15 Most Valuable Construct Cards

Everythingamajig | Illustrated by Chris Seaman

Constructs have been a part of Magic lore since 1994’s artifact-heavy Antiquities expansion, though creatures boasting that type weren’t originally printed that way. The first natively typed Construct didn’t grace a Magic card until Bronze Bombshell appeared in 2006’s Dissension.

Since then, Constructs can be found across almost the entirety of the game’s multiverse, with most planes at least having one or two Construct creatures kicking around. But what are Magic’s most valuable Construct cards? Grab your oil can, and let’s find out.

15. Brightglass Gearhulk (Borderless First-Place Foil) – Aetherdrift

Market Price: $43.62

While the bright yellow border of Aetherdrift’s First-Place Foil cards isn’t for everyone, this four-mana, green-and-white-pip-heavy beefy Construct doesn’t care. This card helped pave the way for Badgermole Cub’s long-time-coming ban from Standard, so we can at least thank it for that.

This is the first of four Gearhulk Construct creatures herein, and it’s the least valuable of the bunch, likely due to being the most recent and, debatably, least desirable (for collectors, at least).

14. Cryptothrall (Surge Foil) – Warhammer 40,000 Commander

Market Price: $45.54

Mechanically unique cards (and some notable reprints) from the Warhammer 40,000 Commander release almost all sit at lofty price points due to only being released as bundled Commander decks; no booster packs exist of this set.

Notably, the “Collector’s Edition” version of these decks boasted the entire set of 100 cards in each deck in a striking Surge Foil finish, which is why this hexproof-granting Construct is worth over $45.

13. Torrential Gearhulk (Kaladesh Inventions Bonus Sheet) – Kaladesh

Market Price: $56.85

Part of a number of infinite combos thanks to being able to cast an instant card for free from your graveyard, this variant of Torrential Gearhulk comes courtesy of the “masterpiece” Kaladesh Inventions Bonus Sheet, the first card herein that does so.

This frame has been reused a number of times across different sets, but it was never more striking than in its debut in Kaladesh, and some of the artifact cards boasting this frame are among the most valuable of all time, especially from modern Magic releases.

12. Combustible Gearhulk (Kaladesh Inventions Bonus Sheet) – Kaladesh

Market Price: $62.23

11. Hangarback Walker (Kaladesh Inventions Bonus Sheet) – Kaladesh

Market Price: $64.62

10. Steel Overseer (Kaladesh Inventions Bonus Sheet) – Kaladesh

Market Price: $64.88

Three straight Kaladesh Inventions cards continue the trend of these cards being extremely desirable (and valuable) pieces of cardboard, as each of these sits above $60 in value.

Combustible Gearhulk forces your opponent into a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” scenario, a la other notable red cards, like Skullscorch and Browbeat. Hangarback Walker is a notable infinite-combo-enabler thanks to being an X-cost creature, and Steel Overseer is a cheap and powerful colorless Aggro-enabler (just add Gingerbrute).

All three of these cards look gorgeous in their Kaladesh Inventions trappings, though none of them quite reach the splendor that Platinum Angel does from this same bonus sheet. befitting one of the most valuable Angel cards of all time.

9. Scrawling Crawler (Borderless Mana Foil) – Foundations

Market Price: $71.58

The perfect accompaniment to a Sheoldred, the Apocalypse Commander deck? Why, it’s this three-mana 3/2 Construct that forces foes to draw extra cards, then makes them lose a life whenever they draw a card. With a Sheoldred on the field, that’s a Lightning Bolt per card drawn!

As you might expect, such devious play will likely get rewarded with the table mercilessly singling you out as the pod’s most notable threat, but if you have this $70-plus Borderless Mana Foil Construct from Foundations, you’ll at least go down in supreme style.

8. Noxious Gearhulk (Kaladesh Inventions Bonus Sheet) – Kaladesh

Market Price: $81.11

The last Kaladesh Inventions Bonus Sheet card herein, Noxious Gearhulk, tacks a pseudo-Swords to Plowshares onto a 5/4 menace body for .

