Last updated on June 27, 2025
Avacyn, Angel of Hope | Illustration by Jason Chan
Innistrad Remastered is an MTG set calling back to some of the most popular sets in Magic history. At a slightly higher cost than a Standard release, you’d want it to contain some juice as far as reprints go (it’s all reprints, after all!). INR delivers, and there are some really top dollar cards included in the set. But is it worth opening overall?
Let’s look at the top 30 cards to pull in Innistrad Remastered. We’re generally talking about the cheapest versions of the cards found in Play boosters and Collector boosters, although some of the cards can only be found on the Retro bonus sheet (I’ll mention this when relevant).
It’s a bit of a mixed bag of what we get, so we should probably get on with it, right?
#30. Mass Hysteria – $5.11
The first card on today’s list isn’t even a card from an Innistrad set, but Mass Hysteria has been given new art that fits this Magic plane. Giving all creatures haste (even if it helps your opponents) is important in not only aggro decks that want to attack, but combo decks that rely on tapping your creatures. This allows so many infinite combos out of nowhere, so it’s popular despite the relatively low cost.
#29. Tamiyo’s Journal – $5.25
Tamiyo's Journal is a bit of an odd case. Originally it had multiple versions, each with different flavor text, which means that some show up in automatically generated lists (like if you import your Moxfield list into TCGplayer) more than others. Therefore, some versions are arbitrarily more expensive than others. I’m not sure where this version will eventually fall, but if you’re wanting to buy a copy of this legendary artifact, it might be worth having a little look around before smashing that buy button.
#28. Olivia Voldaren – $5.29
Olivia Voldaren and their suspect dress shape are a thing of legend. Is that a leg under there? Or are they holding it up? Or something else? Whatever it is, Olivia has been up and down in price over the years but has never been bulk. Maybe this reprint will eventually banish it to the dollar box? At least this Rakdos card () has a very nice Movie Poster version available now, too.
#27. Bruna, the Fading Light – $5.70
Bruna, the Fading Light is the less exciting half of the meld pair, but it’s still a sweet card. Solid body and useful cast trigger, a printing at rare should bring the price down. I’m actually surprised that it’s commanding so much of a high price as it is, as by itself it’s just a cool 7-drop, and it’s not as though we’re lacking for those.
#26. Rooftop Storm – $5.98
Rooftop Storm is one of those cards that jumps in price every few years, usually when there’s a zombie set or Commander precon printed without it. Most of the rest of the time it’s pretty cheap, and with this reprint it’ll probably drop again. I expect it to peak up again in the future, so it’s probably a good idea to pick up a copy a couple of weeks after release if you were looking for one anyway.
Soulbond is a very odd mechanic, and one that hasn't been returned to much since it was first printed in the original Innistrad block, but Deadeye Navigator is probably the most iconic of the cards with the mechanic due to the ability to go infinite with some pretty innocent looking cards (plus Dockside Extortionist, but we don’t need to worry about that one in Commander anymore!). Every so often a new combo piece is printed and this blue creature sees a spike, but it can usually be found around the $5 range, or even less.
#24. Heartless Summoning – $5.99
Heartless Summoning is a really interesting black enchantment that you can either play relatively fairly and have a good time with, or break wide open and have a great time. Best friends with Acererak the Archlich: If you can find a way to make that extra mana for free you can just keep looping it and win the game unless your opponents can do anything about it. It’s the first reprint since the original printing, so expect prices to drop dramatically, but there are old border and extended art versions available if you want to bling out what you have already.
#23. Sigarda, Host of Herons – $5.99
Sigarda, Host of Herons is a great rate, and the static ability is still fairly unique (although it has been seen a little since). I’m surprised that it’s still worth this much, but this Selesnya card () has all of the features of someone’s favorite card, and Magic players do like their angels. This will probably always be worth at least something, so it’s not the worst pull.
#22. Laboratory Maniac – $6.00
Laboratory Maniac was (as far as I know) the first alt-wincon for an empty library, and it completely turned the way certain decks play on their head. It’s still really popular, even if Thassa's Oracle outclasses it now. If you’re playing with Oracle, this is a good backup, however, and it’s iconic for a reason. Hurrah for Labman!
#21. Reforge the Soul – $6.96
Miracle is a tricky mechanic, and Reforge the Soul is the Wheel of Fortune of that mechanic. Wheels are just generally good, and this one isn’t the worst out there, so it’s going to stay popular even with a reprint. It’s not the best pull but it could be a lot worse.
