15 Most Valuable Mirage Cards

Magic: The Gathering’s 1996 set Mirage was a fascinating release, and it codified much during the early years of the game’s development. Most notably, perhaps, it represented Magic’s first block (or one large set with two related smaller sets following it), which dominated the design and play of Magic for over 20 years... until this concept was dissolved following Ixalan block in 2017.

Beyond that, Mirage featured a unique location. The continent of Jamuraa on the plane of Dominaria alongside its three nations—Femeref, Zhalfir, and Suq’Ata—were extremely unusual African-influenced settings that are far different from the high/dark fantasy locales found throughout much of Magic’s mise-en-scène.

As such, the design and artwork of cards found within Mirage are unlike anything in Magic’s history, before or since, so keep your eye on the horizon and you’ll spot something that’s not a mirage: the most valuable cards from this over-20-year-old Magic set.

Note: All prices come via TCGPlayer’s Market Price History over the past calendar year and are subject to change. Foil cards didn’t exist until Urza’s Legacy, so no cards of that ilk are here.

15. Cursed Totem

Market Price: $7.65

An extremely annoying card, this artifact nullifies any activated abilities of creatures. That doesn’t exclude mana abilities, which is a standard caveat for these types of effects. While high-dollar cards such as Null Rod (which ices out activated abilities of artifacts) have never seen a reprint and are therefore worth over $85, this card has seen two notable reprints, one in Sixth Edition and one, surprisingly, in Modern Horizons 2.

The Mirage copy is the only black-bordered, retro frame version, however, likely leading to its over $7 value on the secondary market nearly 30 years after it was released.

14. Reparations

Market Price: $7.96

Featuring some of the best (and most literal) flavor text ever seen on a Magic card (something numerous cards in Mirage can confidently boast), this intriguing Azorius () enchantment offers up a fresh card whenever you or a creature you control gets targeted by an opponent’s spell.

Notably, you get this trigger on the cast, so if you happen to have open mana and you manage to draw a counterspell – or perhaps don’t have open mana and draw one of the most valuable cards from Prophecy, Foil – you can immediately cast it in response to the spell that’s targeting you or your stuff. Now that’s a control deck, baby!

13. Seeds of Innocence

Market Price: $8.26

An unusual and likely little-known card, this sorcery destroys all artifacts (or, in the parlance of Magic when Mirage released: “buries” all artifacts) and also features a caveat: the owner of each destroyed artifact gains life – that’s separately for each artifact – equal to that artifact’s mana value.

Now, this might sound like a watered-down version of Shatterstorm, but it does boast one less in mana value, and in formats that feature low-cost or zero-cost enchantments, such as cEDH, the drawback of this is relatively negligible. Furthermore, in regular Commander, if you’re playing a Treasure deck, this card is an absolute backbreaker if it’s cast against you.

12. Hall of Gemstone

Market Price: $11.41

The first of three “enchant world” cards on this list (aka world enchantments), these finicky little buggers were only present in Mirage and its follow-up set, Visions. Much like legendary cards, only one of them can be in play at a time. However, the “world rule” delineates that only the newest world enchantment that was played will remain in play, no matter what the other’s name is.

Due to these cards having built-in destruction clauses, they were not very popular. However, since very few exist and they provide intriguing and powerful effects, a number from Mirage have retained high price points, this one included. Forcing all players to only add one mana color to their mana pool can really grind games to a halt. That unique (if annoying) ability means this card is the first on our list to hit double-digits in value.

11. Zirilan of the Claw

Market Price: $12.96

This card likely could’ve been included as an honorable mention among the best Dragon cards for Commander, as it serves as a premier repeatable Dragon tutor disguised as a 3/4 Lizard Shaman for . Of course, the Dragon gets exiled afterwards, but is a small price to pay in order to summon a massive winged beastie to fly straight at your opponent’s dome.

Dragons are such mana-intensive creatures that having a thematic and repeatable Elvish Piper on the board that also grants haste to them seems to be good to be true in Dragon decks. As such, this card is worth quite a sum on the secondary market, having never been reprinted since its release.

10. Mystical Tutor

Market Price: $13.23

Mirage introduced the first cards with the actual word “tutor” in them since Magic’s first set, Alpha, delivered the finest tutor of all time: Demonic Tutor. Though not as good as that masterwork, Mirage’s tutors have surely stood the test of time as well.

By lowering the cost of each of these tutors by , having them only focus on a specific card type, and having them place the card on top of your library instead of into your hand, these one-mana instants were meant to be more balanced versions of the original tutor. And… sure, that’s the case, but they’re still eminently useful and eminently valuable, as the blue version (which seeks out instants and sorceries) indicates.

9. Worldly Tutor

Market Price: $21.17

While Mystical Tutor has been reprinted a number of times, green’s Mirage tutor, Wordly Tutor, did not see a reprint from its second printing in 1999’s Sixth Edition (where all the Mirage and Visions tutors were reprinted) all the way until 2020, when it was featured in the special Commander product, Commander Collection: Green.

Since then, it saw three distinct printings in the huge compilation set Dominaria Remastered, all of which sit above price points of $18. It turns out, being able to search your entire library for any creature you’d like and place it on top for is a huge swing, especially at instant speed.

8. Forsaken Wastes

Market Price: $21.59

The second of three world enchantments found herein, this card straight-up turns off all lifegain strategies for the meager cost of . For your troubles, this card also forces players to lose life at the beginning of their upkeep, furthering this card’s efforts of ending the game ASAP.

If you want to remove it via a Disenchant or Naturalize-like effect, this black permanent also boasts a proto-ward effect: if it's targeted by a spell, the spell’s controller loses a not-insubstantial five life. A potent, effective, and relatively straightforward card that’s on the Reserved List, it’s no surprise to see this card sitting above $20 in median value on the secondary market.

