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MTG anniversary set brings back Black Lotus (and costs $999)

Magic: The Gathering's most expensive (and perhaps well-known) card, the iconic Black Lotus, is being reprinted in a set that costs $999

Magic the Gathering Black Lotus artwork
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Magic: The Gathering 

The infamously expensive Black Lotus is officially getting a Magic: The Gathering reprint, but the price tag attached is about as eye-watering as you’d expect. A Weekly MTG livestream from Wizards of the Coast on October 4 confirms the 30th Anniversary Edition booster box, which includes a Black Lotus reprint as one of its cards, will cost $999 / £875.75.

The 30th Anniversary Edition booster set is inspired by the early days of Magic: The Gathering – namely Limited Edition Beta, the second printing of MTG’s very first core set. The box contains four booster packs, and cards like Ancestral Recall, Shivan Dragon, and Serra Angel will also be reprinted in the set alongside Black Lotus. Each card has two versions – a modern frame and a retro frame – and a commemorative design on the back showing the iconic Lotus’s original art.

As all boosters come with a certain amount of modern and retro frames, it’s actually possible you could pull a 30th anniversary Black Lotus twice – one with a modern frame, and one with a retro frame. You could also, of course, not get any – and with a $999 price tag, the 30th Anniversary Edition makes for a pretty steep gamble.

With the original Black Lotus selling for as much as $800,000 (thanks, Post Malone) and landing several spaces in the MTG banlist, a reprint is a pretty big deal. Note, however, that none of the cards in the set are tournament-legal, so the meta remains unharmed at this time.

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Magic the Gathering Black Lotus card back from 30th Anniversary commemorative set.Magic the Gathering cards including Black Lotus and Ancestral Recall
Magic the Gathering Black Lotus card back from 30th Anniversary commemorative set.Magic the Gathering cards including Black Lotus and Ancestral Recall

The 30th Anniversary Edition boxes go on sale on November 28 at 30thedition.wizards.com – a URL that currently redirects you to an article by Blake Rasmussen giving more details on the set. The print run will be limited, but Wizards Play Network (WPN) stores are reportedly guaranteed a box. Premium WPN stores are guaranteed to receive three. According to Elaine Chase, MTG fans in the United States can expect to receive copies of the collectable boosters by the end of the year.

For more recent MTG updates, keep an eye on our Brothers’ War release date guide. This is the last set of the year, but we’re already looking towards the horizon with our 2023 release schedule guide, too.

Mollie Russell is Wargamer's resident D&D and guides specialist. She has a degree in Creative Writing and English Literature, and you can also find her writing at Pocket Tactics and in various poetry magazines. She's covered some of the biggest and weirdest releases for Wargamer - including the DnD movie, Frosthaven, and Baldur's Gate 3. Mollie is constantly playing Dungeons and Dragons, but she's still on her quest to try every tabletop RPG she can get her hands on. An avid fan of MTG drafts and horror board games, she will take any opportunity to info-dump about why Blood on the Clocktower is the best social deduction game. (She/Her)