Complete List of All 23 Headliner Cards in Magic: The Gathering

Last updated on July 30, 2026

The Aetherspark | Illustration by Dominik Mayer

New approaches to the special cards in a set come and go, and they all have their own positives and negatives. The latest approach introduced with Innistrad Remastered is Magic’s Headliner Program, and it brings some newish ideas to the most chase cards in a set.

Is it groundbreaking, or an iteration on what’s come before? Should we expect to keep seeing these in future sets? And just what is a Headliner card anyway? That’s what we’re looking at today.

What Are Headliner Cards in MTG?

Traveling Chocobo | Illustration by Toni Infante

The Headliner Program is a way to highlight a specific card from new Magic sets and create ultra-rare, chase versions of that card. The idea is to take a single card from a new release and have it become a sort of poster child for that set. It’s usually one of the most important characters or objects related to that set’s story, or in the case of Universes Beyond, something from the crossover that resonates with fans of that IP.

The idea was spawned from Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, and the many variants of The One Ring in that set. You can’t deny it caused a lot of buzz.

Personally, I think this is a great idea, as in the past there have been criticisms that too many cards in a single set have been serialized. This way, there’s one particular card for booster box breakers looking for the rarest and most expensive Magic cards.

List of Headliner Cards

Edgar Markov – Innistrad Remastered

The first Headliner in Magic, Edgar Markov was definitely in need of a reprint. We just didn’t know we’d get such a dapper version. It uses the Movie Poster art that MTG has revisited for a couple sets and Secret Lairs.

The Aetherspark – Aetherdrift

The Aetherspark was a clear contender from Aetherdrift, as Magic’s first-ever equipment planeswalker. The object itself is said to have a planeswalker’s spark inside of it, so it’s not unreasonable to think we’ll see it again in the future.

Mox Jasper – Tarkir: Dragonstorm

Mox Jasper is one of the lesser sought-after Headliners, though there are plenty of people out there running The Ur-Dragon who’d do unspeakable things to get a hold of one of these.

Traveling Chocobo – Final Fantasy

Traveling Chocobo received a handful of differently-colored reskins in Final Fantasy Collector Boosters, and the 77 serialized golden chocobos put the whole MTG and Final Fantasy fanbase in a frenzy. They almost single-handedly pushed Final Fantasy Collector Boosters up into the $1,000 range, with everyone taking a shot at opening one of these golden-feathered birds. There’s even a tracker out there confirming which ones have already been opened.

Sothera, the Supervoid – Edge of Eternities

Another low-end Headliner, Sothera, the Supervoid is a cool card, but not Headliner material in the same way as something like The Aetherspark was. Sothera was definitely a central part of Edge of Eternities’ story, but the card itself isn’t nearly as remarkable.

The Soul Stone – Marvel’s Spider-Man

The Soul Stone was MTG’s first Infinity Stone, and it kicked off a treasure hunt that might last about the same length as the entire Infinity Stone arc in the MCU. At the time of writing we’ve only seen two Infinity Stones, but we have confirmation that all six will come to Magic.

Avatar Aang – Avatar: The Last Airbender

Avatar Aang is a bit of a two-for-one, because this is a double-sided Headliner, with Aang, Master of Elements on the back. For every Ur-Dragon fanatic trying to scoop up a serialized Mox Jasper, there’s an Avatar: The Last Airbender fanatic who desperately wants this Headliner.

Bitterbloom Bearer – Lorwyn Eclipsed

Bitterbloom Bearer is perhaps another unexceptional Headliner, though the Rebecca Guay art is a strong selling point. This was the first serialized Headliner after it seemed like MTG was taking a break from them.