7. Unfulfilled Desires

Market Price: $22.03

Not the sexiest card on this list, but this three-mana Dimir enchantment can help you do a lot of the things that Dimir decks want to do: rifle through your library, fill up your graveyard, and find more threats. Of course, you have to pay and one life for the privilege. Looting effects have come a long way in close to 30 years, but this card is scarce and features cool artwork, so… there’s that.

An intriguing footnote: this card’s flavor text is one of 17 cards across Mirage and Visions that feature the entire “Love Song of Night and Day”, a poem written by Wizards of the Coast editor Jenny Scott for Mirage block. The poem was featured again on King of the Pride (an honorable mention among the best Cat cards for Commander) and the Love Song of Night and Day itself was turned into a Saga card with read ahead for the Dominaria United set in 2022. Lastly, this card’s name reminds me of this banger track by Muse, so it also has that going for it.

6. Tombstone Stairwell

Market Price: $23.23

The final world enchantment on this list costs and produces a number of named Zombie tokens (Tombspawn) with haste during each players’ upkeep equal to the number of creature cards in their graveyard. Shockingly, these cards do not have a drawback (like decayed or being exiled at end of turn).

As such, this card can be eminently useful in any decks that care about piling cards high in your graveyard. Furthermore, this card has brilliant synergy in Zombie decks, as the Tombspawn tokens that are created are, indeed, Zombies. Sure, world enchantments are weird and antiquated, but this card is clearly worth a look in various builds, as its over $23 valuation indicates.

5. Final Fortune

Market Price: $23.59

A really cool card with terrific artwork and a clean design, this two-mana, instant-speed(!) extra-turn granter is a notable card from Magic’s past for being only the third card in the game’s history to grant an extra turn. Obviously, the first is Time Walk, the second is the easily abused Time Vault, and then this one for . Time Warp from Tempest was fourth, and Second Chance from Urza’s Legacy – one of the most valuable cards from that set – was the fifth-ever “extra turn” card.

Of course, for two mana you get an extra turn… but Alpha this set ain’t. The extra turn does have a mild drawback to it: at the end of that turn, you lose the game. Whoopsie! Certainly, there are ways around this drawback, like finding another spell that grants an extra turn before the turn created by Final Fortune ends or simply winning the game on that turn, which is the ultimate goal.

4. Enlightened Tutor

Market Price: $31.70

The last of the three one-mana tutors found in Mirage, this white one seeks out artifacts and enchantments and plops them atop your library for combo shenanigans and easy access. Enlightened Tutor has arguably been reprinted the most among Mirage’s tutors, but it boasts the highest price points of any of them. What gives?

Seeking out artifacts and enchantments is quite a rare ability in Magic, as only a handful of cards feature that effect across the game’s 30-plus year history. To have that ability in such an elegant and inexpensive (at least mana-wise) makes this card a hot ticket, and its original printing is worth well over $30 on the secondary market.

3. Shallow Grave

Market Price: $57.43

This top-flight reanimation card hits a price point close to $60 on the secondary market, and it’s easy to see why. These effects are simply hard to come by, especially at such a supreme mana discount as this. Cards with this powerful of an effect are simply not printed at this mana value any longer, and if they are, like Goryo's Vengeance, they have a built-in limitation.

Sure, you’re only able to reanimate the top card of your graveyard, but that’s fairly easy to manipulate, so it shouldn’t curtail too many of your plans. And yes, you have to exile it afterwards, but if you’re bringing back a big bruiser, you’ll likely want to end the game on the spot, no? Either way, this amazing and hard-to-find spell auspiciously kicks off the top three.

2. Phyrexian Dreadnought

Market Price: $179.89

Now that’s a big price jump. One of the most iconic creature cards in Magic’s history hails from Mirage and it represented the largest power and toughness ever on a creature when it was printed, beating out Polar Kraken. Since then, power creep (and general player interest) has seen numerous creatures printed with 12 power (including an uncommon, Quakestrider Ceratops, in Foundations), but Phyrexian Dreadnought retains a certain cachet among old-school Magicheads (like myself).

Of course, in terms of gameplay, why is this card so supremely expensive? Scarcity, for one, as well as being part of the Reserved List. Furthermore, this card actually does have some notable uses in various decks. Use it as a surprise win condition alongside Stifle for some good times. Turn Lazav, the Multifarious into this in a Commander game and watch your opponents’ smiles curdle on their faces. With some of the best Pete Venters artwork ever and immense power and toughness, this card is deserving of its iconic status, and retains a massive dollar value approaching $200.

1. Lion's Eye Diamond

Market Price: $419.72

However, the most valuable card from Mirage – as well as the most valuable card across all of Mirage block – is this reasonable facsimile of the most famous Magic card of all time: Black Lotus. Of course, WotC are a reasonable lot, so they didn’t want to reprint Black Lotus; how could they? That card is so powerful, but they thought that adding an absolutely backbreaking drawback was enough to make such an ability balanced. How about… having to discard your entire hand in addition to sacrificing it. It’s balanced now, right?

You can imagine how that went. This zero-mana artifact is restricted in Vintage, was banned in Commander from 2008 to 2011, and it remains banned in Oathbreaker. Still a potent threat as part of any storm-based shenanigans, Lion's Eye Diamond has also never seen a non-online reprint – the Mirage version is the only print version you can officially obtain. As such, a price point over $400—while rather steep—does make sense.

The Prices… They’re Not a Mirage

This was an enjoyable trek down memory lane. While I did not play Magic when this set was released (I was six), after beginning to play, the cards from this era always intrigued me with their mesmerizing, high-contrast artwork and strange designs. Join me next time as I delve into the cards from Mirage’s follow-up set: Visions. Thanks for reading!

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