Collecting · 7 min read
Which set is the best to collect
Five sets compared on what a full set costs, how deep the card pool goes, how concentrated the value is, and how much of it is locked behind chase cards.
There is no single best set. It depends what you want out of it. But the sets differ enormously on the things that actually decide whether a collection is fun or frustrating, and those differences are measurable.
The comparison
| Set | Released | Printings | Base set cost | Cost per card | Showcase | Set index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proving Grounds | 2025-10 | 23 | $41.21 | $1.72 | — | $1.79 |
| Spiritforged | 2026-02 | 285 | $209.07 | $0.942 | 66 | $72.44 |
| Origins | 2025-10 | 352 | $391.11 | $1.31 | 54 | $86.64 |
| Vendetta | 2026-07 | 225 | $1,791.16 | $9.00 | 8 | $38.61 |
| Unleashed | 2026-05 | 278 | $2,537.35 | $11.53 | — | $46.83 |
OGS
$41.64
SFD
$209.31
OGN
$391.60
VEN
$1.79K
UNL
$2.54K
Pick by what you want
- Cheapest complete project. Take the smallest base set cost in the table. Small sets finish fast, which matters more for motivation than people expect.
- Most chase potential. The sets that print Showcase cards. They carry the expensive printings, which means both more upside and a far higher ceiling on cost.
- Best value per card. The cost-per-card column. A low figure means you are buying a lot of cardboard per pound, which suits collectors who want a full binder.
- Newest. The most recent release has the least settled pricing. That cuts both ways: more opportunity, more risk of paying a release-window premium.
The trap
The instinct is to start with the biggest, most famous set. That is usually the one with the most Showcase printings, which makes it the most expensive to finish and the easiest to give up on. A smaller set completed is worth more to most collectors than a large set permanently at eighty percent.
If you are undecided, the honest advice is to pick the set whose cards you like looking at. Every figure on this page moves; the artwork does not.
Sets that skip Showcase printings look cheap here, and they genuinely are cheaper to complete, but they also have no high-end cards, so nothing in them will appreciate the way a chase card can. Cheap to finish and flat in value are the same fact.