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

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.

ICYMI, the first Magic: Legends open beta will begin on March 23, giving players their first taste of the free-to-play, deck-building action-RPG.

You can sign up for the beta via the official Magic: Legends website. All you have to do is make a free Arc account and click the button in the top-right corner. Ahead of the beta, you can also put in for a slot in the final closed alpha.

Alpha and beta testing is exclusive to PC, but PS4 and Xbox One players will get to join in the full release later this year. In a new deck-building deep-dive, Perfect World gave us a better idea of what to expect from Magic: Legends, and a clearer picture of how it adapts the rules of Magic: The Gathering. 

Here are all the new games of 2021 (and beyond). We've also got a few guides you might like, including the best card games, best board games, and the best tabletop RPGs.