Rare Magic: The Gathering card breaks records with $3 million sale

A rare Magic: The Gathering card has sold for $3 million, making it the most expensive Magic card ever sold.

And before you ask, Magic nerds, of course it was a Black Lotus. The sale of the card was announced last week by CGC Cards, a certification and grading company for trading cards, video games, comics, and more.

The Black Lotus is the holy grail of Magic cards. It was first printed as a part of the card game’s Alpha and Beta sets that launched with the game’s debut in 1993. Though highly sought as a collector’s item, the card itself is unplayable, as it is banned in all but one format because it is simply too powerful, allowing players to create three mana of any color for the low, low price of free. The card belongs to a special set of Magic cards called the Power Nine — expensive, rare, but unplayable cards that are incredibly busted.

In addition to Black Lotus, the Power Nine consists of five other similar cards that allow you to create mana for free and three blue mana cards because blue is simply the no-fun-allowed color. Though unplayable in most formats, Black Lotus has been remixed into slightly different cards with similar powers but with better balance.

The record-breaking $3 million Black Lotus was graded by CGC Cards and rated as a 10, or in “pristine” condition, making it the highest quality Black Lotus card ever sold. Lesser-quality Black Lotus cards have sold for mid-six figures.