The Black Lotus is one of the most iconic cards in Magic: The Gathering (MTG). It has seen print three times with a history that goes back to the beginning of the game. This article aims to provide all the information you’ll need to know about this powerful card! In addition, we will provide a price guide so you know if you are getting a good deal or not.
What is the Black Lotus MTG Card?
Black Lotus is one of the most iconic and sought-after Magic: The Gathering cards in the world. It’s also one of the game’s most valuable cards. But, what exactly is the Black Lotus card, and what makes it so valuable? Read on to find out everything you need to know about the Black Lotus MTG card.
Black Lotus was first printed in the Limited Edition Alpha set in 1993, and was last printed in the Unlimited set later in 1993. The card is a rare artifact that allows you to add three mana of any one color to your mana pool by sacrificing it. This effect is incredibly powerful and has helped power some of the most successful decks in Magic history.
Adding three mana of any color to your mana pool can allow you as a player to gain an incredible, often insurmountable, advantage over your opponent. Especially as Black Lotus’s mana value of 0 allows you to use it on your very first turn. Having this much mana on your first turn allows you to increase the speed of your game plan. Your opponent will have a very hard time keeping up without a Black Lotus of their own.
How Many Exist?
Black Lotus is an incredibly rare card. There are only around 1,100 copies in existence, and many of those are owned by collectors or players who have no intention of ever selling them. This card is extremely versatile and can be played in a wide variety of decks, though it has been banned or restricted in most formats due to the raw power it adds to your deck. Black Lotus is an iconic piece of MTG history and is highly sought-after by both players and collectors alike.
Can you Still Play the Black Lotus?
The Black Lotus was first printed in 1993 and was actually reprinted several times that same year. A lot fewer cards were printed then compared to now due to Magic as a game still being in its infancy. It’s considered by many to be the best card in the game, and its price reflects that. A single Black Lotus can sell for thousands of dollars.
But, what if you want to play with a Black Lotus? Is it still possible to find them and use them in your games?
The answer is yes, but it’s not going to be easy or cheap. Black Lotus is currently banned in all official formats of Magic: The Gathering, except for Vintage and Commander, though you’re probably not going to find many people playing Black Lotus in Commander, even at the highest levels of play. That means if you want to play with a Black Lotus, you’ll need to find other people who are also interested in playing Vintage games. Even in Vintage, Black Lotus is “restricted” which means you can only have one copy of it in your deck.
There are a few ways to go about finding Vintage games. One is to attend large Magic: The Gathering events like Grand Prix tournaments or MagicFest conventions. These events usually have a Vintage side event where players can compete using their Vintage decks.
Another way to find Vintage games is to look online. There are some online communities dedicated to playing older forms of Magic: The Gathering, such as Vintage. These players usually organize games through forums or Discord servers. A forum you may want to check out is reddit.com/r/MTGVintage. There is also Vintage on Magic: The Gathering Online (MTGO), the precursor to Arena, that is still quite active due to catering to players who want to play older formats, like Vintage.
How Many Black Lotus Cards Exist?
It’s estimated that there are around 5000 Black Lotus cards that still exist. However, this number is functionally impossible to confirm. The vast majority of these are in the hands of collectors and are not available for sale. A small number of Black Lotus cards have been auctioned off over the years, with prices ranging from $15,000 to $116,000. One even sold on eBay for a ludicrous $511,100 in 2021, though such a high price can easily be considered an outlier.
Non-tournament legal Black Lotus cards can be purchased for around $5000. These were printed in the gold-bordered Collector’s Edition, also released in 1993, though not sold in traditional packs. The fact that people are willing to pay so much for a card they can’t play in official tournaments goes a long way to showing the prestige of simply having a Black Lotus of any kind in your collection.
Why is the Black Lotus so Expensive?
There are a few reasons for the relatively high price tag on the Black Lotus. Firstly, it is a rare card that was only printed in limited quantities. Secondly, it is a very powerful card that can be used to create some serious advantages in the game. Lastly, the Black Lotus has a high level of collector’s value due to its rarity and desirability.
While the number of Black Lotus cards in existence is relatively small, there are a few things that can impact the value of individual cards. The condition of the card, whether it’s been signed by the artist, and whether it comes with its original packaging can all play a role in determining how much a Black Lotus is worth.
If you are looking to add the Black Lotus to your collection, be prepared to pay a hefty price tag. However, the Black Lotus is definitely a card worth investing in if you are serious about playing Magic: The Gathering.
