The most valuable dragons in MTG

Like any fantasy franchise, Magic: The Gathering is filled to the brim with fire-breathing dragons. These cards feature some of the most notable characters in the game's history, such as Niv-Mizzet, Nicol Bolas, The Ur-Dragon, and many more.

In terms of gameplay, dragons are extremely powerful, and many dragon creatures have abilities that break the game in your favor right after they hit the board. When it comes to collecting, dragon creatures are almost always rare or mythic rarity, and as such are extremely sought after (and impressively valuable) among fans and collectors of the franchise. Let's dive in and take a look at the most valuable dragon cards of all time.

All card prices listed are from TCGPlayer's market price history for the last calendar year (unless otherwise stated) and may fluctuate over time. Also, there are no promo cards included (Secret Lair Drops don't count as promos).

10 Ancient Copper Dragon (Borderless) – Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate

Market price: $84.87

One of the “Ancient Dragons” series from the 2022 Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate set, this red dragon (aka Copper) is the most valuable of these cards, with this version averaging nearly $85 per Near. Mint copy.

All of these dragons feature game-changing abilities that revolve around rolling an icosahedron die—the DnD player's most loyal companion—with an ancient copper dragon that generates a number of treasure tokens equal to the number of dice rolled. A nifty reward for a powerful dragon.

9 Baby Dragon – Alpha

Market Price: $129.25 (via PriceCharting)

Coming from MTG's very first set, the Alpha, it was the first Dragon card ever (alphabetically before the first ever Dragon Rare), and as such is priced quite impressively at nearly $130 despite being an undersized uncommon.

Despite this, it has some extremely cute art from Amy Weber, who created countless notable pieces of art during the early years of Magic – including cards like Time Walk, Illusionary Mask, Fork, and the original Disenchant.

8 Retro Frame Utvara Hellkite (serial number) – Ravnica Remastered

Market price: $174.48

The first serialized card on this list features a stormingly powerful dragon that was first printed in 2012 in the Return to Ravnica: Utvara Hellkite set. This version was released in the Ravnica Remastered compilation set, which reprinted some of the most popular cards from the expansions that were set in the Ravnica plane.

This card's ability to put a 6/6 flying dragon token into play whenever you attack with a dragon is incredibly powerful, and note that the ability triggers once per dragon, so if you attack with five dragons, you get five tokens. Of course it should be, since this card costs a whopping eight mana.

7 Retro Frame Hellkite Tyrant (serial number) – Ravnica Remastered

Market price: $197.17

Another card from Ravnica Remastered, this Dragon debuted as a mythic rare from the 2013 Gatecrash set, but was downgraded to a simple rare in the compilation – although this serialized version has huge value on the secondary market due to its power level and iconic nature.

The “Hellkite” moniker in this card's name was first introduced in 1996 in the Mirage set with the nine-man Crimson Hellkite. Ever since this card was released, Hellkite has been used as an indicator of a hugely powerful and mana-hungry Dragon creature that is sure to have a huge impact when it hits the board.

6 Niv-Mizzet Reborn (serial number) – March of the Machine: Multiverse Legends

Market price: $238.92

Niv-Mizzet is one of the most powerful (and frankly, cool) dragons in Magic history, and as such, his appearance features prominently on the rest of this list. This version of Niv-Mizzet is a five-color beauty and comes from the 2023 March of the Machine set as part of the “Multiverse Legends” bonus sheet.

As one of WUBRG's top 11 cards of all time, this Niv-Mizzet card can bring you a lot of powerful spells from the top ten cards in your library upon entry, and the limited edition art of this card is sure to stand out in your collection – hence its market price of nearly $240.

5 Retro Frame Niv-Mizzet, Parun (serial number) – Ravnica Remastered

Market Price: $385.00

This six-mana Niv-Mizzet in Izzet (blue and red) costs a whopping three blue and three red mana to cast, but you get an incredibly powerful dragon wizard that pings your enemy whenever you draw a card and draws you a card when you cast an instant or enchant magic.

This Parun debuted in the 2018 Guilds of Ravnica set, marking the third ever Niv-Mizzet card after 2006's Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind and 2012's Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius. This 2024 version of Ravnica Remastered is sure to blow away all of those cards out of the water in terms of value as this card is worth $385.

4 Zodiac Dragon – Portal Three Kingdoms

Market price: $512.50

The only white-bordered card on this list is the Zodiac Dragon, which was only printed in Portal Three Kingdoms – one of the rarest and most valuable sets of all time. Not surprisingly, since this card comes from one of the least printed and hardest to find sets ever, its price is sky high.

The Zodiac Dragon was part of a series of cards in this set that featured the animals of the Chinese zodiac. Since Dragon is also among MTG's most popular creature types, it's not a stretch that it's the second most valuable card from Portal Three Kingdoms, after the notable Imperial Seal tutor card.

3 Niv-Mizzet, Guildpact (serial number) – Murders at Karlov Manor

Market price: $863.11

The newest (and last) Niv-Mizzet card on this list was printed in 2024 in Murders at Karlov Manor. Of course, any expansion that takes place on the plains of Ravnica must include everyone's favorite Parun, and Murders at Karlov Manor is no exception.

This card's $850+ price tag is likely due to the rare art and frame of the card, as well as the fact that this is another serialized card – major collectibles as they are extremely rare in terms of design (this time with only 250 copies printed).

2 Shivan Dragon (Serial Number) – Secret Lair Drop (Secret Lair 295)

Market price: $1,649.99

Speaking of serialized cards, this one might be one of the rarest when it comes to serialized cards – aside from The One Ring “one” card of course.

This Shivan Dragon was released as part of the Secret Lair Drop that was associated with MagicCon: Philadelphia in February 2023. In addition to this remarkable artwork of the first ever rare dragon in Magic history, this Secret Lair (Secret Lair 295) also contained some other notable cards from Alpha , including Swords to Plowshares, Giant Growth, and more. With a market price of $1,650, this one is pretty much limited to big collectors or people who were in attendance at MagicCon Philly.

1 Shivan Dragon – Alpha

Market Price: $4,525.88 (via PriceCharting)

As expected, the most valuable dragon card of all time comes from Magic's first set, Alpha, and it's the one and only Shivan Dragon. An iconic and legendary card, this version of the often overprinted Shivva will set you back over $4,500 for an ungraded copy. If you're looking for a high-rated one, that number can approach $10,000!

Surprisingly, this Dragon card is actually the eighth most valuable Alpha card of all time according to PriceCharting, and is worth more on average than the three Power Nine cards: Mox Jet, Time Walk, and Mox Pearl. Not bad for MTG's first ever big bad Dragon creature.