If you’re a fan of TCGs, you’ll know that Magic: The Gathering has some of the rarest and most valuable cards out there. So which are the most expensive Magic: The Gathering cards, and what kind of compensation could you expect to receive if you had one that you'd be willing to sell?
We've used the Card Kingdom website as the guideline for our estimated prices and will count down to reveal the most expensive card in The Gathering series.
Read on to find out more about the most expensive Magic: The Gathering Cards with help from Ask Genie!
15. Stasis
The Stasis card must be one of the most disliked MTG cards in the game's history. It's not one of the rarest MTG cards out there and is currently legal in all forms of gameplay. The stasis card is an enchantment card and allows players to skip their untap steps in Magic: The Gathering.
What Stasis is worth
The Stasis card makes our most expensive Magic: The Gathering list due to the Alpha version selling for approximately $3,000 CAD, and the Alpha is also much rarer than the other card versions.
14. Bazaar of Baghdad
The founders released the Arabian Nights edition of Magic: The Gathering at the end of 1993. Players suddenly had a new 78-card set, including the Bazaar of Baghdad land card, to use. It allows you to draw two cards and remove three others from your hand. You cannot cast spells between discarding and drawing cards while dealing with this Arabian Nights card.
What Arabian Nights' Bazaar of Baghdad is worth
Arabian Nights' Magic: The Gathering cards have become rare and expensive Magic cards over the years. An Arabian Nights' Bazaar of Baghdad Alpha card will cost a buyer in the region of $3,760.
13. Mishra's Workshop
The rare Mishra's Workshop Magic cards form part of the 1994 release of the Antiquities edition of Magic: The Gathering cards. If you could use this card in MTG gameplay, you could tap to add three mana (colourless) to your mana pool, which you can use to cast artifacts. Unfortunately, gameplay using these MTG cards is now banned.
What Antiquities' Mishra's Workshop is worth
Mishra's Workshop is the most expensive MTG card of the 87 released in the Antiquities edition. A fair price for these rare cards would be in the region of $4,300.
12. Time Vault
Time Vault is an artifact card that enters the battlefield tapped but doesn't untap during the untap step. On beginning a turn with Time Vault tapped, you can choose to skip that turn instead while untapping your Time Vault card. You should think carefully about when to untap, as the right timing could be advantageous later.
What Time Vault is worth
Depending on the condition, the limited edition Alpha/Beta Time Vault cards will fetch you between $4,800 and $7,000.
11. Taiga
Taiga MTG cards are rare Magic cards still used in the game's Revised edition. The cards count as both forest and mountains, affected by spells that harm either. Taiga is the original and arguably the greatest mountain and forest dual land with access to green and red mana from the game's first turn.
What's Taiga is worth
The Taiga card makes our most expensive Magic cards list, as its market price ranges between $5,100 and $8,600, depending on the card version.
10. Mox Pearl
The Mox Pearl artifact card is the first of five Mox cards to appear on our list. Mox Pearl adds one white mana to your mana pool and enables the ramping out of powerful spells ahead of the curve. Commander and Legacy game versions have banned Mox Pearl, while the Vintage version sees it restricted.
What a Mox Pearl is worth
Whether they're Alpha or Beta, the limited edition Mox Pearl cards range between $16,000 and $23,500.
9. Time Walk
Time Walk is a sorcery card in Magic: The Gathering. When extra turn effects resolve in the same turn, using Time Walk means you can take them in the reverse order that the effects resolved. Time Walk is one of the game's blue cards and allows you to take an extra turn after your current one during gameplay.
What Time Walk is worth
Time Walk is a rare Magic card, and the Beta limited edition version will cost you around $11,800. The Alpha version currently goes for $28,200 when available.
8. Mox Jet
A Mox Jet artifact card in your possession means you can generate an extra black mana point every turn and cast some of the most damaging spells in the game. The Mox Jet and other cards in the Mox cycle allow you to bypass the one land per turn rule and ramp out effective spells ahead of the curve. Most game forms have banned Mox Jet cards.
What Mox Jet is worth
Beta Mox Jet limited edition MTG cards can cost up to $22,800, while the Alpha version generally costs upwards of $29,500.
7. Mox Emerald
The Mox Emerald is a highly-respected artifact card for game players widely regarded as the ultimate in artifact mana. Banned in the Commander game version, the Mox Emerald card allows the player in possession to add one green mana to their mana pool, and you can tap your Mox Emerald to play an interrupt.
What Mox Emerald is worth
Whether you own or want to buy the Alpha, if you can locate it, or the Beta card, Mox Emerald pricing will either gain you or cost you between $16,100 and $30,900.
6. Underground Sea
The Underground Sea card is a dual lands card, which means it has two land types and, unlike later dual land cards, has none of the limitations assigned to those cards. Only Underground Sea and the Power Nine cards possess this dual lands feature and can enter a battlefield tapped.