#20. Westvale Abbey / Ormendahl, Profane Prince – $7.05
Westvale Abbey / Ormendahl, Profane Prince is a fantastic card, and it caused a little ripple of chatter when it was first spoiled. I personally loved running it in Standard decks, and it was surprising how often the keyword soup came up as an alternative wincon. Over the years it’s become an increasingly useful card in EDH decks, although it should be noted that it has a black color identity, so it doesn’t go in every deck.
#19. Temporal Mastery – $7.49
Extra turn spells are always in demand, and Temporal Mastery is an extra turn spell that can cost only 2 mana. Not only that, but in extra turn decks you have that many more opportunities to draw it as the first card of your turn, which is a neat interaction in the design. Getting this under $5 may be possible, which is a bargain, but there are also extended border versions going for over $20 at time of writing, too.
#18. Cathars' Crusade – $8.95
Cathars' Crusade is surely one of the Timmy/Johnny cards of all time, and therefore it’s pretty popular in Commander, leading to a decent price tag attached to it. The reprint is pretty nice to see, even if it’s not quite over that $10 mark. Given enough time without a reprint it would surely have found its way there eventually, so I’m not complaining.
#17. Deathcap Glade – $9.95
The “slow lands” (as an opposite of the fast lands, which care about having two or fewer other lands) were a surprise hit from the most recent return to Innistrad, and if they hadn’t had a couple of sparse reprints over the last couple of years they’d all have been as expensive as Deathcap Glade. Another reprint is nice, though, and it’s not like Innistrad has a huge selection of dual land cycles to print, with this being the best of a bad bunch.
#16. Conjurer's Closet – $9.99
Blink engines appeal to a certain subset of players (guilty!) and Conjurer's Closet is one that can go in any deck. Five mana is quite a lot for the effect, but being a colorless card is a huge boon here, and it’s not as expensive as it could be. Triggering on your end step is also great, as you can play and trigger it straight away, without giving your opponents much of a chance to take it out. Great reprint that will also be fun in INR Limited.
#15. Necroduality – $9.99
Necroduality has a lot of fans, whether you’re just wanting to fairly naturally (or supernaturally, I guess) build up a horde of undead, or do silly things by looping the likes of Gravecrawler. This is a really cool blue enchantment that was unique when it was first printed (although we did see Double Down in Outlaws of Thunder Junction). It’s a card whose value has been creeping up over time and would have continued to do so without a reprint, so it’s quite a good one to see in a set of this size.
#14. Captivating Vampire – $12.94
Captivating Vampire is better than removal, as you can straight up steal your opponents’ problem creatures. It’s not like it’s difficult to get a bunch of vampires to tap, especially with some of the commanders in this set. This black creature has dodged a real reprint for quite some time, so it’s great to see in Innistrad Remastered.
#13. Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord – $14.99
Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord would have been a fantastic reprint to see a year ago, but unfortunately it was just too good in Pioneer and needed to eat a ban. It’s still a decent reprint, but now that this planeswalker doesn’t have a home and it’s getting a significant reprint, it’s probably not going to be worth much for some time going forward. Still, if you’ve been looking to grab one, your best chance in a long time is coming up soon.
#12. Tree of Perdition – $15.90
Tree of Perdition is a cool design, and one that has jumped quite a lot over the last year or so due to a newish deck coming out of Pioneer. You play this plant with Agatha's Soul Cauldron and something with a low toughness to drop the opponent’s life to not very much, and get the final damage with a few pings. Great inclusion here.
#11. Bloodline Keeper / Lord of Lineage – $19.98
One of the best non-legendary vampires out there, Bloodline Keeper / Lord of Lineage is a strong reprint coming in at nearly $20. It’s dodged a lot of reprint opportunities over the years, so this one might drop a bit at first, but I’d be surprised if it saw another major reprint any time soon. It’s going to be a fantastic pickup for some people out there who run on a budget and this was always just out of reach.
#10. Hermit Druid – $22.30
Hermit Druid is a super interesting inclusion, as it was never in an Innistrad set. In fact, many people assumed that it was on the Reserved List. This green creature features in a gazillion combos and has been very scarce for a long period of time, so we’ll certainly see a drop in value with this reprint. It’s still good to see it, though, and at rare, too, meaning it doesn’t end up being a feel-bad bulk mythic. This did need a reprint somewhere, and this is far from the worst place for it.
#9. Griselbrand – $27.99
Now we’re into the juicy stuff with none other than the big dog, Griselbrand. One of the more iconic cards to cheat out, it maybe isn’t as ubiquitous as it once was, but it still pulls its weights. Big G is a fantastic, iconic black card, and one that’s certainly worth the price of a pack.