Black Lotus Price Guide
Raw | PSA 10 | |
Black Lotus (Unlimited Edition) | $30,000 | $80,000+ |
Black Lotus (Collectors Edition) | $6,000 | $12,000 |
Black Lotus (Oversized) | $250 | N/A |
Blacker Lotus | $30 | $200 |
Blacker Lotus (Oversized) | $20 | N/A |
Black Lotus (Dual Masters) | $90 | $350 |
Other Black Lotus Cards
While its price tag reflects that, there are other Lotus (something that signifies a similar effect of generating either mana for free or three mana of the same color) cards out there that are much more affordable. Here’s a look at some of the other Lotus cards available:
Now that you know about some of the other Lotus cards available, you can decide which one is right for you. Just remember that the most powerful and expensive card is the Black Lotus.
Blacker Lotus
Blacker Lotus is a silver border card printed in the Unglued set of cards in 1998. These cards are not tournament-legal and, in fact, were intended as a light-hearted joke by the design team of Magic: The Gathering for players to use in more casual games. As a reference to how powerful the original Black Lotus ended up being, you could use Blacker Lotus to get four mana but you had to tear the card into pieces. Obviously, this was never intended as a serious card, but as a joke about how expensive and powerful the original Black Lotus is.
Ultra Pro Puzzle Quest Black Lotus
Ultra Pro Puzzle Quest Black Lotus is a promotion from 1996 by the company Ultra Pro, best known for their protective gear (card sleeves and deck boxes, etc.) for card games such as Magic: The Gathering. In 1996 Ultra Pro used something called the “Black Lotus Quest” to try and boost sales of their products. Pieces of an oversized Black Lotus (and one other card, Chaos Orb) were included randomly in some boxes of card sleeves and nine-pocket card binder pages.
Anyone who managed to collect all nine pieces of the oversized cards could send them to Ultra Pro and win $250 (or $100 in the case of the Chaos Orb). While these pieces are far less valuable, at around $100 each, they are considered rare in their own right since only 3 of the complete oversized Black Lotuses are known to exist.
The only thing that keeps them from being more expensive is their literal worthlessness as game pieces for actually playing Magic: The Gathering.
Black Lotus (Vintage Masters)
There is one other way to play with this powerful and expensive Magic: The Gathering, though it can’t exactly be called “getting your hands on it.” In 2014 there was a set released called Vintage Masters, designed to support the Vintage format and players’ ability to actually play with the powerful decks in this format.
It included Black Lotus and even featured new art for the card. However, this set was not released as physical cards. It was released digitally on the Magic: The Gathering Online (MTGO) platform which is used for playing Magic: The Gathering online with other players and has been around a lot longer than Arena.
The platform has remained relevant by supporting play in formats you can’t play on Arena, like Legacy and Vintage. If playing Vintage, or Black Lotus specifically is something you want to do, MTGO might be a way to do it.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, the Black Lotus is a very powerful and rare card. If you are lucky enough to get your hands on one, you should definitely hold onto it as its worth will only increase! The price of this iconic card can only go up if you keep it in good condition, so make sure you know the price of this extremely rare piece of Magic: The Gathering history. With that said, we hope this guide has helped you understand everything you need to know about the Black Lotus.
FAQs
What is the rarest Black Lotus card? ›
A Black Lotus card from Magic: The Gathering — considered to be the most sought-after card from Magic, and perhaps from any trading card game — has sold at auction for a record $540,000, the highest ever bid for a Magic card.
How many black lotuses still exist? ›Its Alpha and Beta versions in particular are considered to be extremely valuable, due to the more limited print runs and black borders of those sets. The Alpha version of Black Lotus is the rarest and most sought-after, with an estimated 1100 ever printed, followed by the Beta version, with 3300 ever printed.
How much is a Black Lotus pokemon card worth? ›In 2019, a Black Lotus sold for $166,000 on eBay, followed by another purchase just two years later in 2021 for $511,100 — more than triple the price. Now, with the recent auction held by PWCC Marketplace, the Black Lotus cements its position as the most expensive Magic: The Gathering card ever sold.
How many black lotuses are accounted for? ›Black Lotus and the rest of the Power Nine were only printed for the early Alpha, Beta and Unlimited sets right at the very beginning of Magic: The Gathering's inception. All in all, it is estimated that only about 1,100 Black Lotus cards were ever printed.
