Welcome back, Black Lotus. Magic: The Gathering's most famous card has returned to the top of the most expensive cards pile thanks to a private auction in which someone paid an exorbitant $3 million for a copy that was considered to be in mint condition.
The news comes from CGC Cards, a grading firm that examined Black Lotus in a cross-proposal from Adam Cai of the treasure-hunting firm Pristine Collectibles. Cai’s seven-figure transaction with an online collector who goes by the handle Benjamin.be (thanks, Kotaku) reaffirmed Black Lotus as the most expensive MTG card ever sold, unseating rapper Post Malone’s $2 million bid for the 1/1 serialized The One Ring card from last year’s Tales of Middle-earth set.
Why is it worth such an outsized sum? Matt Quinn, Vice President of CGC Cards, briefly explained why this particular card stood out in a recent Instagram post, saying that the card surpassed all of the company’s grading standards: “Seeing it in this condition, it’s top of the pyramid when it comes to collectible card games. The condition: top of the pyramid, too.”
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Quinn went on to praise Black Lotus’ “beautiful centering, flawless corners and edges.” This matches the grading scale published by CGC which describes 10/10 Pristine (the highest possible grade) as “a card that is virtually flawless to the naked eye,” with no off-center prints or even minor imperfections in ink colors. These types of cards are extremely rare because they combine care and luck from the printing process to opening the pack with potentially dirty fingers.
This particular Black Lotus will now disappear into the buyer’s private collection, while the rest of the MTG player base continues to dream of figuring out their own retirement plan one day. Rare and expensive cards are often the plaything of ultra-wealthy collectors: Post Malone has purchased at least two other Black Lotus cards in the past, and YouTuber Logan Paul claims to own several Pokémon Trading Card Game cards worth millions of dollars, including a holographic Charizard that he wore around his neck during a boxing match.
Part of the enduring legend of Black Lotus is the finite number of undiscovered (and unowned) copies that might still be in public circulation, perhaps stashed away in a shoebox full of booster packs. Quinn doubts we’ll see another copy in the condition CGC Cards recently graded, but the chance to prove him wrong will keep collectors on the edge of their seats for years.