The List got an upgrade, and it’s prettier than ever.
If there’s one endearing aspect about Magic: The Gathering, it’s creating a booster experience for players to open new and exciting cards. In the past, this has been true for The List, a curated series of like-for-like reprints that took inspiration from the excellent Mystery Booster release. Then, there are the various bonus sheets that accommodate most Magic releases, such as the Enchanting Tales from Wilds of Eldraine and The Big Score from Outlaws of Thunder Junction.
While there are a bunch of different subsets and different cards with most MTG releases these days, there’s one more that looks to add a premium feel to the booster opening experience, and that’s the Special Guests.
What are Special Guests in MTG?
Market Price: $22.77
Market Price: $11.75
Debuting in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, Special Guests are a unique class of MTG reprints that replace The List slot in Play and Collector Boosters. Unlike cards from The List, Special Guests are Masters-level reprints incorporating new art and flavor text to marry the plane (or set) they are featured in. Special Guests cards also have their own set code (SPG), but do not alter the legality of the card despite appearing in Standard sets. For example, if you open a Akroma’s Memorial in a Magic The Gathering Foundations Play Booster, it would not become Standard legal despite appearing in a Standard Booster. It’ll keep Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, and Commander legality as before.
However, these Special Guests cards are playable in Limited, so you can play any cards if you open them in packs while drafting or at a Prerelease. While Special Guests are a little confusing from a casual standpoint in terms of card legality, it’s a fantastic way to flesh out your collection or perhaps open some value to go towards other cards for formats you play often. And if you’re after Special Guests cards in foil, these only appear in Collector Boosters and can command a premium depending on the card! As the Special Guests subset continues to grow, there’s some reasonable value to be found that you maybe not have realized yet. Furthermore, some of these Special Guests cards may be cheaper than their original printings, allowing you to snap up stunning treatments for a fraction of the price!
With that, let’s look at some of the most valuable Special Guests MTG cards you can open in Play and Collector Boosters right now, which also includes the recent release of Magic: The Gathering Foundations.
#10 Stoneforge Mystic
Stoneforge Mystic
Special Guests, Mythic
Featured in the Outlaws of Thunder Junction Special Guests, Stoneforge Mystic is one of the best equipment-focused cards you can play in Commander, as the Kor Artificer can find what you need from versatility in Umezawa’s Jitte to recursion in Pre-War Formalwear. Finding the right equipment card is one thing, but Stoneforge Mystic can also put an equipment card from your hand into play for a reasonable cost of two mana (and tapping Stoneforge Mystic). This is particularly exciting if you’re able to put a card like Batterskull onto the battlefield by using Stoneforge Mystic’s ability rather than pay the full five mana to cast the card, where you can activate the card at instant speed as long as Stoneforge Mystic doesn’t have summoning sickness.
It was once a notable card in Modern, as it could find a Kaldra Compleat or Sword of Fire and Ice to close out games convincingly, but has since relegated to seeing little play in the format (thanks, Modern Horizons). That said, Stoneforge Mystic is a fantastic hit from Outlaw of Thunder Junction Play and Collector Boosters, becoming a worthy addition to any growing collection.
#9 Solitude (Textured Foil)
Solitude
Special Guests, Mythic
Solitude is one of the Elemental Incarnations that appears as one of the Special Guests in Modern Horizons 3. A Swords to Plowshares on a lifelinking creature is already a decent rate, and one that sees extensive Modern play in Jeskai Control, Esper Goryo’s, and Four-Color Omnath. In addition to Modern play, the card is decent in White-focused Commander builds as it’s another copy of the popular removal spell in the singleton format.
Much like the other cards in this cycle, Solitude has changed the texture of Modern, making archetypes such as Death’s Shadow a difficult one to thrive given the lifegain and exile effects the card offers. While the Textured Foil copy of Solitude is relatively pricey due to its low pull rate in Modern Horizons 3 Collector Boosters, non-Textured Foil copies are much cheaper and provides a reasonable opportunity to snap these up for a more affordable rate.
