Parent company Wizards of the Coast, which also owns Dungeons and Dragons, debuted the Magic the Gathering card game in 1993 with the Limited Edition Alpha Set. This set would become one of the most iconic and coveted to date, featuring the especially desired “Power Nine,” a group of cards with impressive strengths that have since been banned from most tournaments. The basic concept of Magic the Gathering is simple enough: each card represents a move that challenges your opponent’s life points. Variations have been created for more interesting and challenging gameplay as have a plethora of super rare and powerful cards. Read the list below to learn about some of the most unique (and expensive) Magic Cards ever made.
Taiga
Tournament Status: Legal
Cost: Up to $3,499.99
Deck: Alpha
Type: Land
Taiga is part of the original 1993 Magic the Gathering Limited Edition Alpha deck, which only had a 2.7 million card run. It functions as both a forest and mountain landscape so spells meant to affect either work with this card. It also adds mana. The card features a snowy mountainscape with pine trees.
Time Walk
Tournament Status: Restricted/banned
Cost: Up to $13,999.99
Deck: Alpha
Type: Sorcery
Time Walk was one of the cards from the Alpha deck. It allows players to take an extra turn at a low cost and, as a result, is banned in most tournament settings, except for vintage, where it is restricted. It is part of the Power Nine, a group of original Magic Cards with disproportionate abilities that don’t require combos to be lethal. All of the Power Nine cards are also part of the Reserved List, a group of cards Wizards of the Coast will never reprint in their original format. The card features several partially skinned skeletons walking on a path that leads to a stone structure.
The Mox Cards
Tournament Status: Restricted/banned
Cost: but into the thousands
Deck: Alpha
Type: Mono Artifact
The five original mox cards make up the majority of the Power Nine. Each mox is a distinct jewel that provides the users with mana of the corresponding color. Their power comes from the ability to play multiple mox cards in a single turn, which can give the player a ridiculous advantage over their opponent in terms of mana. The cards are only allowed in vintage editions of the game on a restricted basis. The original mox cards include emerald, pearl, jet, ruby and sapphire.
Timetwister
Tournament Status: Banned/Restricted/Legal
Cost: Up to $15983.57
Deck: Alpha
Type: Sorcery
Timetwister is part of the original 1993 Alpha set that introduced Magic the Gathering to the World. The Timetwister is also part of the Power Nine. Timetwister makes both players draw seven cards while simultaneously draining the opponent’s mana. It is only allowed to be freely played in the Commander format of the game.
Ancestral Recall
Tournament Status: Banned/Restricted
Cost: Up to $14949.99
Deck: Alpha
Type: Instant
Ancestral Recall is part of the Power Nine and original Alpha Deck. It was first intended to be a common card, meaning that there would be several printed and available. However, its powerful abilities made the creators rethink and switch it to rare. It allows the player to draw three cards or forces their opponent to draw three without any losses to the owner. It’s only allowed in Vintage tournaments in a restricted capacity.
Black Lotus
Tournament Status: Banned/Restricted
Cost: Up to $166,100
Deck: Alpha
Type: Mono Artifact
The Black Lotus is one of the most powerful and rare cards in Magic the Gathering, with only 1,100 originally produced. It comes from the original 1993 Alpha Set and is a part of the Power Nine. The Black Lotus gives the player more mana, which they can use to generate spells and summon helpful creatures against their opponents. The card features a black border and an image of a black lotus flower in a patch of grass.
Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
Tournament Status: Banned/Restricted
Cost: Up to $3,961.38
Deck: Legends
Type: Legendary land
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale is part of the 1994 Legends set and on the reserved list so it will never be reprinted in the same format again. It allows the user to manipulate the other player’s creatures and, potentially, destroy them. Its art features a castle in a misty scene. Some reports state that there are fewer copies of the Tabernacle card than the Black Lotus, but it’s less valuable because it doesn’t have the same icon status.
Imperial Seal
Tournament Status: Banned/Restricted/Legal
Cost: Up to $1,054.99
Deck: Portal 3k
Type: Sorcery
Imperial Seal is part of the 1999 Portal Three Kingdoms deck, which was only produced for the Asian market and, as a result, is extremely rare in the United States. Imperial Seal can allow players to play extra copies of Vampiric Tutor card. As a result, it is restricted and even banned in most standard tournaments. However, it can be used freely in the Commander format of the game. The art, designed by Li Tie, features a massive stone seal being lowered in a stone cave or some other natural structure.
Blue Hurricane
Tournament Status: Irrelevant
Cost: Up to $12,000
Deck: Summer Magic
Type: Sorcery
Blue Hurricane is rare because it was a misprinted version of a card designed for the unreleased Summer Magic Deck in 1994. Originally meant to be green like the rest of the deck, the card has a blue background. Ultimately, Wizards of the Coast decided to stop the sets from being shipped out due to a number of other errors, but a few slipped under the radar. Besides the misprint, the card shows a tropical hurricane scene and causes all players and flying creatures X damage.
Shichifukujin Dragon
Tournament Status: Irrelevant
Cost: Irrelevant
Deck: None
Type: Summon Dragon
Wizards of the Coast created the Shichifukujin Dragon card as a way to commemorate the building of the Duelists’ Convocation International Tournament Center in Tokyo. It was created as an homage to Japan; Shichifukujin is a Japanese deity for luck. While several versions of the card were printed for testing purposes, Wizards of the Coast destroyed all but one. It lived in the Tournament space until 2003, when the building closed, and can now be visited in the Japanese Hobby Offices.
1996 World Championship
Tournament Status: Irrelevant
Cost: $17,500
Deck: None
Type: Summon Legend
The 1996 World Championship is the rarest Magic the Gathering card. It was a special edition one of a kind card made specifically for the winner of the entire competition. Every other version of the card was destroyed. It was awarded to Tom Chanpheng from Australia, who beat Mark Justice with a surprisingly weak deck. The card features a cloaked creature performing a spell to create a mysterious figure donning a Magic the Gathering sweatshirt. The description praises the champion and asserts that the owner “cannot be the target of spells or effects.”
This article originally appeared on Rarest.org.
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