Magic: The Gathering has produced some of the most valuable trading cards in history. While a PSA 10 Black Lotus sold for $540,000 at auction, you can still find these iconic cards in the secondary market at prices ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars. Here's what our database shows as the most expensive MTG cards right now.

Top 10 Most Expensive MTG Cards in Our Database

Prices are TCGPlayer market values, updated daily on TCGFomo.

1. #1 Timetwister (Sorcery) — $5,142.02
2. #2 Mox Emerald (Artifact) — $4,453.00
3. #3 Mox Jet (Artifact) — $4,000.00
4. #4 Mox Emerald (Artifact) — $3,600.00
5. #5 Black Lotus (Artifact) — $3,299.99
6. #6 Time Walk (Sorcery) — $3,200.00
7. #7 Mox Pearl (Artifact) — $3,200.00
8. #8 Mishra's Workshop (Land) — $3,000.97
9. #9 Tundra (Land — Plains Island) — $3,000.00
10. #10 Black Lotus (Artifact) — $3,000.00

The Power Nine — The Rarest MTG Cards Ever Printed

The Power Nine are nine cards from Magic's earliest sets (Alpha, Beta, Unlimited — 1993) that were so powerful they're now Restricted in Vintage and banned everywhere else:

• Black Lotus — Adds 3 mana of any color for free. The most iconic card in Magic history. Alpha copies: $10,000+. Beta: $5,000+. Unlimited: $3,000+.
• Ancestral Recall — Draw 3 cards for 1 mana. A staple of every broken combo ever.
• Time Walk — Take an extra turn for 2 mana. $2,000–$3,000 for Unlimited copies.
• Timetwister — Shuffle graveyards into libraries and draw 7. Currently one of the highest-valued cards in our database.
• The Moxen (Pearl, Sapphire, Jet, Ruby, Emerald) — 0-cost artifacts that add one colored mana each. $1,500–$4,500 each for Unlimited copies.

Why Are Old MTG Cards So Valuable?

• Alpha/Beta were small print runs — Richard Garfield and the original team underestimated demand. Alpha had around 2.6 million cards total across all printings. Near-mint copies are extremely rare 30+ years later.
• Power creep reversed — Later sets were designed to never match the Power Nine's strength, making early cards uniquely powerful even today.
• Reserved List protection — Wizards of the Coast committed in 1996 to never reprint certain cards (including most Power Nine). This guarantee protects collector value indefinitely.

Modern Expensive MTG Cards

You don't need to buy a 1993 card to spend serious money on MTG. Modern-era cards that command high prices include:

• Dual Lands (Tundra, Underground Sea, etc.) — $500–$3,000 each. Essential for Legacy/Vintage.
• Fetch Lands — Polluted Delta, Scalding Tarn, etc. $30–$100 each. Modern staples.
• Judge Foils / Promo Foils — Limited-print premium versions can exceed $500 each.
• Serialized Cards — 001/500 serialized cards from recent sets like The Lord of the Rings have sold for $2M+ (One Ring, 1/1).

Track MTG Card Prices on TCGFomo

TCGFomo tracks 115736+ Magic cards across 1043+ sets with live TCGPlayer prices. You can search any card, check its price history, and track it in your free collection.