The Top 10 most expensive Magic Cards on Cardmarket
The most valuable Magic cards in 2024
Note: This post was published for the first time in October 2020 and updated on May 27, 2021, May 15, 2023, and July 30, 2024. We have now updated it to reflect the current situation on Cardmarket.
Last update: July 30, 2024
There are quite a lot of rare and expensive Magic: The Gathering trading cards out there. I mean, the game has a long history. Most of you probably immediately think of Black Lotus – the game’s most iconic card.
Apart from the “auto-include in your vintage Magic deck” zero mana artifact, the so-called Reserved list is home to a lot of cards that are equally rare and valuable. Over the last years especially the Moxen, Ancestral Recall and Time Walk went up in price quite significantly.
The Reserved list is a list of cards that Wizards of the Coast committed to never reprint. The main reason was and is to retain the value of those cards on the secondary market. The list was introduced in 1996 and revised in 2002 and 2010.
These very rare cards were first printed in Alpha and only reprinted in the following sets, Beta and Unlimited.
They are not only rare but also very powerful. Therefore, you are only allowed to play them in the Vintage format. They are restricted too, so also only one copy can be in your deck.
Supply and Demand
We all know that the market forces, supply and demand, decide over the price of a certain Magic trading card.
On the one hand, there are popular cards, played in many decks and formats, that are highly sought-after. On the other hand, there are cards that have been printed in very small quantities, and that’s the reason players and collectors want to own them.
Special Print Runs
One of the best known cards that was never printed in a regular set of Magic, is the World Champion 1996. The card was given to Tom Chanpheng for winning the Magic World Championships. There is only one copy, as the other copies from the print run have been destroyed.
Tom sold it in 2001 to a private collector for $17.500. Sure, a piece of Magic history has its price tag. Richard Garfield, the game’s creator, has frequently issued special cards in small quantities to commemorate personal life events. Stay tuned, some have made our Top 10 of Cardmarket’s most expensive Magic cards.
Misprints
Misprints can be evenly rare and frequently come with a hefty price tag. For some examples, take a look at the misprints in our high-end online shop.
Summer Magic
Some of the most expensive cards come from an Edition called “Summer Magic”. But why is that?
Revised Edition, the successor to Unlimited, had a number of problems.
- The print color looked washed out.
- The picture of the card Serendib Efreet was mixed up with Ifh-Bíff Efreet.
- And Wizards was increasingly unhappy with all kinds of satanic symbolic on cards like Unholy Strength.
Therefore, they decided to release a complete makeover – Unlimited. The new print run was code-named “Edgar”. Nowadays, mostly and well known as Summer Magic. Sadly, this new print run was also full of mistakes. Before noticing them, about 40 booster boxes were shipped to retailers.
These booster packs contained not only green cards whose text was almost unreadable, but also some of the most expensive misprints in Magic‘s history. What makes the set interesting to collectors is the sheer rarity and scarcity of those cards. The consensus among the community is, that Rares from Summer Magic are rarer than Rares from Alpha, Magics first edition.
Now you are maybe asking yourself how to identify those legendary Summer Magic cards? Well, that is actually not that hard.
The card has to be white bordered and in English. The Copyright text has to be in white, in one line and contain the year 1994.
What are you waiting for? Start browsing your Revised cards and maybe you can find a hidden gem!
The Top 10
Compiling a list of the most valuable Magic cards is hard. Where do one start? Some special print run cards are unique and don’t really have a market price.
Therefore, we decided to only list cards that have “real” prices and can actually be bought. And where would be a better place to look up those cards and prices, than Europe’s biggest Magic cards marketplace, Cardmarket? We will always list the cheapest version of the card (and on some occassions the price for a copy in “good” condition).
Without further ado, this is the top 10 of Cardmarket’s most expensive Magic: The Gathering trading cards in 2024!
Data was taken on July 30, 2024
Honorable Mentions
from 7,599.99 Euro (Played)
Last year, we had the Alpha Ancestral Recall on 8th place and today it “only” reached the honorable mentions section. The Near Mint price still starts really high at 23.500,00 Euro, so this is by no stretch of the imagination a cheap card.
One of those vintage format must haves and one of the original “Three for One” cards that are the origin of our company name. Learn more about the story of our company name here.
from 30,000.00 Euro (Sealed)
10th Place
from 8,500.00 Euro (Poor)
Last year we didn’t have an Unlimited Black Lotus in our list AT ALL, so it is a delight to see this affordable Old School classic here again. Or maybe not, because each card in our Top 10 definitely is not easily affordable.
9th Place
from 13,499.00 Euro (Poor)
Lotus back to back! That can only mean good luck and fortune, right? The Beta Black Lotus is of course a tad more expensive than the Unlimited Black Lotus. That’s only fair, because it is rarer.
We are also selling two Beta Lotus at the moment, check them out!
8th Place
from 15,000.00 Euro (Excellent)
Next up is an Alpha card, but it might surprise you to hear and see that it is not a card out of the Power Nine. Instead, we are looking at an Alpha Chaos Orb!
