The 10 Most Expensive Cards in Magic: The Gathering’s Secrets of Strixhaven

It's almost hard to believe that we'll officially be getting our third Magic: The Gathering set of 2026 tomorrow, courtesy of the launch of Secrets of Strixhaven. Pre-release this past weekend was incredibly hyped and well-attended pretty much wherever you live, which seems to point to players having more fun with Strixhaven than they have with any other set so far this year, even Lorwyn Eclipsed. And it makes perfect sense as to why. Not only is Strixhaven a great plane within the Magic universe (essentially the in-universe version of Harry Potter), but the cards themselves are well-designed and feature some absolutely breathtaking artwork, especially the Japanese alternate art Mystical Archive treatments. Ahead of hopefully getting to crack some Collector and Play Boosters this weekend, these are the 10 most valuable cards in the set to look out for.

• Printing — Etched Foil
• Condition — Near Mint (NM)
• Rarity — Mythic
• Number — 179
• Market Price — $236.94

Right off the bat, let's go ahead and clarify that every single one of the most valuable cards in the Secrets of Strixhaven set (except for the set's incredibly rare serialized chase card) is one of the Japanese alternate art Mysical Archive cards in the Silver Scroll foil treatment. These etched foil cards are absolutely stunning in person and even feature some subtle raised foiling around the borders of the text and mana pips. Valued at almost $240, the Silver Scroll foil printing of Awaken the Woods is a great sorcery card that allows players to pay X generic and two green mana to create a number of 1/1 green Forest Dryad tokens equal to the value of X, with the Forest Dryad depicted in some breathtaking artwork on the card's face.

• Printing — Etched Foil
• Condition — Near Mint (NM)
• Rarity — Mythic
• Number — 131
• Market Price — $291.60

Commander staple Akroma's Will is one of many such cards to get a new Mystical Archive printing as part of Secrets of Strixhaven, and its Japanese alternate art treatment is perhaps the best-looking printing of the card we've seen so far (and, to date, the most expensive by a long shot). This 4-drop is pretty much an essential addition to any commander deck with white in its color identity, allowing players to give creatures either flying, vigilance, and double-strike, or lifelink, indestructible, and protection from white. Or, if your commander is out on the board, you can select both. This is a card with as much utility as beauty and one worth keeping despite its high market value.

• Printing — Etched Foil
• Condition — Near Mint (NM)
• Rarity — Mythic
• Number — 144
• Market Price — $323.57

Speaking of powerful commander staples, the next most valuable card in the Secrets of Strixhaven set is the Japanese alternate art printing of Cyclonic Rift in the Silver Scroll foil treatment, depicting an adorable cat being swept away in — what else? — a cyclone. This artwork has been a huge hit with players since it was first revealed during the preview season for Secrets of Strixhaven, even getting its own official playmat from officially licensed partner, Ultimate Guard. As far as the card itself, Cyclonic Rift is an absolute essential in any commander deck that runs blue, allowing players to bounce a permanent back to its owner's hand for just two mana or, alternatively, every permanent on the board not under your control for 6 generic and a blue.

• Printing — Etched Foil
• Condition — Near Mint (NM)
• Rarity — Mythic
• Number — 155
• Market Price — $363.69

On top of its incredible utility and stunning new artwork in the Japanese alternate art printing, Ad Nauseum is fetching some huge value right now, thanks to it getting its first reprint in many years. The card was first printed way back in 2008 as part of the Shards of Alara set and has only received one reprint since before Secrets of Strixhaven as part of Double Masters 2022. It's rare to see this card dip below $30 for its standard printings, so of course, the special Silver Scroll foil version is netting just over $360 a few days ahead of Secrets of Strixhaven's official release. Even once the set officially drops and more copies of this card start making their way out into the wild, expect both the foil and non-foil versions of the Japanese alternate art printing to maintain some serious value.