What Underground Sea is worth
Like most other cards on our list, Underground Sea appears on the reserved list. Hence this iconic card value is high, and it is much sought-after. The Alpha and Beta versions fetch between $14,750 and $33,600.
5. Ancestral Recall
Ancestral Recall is one of the most expensive Magic: The Gathering cards with a long history. It is a vintage format Magic gathering card and one of the game's formative three-for-one MTG cards. The Ancestral Recall card allows players to draw three additional cards or compel a rival to do the same.
Drawing three cards can work in both scenarios. Using Ancestral Recall can give you several gameplay options while forcing an opponent to draw them means you could take numerous cards from their deck. Using an Ancestral Recall card correctly makes it an incredibly powerful card to play.
What Ancestral Recall is worth
Ancestral Recall occupies 5th place on our list, making it a most valuable Magic: The Gathering card. The Beta version of Ancestral Recall will cost you $14,750, with the Alpha's estimated price coming in at $37,600.
4. Timetwister
Timetwister is a member of the Power Nine set of elite cards in Magic: The Gathering. The Power Nine are nine rare cards in Alpha, Beta, and Unlimited sets. Playing this sorcery card allows you to restart a game, and you can use the card to return your most powerful cards to your deck.
All Power Nine cards are currently restricted in Vintage format and banned in Legacy, the only tournaments where they could have been legal. Timetwister is the only one of the Power Nine rare MTG cards legal in Commander format.
What Timetwister is worth
Timetwister MTG cards will fetch you, or cost you, between $16,900 and $39,000, depending on the Alpha or Beta versions you find and their conditions.
3. Mox Ruby
The Mox Ruby card is also one of the rare Power Nine cards. Now banned in most forms of gameplay, players regard Mox Ruby artifact cards as among the ten most powerful cards ever printed for MTG gameplay. The Mox Ruby allows players to gain an extra point of red mana per turn.
The Mox cycle is potent, allowing you to 'cheat' the general one land per turn rule. These artifacts can ramp out powerful spells ahead of the curve, with Mox Ruby being one of the most expensive MTG cards among the Moxen. It is currently banned in Commander and Legacy and restricted in Vintage.
What Mox Ruby is worth
Mox Ruby Beta Magic: The Gathering cards cost $17,200, and the Alpha version will set you back about $40,300. That's if you can find them, as they are highly sought-after and rare cards.
2. Mox Sapphire
The Alpha edition of the rare Mox Sapphire MTG card reportedly includes misprints, with one being the incorrect spelling of the card artist, Douglas Shuler's name. The Mox Sapphire is another member of the Power Nine set and the last Mox card on our list, and players regard it as one of the most valuable Mox cards in the MTG Mox jewel set.
Like all of the other Mox cards, the Mox Sapphire is a zero mana card, meaning you can cast spells without using your magic. Free spells are dangerous but being lucky enough to have a Mox Sapphire card, or another of the most expensive MTG cards with no need for mana use, in your possession makes a free spell worth the risk.
What Mox Sapphire is worth
The Beta edition of the Mox Sapphire card sells for around $17,200, while selling your Mox Sapphire Alpha version could net you a cool $43,000, making it one of the most expensive MTG cards on the market.
1. Black Lotus
The Black Lotus tops our list as the most expensive Magic: The Gathering card on the market, and hence, one of the most valuable cards in card gaming's history. The Black Lotus card has a rich history in MTG, forming part of the original Alpha and Beta sets in 1993.
As one of the legendary Power Nine, all printed initially simultaneously, the Black Lotus card is not only one of the most expensive MTG cards but is also considered the rarest. It was extremely powerful as it granted the player in its possession triple mana for zero cost.
With the early-game advantages it afforded players, it was no surprise when creators discontinued the card in subsequent editions of MTG. Black Lotus was also immediately banned in all official tournament formats, except Vintage, which limited it to a single card per pack.
What Black Lotus is worth
The Black Lotus is far and away the most expensive card in the almost three-decade history of Magic: The Gathering. Should you find a Beta edition card, you can expect to pay about $67,700 for the privilege of owning it. That's not too bad, you may say. But wait, there's more.
Should you succeed in locating an Alpha edition Black Lotus MTG card and manage to convince the owner to part with it, be prepared to pay close to $150,000 USD or $201,500 CAD for the honour.
If you have one of these MTG cards in your possession and are thinking of selling it, be assured that there will be no shortage of eager buyers, and you could probably name your price. Yes, they are genuinely that rare and sought-after.
Undoubtedly, Black Lotus overshadows all the others as the most expensive Magic: The Gathering card in history while cementing its status as the most valuable magic card.
Discover More of the Most Expensive Things in the World With Spin Genie
Would you be prepared to pay some of these soaring prices for any of these MTG cards? Why not try your luck with Spin Genie? You might be able to purchase one of these cards for yourself.
Why not? It’s an investment, after all!
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