The main reason for its high spot on the list is because there are currently only Excellent Alpha Chaos Orb on Cardmarket. Of course, Alpha cards in such a condition are rare and expensive, in some cases even more expensive than Unlimited or Beta Black Lotus.
Find our selection of Unlimited, Collectors’ Edition and International Edition Chaos Orbs here.
7th Place
from 17,894.74 Euro (Excellent)
Summer Magic always was a highly desirable product for collectors due to its rarity and exclusiveness. The Summer Magic Volcanic Island has been on our Most Expensive Cardmarket Cards list since the beginning, and it keeps a steady place here.
The price didn’t change a lot since 2023, so maybe we are still looking at the very same card?
6th Place
from 18,000.00 Euro (Poor)
And here we are at what most people think is the most expensive MTG card: The Alpha Black Lotus! They are not entirely wrong though, a Near Mint Alpha Lotus can be worth well over 150k, but the Poor versions on Cardmarket start way lower. That’s the reason this card is only ranked 6th in our list.
5th Place
from 23,999.00 Euro (Near Mint)
Blasphemy! The 30th Anniversary Edition Black Lotus surpassed our beloved Alpha Black Lotus? There are currently only two on Cardmarket with Near Mint and Mint condition. Their prices are nowhere near the price of a Near Mint Alpha Lotus, BUT they are high enough to beat the Poor Alpha version!
4th Place
from 35,000.00 Euro (Mint)
The second Summer Magic card in our list is a Shivan Dragon! What’s a bit special about this one is, that it has been removed from Cardmarket since we recorded the prices for our list. That means it either sold for that huge sum, or someone decided to keep it for now. Or maybe it got sold privately for a different price entirely, who knows?
3th Place
from 58,998.99 Euro (Near Mint)
Now wait a second before you call us a cheater. We put a lot of cards into third place for a good reason. The serialized The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Holiday Release cards are all up in the most expensive cards on Cardmarket, but that doesn’t mean they deserve a place there. A lot of people overestimate the value of their serialized cards, and the results are oftentimes very unrealistic pricings.
For example, The One Ring is currently priced for 59k, but the price trend is waaaaaaay lower at 5k. Weird!
Although Sauron, the Dark Lord is currently the most expensive card on Cardmarket (and other serialized cards from the set coming very close), we decided to put them together on third place. That’s fair, right?
2nd Place
from 29,000.00 Euro (Poor)
The second place goes to Fraternal Exaltation!
Fraternal Exaltation has been on our list before, and for good reason! It’s one of the few Richard Garfield celebration cards. There’s only 220 copies of this card available, which were given to family, friends and fellow Wizards of the Coast co-workers. According to the wiki, “the card was made to celebrate the birth of Richard’s and Lily Wu’s second child, a boy called Schuyler Garfield.”
1st Place
from 69,999.99 Euro (Excellent)
And the winner is… Splendid Genesis. It hasn’t been on our list for some time, so it’s great to see such an amazing card again among the top most expensive cards. Richard Garfield gave it to his friends, family and coworkers to celebrate the birth of his first child, Terry Garfield. Only 110 cards were printed, so what could be more expensive than that?!
Most expensive Magic: The Gathering cards 2023
Data was taken on May 15, 2023
Honorable Mentions
from 10.590,00 Euro (Excellent)
There are currently only two Chaos Orb from Alpha available on Cardmarket. Its scarcity as well as playability in Old School for being a versatile Removal All-Star in every deck is pushing its price almost into our Top 10.
from 10.000,00 Euro (Near Mint)
The equivalent of the blue Mauritius “Post Office” stamp in the Magic universe is this blue version of Hurricane. The price tag of roughly 10k Euro makes this misprint the most expensive misprint ever.
10th Place
from 10.500,00 Euro (Mint)
Our first Top 10 card of the list is none other than the Shivan Dragon from Summer Magic! There are currently only two in incredible condition for sale. If they are really MINT, then that price might be correct!
9th Place
from 10.900,00 Euro (Played)
The most expensive Mox Pearl available on Cardmarket currently sits at €38.900,00. That’s mainly because it’s a BGS graded 9.5. Good luck finding a better looking one!
Looking for, perhaps cheaper versions, of the card? You can find them here, in our store.
8th Place
from 10.999,99 Euro (Poor)
One of those vintage format must haves and one of the original “Three for One” cards that are the origin of our company name. Learn more about the story of our company name here.
If you are looking for a true highlight, then you should check out the Near Mint versions of the mother of all draw spells. The price starts at 25.000,00 Euro.
7th Place
from 11.990,00 Euro (Mint)
Another Summer Magic card made the list! This time it’s another Old School favorite for any deck that plays Red: Wheel of Fortune. There’s currently only one available, who knows if it will sell at the current price?
6th Place
from 11.999,00 Euro (Light Played)
The only Power 9 card that is legal to play anywhere outside of Vintage and Old School is Timetwister. Where? In Commander. As we all know, Commander and EDH are hugely popular and therefore is the blue three mana sorcery. Looking for a treat? Keep an eye on the Near Mint 9.5 version that sells for 119k on Cardmarket.
