What are the most expensive MTG cards of all time? Buying singles can be a cheap way to expand your collection, but properly rare Magic: The Gathering cards are a different story, with prices ranging from a few thousand to two million dollars. We don’t recommend paying tens of thousands of dollars for a small cardboard rectangle to anyone – but it’s fun to dream about owning them and goggle at the prices, so we regularly track the most valuable Magic cards and their sale values here.
Much like the world’s most expensive Pokémon cards, most expensive Yugioh cards – and, these days, the most expensive Lorcana cards in the Disney TCG – some Magic: The Gathering cards have become ultra-valuable, prized items, ballooning in price on the second-hand market.
Generally, it’s not simply because of their power – though the Power 9 do rank amongst the most valuable Magic cards, most pricey entries come from the oldest MTG sets, and are prized just as much for their age and scarcity as their actual effect. Here you’ll find a list of the most expensive rare Magic cards ever made, along with the highest prices they have sold for.
The 12 most expensive Magic: The Gathering cards are:
- The One of One Ring – $2 million
- Black Lotus Autographed Alpha – $511,100
- Mox Opal – $108,000
- Timetwister Alpha – $84,000
- Splendid Genesis – $72,000
- Phoenix Heart – $27,500
- Euroakus – $25,200
- Time Walk Alpha – $25,000
- Fraternal Exaltation – $23,750
- Ancestral Recall Alpha and Beta – $20,000
- Mox Sapphire Alpha – $18,000
- Mox Ruby Alpha – $10,000
- Underground Sea Alpha – $7,000
The One of One Ring
Price: $2 million
Printed for the 2023 Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle Earth set, the 1/1 The One Ring is both the newest and the most expensive magic card on this list. This very special edition printing of the regular The One Ring card replaces the rules text with the elvish inscription on the jewelry.
It also comes with unique art, and a gold serial number – 001 / 001. That’s right – only one copy of this card was ever printed.
The hunt for the one-of-one One Ring was a major factor in the success of the already extremely successful Lord of the Rings set, as fans from around the world opened packs and prayed they would be the lucky one to find the elusive artifact. A bidding war began before the card was even discovered, and had escalated all the way up to $2 million (plus a paella) before it was eventually found.
Rapper and Magic: the Gathering superfan Post Malone purchased the One Ring card. Though the amount he spent isn’t available publicly, estimates of $2.6 million circulated, and seem quite realistic given the hype for the card at the time.
Black Lotus Autographed Alpha
Price: $800,000
Magic: The Gathering’s most famous flower is also its most prized card. Long coveted as a collector’s piece, a mint-condition Black Lotus from the game’s 1993 Alpha set (the first print run of MTG’s original core set), signed by illustrator Christopher Rush, sold for a whopping $511,100 / £360,427 in an eBay auction in January 2021.
That would make this Black Lotus the second most expensive MTG card ever sold – except that Post Malone recently claimed to have bought a similar Black Lotus for $800,000. That man really has the monopoly on pricey Magic cards.
Besides its mythos, the card is prized for its powerful effect. An Artifact that requires no mana to play, Black Lotus adds three mana of any color to your pool, letting you cast powerful spells rapidly in the early game. It also has a spot on the MTG Reserved List – a selection of cards that Wizards has sworn never to reprint, keeping their price high on the secondary market.
Mox Opal
Price: $108,000
Plenty of cards from Magic’s Alpha set are worth money in pristine condition, and Mox Opal is no different. It’s an esteemed member of the ‘Power 9’, nine cards from MTG’s early sets that are still considered some of the most powerful in the game.
Mox Opal is one of five ‘Moxes’ found among the Power 9. Each of these offers a very simple effect: add one mana of a particular color to your mana pool. It doesn’t sound explosive, but it gives you a way to bypass the standard restriction on how many lands you can play per turn. More mana means bringing stronger cards out faster, and that makes victory far more likely.
Unsurprisingly, Mox Opal and its siblings are banned in most formats. Their power and scarcity, however, mean they’re gems of great value. The priciest sale we’ve seen recently is this PSA 10 copy, which sold for a shiny $108,000.
Timetwister Alpha
Price: $84,000
Timetwister is one of the coveted ‘Power 9’ cards printed in Alpha, Beta, and Unlimited. These early cards remain staples of most banlists thanks to their explosive abilities, and Timetwister is no exception. Its particular party trick was being the ultimate reset card.
When played, you’ll combine your hand, library, and graveyard, give the deck a good shuffle, and draw a fresh seven-card hand. Then, your opponent gets to do the same. It was absurdly good with other fast mana spells, letting you empty your whole hand, and then get a brand-new one.
Found on the Reserved List, Timetwister’s price has gradually increased over the years, with the most expensive copy we found evidence of selling on Fanatics Collect (formerly PWCC) for an astounding $84,000.
Splendid Genesis
Price: $72,000
In 1997, Magic founder Richard Garfield wanted to commemorate the creation of something even bigger than a trading card game: a brand-new person. Splendid Genesis is a card that marks the birth of Garfield’s first child, and only 110 copies were ever printed.
