Magic The Gathering: An Expensive Hobby

Konnor Kristiansen | Writer

Magic the Gathering is an internationally popular trading card game that allows players to control creatures that fight other players' creatures (almost like Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh). I love this card game, but it's a very expensive hobby to get into. I’ve spent more than $200 on decks and regular cards in total. Besides the regular cards that any basic person can buy, the extreme prices range from $1,000 to $20,000. The most expensive card is called the “Black Lotus.” 

But why do the prices matter? Should anyone care? The reason for these prices on cards is because of their rarity and what they do. Looking at the “Black Lotus,” this card is extremely powerful. In game the card is a 0 mana pull (meaning it can just come out whenever for free) and also lets the user add 3 mana of any single color of your choice to your mana pool, then is discarded. Tapping this artifact can be played as an interrupt (meaning that this card can let you send out 3 free manas). Surprisingly, there are other cards that let the user do the same thing. So why specifically is this card valuable? Because of the culture and history behind the card. The card was one of the first printed for the game, so there are only a few great quality cards left, that’s why the price is so high. 

The game is still fun, but make sure you have the money before you buy.