The 15 Most Valuable Champions of Kamigawa Cards

Gifts Ungiven | Art by D. Alexander Gregory

Hey, everyone! Let's take a trip 22 years back in time to the release of Champions of Kamigawa (CHK) in 2004. The set was the first in the eponymous Kamigawa Block and it introduced a brand new plane dripping with Japanese historical and mythological influences. The flavor was awesome, and the set did spawn a ton of competitive decks for mid-2000s Constructed formats, but I do remember reading that mechanics like arcane, soulshift, and bushido were pretty underpowered. I mention this because we're looking at card value here, and I do wonder whether this set can hold a candle to some of the busted high-value cards from Mirrodin, Darksteel, and Fifth Dawn, which I finished covering last month.

Instead of speculating, though, let's dive right in and find out!

15. Konda's Banner

Market Price: $11.63

This only works with legends, which was a mechanical theme of Champions, so it predictably spiked in value when another legends set and a return to the plane, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, released. It sees pretty limited Commander play, though, since cards like Stoneforge Masterwork, Hall of Triumph, and Icon of Ancestry do similar things without making you jump through hoops. Still, we've never seen more legends printed than in the last five years, and this is legendary in itself, so it will always have its uses, especially in decks that just want to run a ton of Equipment.

14. Azusa, Lost but Seeking

Market Price: $12.59

She's been reprinted several times, so deckbuilders who need her can always find her. Her value is likely to go nowhere, however, as she is still sought after in Commander for her powerful and relatively unique static effect. Sure, Oracle of Mul Daya and Dryad of the Ilysian Grove get close and boast their own upsides, but getting to play 100% more lands than alternatives let you is pretty unbeatable. EDHREC players certainly think so: she's in more than 300,000 decks!

13. Eiganjo Castle

Market Price: $13.69

I think this utility land has aged poorly compared to the other members of its rare legendary land cycle. That's partly because both burn spells and creatures deal more damage in 2026 than in 2004. Still, this is essentially a repeatable spell effect that doesn't cost you a spell slot, and it comes into play untapped, and it produces colored mana, so it remains a powerful option in aggressive Commander decks and even in mono-white Legacy Death and Taxes decks that often feature Yorion, Sky Nomad as Companion.

12. Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker

Market Price: $15.33

What a classic card! Kiki-Jiki has terrorized multiple formats in the past 20 years thanks to its infinite interaction with Pestermite and later Deceiver Exarch and Restoration Angel.  That combo may not quite cut it in today's competitive Constructed formats, but he still sees play in over 100,000 Commander decks. He's also been honored with an homage card in the form of Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, which bundles his copy ability with, like, 16 other effects. Now, that's a Modern-playable card. Power creep is real, and it will hurt you!

11. Oathkeeper, Takeno's Daisho

Market Price: $16.86

This isn't our first member of the Never Been Reprinted Club — Konda's Banner has that honor, and Eiganjo Castle does, too, if you don't count The List — but this looks like a card that may never see another printing, unless it's in some sort of Samurai-themed Secret Lair, because its ability is so specific. Where does that leave it in terms of playability? Predictably, it sees play in a handful of EDHREC decks (where a handful means 10,000) helmed almost entirely by Samurai, like Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima and Tetsuo, Imperial Champion.

In those decks, though, it can put a decent shift in, especially in conjunction with Ashnod's Altar and a way to take advantage of death triggers, like Blood Artist:

10. Boseiju, Who Shelters All

Market Price: $17.06

A unique and repeatable effect does wonders for Boseiju's value, as it does for Azusa. In Modern, it's a great tool in Through the Breach decks that want to sneak in Eldrazi, like Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and Ulamog, the Defiler. If you're playing green, you can even fetch this up with Sowing Mycospawn. It plays a similar role in Commander: insurance for big spells against blue decks.

9. Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep

Market Price: $17.64

I cannot emphasize enough how good lands with repeatable spell-like effects are in Commander, and indeed, in Magic: The Gathering at large. When you play this as a land for your turn, you've essentially drawn a combat trick that can be cast every turn for just two mana: one red mana and the mana you lost by tapping Shinka for its ability. This member of the cycle is pretty good in any aggressive red deck in 100-card formats, helping your creatures, especially your commanders, win combat and making it more likely that you'll get the monarchy back or trigger on-attack abilities, for example. The fewer colors you're playing, the better this gets, too.