These cards weren’t ever made publicly available. However, Garfield did hand some out to close loved ones, such as Wizards of the Coast employees, family, and friends.
Despite their private distribution, some of these prestigious cards eventually reached the secondary market. The highest-selling copy we found was graded a Near Mint 8 by Beckett, and sold in 2022 for $72,000.
Phoenix Heart
Splendid Genesis was one of several cards that MTG creator Richard Garfield used to celebrate life events. In 2014, he designed Phoenix Heart to honor his upcoming wedding to Koni Kim. The number of cards printed is unknown, but we do know that Garfield sent out copies along with his wedding invitations – cute.
In April 2023, a copy of this romantic gesture was sold via Heritage Auctions for $27,500. This grade-8 card was apparently the first time that a copy was available as part of a public auction. Wherever the remaining copies are hiding, they’re likely worth even more money if they’re in a more pristine condition.
Euroakus
Price: $25,200
Every year, MTG publisher Wizards of the Coast shares Heroes of the Realm cards with its high-performing teams. These cards are printed in extremely limited quantities, and they’re unique to the person gifted them – to the point of including the individual recipient’s name.
Euroakus was a Heroes of the Realm card given to Wizards’ European Team in 2020 for its work promoting MTG and D&D across the continent. The most expensive sale we’ve seen was when Euroakus went for $25,200 in December 2022. The name has been blurred out in the sale images, so it’s not clear who the original owner was.
As you’d expect for one-off cards, Heroes of the Realm pieces are illegal in all formats, with the special exception of commander. A member of the former commander rules committee dubbed them legal but only for the person whose name is on the card – meaning that, as soon as they’re sold, they go from functional playing pieces to pure collector’s items.
Time Walk Alpha
Price: $25,000
Another member of the ultra-rare and ultra-powerful Power 9, Time Walk is a straightforward rulebreaker that lets you take an extra turn for two mana. Play another one straight after, and it’s not too hard to see why this card was added to the MTG banlist along with the rest of its ilk, shortly after its release in Alpha.
Copies of Time Walk usually go for several thousand dollars, depending on the condition. The biggest sale we’ve spotted, though, is a 9.5 Gem Mint copy, which went for $25,000 in mid-2024.
Fraternal Exaltation
When Richard Garfield’s second child was born, he created yet another Magic card to commemorate the milestone. Fraternal Exaltation was illustrated by Garfield’s sister Susan, and only around 220 copies were ever made.
As you’d expect, there aren’t many Fraternal Exaltations floating around now. A version sold for $23,750 on Heritage Auctions in 2023. This had a CGC grading of only a 6, so if a higher-quality version ever came on the market, we’d expect it to go for a lot more.
Ancestral Recall Alpha
Price: $20,000
Although it might not possess the same fame as Black Lotus, Ancestral Recall packs all the same utility. This fellow oldie lets you draw three cards for one blue mana.
It’s a simple ability, but it makes Ancestral Recall one of the best draw cards in the game, as well as incredibly effective for gaining an advantage over your opponent. Copies of Ancestral Recall, taken from MTG’s Alpha and Beta editions are listed for sale at around $20,000 / £14,100 in 2021, with near-mint versions going for significantly more.
Mox Sapphire Alpha
Price: $18,000
Mox Sapphire Alpha is one of several ‘Moxes’, rare Artifact cards printed in Magic’s Alpha and Beta editions (the first and second printings of the original core set). These golden oldies have been cropping up in auction houses for years, and they generally sell for a high, high price.
Each of these snazzy pieces of jewelry function similarly to Lands, adding one mana of a single color to your pool at no cost. However, while you can only play one Land per turn, you can slap down as many Moxes as you like, letting you build up a surge of mana, and unleash powerful spells before your opponent has the option of mounting a defense.
People have been clamoring for these pretties ever since their introduction. A mint Mox Sapphire, which provides blue mana, from the game’s Alpha set, lists upwards of $18,000 / £12,700 in 2021. You might think folks would prefer to buy a real gemstone with that money.
Mox Ruby Alpha
Price: $10,000
Another of the coveted Mox stones, the Mox Ruby matches the Mox Sapphire in effect, fame, and prettiness, but not color. This one produces red mana instead.
There’s little distinction between the Moxes, but Alpha and Beta Mox Ruby cards are usually listed at around $10,000 USD / £7,000 as of 2021. Maybe sapphires are just a little more chic.
Underground Sea Alpha
Price: $7,000
A Dual Land that pairs black and blue mana, Underground Sea lets you tap for either color at no additional cost. Although it’s just an improved basic Land card, this Alpha set card is particularly prized for having no downside – why use a Land that offers one color, when you could use a Land that offers two?
The card’s price has fluctuated in recent years, sitting around $7,000 / £4,900 in 2021, with prices still rising.
That’s it for our run-down of big money Magic cards for now!
For everything else Magic: The Gathering, check out our MTG release schedule guide to see what’s coming out next. For digital players, stay on top of the competition with the best MTG Arena decks, and use our up to date list of working MTG Arena codes to bag some free cards.
Source: Wargamer
