Black Lotus

The Black Lotus is a well-known card from the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering. It was only included in the Alpha, Beta, and Unlimited sets of the game, meaning it was only printed for a short period from late 1993 to early 1994. With the exception of special, near-unique cards such as Splendid Genesis and Fraternal Exaltation, the Black Lotus is the most expensive and valuable (in monetary terms) Magic card. The card, especially the Alpha and Beta variants, is often valued in the thousands of United States dollars.

Value and impact on Magic: the Gathering

Prices for a single Beta Black Lotus have steadily climbed from about $200 in 1995 to nearly $2000 in 2004. Alpha variants are less sought after because the more rounded corners of that set are only allowed in Magic tournaments if played inside card sleeves. White-borded Unlimited variants are worth about half as much as their black-bordered Beta counterparts because the Unlimited printing was larger and is therefore less scarce.

Black Lotus' high price results in part from its rarity, but it's also one of the most powerful cards in the game; it can be played for free and delivers three mana of any color type. This gives a player using it a strong advantage early in a game.

Some of its notoriety comes from its part in one of the most famous and devastating combinations in the game, an actual "first-turn kill" called "Channelball". This combination relied on "Channel", which turned life into mana, and "Fireball", which turned mana into damage to an opponent. The Black Lotus was used to provide the extra mana needed to cast both spells on the first turn.

"Channelball" led to an abusive and often invincible playing style that was the impetus for a host of new rules and restrictions for the game. In official tournament play, the number of certain cards was "restricted" to one, or even banned outright. Different types of tournaments were created allowing only cards easily found by all players. The first of these new tournament types, called "Type 2", quickly became much more popular than "Type 1" tournaments which continued to allow a single Black Lotus. Type 2 is now know as "Standard" and continues to be the most popular constructed tournament type.

The fame of the card has been alluded to and lampooned in subsequent printings of Magic: the Gathering. For example, a card from the Tempest expansion set called "Lotus Petal" imitates the Black Lotus' effect although it only provides one mana. Even this card has been deemed powerful and restricted. However, due to the common rarity level of Lotus Petal, it's not particularly valuable. The "Blacker Lotus" was a satirical card in the light-hearted Unglued set which produced four mana although it required the user to tear up the card after use.

The Power Nine

Ownership of a Black Lotus and several other powerful cards is considered essential to win Type 1 tournaments. A commonly-cited list of early and powerful Magic cards is the "Power Nine". All of these cards are restricted in Type 1 and banned in all other tournaments. They include: Black Lotus, Mox Sapphire, Mox Ruby, Mox Jet, Mox Emerald, Mox Pearl, Timetwister, Time Walk, and Ancestral Recall. These nine cards are "broken" (excessively overpowered) by contemporary standards of Magic: the Gathering because they offer disproportionate power like extra turns, cards, and mana with almost no drawback.

The Power Nine were on the first Magic: the Gathering "reserved list" unveiled by Wizards of the Coast in 1996. Reserved cards were never to be reprinted because of concerns that additional printings would collapse the secondary market. The reserved list has gone through several revisions, notably in 2002 when many cards were removed from the list, thus becoming available for reprint. However, the Power Nine remain fixed on the list due in part to their high prices, but also because of their "unbalanced" power in the game.

Like the Black Lotus, other Power Nine cards were in the original sets and only printed from late 1993 to early 1994. All are worth at least several hundred dollars today, but none as much as the Black Lotus.

Artwork

The illustration on Black Lotus was painted by Christopher Rush. At the time Rush was a Wizards of the Coast employee. He created many of the original card designs. The Black Lotus illustration is an unremarkable depiction of a a black lotus flower over a foliage backdrop.

Proxies and fakes

The Black Lotus, along with several other rare cards, is often copied due to its rarity. Most of these copies are benign, and meant for use by players who can not afford to buy a real one. These are called "proxies", and are not allowed in tournament play. However, some copies are attempts at actual forgeries. Collectors and players are advised to carefully inspect such cards when purchasing them.