How many Grade 10 Black Lotus cards are there? ›This particular card is the crown jewel of any MTG collection, and even included a signed case by deceased illustrator Christopher Rush. According to PWCC Marketplace, roughly 1,000 copies are believed to be printed, with only six getting a perfect 10 grading.
How many PSA 10 Black Lotus are there? ›Black Lotus is, of course, Magic: The Gathering's iconic holy grail card. Just over 1,000 copies of the card from MTG's earliest Alpha set were ever printed back in 1993, with just 105 graded by card condition specialist PSA in the three decades since. Of those, only six have been rated at a perfect Gem Mint 10.
What is the rarest Magic card? ›1. Black Lotus. Black Lotus has long held a reputation as the most valuable Magic: The Gathering card ever made, dating from MTG's very first set, Limited Edition Alpha, released in 1993.
What is the most expensive version of Black Lotus? ›Magic: The Gathering Black Lotus sells for $540,000, setting yet another record for the holy grail card. The perfect condition card signed by artist Christopher Rush is now the most expensive MTG card ever sold at auction.
Why is Black Lotus so sought after? ›What gives? First off, Alpha and Beta copies of Black Lotus are worth quite a bit more than Unlimited copies. It isn't just the look, either—it's scarcity. We have pretty good intel stating that there were only ever 1,008 copies of every Alpha rare even printed, and only 3,025 copies of each Beta rare.
What card did post Malone buy for 800k? ›Rather, it's it significantly raised the bar on how much rare card can sell for. Before Malone, the most spent on a Black Lotus was only a bit over $160,000. And it was also way over the most ever even for an asking price, which the 1996 World Champion Card had set at $200,000 a few years back.
What is the chance of getting a Black Lotus? ›
This means that the probability to open at least one Black Lotus in a single pack, 1 - P[No Lotus], is 1.05%, and the probability to open at least one Black Lotus in four packs, 1 - P[No Lotus]^4, is 4.15%.
How can you tell if a Black Lotus is real? ›Firts take a white bordered card and put the Lotus on top of it. If white shows, the card is smaller than a real card (usually fake), then put the card on top of the Lotus and is black shows, the Lotus is larger than a real card (surprising number of early fakes were slightly too small, especially at the corners...).
Are the power 9 banned? ›Of the 295 cards in the Alpha set, the Power Nine cards were considered the most powerful -- and were limited in print to about 1,000 cards each on estimate. While rare, the Power Nine cards were so dominant they remain banned or restricted in most Magic formats today.
Have they ever reprinted a Black Lotus? ›Magic: The Gathering's 30th Anniversary Edition reprints classic cards, including Black Lotus, in a $1,000 set.
Is Black Lotus the best card in MTG? ›The Black Lotus is the single most valuable normally printed card in the game of Magic printed in a standard set. Due to its fast mana acceleration, it is also a member of the Power Nine, nine notoriously powerful cards from the original Magic print runs.
How much is a Grade 10 Black Lotus worth? ›Signed PSA 10 Alpha Black Lotus sells for $540,000, Breaks Record For Most Expensive Magic Card.
What is the most rare PSA 10 card? ›The most expensive Pokémon card is the Pikachu Illustrator which sold for $5.275 million in July 2021. It's the true Holy Grail of Pokémon card collecting and only one PSA 10 is known to exist.
What is the oldest PSA 10 card? ›Manufactured in 1910, this Ty Cobb E98 Red card has remained perfectly preserved since, and is believed to be one of the most scarce and well-conditioned pre-war cards in circulation. Only two Ty Cobb E98 PSA Gem Mint 10's are known to exist in the world.
How rare is it to get a PSA 10? ›Some cards are extremely difficult in getting a PSA 10, while others are relatively easier. For instance, there isn't a PSA 10 1971 Reggie Jackson in existence according to the PSA pop report. On the other hand, there are 476 PSA 10 2022 Topps Chrome Refractors (out of 837 total graded, for a “gem rate” of 57%).
Is a PSA 10 possible? ›10 is the highest overall grade a sports card can receive, though BGS also offers a Black Label Pristine 10, which means the card received a 10 for all four subgrades. While a Black Label Pristine 10 and PSA 10 are the highest grades a card can obtain, that isn't to say that other grades aren't of value.
