10 Most Valuable Skeleton Cards

Corpses of the Lost | Illustrated by Izzy

Skeletons, like many other creatures showcased on these lists, debuted in Magic’s first set, Alpha, way back in 1993. This shambling undead creature type, not to be confused with the more popular (and populous) Zombie, has seen numerous changes over the years, and it has even seen some recent play in Standard thanks to the powerhouse enchantment Corpses of the Lost from The Lost Caverns of Ixalan.

While other creature types from this series have been spoilt for choice, Skeletons have no such luck. In fact, if I was allowing multiple copies of the same card herein (I’m not), then variants of Tinybones would be featured four times, and the thunderingly strong legendary Dragon Skeleton Skithiryx would be featured a stunning nine times. 13 out of 20 ain’t bad.

10. Bladewing, Deathless Tyrant – Dominaria United Commander

Market Price: $5.88

Our first bony undead creature is a new version of Rakdos () Dragon favorite Bladewing the Risen. This card hails from 2022’s Dominaria United Commander.

With the original undead Bladewing printed in Scourge, this new version nets you a bunch of 2/2 Zombie tokens with menace instead of contributing to a plethora of infinite combos, as its original printing did.

9. Skeleton Ship – Ice Age

Market Price: $6.29

You know a creature type has slim pickings when it comes to valuable cards when a 0/3 creature for that dies when you don’t control an Island qualifies for the list.

Admittedly, this Skeleton has never seen a reprint and its Amy Weber & Tom Wänerstrand artwork is both evocative of its era and memorable, but, man, sometimes power creep is justified. Please, I beg of you, try to brew a Commander deck built around this 0/3 legendary creature as the leader of your 99.

8. Tinybones, the Pickpocket (Wanted Poster Showcase Card) – Outlaws of Thunder Junction

Market Price: $8.11

The first Tinybones variant herein hails from Outlaws of Thunder Junction, and this card boasts the striking Wanted Poster frame, which is fitting for a set in which a grand heist occurs involving various notable characters from Magic’s history.

This Skeleton Rogue was a notable one-drop in Monoblack Midrange decks upon its release, though power creep has made this little fella obsolete. Still a cool effect, though.

7. Reassembling Skeleton – Bad to the Bones Secret Lair Drop

Market Price: $23.31

Any card that can be returned from your graveyard at will repeatedly is going to lead to some impressive infinite combos, and that is exactly the case with this oft-reprinted 1/1 Skeleton Warrior, which was originally printed in the special 2010 Archenemy release.

This variant of Reassembling Skeleton is the most valuable by far, as it hails from a 2023 Secret Lair Drop and features one-off artwork from the fittingly named Ryan Roadkill.

6. Tinybones, Trinket Thief – Bad to the Bones Secret Lair Drop

Market Price: $26.74

Two straight cards from the Bad to the Bones Secret Lair Drop anchor the middle entries of this list, and, in this case, it’s a reskinned version of the first-ever in-game appearance of everyone’s favorite bony Skeleton Rogue, Tinybones.

This card remains a terrific commander option as the leader of your mono-black discard decks, especially with that repeatable activated ability that can bash your foes for 10 life if they have no cards in hand. Go, little Tinybones, go!

5. Drudge Skeletons – Alpha

Market Price: $51.99

4. Wall of Bone – Alpha

Market Price: $59.25

As expected in these lists, the first two Skeleton cards ever printed rank highly among the most valuable Magic Skeletons of all time due to their age and stature. First off is Drudge Skeletons, a frequently reprinted 1/1 creature that typified Skeletons for years.

Then, it’s the uncommon Wall of Bone that takes the cake as the most valuable Alpha Skeleton. Typified by truly “metal” artwork by Anson Maddocks, this Skeleton remains an iconic one from Magic’s past.

3. Tinybones, Bauble Burglar (Borderless Mana Foil) – Foundations

Market Price: $59.66

This hard-to-find version of Foundations’ entry into the ever-profitable Tinybones market boasts the five mana symbols embossed onto this borderless card’s finish.

While it isn’t the dynamo that the original Trinket Thief is, this version of Tinybones remains a notable role player in a dedicated Tinybones + Skeletons Commander deck that focuses on making opponents discard a bunch of cards. Also, great art on this from Rudy Siswanto.

2. Golgari Grave-Troll (Serialized Retro Frame Foil) – Ravnica Remastered

Market Price: $335.00

As we’ve seen on these lists time and time again, some combination of Alpha cards and serialized cards often come out on top in terms of value, and that’s exactly the case with Skeletons, as the top two cards are both serialized renditions.

First off is every Dredge player’s best friend (other than Bazaar of Baghdad, of course): Golgari Grave-Troll, whose dredge 6 ability remains the most potent “free” milling option across the entire game. As such, a serialized retro frame version being over $300 on the secondary market certainly makes sense.

1. Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon (Serialized Multiverse Legends) – March of the Machine

Market Price: $652.50

However, the true star of this list is none other than Skithiryx, the legendary 4/4 Phyrexian Skeleton Dragon with flying and infect that can gain haste if you pay and can also regenerate if you pay .

Having repeated, constant access to the incredibly overpowered infect keyword from the command zone means this card has seen a bonanza of reprints, so much so that a top 20 of this list with repeats allowed would see Skithiryx featured a staggering nine times!

The most valuable Skithiryx, however, is this striking serialized Multiverse Legends version from 2023’s March of the Machine with stunning black-and-white artwork courtesy of Kekai Kotaki.

“Nice Work, Bone Daddy”

While Skeletons don’t reach the stratospheric heights of other creature types we’ve covered previously, they remain a notable original creature type from the game’s history, so put on your skeleton jacket and watch out for bone-hurting juice; thanks for reading.