Kind of on the opposite end of the budget thread, I want to compile a list of the most expensive cube cards. The main reason is that I want to proxy these out (Note: DO NOT DISCUSS HOW TO MANUFACTURE PROXIES, because you will be suspended, trust me it's happened to me) but I'm not sure where to start.
Clearly the power 9+ are to be included, but I'm looking for what is generally considered a cube card/staple/solid inclusion and simultaneously expensive. I'm less looking for specific printings and more general costs, so if a foil of a card is super expensive but the regular version is affordable (like, it would qualify for the budget thread or close to it) then I'd rather not include it.
These are cards that only have a cheapest version of $50+, and that includes gold bordered and CE versions. So a card like Gaea's Cradle is not included as there is a $35 gold bordered version.
Just to get it started:
-Mana Drain
-Mox Sapphire
-Mox Pearl
-Mox Jet
-Mox Ruby
-Mox Emerald
-Black Lotus
-Time Walk
-Timetwister
-Library of Alexandria
-Mana Crypt
-Imperial Seal / Recruiter
-Moat
-The Abyss
-Nethervoid
-Ravages of War
-Eureka
-Mishra's Workshop
-City of Traitors
-Engineered Explosives
-Noble Hierarch
-Jace, the Mind Sculptor
-Mox Diamond
-Crucible of Worlds
-Liliana of the Veil
I wouldn't include Mana Crypt considering it was printed in Eternal Masters (currently at $68). If you do include it, you'll have to include lots of other cards (Goyf, Liliana, Hierarch etc.) I suggest having a $ cutoff in mind, like $100.
You forgot the dual lands. Although some are cheaper than the others, the U ones are expensive.
Though not particularly staples, (some might be if you support certain archetypes), the following cards also see cube play:
Eureka
Mishra's Workshop
City of Traitors
Rishadan Port
Yeah I figured $20 would be a low amount. $50 sounds like a good starting point. Do you know what they use to calculate the prices? As a non-premium user, will I not have access to that function?
@Salmo: I'm not a premium CubeTutor user and I still have access to the price function. It's just a tab at the top and it prices based on the version you have listed in the cube, so if you've updated the versions to be foil or Beta or whatever, the cards will show priced as such.
Here are the prices it gave for me. These are the nonfoils I have that are showing over $50. The duals and power are Collectors Edition prices.
Library of Alexandria $764.28
Moat $588.68
Imperial Seal $524.50
Black Lotus $484.97
The Abyss $254.98
Gaea's Cradle $209.75
Mana Drain $199.50
Eureka $179.99
Underground Sea $166.98
Time Walk $149.57
Tarmogoyf $137.81
Mox Sapphire $122.80
Mox Jet $114.58
Mana Crypt $113.98
Ancestral Recall $108.81
Mox Pearl $104.00
Volcanic Island $102.29
Mox Emerald $99.23
Mox Ruby $89.03
Tropical Island $82.50
Force of Will $79.40
Mox Diamond $78.92
Tundra $74.99
Verdant Catacombs $70.29
Bayou $58.50
Savannah $53.29
Misty Rainforest $53.15
Ancestral Vision $50.00
Taiga $49.99
@Salmo: I'm not a premium CubeTutor user and I still have access to the price function. It's just a tab at the top and it prices based on the version you have listed in the cube, so if you've updated the versions to be foil or Beta or whatever, the cards will show priced as such.
Here are the prices it gave for me. These are the nonfoils I have that are showing over $50. The duals and power are Collectors Edition prices.
Library of Alexandria $764.28
Moat $588.68
Imperial Seal $524.50
Black Lotus $484.97
The Abyss $254.98
Gaea's Cradle $209.75
Mana Drain $199.50
Eureka $179.99
Underground Sea $166.98
Time Walk $149.57
Tarmogoyf $137.81
Mox Sapphire $122.80
Mox Jet $114.58
Mana Crypt $113.98
Ancestral Recall $108.81
Mox Pearl $104.00
Volcanic Island $102.29
Mox Emerald $99.23
Mox Ruby $89.03
Tropical Island $82.50
Force of Will $79.40
Mox Diamond $78.92
Tundra $74.99
Verdant Catacombs $70.29
Bayou $58.50
Savannah $53.29
Misty Rainforest $53.15
Ancestral Vision $50.00
Taiga $49.99
There are also gold border versions of a few other very expensive staples, namely Gaea's Cradle ($30), Rishadan Port ($3), and Force of Will ($13). They won't be tournament legal, but they're "real" Magic product and not proxies, and they actually look kind of awesome.
There are also gold border versions of a few other very expensive staples, namely Gaea's Cradle ($30), Rishadan Port ($3), and Force of Will ($13). They won't be tournament legal, but they're "real" Magic product and not proxies, and they actually look kind of awesome.
This is important to note. As the main intent of this is to have a version that's affordable, whether it's proxies or not, I would be more than happy to spend $3 on a rishadan port and not list it here.
Plenty of gold border Wastelands floating around too!
Definitely! Prob 4-5 years ago I got x4 Grim Monoliths for $10, x4 Wastelands for roughly the same, and x4 Memory Jars for ~$5, and all were gold bordered. I've since traded most of them but they were great as supplemental works.
Gaea's Cradle has a gold-bordered version for ~$35 (Starcity price, so you can probably find it cheaper on eBay) as well.