Are PSA 10 Pokemon cards rare? ›
The Illustrator card, given out to 39 winners of the 1997 and 1998 Pokémon illustration contests, is extremely rare. Only 23 have been certified by the PSA, and only one has been given a PSA rating of 10.
What is the rarest card ever? ›The Shichifukujin Dragon, created to celebrate the opening of the DCI Tournament Center in Tokyo, Japan, is also the only one of its kind in existence. In Japanese mythology, 'Shichifukujin' is the name given to the Seven Deities of Good Fortune.
What are secret rare cards? ›Secret Rare is the highest category of Pokémon card rarity, and Secret Rare cards differ in several ways from lower-rarity cards. First, they have a collector card number that's higher than the advertised set number — hence the "secret" in their name.
What is more expensive than the Black Lotus card? ›Alongside the Black Lotus, four of these mint condition cards are also iconic Power Nine cards. The most expensive of these MTG cards is Mox Pearl which is currently sitting at a current bid of $19,000.
How much is a damaged Black Lotus? ›| Sale Date | Title | ▲ ▼ Price |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-01-29 | MTG Black Lotus - Damaged / Poor Normal - Unlimited Authenticated by Beckett [eBay] | $6,000.00 |
| 2023-01-26 | Unlimited Black Lotus Damaged / Heavily Played MTG Magic the Gathering [eBay] | $6,000.00 |
| 2023-01-22 | MTG Black Lotus Unlimited Magic the Gathering [eBay] | $6,900.00 |
| Daily Change | 0.00 |
|---|---|
| Weekly Change | -801.00 |
| Highest Price | 45,750.00 |
| Lowest Price | 1,056.99 |
The Blacker Lotus is a stronger variant of the Black Lotus. When thrown into a Mana Pool, it is consumed and generates 100,000 Mana, 10% of the full capacity of a Mana Pool. It can be found in dungeon chests or as a drop from the Guardian of Gaia.
Who owns a Black Lotus? ›Last time we checked, the current owner of that item is the rapper Post Malone, who paid over $800,000 for the privilege. The Black Lotus is part of the MTG Power 9, which are considered some of the most powerful (and rarest) cards in the entire trading card game.
What card has sold for the most money? ›While Honus Wagner's card is generally seen as the holy grail for baseball card fans, it's Mantle's rookie that takes the top spot. On August 28 of 2022, a Mickey Mantle 1952 Topps Card sold for $12.6 million to an anonymous buyer.
What is the most expensive trading card to ever sell? ›
The current record price is the US$12.6 million paid for a 1952 Mickey Mantle baseball card (Topps; #311) on August 28, 2022, breaking all previous records.
How much is Post Malone mouth worth? ›See Malone's literal million-dollar smile below. Post Malone completed his $1,600,000 smile reconstruction last weekend !!. With a smile that shows off natural Porcelain Veneer work framed with 2 Diamond Fangs with a total weight of 12 Carats, Post Malone literally has $1 million smile!!!
How rare is blue lotus? ›The absolute oil of blue lotus is among the world's very rarest. Not only are blue lotus flowers very uncommon, it takes an extremely skilled artisan producer to delicately and painstakingly extract the oil into an absolute so all of its complex aromatics stay intact — without hexane.
What color lotus is rare? ›The blue lotus flower, which is the rarest one, symbolizes a spirit's victory over wisdom and knowledge. The pink lotus flower symbolizes spiritual path & enlightenment.
What are the odds of pulling a Black Lotus from the 30th anniversary? ›What Are the Odds of a Black Lotus in 30th Anniversary Edition? Your odds of getting a Black Lotus from the rare slot are 1/113 (0.885%).
Are there fake MTG cards? ›There are two kinds of counterfeit, or fake, Magic cards. The first are real Magic cards that someone has altered to make it appear more valuable than it is. The second are entirely fake cards that someone has printed onto card stock.
How do you tell if a card is a proxy? ›A proxy card will almost always have a different rosette pattern than a genuine card. It can be one that's well done, but different nonetheless. When doing this test, it's important to have a reference card from the same set to go back to, since genuine cards can have different patterns over the years.
What does a Black Lotus flower tattoo mean? ›The black lotus flower symbolizes darkness, death, sophistication, power, authority, and rebellion. In Hinduism, the black lotus represents the absence of color and light. To the Ancient Romans, white and black lotus flowers symbolized past, present, and future life, death, and rebirth.
Is Black Lotus legal in any format? ›Black Lotus is banned in all formats apart from Vintage, and even then, you're only allowed to have one copy of it.
