The mana-efficiency tax: do cheap Magic cards cost more?
You would think a giant 7-mana bomb costs more than a little 1-drop. In dollars, the opposite is usually true. We took the median price of 2,706 modern rares and mythics and sorted them by mana value.
Typical card value, by mana cost
Median TCGplayer USD price of modern rares and mythics. Median, not average, so one chase card cannot inflate a tier.
Casting cost and dollar cost pull apart
A powerful one-mana card can slot into almost any deck of its colour, so demand piles onto a small pool of staples. A seven-mana card is a build-around only a few decks want. That is why the median 1-drop ($2.60) out-prices the median 3-drop ($0.62) by 4.2x, and why the mid-curve (3 to 5 mana) is where the cheapest cards live. In Magic, efficiency is the thing you pay for.
The priciest card at each mana value
The ceiling per tier (often a special printing), shown next to the typical card.
| Mana | Typical (median) | Priciest card | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2.60 | The Ozolith | $74 |
| 2 | $0.88 | The Soul Stone | $104 |
| 3 | $0.62 | Kratos, God of War | $52 |
| 4 | $0.82 | Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima | $125 |
| 5 | $0.60 | Jaws, Relentless Predator | $166 |
| 6 | $0.65 | Edgar Markov | $45 |
| 7+ | $0.97 | Ugin, Eye of the Storms | $42 |
Method & sources
- We pulled modern nonland rares and mythics released 2021 onward with a TCGplayer price via the open Scryfall API (2,706 priced cards).
- Holding rarity and recency roughly constant isolates the effect of mana value from other price drivers.
- Per mana value we took the median price, robust to one expensive chase card. Buckets with fewer than 20 priced cards were excluded.
- TCGplayer USD price via the open Scryfall API. Valued 2026-07-03. Reference estimates, not sold records; prices move. Reproducible from the open API.
FAQ
Do cheaper-to-cast Magic cards cost more money?
Often, yes. Across 2,706 modern rares and mythics, 1-mana cards carry the highest median price ($2.60), about 4.2x the median 3-mana card ($0.62). Low mana value is the single priciest tier, because the most efficient one-drops become format staples that slot into nearly every deck.
Why are 1-mana Magic cards so expensive?
Efficiency drives demand. A powerful one-mana card can go in almost any deck of its colour, so demand concentrates on a small pool of staples, while expensive 7-drops are build-arounds that only a few decks want. Casting cost and dollar cost pull in opposite directions.
So do big splashy 7-drops hold value?
Less than you would think. In this pool the median 7+ mana card is $0.97, below even a 1-drop, though above the mid-curve dip. The very top-end bombs can spike, but the typical expensive-to-cast card is closer to bulk than to a staple.
Where does this data come from, and is it reliable?
We pulled modern nonland rares and mythics (2021 onward) and their TCGplayer USD price via the open Scryfall API, then took the median per mana value (TCGplayer USD price via the open Scryfall API, valued 2026-07-03), excluding buckets with fewer than 20 priced cards. These are reference estimates, not sold records, and prices move. We never scrape marketplaces and never invent a number; the figures are reproducible from the open API.
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</p>Foilio (2026-07-03). The mana-efficiency tax: do cheap Magic cards cost more?. Retrieved from https://foilio.net/studies/mtg-mana-taxThe big picture, across every game we measure: The Chase Multiple · The Price Census · The Promo Premium · The Foil Premium