#8 Endurance (Textured Foil)
Endurance
Special Guests, Mythic
First printed in Modern Horizons 2, Endurance offers an effective way to force a player to shuffle their graveyard into their library, which could be useful if you’re being milled out, or starting to deck yourself during a long game of Magic. Ideally, Endurance is favored against any strategy that uses the graveyard, meaning these archetypes are pretty soft to the Mythic Rare. In Modern, being able to attack the graveyard in a way that stops an early Atraxa, Grand Unifier from Esper Goryo’s or an Underworld Breach from Temur Breach is useful, resulting in seeing a ton of representation in Modern sideboards. Plus, a 3/4 with Reach isn’t a bad stat line for three mana if you want to close the game. At the time of publication, Endurance is the second-most expensive Textured Foil from the Special Guests in Modern Horizons 3, however, there’s a reasonable demand for others such as Solitude and Subtlety.
#7 Sylvan Tutor
Sylvan Tutor
Special Guests, Mythic
A notable hit from Bloomburrow, Sylvan Tutor is a popular Commander card as it can find whatever creature you need and put that card on top of your library. While Sylvan Tutor isn’t in the same league as Demonic Tutor, it’s pretty serviceable in any Green-focused Commander strategy. Green has tons of ways to draw cards (such as Sylvan Library), meaning you’re able to put the searched card into your hand with little effort. Sure, there are better versions of this effect (such as Worldly Tutor) but sometimes, you want multiple cards that achieve similar effects in Commander.
Market Price: $14.72
With the Special Guests printing of Sylvan Tutor, it’s currently the most affordable copy at the time of publication. With Portal, Judge Promos, and Tales of Middle-earth being the other available printings, where some of these are becoming harder to acquire meaning prices continue to change. Usually, Commander players will always take the opportunity to snap up these uniquely powerful cards at a cheaper rate. And while the Special Guests printing isn’t a true reprint, it’s certainly done enough to the price to be a worthwhile pickup for casual players. Furthermore, it’s also one of the more valuable hits from Bloomburrow’s Special Guests right now.
#6 Scapeshift
Scapeshift
Special Guests, Mythic
One of the more subtle yet valuable hits from Outlaws of Thunder Junction’s Special Guests is Scapeshift, a card that has seen infrequent play in Modern and is a staple in Commander. Appearing in Modern’s Gruul Scapeshift, the card plays a notable role in the strategy as you sacrifice any number of lands to search your library to find that many land cards and put them into play. While it may seem unexciting in design, Scapeshift pairs fantastically well with Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle and Dryad of the Ilysian Grove where you can dome the opponent for an impressive amount of damage with Valakut in play, something that Gruul Scapeshift achieves often.
Market Price: $19.00
Market Price: $10.83
In Commander, Scapeshift is a must-have for any Land-focused strategy led by Lord Windgrace, The Necrobloom, or The Gitrog Monster due to the amount of Landfall triggers you can accrue from just casting the sorcery. In many cases, sacrificing lands isn’t much of a downside in Commander as you have access to Worldsoul’s Rage or Splendid Reclamation to throw those lands back onto the battlefield, creating even more Landfall triggers! It’s also worth noting the Special Guests printing of Scapeshift is the first to come in a Borderless printing, offering Commander players a fantastic way to bling out these Land-focused lists.
#5 Sword of Fire and Ice
Sword of Fire and Ice
Special Guests, Mythic
Sword of Fire and Ice is one of Magic’s most iconic equipment cards and is part of a selection of Swords that acknowledge each color pairing in Magic. Back in the pre-Modern Horizons era of Modern, it was common to see Sword of Fire and Ice be a mainstay in a variety of strategies from Death & Taxes to flavors of Control. Now, unfortunately, Sword of Fire and Ice is relegated to Commander, where it appears in a mixture of Equipment-focused (also known as Voltron) archetypes. Having a card that offers protection from Blue and Red is ideal, and rewards you for dealing combat damage to an opponent. But, have you ever dealt damage to someone with an Otter wielding a fishbone sword? I bet you haven’t.
Market Price: $13.36
This variant of Sword of Fire and Ice is from Bloomburrow’s Special Guests and remains one of the most expensive cards from the subset. Otters remain of the more popular critters in the set for Commander play, with Bria, Riptide Rogue being a favorite to lead an Otter Spellslinger strategy in the format. Bloomburrow cares deeply about themes, and casual players will want this unique printing of Sword of Fire and Ice for their Otter Commander builds going forward.