The stuff that's going to be the most expensive is cards from Legends/Arabian Nights/Antiquities that are Reserved Listed. ABU stuff has Collector's Edition, which, while not dirt cheap, is at least a significant discount (C.E. Lotus is $450 on Starcity compared to $4500 for an Unlimited one, Underground Sea is $100 compared to $300, etc), and a lot of the expensive cards in the The Dark through Urza's era that are Reserved have Gold Border printings for a fraction of the price. And anything later (plus P3K) likely has reprints or will in the near future. Of course, some of these are still expensive (Imperial Recruiter is ~$200, Imperial Seal is ~$150, etc), but over the long run the prices could feasibly continue to drop with additional reprints.
Gaea's Cradle has a gold-bordered version for ~$35 (Starcity price, so you can probably find it cheaper on eBay) as well.
The stuff that's going to be the most expensive is cards from Legends/Arabian Nights/Antiquities that are Reserved Listed. ABU stuff has Collector's Edition, which, while not dirt cheap, is at least a significant discount (C.E. Lotus is $450 on Starcity compared to $4500 for an Unlimited one, Underground Sea is $100 compared to $300, etc), and a lot of the expensive cards in the The Dark through Urza's era that are Reserved have Gold Border printings for a fraction of the price. And anything later (plus P3K) likely has reprints or will in the near future. Of course, some of these are still expensive (Imperial Recruiter is ~$200, Imperial Seal is ~$150, etc), but over the long run the prices could feasibly continue to drop with additional reprints.
Clearly the power 9+ are to be included, but I'm looking for what is generally considered a cube card/staple/solid inclusion and simultaneously expensive. I'm less looking for specific printings and more general costs, so if a foil of a card is super expensive but the regular version is affordable (like, it would qualify for the budget thread or close to it) then I'd rather not include it.
These are cards that only have a cheapest version of $50+, and that includes gold bordered and CE versions. So a card like Gaea's Cradle is not included as there is a $35 gold bordered version.
Just to get it started:
-Mana Drain
-Mox Sapphire
-Mox Pearl
-Mox Jet
-Mox Ruby
-Mox Emerald
-Black Lotus
-Time Walk
-Timetwister
-Library of Alexandria
-Mana Crypt
-Imperial Seal / Recruiter
-Moat
-The Abyss
-Nethervoid
-Ravages of War
-Eureka
-Mishra's Workshop
-City of Traitors
-Engineered Explosives
-Noble Hierarch
-Jace, the Mind Sculptor
-Mox Diamond
-Crucible of Worlds
-Liliana of the Veil
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
Gaea's Cradle
Moat
The Abyss
Nethervoid
Ravages of War
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
You forgot the dual lands. Although some are cheaper than the others, the U ones are expensive.
Though not particularly staples, (some might be if you support certain archetypes), the following cards also see cube play:
Eureka
Mishra's Workshop
City of Traitors
Rishadan Port
WorkshopsLegacy:
Death and Taxes
EDH:
Arcum DagssonMake Paradox Engine Great Again!Urza, Lord High Artificer
What is the threshold for pricey? I get that expensive is completely relative, but does it start at $20? $30? $50?
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
CubeTutor has a Price function available that you can use. It's ballpark prices at best, but might give you the information you're looking for.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
Here are the prices it gave for me. These are the nonfoils I have that are showing over $50. The duals and power are Collectors Edition prices.
Library of Alexandria $764.28
Moat $588.68
Imperial Seal $524.50
Black Lotus $484.97
The Abyss $254.98
Gaea's Cradle $209.75
Mana Drain $199.50
Eureka $179.99
Underground Sea $166.98
Time Walk $149.57
Tarmogoyf $137.81
Mox Sapphire $122.80
Mox Jet $114.58
Mana Crypt $113.98
Ancestral Recall $108.81
Mox Pearl $104.00
Volcanic Island $102.29
Mox Emerald $99.23
Mox Ruby $89.03
Tropical Island $82.50
Force of Will $79.40
Mox Diamond $78.92
Tundra $74.99
Verdant Catacombs $70.29
Bayou $58.50
Savannah $53.29
Misty Rainforest $53.15
Ancestral Vision $50.00
Taiga $49.99
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
Follow me. I tweet.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Rishadan Port should surely be in there.
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
Follow me. I tweet.
This is important to note. As the main intent of this is to have a version that's affordable, whether it's proxies or not, I would be more than happy to spend $3 on a rishadan port and not list it here.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
Definitely! Prob 4-5 years ago I got x4 Grim Monoliths for $10, x4 Wastelands for roughly the same, and x4 Memory Jars for ~$5, and all were gold bordered. I've since traded most of them but they were great as supplemental works.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
The stuff that's going to be the most expensive is cards from Legends/Arabian Nights/Antiquities that are Reserved Listed. ABU stuff has Collector's Edition, which, while not dirt cheap, is at least a significant discount (C.E. Lotus is $450 on Starcity compared to $4500 for an Unlimited one, Underground Sea is $100 compared to $300, etc), and a lot of the expensive cards in the The Dark through Urza's era that are Reserved have Gold Border printings for a fraction of the price. And anything later (plus P3K) likely has reprints or will in the near future. Of course, some of these are still expensive (Imperial Recruiter is ~$200, Imperial Seal is ~$150, etc), but over the long run the prices could feasibly continue to drop with additional reprints.
So the priciest single card that shows up in most (Powered) cubes is probably Library of Alexandria. Cards like Moat, Nether Void, Eureka, and The Abyss are up there too.
Currently Playing:
Legacy: Something U/W Controlish
EDH Cube
Hypercube! A New EDH Deck Every Week(ish)!
Good to know re: cradle, thanks! I updated OP, along with the $50+ clause that seems to be a good mason-dixon line here.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
Thread Cubetutor
My Other Cubes
Pauper Cube
One-Drop Cube
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic