Most Frequently Reprinted

Giant Growth, the most reprinted Magic card

The last few posts have focused on unique cards or nuances to that (like tweaked or functional reprints). Now we'll go in the opposite direction: which Magic cards have been reprinted the most number of times? (We exclude basic lands, which of course appear in nearly every product.)

The Scryfall command is easy: sets=[x], where [x]=any whole number. I knew from a recent Cardmarket facebook post that Giant Growth had the most reprints, at 42. Starting there and working my way down, I find the following cards have been reprinted 20 times or more (meaning they've appeared in 20 or more different core sets, expansions, and/or special releases, like preconstructed decks):

42: Giant Growth

38: Serra Angel, Evolving Wilds

35: Disenchant

34: Dark Ritual

33: Counterspell, Llanowar Elves

31: Swords to Plowshares, Terramorphic Expanse

30: Air Elemental, Pacifism

29: Fireball, Shivan Dragon, Sol Ring

27: Giant Spider, Gravedigger

26: Lightning Bolt, Sengir Vampire, Unsummon, Wrath of God

25: Mind Rot, Stone Rain

24: Duress, Negate, Rampant Growth, Shock, Terror

23: Birds of Paradise, Naturalize, Shatter

22: Armageddon, Cancel, Fog, Harmonize

21: Brainstorm, Mahamoti Djinn, Nightmare, Raise Dead

20: Forgotten Cave, Healing Salve, Hurricane, Juggernaught, Lightning Greaves, Lure, Ornithopter, Sakura-Tribe Elder, Unholy Strength

From this list, we see the most reprinted card in each color, including the most common artifact and non-basic land. 

The card art (and often text) of these cards has changed over the years. To see all prints of a given card, use !"[card name]" in Scryfall.

As the number of reprints decreases, the number of cards get larger, as you'd expect:

19 reprints: 8 cards

18 reprints: 17 cards

17 reprints: 9 cards

16 reprints: 19 cards

15 reprints: 26 cards

14 reprints: 33 cards

13 reprints: 46 cards

12 reprints: 56 cards

11 reprints: 73 cards

10 reprints: 97 cards

9 reprints: 105 cards

8 reprints: 173 cards

7 reprints: 232 cards

6 reprints: 387 cards

5 reprints: 603 cards

4 reprints: 1171 cards

3 reprints: 2280 cards

2 reprints: 4942 cards

Since we know the total number of unique Magic cards is over 20,000, this means 10,000+ cards have never been reprinted- about half. Put the other way, about half of all Magic cards show up in at least two products.

One takeaway: if there's an older card that you want but cannot find, wait a few years; it may be reprinted. Another: reviewing the lists of cards gives insight into what Wizards considers the core of the game; more on this topic to come.