#4 Prismatic Vista
Prismatic Vista
Special Guests, Mythic
Appearing in Outlaws of Thunder Junction’s Special Guests is Prismatic Vista, which is one of the better Fetch Lands you’ll see in Magic. While the card is only legal in Modern, Legacy, Vintage, and Commander, the card searches for a Basic Land card and puts it into play untapped at the expense of one life, which is a clear upside instead of playing Terramorphic Expanse, Fabled Passage, or even Evolving Wilds. For Commander, any strategy incorporating a reasonable number of Basics would be interested in Prismatic Vista as it’s another way to find the color you need depending on the situation.
Market Price: $24.70
In essence, the card allows you to find any color (even Wastes) while also thinning out your deck to avoid drawing unwanted Lands during the late-game. As a result, Prismatic Vista has always kept a decent price due to these applications in mind. With Modern Horizons, Modern Horizons 2 Retro Frames, and Zendikar Rising Expeditions being the only printings of the card until now, the Special Guests copy does give players another chance to acquire the versatile land.
#3 Field of the Dead
Field of the Dead
Special Guests, Mythic
Field of the Dead appears as a Special Guests in Murders at Karlov Manor, where the utility land is incredible in any Land-focused strategy in Commander. Once upon a time, Field of the Dead was a powerhouse in Standard, Pioneer, and Modern at the time of its Core 2020 printing, but has seen a (rightful) ban in Pioneer and Modern for the Zombie token creating aspect to be too “free” and format-warping. The ability to create (untapped) Zombie tokens from playing a mixture of differently-named land cards is effortless to achieve, giving you an alternative win condition in the correct strategy. Often, you see Field of the Dead in various Land-focused Commander builds such as Lord Windgrace, The Gitrog Monster, and the more recent The Necrobloom from Modern Horizons 3.
Market Price: $30.68
Through the usage of Fetch Lands and other ramp spells such as Harrow or Cultivate, you can create an impressive yet resilient army of Zombies without being a Zombie-focused strategy. And with it’s evergreen Commander usage, it’s why Field of the Dead remains an expensive card with the Special Guests printing holding it’s value significantly well.
#2 Mana Crypt
Mana Crypt
Special Guests, Mythic
One of the biggest draws to the Special Guests originally was the printing of Mana Crypt in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, where you ran the chance of opening one of Magic’s most powerful mana-generating artifacts in Set and Collector Boosters. One exciting aspect of this reprint of Mana Crypt is the stunning art from Dominik Mayer, who has quickly become a mainstay on the Magic scene. Despite the recent Commander ban, the Special Guests printing of Mana Crypt seems resilient as there’s (still) speculation these bans could change in the future once Wizards establishes a Commander Format Panel, but does feel wishful thinking at best.
Market Price: $22.11
Market Price: $17.61
Market Price: $15.21
However, there’s still interest in collecting Mana Crypt if you’re a budding Cube or Canadian Highlander player, where the iconic artifact remains pretty good in these environments. Before the Commander ban, Mana Crypt was regarded as one of the best mana-generating artifacts you could play in the format, as it offered so much mana acceleration for no cost. Sure, potentially being dealt three damage on your upkeep isn’t ideal, but Commander made this less of a downside due to life totals starting at 40. As a result, it is one of the best hits you can open from The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Special Guests. And honestly? It’s probably going to be one of the more valuable cards from the subset for a long time to come.
#1 Mana Crypt (Cosmium Ink)
Mana Crypt
Special Guests, Mythic
We’ve already discussed the raw power of Mana Crypt and how it’s a valuable card to open from Set and Collector Boosters. However, in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Collector Boosters, you run the extremely rare chance of opening a Cosmium Ink printing of Mana Crypt, and these can go for massive amounts of money. In terms of scarcity, the rarest Cosmium Ink Mana Crypts are (going from least rare to most rare):
Market Price: $368.95
Market Price: $558.54
Market Price: $693.13
- Yellow (this was WPN Promo only)
- Green
- Blue
- Purple
- Red
- Three-Color
While the pricing on these varies on the owners’ value of the card in question, it’s clear these Cosmium Ink cards are highly desirable but also resilient in terms of holding value. While it may seem crazy that someone would want to purchase a Mana Crypt of this price, Magic continues to enter into a massive collector space thanks to the Secret Lair Drop Series. In some cases, collectors will snap up these high-value cards for their collection or even to fit a particular theme with their Cube or other Constructed decks. So, without a doubt, Mana Crypt (of any color or printing) is the most expensive card from the Special Guests at the time of publication.