Mirror universe was very expensive back in 1994 bc the way dying worked. Essentially, it wasn't until the end of the phase in which the game would check that you died, so if you died you could sacrifice mirror universe in response to insteas kill your opponent
Yes, the way dying worked, mana burn and also the fact that control was insanely strong, chiefly because mana drain was not restricted. So you counter something with one of your four mana drains, you use the mana to cast mirror universe and the game is yours.
@@queendopamin maybe if you don’t like art it’s a waste of money, maybe if you don’t like holding a piece of history of something you admire in your own hand then yes, I guess it is a waste of money TO YOU
For Mirror Universe, life totals weren't checked immediately, but at the end of each phase. So you had until at least the end of your Upkeep to get your life total above zero after burning yourself with City of Brass et al. For sets from before, say, Time Spiral block (I'm a bit fuzzy on a good dividing line here, but anything printed before Mirrodin definitely qualifies), it was rare to see cards get above 20 USD ever, and very occasionally it might hit 25-30. The first card I remember seeing hitting 30+ since then was Jace, the Mind Sculptor, who was being presold for $50 on SCG at the time. As for The One Ring, I would have listed that as an honourable mention, because every other version discussed that made it on the list was the standard version, not a foil or an alternate art or whatever. The regular version of The One Ring according to MTG Goldfish currently goes for between 50-80 USD depending on which version, usually 70-something.
Yeah, based on the feedback in the comments if I was making the video today I would have the pack version of The One Ring for 2023 and just talk about the 1 of 1 printing. I was thinking that it counted as a new card printed in a booster, but maybe it shouldn't have.
I remember P3K packs being available at my local shop for 3 dollars a pack instead of the usual 4 because nobody really wanted the set. I probably bought 10 or so packs, still have all the commons and uncommons but have no clue what the rares were or what happened to them lol
I can't believe I traded my playset of baby Emrakul. 😖 It was about to rotate from standard so I got rid of it. The only good deals I made from this list was pre-ordering baby Jace for 15$ and Scarab God for 10$. Then buy listing Jace for 75$ and Scarab God for 60$ a few weeks before rotation.
Certified old guy here. The major reason Mirror Universe was so expensive was that it is among the first combos to win the game almost immediately. You cast "Mirror Universe" then "Lich", and on next turn activate the Mirror and its game over. If the opponent wasn't playing White or Red (Disenchant or Shatter), you were likely doomed and might still be anyhow if you didnt have either at hand. The "Chef's Kiss" would be to Time Walk right into your next upkeep; something that was not unthinkable in that time period.
Painter's Servant was the only good Scarecrow, the rest of his race was worthless, but he was good to combo with that one burn card, Chaotic Backlash. Deal 2 damage for ever blue or white permanent, by making everything blue, they just take two damage for everything on the board, if it was pretty much a one shot kill most of the time if it was allowed to resolve. I'm sure there are more interesting combos to do with it, but that was just from the same block and I had it in a burn deck, might still have it actually, also with Chandra in it I think, and that elemental that let you throw spare mana on it. edit: fixed the card name
TL;DR of this vid - 2 bullet points: 1) The 1st 9 years of _Magic_ were *weird* 2) 85% of the secondary market pricing is in Commander/EDH's FIRM CONRTOL
Actually your wrong about the black lotus. The first ever official price guide came out in early 1994, just after antiquities came out, and a Alpha Mox Ruby and Sapphire tie for the highest at $25.50, whereas the Alpha black lotus came in at $25.00. :)
I picked up a playset of Rhystic Study for $0.70 each in Nov. of 2010. When exactly did it explode in value? Commander's Arsenal didn't release till 2 years later.
@@leroyj62 If I'm understanding correctly, you are saying that they weren't worth a ton when they were reprinted in Commander's Arsenal 2 years after I bought them? If true, then perhaps their reprint in a higher rarity and then seeing play is what started the trend?
I think, if you were going to go back through the card reviews and talk about what people thought about cards like Necropotence when it was printed, you also should have mentioned what people thought about Jace, Vryn's Prodigy when it was previewed, because surely everyone got that card right.