5th Place
from 15.000,00 Euro (Poor)
It doesn’t really matter from what set a Black Lotus is. This card will always have a market, and it commandeers for a high price. Black bordered flowers are even more expensive than their Unlimited cousins. Let’s see what we have: A Good graded Lotus at 38.000 Euro and a Near Mint graded 9.5 for 150k.
Tip: Check your account balance before moving these to your shopping card
4th Place
from 17.894,74 Euro (Excellent)
In the past years, there was always a Summer Magic Dual Land in our Top 10. Oftentimes it was Underground Sea, but not this time. This time it is Volcanic Island! Again, there’s only one for sale, better be quick.
3th Place
from 18.900,00 Euro (Mint)
We can guarantee you, that this is not an out of season April Fools’ joke. The third most expensive card right now on Cardmarket is a Black Lotus from Magic’s 30th Anniversary Edition, and it is more expensive than the cheapest Beta Lotus. Only time will tell if it will really sell for that price.
2nd Place
from 30.000,00 Euro (Poor)
Our second place goes to a real Magic card, the OG, the one and only: Alpha Black Lotus! A BGS 9.5 is currently selling for almost half a million Euros, or maybe you can trade it for roughly 24 third place cards?
1st Place
from 59.000,00 Euro (Light Played)
This card that was created for a special occasion by Richard Garfield. The print run consisted of only 220 copies. Fraternal Extraction was never released for sale and just handed out to family, friends and fellow Wizards of the Coast co-workers. This was also the case for Splendid Genesis, which didn’t make our Top 10 this year.
MOST EXPENSIVE MAGIC: THE GATHERING IN 2021!
Data was taken on May 19, 2021
Honorable Mentions
The Honorable Mentions include two cards that almost made the list of 2021.
Vesuvan Doppelganger – Alpha from 9,499.00 Euro (Excellent)
Mox Jet – Alpha from 13,999.99 Euro (Good)
Places Ten to Four
The most expensive Magic cards on Cardmarket of 2021 are very much influenced by the overall high Alpha prices. Eight out of ten cards are from Alpha, but the first place did not go to a Lotus!
10th Place: Time Walk – Alpha from 15,000.00 Euro (Poor)
9th Place: Ancestral Recall – Alpha from 16,000.00 Euro (Poor)
8th Place: Mox Pearl – Alpha from 16,000.00 Euro (Good)
7th Place: Timetwister – Alpha from 18,000.00 Euro (Good)
6th Place: Mox Ruby – Alpha from from 20,000.00 Euro (Played)
5th Place: Stasis – Alpha from 20,000.00 Euro (Excellent)
4th Place: Black Lotus – Beta from 21,000.00 Euro (Poor)
Top 3
The three most expensive cards on Cardmarket in 2021 all deserve a place in the top 3! Not only that, but the Alpha Black Lotus from 2020 has been dethroned by a very close relative!
Underground Sea – Summer Magic from 29,999.00 Euro (Near Mint)
3th Place
Black Lotus – Alpha from 21,000.00 Euro (Poor)
2nd Place
Mox Sapphire – Alpha from 50,000,00 Euro (Near Mint)
1st Place
MOST EXPENSIVE MAGIC: THE GATHERING CARDS IN 2020!
Data was taken on October 9, 2020
Honorable Mentions
The Honorable Mentions include two cards that almost made the list of 2020.
Time Walk – Alpha from 5,499.95 Euro
Ancestral Recall (Alpha) from 5,750.00 Euro
Places Ten to Four
The most expensive Magic cards on Cardmarket of 2020 have been highly impacted by Summer Magic. A total of 4 Summer Magic cards made it into the Top 10 of 2020, which makes it the overall most expensive set on the list.
10th Place: Mox Sapphire – Alpha from 5,999.00 Euro
9th Place: Hurricane – Summer Magic from 6,900.00 Euro
8th Place: Tropical Island – Summer Magic from from 6,999.00 Euro
7th Place: Splendid Genesis from 7,989.00 Euro
6th Place: Volcanic Island – Summer Magic from 10.000,00 Euro
5th Place: Timetwister – Alpha from 12,999.00 Euro
4th Place: Black Lotus – Beta from 13,000.00 Euro
Top 3
The three most expensive cards on Cardmarket in 2020 are thankfully not all from Summer Magic! The Alpha Black Lotus takes its rightful place on the throne of the most expensive cards in 2020.
Underground Sea – Summer Magic from 13,999.00 Euro
3th Place
Fraternal Exaltation from 19,789.00 Euro
2nd Place
Black Lotus – Alpha from from 31,190.00 Euro
1st Place
Prices obviously change. Therefore, you can find the up to date list of Cardmarket’s most expensive cards here.
If you are looking for more affordable Magic cards we got you covered. Follow the link to our Cardmarket store and fulfil all your collectors and deck builders needs.