CGC Trading Cards Featured Card of the Month: Black Lotus

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Game: Magic: The Gathering

Set: Unlimited (and others)

Card: Black Lotus

What makes it special? Black Lotus is part of the Power Nine. Regarded as the most potent cards in the history of Magic: The Gathering, they were printed as part of the early sets of the games released starting in 1993: the Alpha, Beta and Unlimited editions. Black Lotus is widely regarded as the most valuable Magic card from any regular set and is a favorite among collectors. Because it was later determined to be too powerful, its use was restricted. For instance, a coveted starting hand in old school Magic was simply a Black Lotus, a Swamp and a Juzam Djinn. Dropping a 5/5 on the first turn was always a quick way to victory.

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Did you know? The card was designed by Christopher Rush, one of the original artists for Magic: The Gathering. Rush was also the first artist from outside Japan to illustrate a Pokémon card.

Total graded by CGC Trading Cards: As of June 2022, there are 40 examples of the Black Lotus from the Unlimited Edition in the CGC Population Report. There are also 13 in Alpha Edition, 28 in Beta Edition, 30 in Collectors' Edition and 11 in International Edition - English.

CGC Trading Cards median grade: CGC 6 for Unlimited

CGC Trading Cards highest graded: CGC 9.5 for Unlimited

Sales highlights: A Black Lotus from the Unlimited Edition graded CGC 6.5 realized $15,000 in a Heritage sale in June 2022. A Black Lotus from the Alpha Edition graded CGC 4.5 realized $52,800 in a Heritage sale in March 2022. A Black Lotus from the Beta Edition graded CGC 7.5 realized $39,600 in the same Heritage sale in March 2022.

CSG Registry: As of June 2022, there are examples of the Black Lotus card in the top three Unlimited Edition sets in the CGC Trading Cards Registry. These include a CGC 7 in the top set, Unlimited 1 by Blackmask. There are also examples in the top set in the Alpha Edition and the Beta Edition