This Magic: The Gathering card sold for over half a million dollars

Fan-favourite card game — (Image credit: WotC)

A rare Magic: The Gathering card recently sold at auction for over half a million dollars.

The game's most powerful and sought-after card, Black Lotus – which was released as part of the Alpha set in 1993 – popped up on eBay earlier this month and closed at the end of January, having sold for an astonishing $511,100. That's three times the price paid for a similar quality card in 2019, and five times the price paid in 2018 (thanks, Polygon).

The steep price is thought to have been achieved due to the card's mint condition – rated as "MT 10" – and the fact it's been signed by artist Christopher Rush, who sadly died back in 2016.

Another Black Lotus card is currently on sale now for – yup, you've guessed it – $499,999. However, that card has been on sale since May 2018, according to the eBay listing history, and "only" sports a GEM Mint rating of 9.5 and hasn't been signed.

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Vikki Blake is GamesRadar+'s Weekend Reporter. Vikki works tirelessly to ensure that you have something to read on the days of the week beginning with 'S', and can also be found contributing to outlets including the BBC, Eurogamer, and GameIndustry.biz. Vikki also runs a weekly games column at NME, and can be frequently found talking about Destiny 2 and Silent Hill on Twitter.