#8. Gisela, the Broken Blade – $28.97
Gisela, the Broken Blade is the “good” half of the meld pair with Bruna, the Fading Light. Gisela is completely fine to play only for the front half, and provides a lot of stats for only 4 mana. This had a fairly substantial reprint in the Angels Secret Lair deck, albeit with nice art, but this is still holding well at almost $30. This reprint will drop the price somewhat, but not that much.
#7. Liliana of the Veil – $32.72
Liliana of the Veil is a solid reprint, but this black planeswalker isn’t the monster it once was. It’s still legal in Standard, with the new three-year rotation, but it’s still worth a hefty chunk of cash. Lili is iconic for a number of reasons, and it’s one of the strongest cards to come out of Innistrad, so it would have been noteworthy if it didn’t get reprinted here.
It’s worth noting that this is only available on the old border “bonus sheet,” so it isn’t available in the set in the modern border. The price shown here is for the retro border version, with normal versions found around $15.
#6. The Meathook Massacre – $34.80
The Meathook Massacre is one of the newer cards this high up in the list, and it shows that it’s a really great reprint. One of the most powerful black sweepers ever printed, this is a slam dunk in value. This one did need a reprint somewhere, and Innistrad Remastered is probably the best place it could have been put.
#5. Snapcaster Mage – $38.48
Snapcaster Mage was once worth over $75 (actually, it’s gotten around this price three separate times over the years). It’s probably never going to reach those heights ever again, especially after this reprint. It’s sad to say it just doesn’t make the cut in Modern in 2025. Still, it’s an iconic piece of Innistrad history, and it’d be another one that would have been a notable absence.
Snappy is another card that can be only found in retro frame in the set, with normal versions from previous prints found between $15-20.
#4. Emrakul, the Promised End – $44.71
Emrakul, the Promised End has dodged a couple of reprints recently, so it’s good to see it finally show up here. This Eldrazi has been up and down over the years, but it has never dropped below $20 for a few years. Players are always finding new ways to break this colorless creature, although it doesn’t usually stay broken for long, and feels really well balanced. All it would have taken is another good result in Pioneer and this would have jumped to above $60, so I’m pleased to see this reprinted.
#3. Craterhoof Behemoth – $59.99
Craterhoof Behemoth is a great card to see reprinted, and one that sees constant play in Commander. Hey, the game has to end sometime, am I right? Also only appearing on the retro bonus sheet, this iconic mass pump probably won’t drop the price much, but it does give an old border version for green players who are into that kind of thing. Of course, you’ll be able to get normal versions of the card for significantly less (currently around $30 for the cheapest versions), but when you see this at the back of the pack you’ll give out a cheer (or at least have a small smile).
#2. Edgar Markov – $70.63
You might be surprised that Edgar Markov isn’t number 1, but that’s due to the shenanigans we’ve seen with versions of cards you can see in the pack. Big daddy vamp has missed reprint after reprint and has continued to be the most broken vampire commander ever printed (so far…). The base version of this card might not be top, but I can guarantee the most expensive card that you can get in the set will be an Edgar card.
#1. Avacyn, Angel of Hope – $99.92
Finally, top of the table, we have Avacyn, Angel of Hope. It might only be here because the “base” version is a retro card, but even the cheapest version available is $40+. This one has had a good number of reprints over the years, but as one of the best cards for an incredibly popular creature type, Avacyn is just always going to be sought after. Not quite a proper reprint, this one will drop the price a little, but don't expect to get them at $20 suddenly.
Promos, Alternate Art, and More
You'll see the normal smattering of extended art cards in INR. There’s also a whole sheet of old-border cards, some of which can only be found in old border, but most of which are also in the set as normal versions. INR’s Collector boosters also feature sweet looking Movie Poster treatments of cards.
The big thing to note for alternate arts in the set, and the new approach to sets, is a “Headliner Card.”
In Innistrad Remastered, this is Edgar Markov. This is the only card that will have a serialized version (in this case it’s out of 500), and is the featured card of the set. Personally I like this change. If you look back at Ravnica Remastered, it really did feel like they went overboard on the serializations there, so it gets a thumbs up from me.
Wrap Up
Edgar Markov | Illustration by Volkan Baga
There are without a doubt some great reprints in the set, and some cards that were crying out for new versions to bring the costs down. We can’t get away from the fact that many of the cards that once would have made this set a slam dunk just don’t pull their weight in modern Magic, but probably needed to be included due to how iconic they are.
Do you think that the set is worth the price tag? I’ve seen a lot of hate around for it recently but don’t quite agree that it’s an awful set. I do wish that it weren’t sold at a premium over Standard sets, but who knows what Standard sets are going to cost when they bring Universes Beyond into the mix?
Anyway, let me know your thoughts and what you’re looking forward to opening below in the comments or over on the Draftsim Discord.
Good luck and happy pulling!
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