8. Hall of the Bandit Lord

Market Price: $19.86

Though CHK was all about Spirits and legends, it seems to be the set's nonbasic lands that have held up really well after more than two decades. Giving your creatures haste for 3 life and just one mana is very good, considering that the aggressive decks that want to play this care much more about their opponent's life total than their own. In Commander, Hall shines in decks that rely on powerful commander activated abilities or attack triggers, like those of Kaalia of the Vast, Krenko, Mob Boss, and Gwenom, Remorseless. It's also been reprinted only on The List and in a Secret Lair.

7. Dosan the Falling Leaf

Market Price: $25.56

Disruptive 2/2 creatures are pretty common in MTG, but this one costs more than a dime a Dosan because cards like City of Solitude, Grand Abolisher and Dragonlord Dromoka can win you the game on the spot if they're unanswered and you've got your infinite combo ready to go. When a deck wants one of these effects, it probably wants multiples, so he falls into Commander builds that really want to create big turns, like Korvold, Fae-Cursed King and Yisan, the Wanderer Bard. He also makes sure that Yurlok of Scorch Thrash does max damage, hopefully in conjunction with a Nyxbloom Ancient.

6. Marrow-Gnawer

Market Price: $25.67

Like a few cards on this list, he's been reprinted in The List and a Secret Lair, but Marrow-Gnawer has also sunk his teeth into a Bloomburrow Commander deck, because he offers Krenko, Mob Boss-like upside in a dedicated Rats deck. He's even almost cracked the top 100 commanders on EDHREC, because Rat Colony is a popular deck and he makes them go brrr.

5. Masako the Humorless

Market Price: $25.76

Finding out where I could play this card was no joke, as her effect is definitely unique, but also pretty niche. EDHREC's Paul Palmer had my back in his Sonic the Hedgehog deck tech, though, coming up with the idea of using The Seriema to tutor for her then leveraging her ability to allow you to tap your board to station the Spacecraft.

New and quirky interactions like that are always going to pop up, especially with so many cards getting printed every year, and some of these, like her enabling stationed creatures to block, have the potential to spike a bulk rare into a $25 card. She's in the NBRC, too.

4. Kokusho, the Evening Star

Market Price: $26.11

One of his best use cases is a mono-black infinite combo involving Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and Yawgmoth, Thran Physician:

His death trigger is also pretty useful in a wide range of Commander decks, from Teysa Karlov doubling the life loss to Henzie "Toolbox" Torre casting this for a vastly discounted rate and using recursion like Bala Ged Recovery and Rise of the Witch-king.

3. Sensei's Divining Top

Market Price: $42.87

It's so good, it's banned in Modern and Legacy! Okay, that might not be entirely true. I'm pretty sure it was banned partly because of how much time players spend spinning the Top and deciding what order to stack their deck in. Thankfully, it's still legal in Commander and Cube where you can pair it with with Bolas's Citadel and Aetherflux Reservoir for an excellent impression of the Death Star. It's in over 400,000 decks in that format, which indicates to me just how much Commander players enjoy a nice, long game.

2. Shizo, Death's Storehouse

Market Price: $44.24

In Commander, this is mostly better than Shinka, because ensuring that your creature with a combat damage ability or attack trigger gets in there safely much stronger than helping you defeat a blocker. That is certainly reflected in Shizo's play rate: it's in over 200,000 decks. Like Hall, this helps Kaalia of the Vast enter combat and dump a game-winning creature into play, but it's also one of the better utility lands you can run in Ninja decks, often led by Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow.

1. Minamo, School at Water's Edge

Market Price: $58.40

Now we're talking! There are tons of ways you can go infinite with this and a legendary permanent, including this combo with Chromatic Orrery:

The thing is, and I know I've harped on about this, even if you don't assemble a combo, you didn't lose anything, because you still got to play this as your land drop. Likewise, you don't have to go infinite with Rings of Brighthearth to generate extra mana with Orrery. Minamo has basically no downside, making it something of a Commander staple and one that's only been reprinted in Tales of Middle-earth Commander, too.

Kami Soon, to a Listicle Near You

What I learned from this list: a set don't need strong mechanics, it just needs splashy spells, unique effects, and useful utility lands to offer value even 22 years after release. No card broke the $100-ceiling, though. Maybe the small set Betrayers of Kamigawa will perform better? Find out next time!