Why is lions eye diamond so expensive? ›So... #ButWhy is Lion's Eye Diamond so expensive? It's a card that has a limited supply and since it's on the dreaded Reserved List, there won't be any new prints anytime soon (or ever!). The card sees moderate play in Eternal formats and has proven its versatility and power multiple times.
Why are the power 9 so strong? ›
These cards are strong because of their ability to essentially act as second land drops on early turns. They allow for strong turn 1 and 2 play and usually work as lands in cubes they're available in.
How many unopened black lotuses are there? ›Its Alpha and Beta versions in particular are considered to be extremely valuable, due to the more limited print runs and black borders of those sets. The Alpha version of Black Lotus is the rarest and most sought-after, with an estimated 1100 ever printed, followed by the Beta version, with 3300 ever printed.
Can you play Black Lotus in vintage? ›Players should expect Vintage to remain the only format in which Black Lotus is legal. It is a card that can be played in any deck and would be absolutely required in the vast majority of decks in any format it was legal in, so Wizards of the Coast and the other format rules advisors will not be doing that.
What is the strongest MTG color? ›Blue is defined by knowledge and intellectualism, and it has the signature ability to draw and manipulate cards. This is among the most powerful things you can do in competitive Magic and has made blue historically the strongest color (which becomes more apparent in formats where cards from the 1990's are legal).
What is the most powerful card ever in MTG? ›- 8 Tarmogoyf.
- 7 Griselbrand.
- 6 True-Name Nemesis.
- 5 Snapcaster Mage.
- 4 Atraxa, Praetors' Voice.
- 3 Blightsteel Colossus.
- 2 Progenitus.
- 1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn.
Some obvious candidates come to mind, with the Power Nine being the first and foremost ones. These cards are considered the strongest ever printed in MTG history. While, in specific contexts, they are the best cards the game has ever seen, our answer to this question actually lies outside of these cards.
What is the rarest card sold? ›While Honus Wagner's card is generally seen as the holy grail for baseball card fans, it's Mantle's rookie that takes the top spot. On August 28 of 2022, a Mickey Mantle 1952 Topps Card sold for $12.6 million to an anonymous buyer.
What are the rarest black Magic cards? ›Not only is the Black Lotus one of the rarest cards in the game, but it's also one of the most powerful cards in the game. You can build an extraordinarily powerful Magic deck around the Black Lotus. The Black Lotus is a zero mana cost card.
What is the most a Black Lotus sold for? ›One of Magic: The Gathering's most coveted cards, Black Lotus, has sold at auction for a record-breaking $540,000. Magic: The Gathering's illustrious card, Black Lotus, recently went to auction and sold for a record-breaking $540,000.
Is Black Lotus the strongest card? ›Is Black Lotus the Most Powerful Card? Many players agree that Black Lotus is one of the most powerful cards in MTG's existence. However, it is not powerful in and of itself. After all, it just adds mana to your mana pool, that's it.
What is the #1 rarest Pokemon card? ›
1. 1998 Pikachu Illustrator Card. What is this? There's no better place to start than what many consider to be the rarest Pokemon card in existence, the Pikachu Illustrator card.
What baseball cards are hot right now? ›- 2022 Bowman Baseball. Bowman is a big name when it comes to baseball cards, and their 2022 collection is in high demand. ...
- 2022 Topps Heritage. ...
- 2022 Topps Inception. ...
- 2022 Bowman First Edition. ...
- 2022 Topps Gypsy Queen. ...
- 2022 Topps Series 1. ...
- 2022 Topps Opening Day.
- Best Overall: Mickey Mantle 1952 Topps Rookie Card.
- Best Rookie Card: Luka Doncic.
- Best NFL Card: Tom Brady Optic Base.
- Best Classic Movie Cards: Star Wars.
- Best Animated Cards: Pokémon.
The Black Lotus is the single most valuable normally printed card in the game of Magic printed in a standard set.
What is the most famous black card? ›In addition, the most famous of all luxury cards is the Centurion® Card from American Express. Also known as the "Black Card," it's invite-only so not just anyone can apply.
What is the rare black card in the world? ›The American Express Centurion Card, colloquially known as the Black Card, is a charge card issued by American Express. It is reserved for the company's wealthiest clients who meet certain net worth, credit quality, and spending requirements on its gateway card, the Platinum Card.