Wtf you mean cavern gets “reprinted constantly” ??? It had one booster set printing, 3 masters set printings, and 2 masterpieces. If you ask me, its no f’ing wonder its still $50
The 90's prices are tricky. I used the old Scrye and Duaelist magazines for prices, but only about one issue per year is actually online anywhere so it's possible that Cursed Scroll was pricier than Time Warp at some point in the year, but it wasn't for the issue I had with the prices.
As a casual player in the 90’s I didn’t see the point of having a Black Lotus for $60-100 when I could simply kill my opponent in turn 4-6 using normal ramp and such. I guess it pays to be a power gaming butthole after all. #Memberberries #BoomerBummer
i don't think you should have ended the video with the 001/001 ring and continued with the normal cards of 2023. in no other years you counted the serialized cards. though it deserves a mention its kind of unfair.
@@MTGGoldfish hmm wonder how many more sets had their best value drop considering inflation. I remember the modern best beating out the old by only a few dollars several times
How did I not get Tarmogoyf. I went with Doran. Edit: the rules seem pretty inconsistent for the video. Reflecting Pool was a reprint and counted but the expedition polluted delta doesn't? Also True Name being counted but Mana Crypt being excluded.
Reflecting Pool was just a mistake (I forgot it was a reprint for some reason, so that's on me). The general criteria was "new cards (so not reprints) printed in an actual product (so random promos wouldn't could)" but maybe it was a bit loose.
@@MTGGoldfish oh okay, I get it. I didn't understand that it wasn't counting promos and thought it wasn't counting non-booster products. Thanks for the clarification
Maybe when the channel wants to talk about old cards, get someone who was playing at the time or is at least knowledgeable about that period instead of "herp derp I don't know why people like this card lulz"!"
Just wanted to say that the amount of effort put into these videos and this channel is incredible. Thank you to the MTGGoldfish cast and the editors for all that you do!
Seth i really want to thank you for taking the time to compile these historical info videos. Magic history is super ephemeral and without videos like this, we will lose that.
Mirror universe was expensive because you didn't lose the game until the end of a step or phase, so if you could pay all your life to abilities and such, you could trade life points before the end of that step or phase and then your opponent lost
People also have to remember that when Jace the mindsculptor was in standard, there really weren't many ways to deal with planeswalkers once they were on the field. In fact the best way was to play your own Jace, which back then killed off both Jaces. So whoever got there Jace out first had a huge advantage.
JTMS was so good that people were playing Loryn Jace just to have a 5th card that was mid, but prevented your opponent from playing a Jace (then the rule got changed, and it still worked as a "kill target Jace" spell). Yeah, for Planeswalker removal, people played things like Hex Parasite, Vampire Hexmage, Oblivion Ring, Beast Within, and Lightning Bolt to deal with Plabeswalkers.
Time warp makes me think - we've seen the fastest bannings, but what are the slowest bannings? Cards that became surprisingly broken late in their life?
It's pretty normal for a bad do-nothing card to be hit by rules changes or unexpected synergy later on, becoming broken. It doesn't always get banned, sometimes they hit the new half or other parts of the deck etc. Take Summer Bloom & Eye of Ugin for example. They both were niche 3rd tier cards, around for several years and forgotten about, then got support printed and became ridiculous mana cheat engines. A swarm of powerful low-cost Eldrazi turned Ugin into something way more powerful than it's designed. Meanwhile, Summer Bloom is only explosive when combined with Amulet of Vigor and a bounce-land such as Simic Growth Chamber to generate insane mana on turn 2.
If you’re including the one of one ring shouldn’t you include cards like the Neon Ink Hudetsugu and the Shattered Glass Transformers? I think those are over/close to 1k and beat out sheoldred etc
After reading the comments I regret focusing on the 1 of 1 ring as much as I did. I probably should have just had the normal printing as the most expensive card and then mention the 1 of 1 version for consistency's sake.
One thing you didn't mention about why Pithing Needle was so expensive: Saviors of Kamigawa was one of the worst sets in the history of Magic, and nobody wanted to open it. At the time, the set only really had two cards anybody wanted out of the set: Twincast and Pithing Needle.
