Magic: The Gathering has produced more six-figure trading cards than any other game, and its history explains why. Wizards of the Coast released the first set, known to collectors as Alpha, in August 1993, a print run of 2.61 million cards illustrated by freelance artists working on a game nobody yet expected to succeed. Most of that run was played with or thrown away, and what survived in top grade now anchors the most valuable Magic: The Gathering cards ever sold at auction.
A current Magic booster pack costs about the same as a coffee, and millions are printed each year. None of that volume touches the cards below, each an Alpha-edition rare from a set of only 1,008 copies, independently graded, and in most cases one of a handful known to survive at that grade.
All nine cards in Magic’s Power Nine sit on Wizards of the Coast’s Reserved List, a promise made in 1996 never to reprint them for tournament play. That guarantee, against a graded population that barely grows, has pushed results steadily upward.
Discover all in our:
The 10 most valuable Magic: The Gathering cards of all time
1. Black Lotus, Alpha, PSA 10 (£444,408)
Illustrated by Christopher Rush, who also designed Magic’s mana symbols, Black Lotus adds three mana of any colour to its caster’s pool for nothing, which is why it sits on the Reserved List. PSA has graded only six examples at Gem Mint 10 out of 105 submitted, and this one, its case signed by Rush, sold at PWCC’s March 2023 Premier Auction.
Credit: Fanatics Collect
2. Mox Jet, Alpha, PSA 10 (£84,918)
One of the five Moxes, artefacts that tap for a single mana at no cost and can be reused every turn, Mox Jet supplies black mana. It is one of just four Alpha copies PSA has graded Gem Mint 10, and its January 2024 sale set a new record for any Mox card at public auction.
Credit: Fanatics Collect
3. Lord of the Pit, Alpha, BGS 10 (£84,883)
Illustrated by Mark Tedin, Lord of the Pit demands a creature sacrifice each turn or seven damage to its own caster, the kind of high-risk demon that gave early Magic its dark reputation. Beckett has graded a single Alpha copy Pristine 10, and its price here sits only £35 behind Mox Jet above it on this list.
Credit: Fanatics Collect
4. Timetwister, Alpha, PSA 10 (£67,698)
Timetwister forces both players to shuffle hand, graveyard and library together and draw seven fresh cards, an effect players still call the fairest of the Power Nine since it helps the opponent almost as much as its caster. Only three Alpha copies have reached PSA 10.
Credit: Fanatics Collect
5. Time Walk, Alpha, PSA 10 (£50,774)
Time Walk does exactly what its name promises, granting its caster an extra turn for two mana, and remains the benchmark every later “take an extra turn” card is measured against. PSA has certified ten Alpha copies at Gem Mint 10, more than most Power Nine cards, yet this one still reached five figures.
Credit: Fanatics Collect
6. Mox Sapphire, Alpha, PSA 9 (£37,718)
Mox Sapphire supplies free blue mana, and this copy still reached five figures despite grading only Mint 9 rather than Gem Mint, ahead of several Gem Mint 10 examples of other Moxes on this list.
Credit: Fanatics Collect
7. Mox Ruby, Alpha, PSA 10 (£32,590)
Mox Ruby supplies free red mana and is one of nine Alpha copies PSA has graded Gem Mint 10, the most populous Mox at that grade on this list.
Credit: Fanatics Collect
8. Mox Emerald, Alpha, PSA 10 (£30,615)
Mox Emerald supplies free green mana and is one of only five Alpha copies PSA has graded Gem Mint 10, the second-rarest Mox at that grade after Mox Jet. It sold in the same March 2023 PWCC auction as the Black Lotus and Mox Ruby above.
Credit: Fanatics Collect
9. Mox Pearl, Alpha, PSA 10 (£28,640)
The last of the five Moxes on this list, Mox Pearl supplies free white mana and is one of six Alpha copies PSA has graded Gem Mint 10. Illustrator Dan Frazier drew all five Moxes to be recognisable from fifteen feet away and upside down, and was reportedly paid $50 in cash and $50 in Wizards of the Coast stock for the work, stock he later sold for far less than it would eventually be worth.
Credit: Fanatics Collect
10. Ancestral Recall, Alpha, BGS 9.5 (£18,252)
Ancestral Recall draws three cards for a single mana, the most efficient card-advantage spell Magic has printed. Illustrated by Mark Poole, this Alpha copy, graded Gem Mint 9.5 by Beckett, sold at PWCC’s May 2025 Premier Auction, closing the list at its lowest price and still five figures.
Credit: Fanatics Collect
Why a thirty-year-old print run still sets the record
Every card here is an Alpha rarity, and none will be joined by a modern equivalent, since the Reserved List rules out a tournament-legal reprint of any of them. Set against a graded population that barely grows, that policy explains why seven of these ten results fell within eighteen months, between January 2023 and January 2024.
Power level alone rarely decides the top price: Ancestral Recall and Time Walk see as much play in vintage formats as Black Lotus does. Black Lotus tops this list because it is the card every collector outside the game recognises, with a population of six in top grade and three decades of being called Magic’s most valuable card before the results existed to prove it.
