Rare Magic: The Gathering card breaks record with sale of US$3 million

A rare Magic: The Reunion card sold for US$3 million, making it the most expensive Magic card already sold.

And before you ask, Magic nerds, of course it was a Black Lotus. The card sale was announced last week by CGC Cards, a certification and grading company for trading cards, video games, comics and more.

The Black Lotus is the Holy Grail of Magic cards. It was first printed as part of the card game’s Alpha and Beta sets released with the game’s debut in 1993. Although highly sought after as a collector’s item, the card itself is unplayable as it has been banned in all formats, except one, because it’s simply too powerful, allowing players to create three mana of any color for the very low price of free. The card belongs to a special set of Magic cards called Power Nine — expensive, rare, but unplayable cards that are incredibly caught.

In addition to Black Lotus, Power Nine consists of five other similar cards that allow you to create mana for free and three blue mana cards because blue is simply the forbidden color for fun. While unplayable in most formats, Black Lotus has been remixed into slightly different cards with similar powers but better balance.

The record-breaking $3 million Black Lotus was graded by CGC Cards and graded 10, or in “immaculate” condition, making it the highest quality Black Lotus card ever sold. The lowest quality Black Lotus cards sold for around six figures.