I was playing during Prophecy and rhystic study was complete, worthless crap. Then I took a LOOOONG break from the game and started playing Commander around 2019. I'll never forget the first time I saw rhystic study cast. I couldn't process how this utter garbage card from my childhood was now a powerhouse
Back then I traded my Lion's Eye Diamond for a Taniwha because I loved legendary creatures, they were special back then. One of the worst deals in my life, maybe in history.
@afikolami At the Masques prerelease, someone sold their foil Brainstorm to my buddy (who says he hates foils) for $1. I bought a foil Priest of Titania out of a store's common bin for 10 cents.
You go from not talking about any serialized cards from Brothers War to jump instantly to the serialized One Ring. There are a lot of serialized cards from Bro that I'm sure are still more expensive than $80 for 2022.
I don't know if others have commented this (if someone did, I didn't notice), but Reflecting Pool was actually a reprint in Shadowmoor, and was first printed in Tempest. I know, because I own that version. Also this made me realise that two years in a row I opened the most expensive cards, and just held to them (while they tanked), they're Teferi HOD and Wrenn and 6. I'm not really regretting it, but it's interesting that it happened twice in a row. Oh and I finally realised why people back in like 2000 or 99 told me I was "swindled" because I bought a mono-green deck from a schoolmate, but he tactically took Multani, Maro-Sorcerer out. OTOH he didn't take out (then not that pricey) Gaea's Cradle, so that "investment" payed off...
Nice video, dude. I just want to say that while the price of The One Ring most likely wont be beat by a Lotus, there could technically still be a BGS all 10's Black Lotus out there sitting in a box/booster somewhere. If there was a ever a "Best condition Lotus EVER to ever see the light of day" it could very well be 2 million if it were sold in some years from now. I am hoping.
All the cards ever can be bought on shady Chinese websites. I love them and use them all the time. I win most tournaments at my local games shop because of this.
Black Lotus will still be the biggest price tag to me in MTG. Really can't count a gimicky one of a kind card. Lotus might be expensive, but still findable. The One Ring more then likely will end up changing hands a few times, but in the history of the game, will later just be a footnote.
Thank you for this trip down to memory lane, never knew Gemstone Caverns is so expensive now, I think I have two playsets in my binder, bought for dollar or so back in the day. Maybe it's time to trade them for the new fancy surveil lands.
balduvian horde 4 to cast for 5/5 creature is such a badass card in early mtg days. if my memory serves me right, players could summon this beast w/ black lotus in turn 1.
Misinformation at 18:08. Lobotomy wasn't the first version of the Cranial Extraction effect. It was a more flexible version of a cycle from Urza's Destiny. Sowing Salt, Scour, Eradicate, Quash, and Splinter all targeted a card and removed all copies in opponent's hand, library, and graveyard from the game.
@43:50 - when a woman laughs at you for having spent $2,000,000 on a magic card. .. never trust people with face tattoos to make smart decisions because they did decide to tattoo their face.
I was so happy I sold my Shepards when I did I got $780 for a play set and $320 for a foil I was lucky and able to get my hands on a ton of jumpstart having a connect at wotc My brother was a software developer from 2008-2022 and he could get stuff so easy and cheap he was very high up they would give him stuff all the time every year I’d get at least 2/3 case of boxes for Christmas still do even though he left saved a ton just got a case commander legends and new capena
@MTGGoldfish, cool video, next time It could be good if you could add prices also updated by inflation. That would give them a bit more direct comparison to todays prices :)
Let me be real. Been playing magic since ice age... Collected 1st addition pokemon. Laughed my ass off looking at an inquest magazine. it's almost not right .
I have a gaia's cradle and I had it in my deck that I played with regularly for years before one of my friends saw it and was like "you know that's a 300 dollar card right?" I have since replaced it in my deck with a proxy. That was like a decade ago
One ring doesnt count, it was literally printed as a cash grab, wonderful how community reacted for 30th anniversary, and didnt see its exact same shit as a couple months ago. If you count in alt ver of ring, why you didnt count alt versions of other .cards too? Its just insulting to whole mtg history to count ring as the most expensive card
I think that this video illustrates the divergence of prices from source to source. I played back in the day, and the prices that I remember from the 98/99 era are nothing like what you are quoting. I normally used Scrye, and so did all of the shops in my area back then.
im surprised there cant be a deck that utilizes life swap nowadayz...but then again im surprised i cant even play mtg arena cause its to complicated...oh what magic hath become
I mean technically the base version of The One Ring is way cheaper, and the one of one version is more like the Kaladesh Invention cards, but even the regular version is still stupid expensive. At my LGS its $100 CAD.
