Magic: The Gatheringhas many different types of creatures. Here we are focusing on the most valuable birds. There are wizard birds, regular birds, bird dragons and even a chocobo. The selection is more diverse than you may have expected, and each one is valuable to us.
However, as with all MTG cards, these birds also have a dollar value. Here we look at how much the current market price is and then explore other important bird card facts, such as which bird has a cool hat, and which one can get you out of a legal mess.
All prices taken fromTCG Player. We haven’t included Casal, Lurkwood Pathfinder, since she does not appear on her card’s front face in bird form. No part-time birds allowed.
10Ledger Shredder - $7
Streets Of New Capenna
The Ledger Shredder lives up to his name in this card depicting him making short work of some scrolls with his talons. As the shredded paper drifts away, it’s surrounded by a blue glow that suggests it may also self-destruct or something similarly spy movie-like.
This legal eagle, in every sense of the word, looks smart and has a non-nonsense expression. He even performs connive when you cast your second spell. I wonder if he also gives cheep legal advice…
9Maha, It’s Feathers Night - $8
Bloomburrow
Maha is a legendary creature, an elemental bird whose wingspan is said to reach from dusk to dawn. While I’m not entirely sure of the scale used here, this certainly does look like a magnificent bird. They tower over the surrounding vegetation in this artwork, which depicts the eeriness well.
The bright colors, yet cloudy sky work well with this card that features flying, trample, and the ward ability. Just verify to account for the base toughness increase to your opponent’s creatures. It’s a tradeoff you could be overwhelmed by if you aren’t careful.
8Keeper Of The Nine Gales - $10
Legions
This particular bird wizard is Keeper Of The Nine Gales. However, the artwork here does seem to suggest he’s not actually that good at it. As he holds aloft some kind of giant hoop on a stick, the expression on his face is less “I am in control!” and more “arrrrgh, I’m in control?” This is backed up by the card text, “you cannot fight the storm.”
When even the card knows the task is futile, I’m still unsure why this terrified-looking bird has been given the task of trying to tame a storm. However, here we are, so maybe some love and praise for this brave bird who has been given the short straw, which has probably already blown away.
7Zodiac Rooster - $11
Portal Three Kingdoms
The Zodiac Rooster is an impressive animal. It can Plainswalk, meaning it cannot be blocked if the defending player has a plains card in play. However, I am yet to discover what this has to do with the Zodiac. Most signs are symbolized by animals or people, so I can see how they can plainswalk, but what about Libra? The concept of balance has no legs and neither does a set of scales.
Still, if we ignore the practicalities, this rooster does look impressive standing in front of the carved zodiac symbols. Maybe that was why he got the name?
6Birds Of Paradise - $12
Secret Lair Drop - Extra Life 2022
The Birds Of Paradise card from the Extra Life 2022 SLD is one of my favorites. There are two versions of this everyberry-loving bird in the set; one drawn by Andrea Radeck, age 35, and the other by Eli, age 8. I’m unsure if they were both given the same image as a prompt or if one drew based on the other’s image, but the result is a masterpiece either way.
I especially like the cleanness of Eli’s drawing: head, beak, wings, big rainbow tail. Add another rainbow in the background. Done. Some excellent coloring in with a bit of shading. Perfect. Andrea’s version is also great, but sorry my vote for the simplicity of Eli’s. It’s close though, so don’t feel bad. Both of you did far better than I ever could.
5Dragonhawk, Fate’s Tempest - $14
Dragonhawk, Fate’s Tempest is a bird dragon which is surely one of the most awesome kinds of birds. The artwork is the star here as you see the hawk’s wings extend, showing the webbed dragon-style wings.
This card does all kinds of cool-sounding things, but I’ll be honest, I was more captivated by the idea of merging a dragon and an eagle. Also, the background looks like a puzzle I need to solve. I may be a while.
4Slickshot Show-Off - $15
Outlaws Of Thunder Junction
Slickshot Show-Off is a very aptly named bird wizard. He is completely showing off in this artwork where he sports a snazzy outfit, a cool hat and summons red lighting from his talons. He even has a fancy dress shirt on.
Anyone who has seen Dimension 20’s Escape From The Bloodkeep, knows that birds in pants and a hat are the height of style and awesomeness.
The spread wings and focus on his face show that he knows he’s cool. He’s also got flying, haste, and gets a +2/+0 until the end of his turn when you cast a spell. That’s one slick bird.
3Nesting Dovehawk - $17
March Of The Machine Commander
The Nesting Dovehawk is shown here doing what it does best, making a nest. Somehow it’s found a leaf that looks like it was attacked by a crafty kid with a pair of scissors, and is bringing it to its young, who are still safely inside their eggs. I’m not sure why, but it looks like these eggs are about to get a garnish.
The ability of this card, populate, matches the artwork well. However, there is no mention of making sure that the extra creatures you can summon look nice and presentable before they are served to the enemy. Although you do get to garnish this card with a +1/+1 counter whenever a creature enters the battlefield.
2Oracle Of The Alpha - $290
Mystery Booster 2
The Oracle of the Alpha was originally a digital-only card and has the power to take any game into ‘all bets are off’ territory. It’s easy to see why, since it brings the Power Nine into your deck, and allows you to scry one on each attack. All for the cost of just two colorless and one blue mana.
If you do drop the cash on this powerful bird wizard, just make sure your opponent doesn’t know about the whole illegal in all paper formats part.
The Power Nine are the most powerful cards in MTG history, represented here through the pendants on chains which come out of the bird wizard’s spell book, flying around him. This has to be the most powerful bird in MTG as well as one of the best-looking. He has style, he has grace, he’ll wipe you of the face… of the board.
1Traveling Chocobo - From $29 - $3748
Final Fantasy
The traveling chocobo from the Final Fantasy crossover looks glorious in this reasonably priced card, which shows them racing through a field. You can see their feet prancing and the cute smile on their face. However, if you like your chocobos to look slightly terrifying and very neon, then the price is going to fly up.
The basic version of what I like to call an overly enthusiastic chocobo is only around $40, but if you want nice matching borders, or any color that isn’t yellow, then you better hope your pockets are deep.
Pink, blue, yellow, and green variants of this much more rambunctious chocobo with their cute color-matching borders are around $1000 each currently. However, the Japanese-language black chocobo is the winner of the most ridiculously overpriced variant, valued at over $3,500 at the time of writing.