While power creep has surely made this somewhat antiquated, it was still a major bomb in its heyday, and it has never looked better than it does in the Inventions masterpiece card frame.

7. Walking Ballista // Assaultron Invader (Showcase Pip-Boy Surge Foil) – Fallout

Market Price: $93.14

An even easier infinite combo piece than Hangarback Walker is Walking Ballista, thanks to having a built-in direct damage activated ability that can be activated any number of times and at no cost – always a dangerous combination.

This rendition of the card comes from Magic’s Fallout set and is clothed in the Pip-Boy Surge Foil frame, making it one of the most difficult-to-find cards across the entire release.

6. Su-Chi – Antiquities

Market Price: $98.06

Some of the most amazing art on this entire list dates all the way back to Magic’s first-ever artifact-focused set: 1994’s Antiquities. This masterpiece from Christopher Rush makes it clear why he’s one of the only Magic artists to ever also produce a Pokémon TCG card.

In this case, Rush, who illustrated the original and iconic Black Lotus, also created the artwork for a promo Mewtwo card, which, if you squint, actually bears something of a resemblance to Su-Chi. While not the most recognizable Magic card, it did get a callback via Su-Chi Cave Guard in 2022’s The Brothers’ War.

5. Triskelion – Antiquities

Market Price: $169.90

Despite its rather goofy artwork (googly eyes, anyone?), Triskelion remains a potent threat in the Premodern format as well as an iconic artifact creature that also happens to boast the Construct typing.

This card received a reprint in the artifact-heavy set Mirrodin in 2003 with vastly improved artwork by Christopher Moeller, but the original still has its advocates, as well as a fairly meaty price point close to $170.

4. Foundry Inspector (Serialized Schematic Foil) – The Brothers’ War

Market Price: $194.48 (via PriceCharting)

Three of the four most valuable Construct cards of all time hail from 2022’s The Brothers’ War, which heavily featured artifacts as part of the set’s core design.

While this common-rarity card has seen a number of reprints, none of them are more scarce than this serialized Schematic Foil from the set, which was limited to only 500 copies upon printing. Not bad for a common!

3. Metalworker – Urza’s Destiny

Market Price: $205.12

The only non-serialized card herein is a dynamo (no, not that dynamo) from Urza’s Destiny that helped turbocharge the artifact combo strategies from Urza’s block thanks to being able to add tremendous amounts of colorless mana to your mana pool based on the number of artifacts in your hand.

Combine with permanents that can untap artifacts with ease, like Voltaic Key or Mind Over Matter, and you’ve got a simple, repeatable, and eminently abusable mana-producing Construct that looks innocuous... until you’re dead on turn three.

2. Scrap Trawler (Serialized Schematic Foil) – The Brothers’ War

Market Price: $484.55 (via MTGStocks)

Yet another notable combo-enabler, this serialized version of the rare Construct, originally printed in 2017’s Aether Revolt, boasts stylized blueprint artwork courtesy of prolific Magic illustrator Daarken.

While it just misses the top spot herein, employing this nearly $500 card to fuel your infinite combo involving Myr Retriever and Krark-Clan Ironworks will surely net you style points at your next Commander session.

1. Adaptive Automaton (Serialized Schematic Foil) – The Brothers’ War

Market Price: $504.00 (via MTGStocks)

I’m a sucker for typal creatures, as my Cardsphere output indicates, so whenever a colorless creature can be thrown into typal decks at will, I’m happy to oblige.

As such, this card is right up my alley, and it’s nice to see it get its flowers as the most valuable Construct card of all time, at least in its serialized Schematic Foil finish from The Brothers’ War.

Construct-ing Valuable Artifact Creatures

And there you have it. These Construct cards span almost the entirety of Magic history. From one of the game’s first expansions, Antiquities, to the modern multi-year Standard set Foundations, Constructs are seemingly here to stay as a notable creature type, with these ones tilting the scales as the most valuable entries. Happy collecting; thanks for reading!