The most expensive Magic card continues to increase in value and is now priced at $540,000

Trading card games were booming during the corona pandemic. Cards from Pokémon or Magic: The Gathering fetched record prices. However, the market does not seem to have cooled down yet, as the famous “Black Lotus” went under the auction hammer – and continued to increase in value.

Which card is it? This is the Black Lotus card with illustrator Christopher Rush’s signature on the sleeve.

An almost identical card last went over the digital counter in early 2021 – at that time it ended up on Ebay for around 510,000 US dollars. At the latest auction, this value could still be topped. The card changed hands for $540,000 via the digital auction house PWCC. That’s almost 510,000 euros.

What makes the card so valuable? The Black Lotus is quite valuable and sought after on its own. Apparently, a new edition with the “Magic: The Gathering 30th Anniversary Edition” couldn’t change anything about that.

But this special Lotus card is something special again. Similar to the $510,000 card of 2021, the new $540,000 Lotus features a signature of the card’s illustrator on the front.

But it goes on.

The card received the “PSA 10” seal of quality from the Professional Sports Authenticators. This is the highest value for a trading card. It’s like a perfect card. According to the US site polygon.com, there are only six “PSA 10” cards from the Black Lotus (via polygon.com).

The original card was a limited edition anyway and only came in 3 sets: Alpha, Beta and Unlimited. The cards in the alpha set are considered the most expensive – the most expensive lotus also comes from alpha.

The playing strength of the card also plays a role. The Black Lotus allows a tactic to finish off the opponent in the first round (via cardmarket.com). The Lotus costs no mana, but gives 3 universal mana when sacrificed.

However, a real Black Lotus is rarely used. He’s banned from pretty much every official tournament format because he’s just too strong. This is a trading card in the truest sense.

The most expensive Magic cards are already fetching respectable prices. But other trading card games, such as Pokémon cards, sometimes achieve millions.

Magic: The Gathering wants its cards to be similarly priced. A push could be the new crossover cards with “Lord of the Rings”.

Because one ring was actually only printed once: A new card in Magic: The Gathering is only printed once – will always be a unique piece