the forefront of people’s minds. Between The Brothers’ War and Dominaria Remastered, many old cards are being reprinted – some for the very first time – and it’s fascinating to see the impact this has (or doesn’t have) on the prices of old cards. Then you’ve got Reserved List cards on top of that, so getting across the financials of an old set like Urza’s Legacy is really engaging. Let’s have a look at its top 10 cards!
10. Quicksilver Amulet
Quicksilver Amulet
Urza’s Legacy
I didn’t realize Quicksilver Amulet had been around for so long – my first encounter with this card was the M12 version, in a 67-card Angel-themed kitchen table deck that used it to cheat cards like Herald of War into play. Now that’s value. All the same, this card is absolutely not worth buying for $9.50. Why? Because not only is the M12 version $4 and falling, there’s an old-bordered version available for $1 thanks to The Brothers’ War Retro Frame Artifacts. Unless you really, really like this weird lion art, Urza’s Legacy Quicksilver Amulets are a hard pass.
9. Crawlspace
Crawlspace
Urza’s Legacy
Here’s another card with expensive old versions and a much cheaper newer one: while both the Urza’s Legacy and subsequent C13 printings of Crawlspace will set you back $13 or so, the new version from Dominaria Remastered is under $2, old and new border alike. I’m glad they’re reprinting stuff like this, as it just means more cards are more accessible for more people – but it does mean you should look before you leap when buying old cards, as so many of them have much cheaper newer versions.
8. Defense Grid
Defense Grid
Urza’s Legacy
Market Price: $8.42
I’m starting to get some serious deja vu, writing all this out – Defense Grid is yet another artifact from Urza’s Legacy with plenty of reprints, and a sizeable price difference between the old versions and the new. The Urza’s Legacy version is $14, but why pay that when The Brothers’ War Retro Frame copies are $1.50? I’m surprised the old versions are holding their value, given these reprints, but I suppose it’s the best of both worlds: cheap, readily available copies for the frugal, and expensive, storied copies for those with a taste for the finer things. Annoyingly, though, there’s still no regular, black-bordered, new frame printing.
7. Defense of the Heart
Defense of the Heart
Urza’s Legacy
Market Price: $14.47
Here, at last, is a card that hasn’t had the pants reprinted off it. Defense of the Heart appears as a Judge Gift Card and in a Secret Lair, as well as showing up in Mystery Boosters from time to time, and the end result is a card that consistently costs between $11 and $14 (like Defense Grid, however, there’s still no regular, black-bordered, new frame printing). I wouldn’t call Defense of the Heart an EDH staple, but some people like to put it in their Mayael or Xenagos decks, where it can do some silly things when opponents go too wide.
6. Goblin Welder
Goblin Welder
Urza’s Legacy
Market Price: $21.93
As a way to cheat artifacts into play, Goblin Welder is a key component of Red Painter decks in Legacy, helping to assemble the instant-win combo of Painter’s Servant and Grindstone. It also sees play in EDH: Daretti, Scrap Savant, Osgir, the Reconstructor and Feldon of the Third Path are all happy to play a Goblin Welder. A few small-scale reprints haven’t affected the card’s price too much, and while cheaper options are available (such as the much wordier version from C14), the Urza’s Legacy version sits at a comfortable $26.
5. No Mercy
No Mercy
Urza’s Legacy
Market Price: $31.94
I was very interested to see what the reprinting of No Mercy in Dominaria Remastered would do to this card’s price. The answer: not a huge amount. It came down from $40 to $35, while the new versions all hover at around $9 or $10 (interestingly, the regular, black-bordered, new frame printing is the most expensive of the new versions). Good news for those holding old copies of No Mercy, as the price hasn’t bottomed out, but also good news for those wanting to pick up their first copies, as there are cheaper alternatives available. Again: the best of both worlds!
4. Palinchron
Palinchron
Urza’s Legacy
Market Price: $35.87
I don’t really understand how the Reserved List works – all the other cards we’ve covered are rares, but they’re not on the list, while this one is? Nothing about the Reserved List makes sense. In any case, the total lack of reprints when it comes to Palinchron means that this is a $35 card, used in blue EDH decks to generate infinite mana. Deadeye Navigator, High Tide, Yarok, the Desecrated, Caged Sun, the list goes on – it’s not hard to make infinite mana with Palinchron. It remains a reasonably sought-after card, therefore, and with reprints unlikely and it being once again at a lowish price after a massive spike in 2021, it seems like a fine time to buy your copies.
3. Deranged Hermit
Deranged Hermit
Urza’s Legacy
Market Price: $40.84
Another Reserved List card, here – except this one was reprinted, in paper, as a Judge Gift Card? It’s baffling. Anyway Deranged Hermit is obviously a must-play in Squirrel decks in EDH, but outside of that its applications are a little limited. It’s not bad in blink decks, as you can blink it with something like Eldrazi Displacer or Deadeye Navigator every upkeep in response to the echo trigger to make more and more tokens, but the card doesn’t see hugely widespread play and its $38 price tag is just because of the Reserved List.
2. Memory Jar
Memory Jar
Urza’s Legacy
Market Price: $42.54
Like Deranged Hermit, this is a Reserved List card that did end up getting reprinted anyway – but it’s a little more unique in that it was emergency banned back in 1999, just a few weeks after it was printed. In case you don’t know, this card is absolutely broken in half. Banned in Legacy, restricted in Vintage, it only really sees play in EDH, especially in decks like Tergrid that can be really nasty in exploiting its abilities. It’s a very fun card to play with in the right deck, and can be used to punish opponents with cards like Narset, Parter of Veils – but playing it comes at a premium, to the tune of $45.
1. Grim Monolith
Grim Monolith
Urza’s Legacy
Market Price: $248.62
Coming it at a colossal $260, Grim Monolith is, far and away, the most expensive card in Urza’s Legacy. Why? It’s played in Vintage, for one, in Paradoxical Outcome decks, but like Palinchron it’s also a way to get infinite mana: throw a Nyxbloom Ancient, Zirda, the Dawnwaker or Mana Reflection into the mix and you’ve got infinite mana, just like that. Unlike Palinchron, however, it can go in any deck and is a ridiculously powerful turn-two play, ramping you to as much as six mana on turn three (assuming you don’t tap it the turn you play it). For this reason, it’s a cEDH staple, and all these factors combined leave us with a $260 card.