Magic: The Gathering has been operating for literal many years, and whereas reprints will all the time hold making harder-to-find playing cards a bit of simpler to gather, there are some playing cards so uncommon that they develop into nearly like city legend.
There are playing cards value hundreds, for instance, however there are additionally playing cards value tens of millions, from wild serialized, one-of-a-kind prints like The One Ring (famously bought by Put up Malone) to playing cards like Time Stroll, which had been so highly effective they’ve been banned.
Beneath, you’ll discover among the priciest playing cards round, marking among the rarest within the recreation’s historical past.
Magic: The Gathering’s Rarest Playing cards Of All Time
10 – Time Stroll (Alpha)
A card from the sport’s Alpha Version, Time Stroll has bought for round $25,000 and supplied an additional flip for a measly two mana, which means it was banned fairly swiftly.
It’s not authorized in any format, however for collectors it’s a bit of Magic historical past regardless, forming a part of the ‘Energy 9’ (extra on these shortly).
9 – Euroakus
A card so uncommon that TCGPlayer doesn’t have it, Euroakus was a Heroes of the Realm card awarded to Wizards’ European Crew in 2020.
Heroes of the Realm playing cards are given to Wizards staff, with their title printed. As Wargamer explains, one in all these Euroakus playing cards was bought for $25,200 in 2022, however the title was blurred out.
8 – Phoenix Coronary heart
Magic: The Gathering Phoenix Coronary heart
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Phoenix Coronary heart may not be authorized (it doesn’t truly have an impact), but it surely’s very candy. Richard Garfield, creator of Magic: The Gathering, has the cardboard printed to have a good time his wedding ceremony to Koni Kim and ship it out among the many wedding ceremony invitations.
It’s beforehand bought for $27,500, which is even higher than an open bar at a marriage when you ask us.
7 – Splendid Genesis
Magic: The Gathering Splendid Genesis
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Richard Garfield commemorated the start of his first baby with this neat card. Splendid Genesis reads, “Shuffle all playing cards within the recreation collectively and deal them into three decks. The sport continues with a brand new participant.”
Naturally, it serves no gameplay goal, but it surely’s a healthful card that also fetched round $72,000 at public sale in 2022. Solely 110 had been printed.
6 – Timetwister
Magic: The Gathering Timetwister
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Keep in mind once we talked about the ‘Energy 9’ earlier? Right here’s one other, and sure, it’s banned.
Timetwister places your hand, library, and graveyard collectively and allows you to draw one other hand of seven playing cards. Basically resetting your deck (and your opponents) whereas leaving the board state as it’s – a neat trick, and one that somebody paid $84,000 for.
5 – Lord of the Pit
Magic: The Gathering Lord of the Pit
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Demon decks are all the trend today, however Lord of the Pit was one of many first. It’s a 7/7 with Flying and Trample that does harm to its proprietor until they sacrifice a creature.
Whereas it’s bought for as excessive as $105,000 prior to now, there are reprints. The truth is, you’ll be able to seize one for underneath 50 cents on TCGPlayer.
4 – Mox Opal
Magic: The Gathering Mox Opal
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There are 5 ‘Moxes’ included within the ‘Energy 9’ (scroll down for the complete checklist), and whereas the impact of including a single mana could seem a bit of tame, it’s a strong ramp within the early turns.
It’s been bought for $108,000 prior to now, however we will’t discover it on TCGPlayer. As a substitute, a more moderen model (which faucets for any colour however requires a number of artifacts be in play) is accessible as an alternative. It’ll price you $160, thoughts.
3 – Autographed Black Lotus
The enduring Black Lotus pops up on this checklist twice, with an autographed model signed by its illustrator, Christopher Rush, going for round $511k.
And but, Put up Malone claims to have purchased a equally signed one for $800k, and that brings us properly to…
2 – One in all One Ring
Whereas some purists felt the chase of a single ‘one in all one’ model of The One Ring made the sport of Magic extra of a sideshow to a Willy Wonka-esque spectacle, it’s develop into legendary.
The cardboard was discovered and bought to Put up Malone for round $2 million, though there have been options it was greater than $2.5 million. You should buy one of many extra generally obtainable ones on your assortment for round $70 when you’re eager.
Magic: The Gathering The One Ring
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1 – Black Lotus
Magic: The Gathering Black Lotus
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The one card that’s bought for greater than the ‘One in all One Ring’ is a Black Lotus card in pristine situation, sans autograph.
A personal purchaser snapped up a Pristine 10 graded model of the long-lasting card for $3 million in 2024, making this the most costly Magic: The Gathering card. You should buy a ‘reasonably performed’ model proper now for $79k.
A fast look on eBay reveals a good few on the market nonetheless, however in various graded circumstances.
Can You Nonetheless Pack The Rarest Magic: The Gathering Playing cards?
Positive, you can, however your likelihood is astronomically low. Most of the playing cards on this checklist have not been printed for years, and whereas there are nonetheless worthwhile playing cards to search out in packs (we have a rundown of the most useful ones in Fringe of Eternities), you’d need to discover a tremendous dusty previous pack to get among the playing cards on this web page.
That makes the secondary market the one possibility for collectors.
Magic: The Gathering’s Energy 9 Defined
We’ve referred to the ‘Energy 9’ on this checklist a number of instances, so right here’s each entry, and their results.
Black Lotus
Provides 3 mana of any single colour of your option to your mana pool, then is discarded. Tapping this artifact could be performed as an interrupt.
The Mox: Emerald, Jet, Pearl, Ruby, Sapphire
Add 1 [color] mana to your mana pool. Tapping this artifact could be performed as an interrupt.
Ancestral Recall
Draw 3 playing cards or pressure opponent to attract 3 playing cards.
Timetwister
Set Timetwister apart in a brand new graveyard pile. Shuffle your hand, library, and graveyard collectively into a brand new library and draw a brand new hand of seven playing cards, leaving all playing cards in play the place they’re; opponent should do the identical.
Time Stroll
Take an additional flip after this one.
The Energy 9 had been discovered within the Alpha, Beta, and Limitless units of Magic: The Gathering.
Lloyd Coombes is an skilled freelancer in tech, gaming and health seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and plenty of extra. He is a giant fan of Magic: The Gathering and different collectible card video games, a lot to his spouse’s dismay.