• Printing — Etched Foil
• Condition — Near Mint (NM)
• Rarity — Mythic
• Number — 189
• Market Price — $390

Some might be raising an eyebrow at Triumph of the Hordes fetching as high a market value as it is right now, but that should be taken with a grain of salt. Every price on this list will normalize a great deal once the set is out, but Triumph is already dropping heavily ahead of Secrets of Strixhaven's official release date, with some copies available on the secondary market for around $175. That still makes for an incredibly expensive card, but it's a far cry from the market value of nearly $400. Not to disparage Triumph of the Hordes, though. This is a classic staple in a lot of commander decks with green in their identity, especially if those decks are running tons of creatures that you want to give even more power via trample and infect. And let's be honest: what green deck isn't running a ton of creatures?!

• Printing — Etched Foil
• Condition — Near Mint (NM)
• Rarity — Mythic
• Number — 148
• Market Price — $397

As a card, Flusterstorm is a fantastic counterspell that forces opponents to pay a 1 mana tax to break through the effect, but it's nothing outlandish. There are tons and tons of other counterspells out there that players could choose from. The value of Flusterstorm in its newest printing comes from both the artwork being absolutely incredible, and the fact that it's the first reprint it's gotten since 2011 (outside a non-legal Judge Promo). Flusterstorm would be a great card to put in any spell-slinging Izzet deck, and this newest printing would certainly be the most blinged-out variant you could include.

• Printing — Etched Foil
• Condition — Near Mint (NM)
• Rarity — Mythic
• Number — 174
• Market Price — $483.32

That Secrets of Strixhaven is giving us not one, not two, but four new printings of Jeska's Will (between foil and non-foil) is truly a gift. The whole point of Mystical Archives is reprinting classic spells from across the Magic universe that are staples in non-competitive formats, and boy, does Secrets of Strixhaven deliver on that front. Jeska's Will is an immensely powerful sorcery that lets players add one red mana for each card in an opponent's hand, making it the perfect counter to someone who's using cards like Thought Vessel, Decanter of Endless Water, or any of the other "no maximum hand size" cards, all for 2 generic and one red mana for cast. Better yet, if your commander is out on the board, you get all that red mana to play with, plus three exiled cards from the top of your library to play for free.

• Printing — Etched Foil
• Condition — Near Mint (NM)
• Rarity — Mythic
• Number — 165
• Market Price — $573.52

Tutors are always going to be expensive in any set they're printed in because they're incredibly powerful game changers that immediately boost the power of any deck in which they're slotted. In particular, Vampiric Tutor is a historically valuable card, with its least valuable printing (interestingly enough, the standard, non-foil Mystical Archive version from Secrets of Strixhaven) still netting $64. So it should come as no surprise to see that the special Silver Scroll foil printing of Vampiric Tutor is fetching upwards of $600, even after several other copies have found their way into players' hands since pre-release weekend. Vampiric Tutor — specifically, the Japanese alternate art treatment — has earned its place as one of the top 3 most valuable chase cards from Secrets of Strixhaven.

• Printing — Etched Foil
• Condition — Near Mint (NM)
• Rarity — Mythic
• Number — 149
• Market Price — $1,256.42

Outside the ultra-rare serialized chase card (which we'll get to shortly), the most valuable card in the Secrets of Strixhaven set, and the most valuable Japanese alternate art card ever, is Force of Will. On its face, Force of Will might not seem like it's all that special compared to other cards that can counter opponents' spells, but the ability to play it at instant speed for the cost of one blue mana and one life makes it an incredibly powerful and useful tool that can completely shift the tide of a game if played strategically. And, I mean, come on. The artwork on the Japanese Mystical Archive printing is stunning, and it's one of the more prominent designs to really be enhanced by the Silver Scroll etched foil treatment.

• Printing — Etched Foil
• Condition — Near Mint (NM)
• Rarity — Serialized
• Number — N/A
• Market Price — $3,250+

Tracking down accurate market data on the serialized printing of Emeritus of Ideation is pretty difficult right now, as only a few have made their way out into the world since pre-release. Of those that have, the prices are ranging wildly, with some sellers listing their pulls for around $3,250 (a reasonable price for a serialized card), and others listing them for as much as $35,000. The market will eventually dictate what this card is actually worth, but for now, it stands as one of the most valuable serialized cards in the history of Magic: The Gathering, beaten only by the Golden Chocobo from last year's Final Fantasy set. If you happen to crack one of these in a pack, immediately sleeve and top-load it, then take it to your LGS.