Kevin Eastman Ninja Turtles – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles switched up the formula by having four Headliners, all original depictions of the titular Turtles, and all signed by Kevin Eastman, co-creator of TMNT. These weren’t serialized, but instead had a golden signature scrawled across their textbox. The four Headliners included:

• Donatello, Mutant Mechanic
• Leonardo, Sewer Samurai
• Michelangelo, Improviser
• Raphael, Ninja Destroyer

Emeritus of Ideation – Secrets of Strixhaven

It’s a bit of a shame that the textless, serialized versions of Emeritus of Ideation don’t use the “Ancestral Recall” prepared text of the original, which is a super novel addition to normal versions of this card. But getting Mark Poole to reprise his artistic talent from the piece of Power Nine was an excellent move.

The Mind Stone – Marvel Super Heroes

Infinity Stone #2. The Mind Stone is from a much larger Marvel set than its predecessor, but it’s equally as desirable for anyone trying to complete the inevitable Infinity Gauntlet in MTG.

Smaug the Magnificent – The Hobbit

The designers treated Smaug the Magnificent with a lot of respect, giving The Wicked Worm from The Hobbit his very own bedazzled Headliner, decked out in a treasure trove of gold appropriate for the character.

Bloodline Recollector – Reality Fracture

Here’s where we start to see cards that haven’t yet released at the time of writing. Bloodline Recollector will release in Reality Fracture and sort of riff off the idea of having a mythic prepared creature as a Headliner, as Secrets of Strixhaven did with Emeritus of Ideation.

Actor-Signed Cards – Star Trek

Star Trek is borrowing a trick from the sewers of New York by including an array of signed Headliners. There are seven in total, each with roughly 200 copies that have been physically signed by the actor best known for portraying those characters. As of right now, we have confirmation of the following:

• Captain Kathryn Janeway – Kate Mulgrew
• Captain James T. Kirk – William Shatner
• Captain Jean-Luc Picard – Sir Patrick Stewart

Are Headliner Cards Always Serialized?

No, not all Headliner cards are serialized. While they often are, we’ve seen plenty that aren’t, both for Multiverse sets and Universes Beyond sets. Sothera, the Supervoid, for example, wasn’t serialized, though Bitterbloom Bearer and Emeritus of Ideation were released later with serialized versions. Similarly, the golden chocobos from Final Fantasy were serialized, but Smaug the Magnificent from The Hobbit was not.

The print run is still incredibly low for the nonserialized versions, and comparable to serialized Headliners.

What Are the Chances of Opening a Headliner Card?

Finding the Headliner card won’t be super difficult, but finding the most valuable version of it is another story. For the sets with roughly 500 premium versions of their Headliner, the odds will be that less than 1% of Collector boosters will have one. In the LOTR set, there were an estimated 3.3 million Collector boosters printed. Although this is likely one of the more printed sets, this gives each pack a 0.015% chance of holding one of these cards…. You’ve gotta be very lucky!

What Booster Packs Have Headliners?

All packs have at least the base version of the Headliner cards, as it's always a card in the main set. However, the most highly sought versions of these cards, like serialized cards, have only ever been put in Collector boosters, as they’re the expensive ones that WotC wants you to buy!

Are Headliner Cards Valuable?

Yes, Headliners are usually the most expensive cards from their respective sets. The less sought after ones still sell for multiple thousands of dollars, and some of the higher-end ones like the Infinity Stones and the golden chocobos have absurdly high prices. Many of those chocobos have sold in the $75,000 range, with graded 10/10 versions listed around $250,000. The cosmic foil versions of The Soul Stone and The Mind Stone are frequently at or around $30,000.

The Universes Beyond Headliners tend to have a much higher multiplier on their price due to the involvement of collectors associated with those individual IPs.

Final Thoughts

Bitterbloom Bearer | Illustration by Rebecca Guay

Overall, I'm a fan of the Headliner Program. While I’m not personally a collector of the shiny things, having a single focus for pack-crackers to focus on is a sensible idea and gives a specific target for people to get hyped about. If you enjoy a bit of a gamble with a Collector booster, this should excite you.

But does it? Do you think it adds excitement, or does it remove value? It does make it more difficult to find a serialized card, which some people will surely not like. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or over on the Draftsim Discord! And check out The Daily Upkeep newsletter to stay up to date on all the latest MTG news.

Good luck finding your Headliner!