The thing is so good that it's kind of crazy. Colorless so any deck could add it, protection from everything, and so desirable as a play-set of 4 so that you can legend-rule it out to prevent it from killing you... and just a huge card draw engine on demand. Crazy crazy good.
@@51gunner Yeah I've been seeing the turbofog deck using The One Ring and Teferis Tutelage on Historic a lot recently, and in my commander games I've just been killing it literally the moment it hits the battlefield. Really good card.
Man seeing this made me really piss about the RL even more, we could get the reprint of Cradle for prolly 50$ but becos some minority don't want to see their Saga's number go below 700$.
In '97, i bought the Arabian Nights set for $175. The guy i had purchased them from had taken them straight from boosters, years earlier, and straight into hard cases. My parents were pissed that I "wasted" my money. Ohhhh those cards were MINT. About a year later, i sold them for $550 so I could have some extra money (mainly to bring my girlfriend at the time to prom). I thought nothing of it... until I checked prices online in the past year or so. I want a time machine... 😭 What the hell happened?!?
Was around in 1994 and bought Revised in stores - Balduvian Hordes was = Juzam Djinn (most expensive AN card for ages, till Bazaar took over), but for RED who wants speed. Back then removal was a lot harder, so bigger creatures was king.
Love your content, Seth. Keep it up, It's a rare thing being a content creator and no matter how much or how little effort you put into content, We still wanna see it!
I feel like Scry suffered a lot from the fact that most people didn't know what constituted a truly good card in a general context (ie kitchen table good), let alone know about all the niche uses for stuff. Even the internet had much worse advice than now, where you can glean quite a bit with a little invested time. Still today though people aren't perfect at this, most people know of cards that are really good for their price, but because they are so unknown they don't move much, and we can all name a bunch of cards that are solid enough cards but cost maybe x10 what they are realistically worth, and aren't even on the Reserved List. People still kind of suck at evaluating cards. Ha! I do actually have one of these! I have a Deserted Temple I cracked in an old starter deck (it also came with a terrible Vampire, so both rares were complete trash then, and one still is). I have a few of these in different printings, but not many of the OG printings. I think your lists like this shouldn't look at Commander stuff, or weird print stuff like the 1 of 1 The One Ring, maybe I'm too much of a purist for wanting you to stick with standard legal stuff only?
20:53 Richard pulling out a rated OG Tarmogoyf to use as a TOKEN on a recent episode of Commander Clash really put into perspective how things have changed.
Mirror universe was very expensive back in 1994 bc the way dying worked. Essentially, it wasn't until the end of the phase in which the game would check that you died, so if you died you could sacrifice mirror universe in response to insteas kill your opponent
Yup. Combine that with a card/effect that you can pump life into, you have a combo that can win the game very suddenly.
Mana burn was still around at the time, so you could even burn yourself out with your lands and then swap life for a pretty decent win condition
Yes, the way dying worked, mana burn and also the fact that control was insanely strong, chiefly because mana drain was not restricted. So you counter something with one of your four mana drains, you use the mana to cast mirror universe and the game is yours.
@@lozkko totally forgot about mana drain with it that’s sweet
@@Jude3333 I play old school magic, and mana drain is still broke! But at least it is now restricted in old school 🤣
An alpha black lotus signed by the man himself for $800,000??? If I had Post Malone money I’d call that a solid deal
an artist proof version is even more rare than alpha, only a handful of them were given out and only to the artists themself
how is that kind of money for a piece of cardboard a solid deal
@@queendopamin if you don’t like this stuff why are you here?
@@jagobot1487 I do like this stuff. I'm just disagreeing that this is a good way to spend your money
@@queendopamin maybe if you don’t like art it’s a waste of money, maybe if you don’t like holding a piece of history of something you admire in your own hand then yes, I guess it is a waste of money TO YOU
For Mirror Universe, life totals weren't checked immediately, but at the end of each phase. So you had until at least the end of your Upkeep to get your life total above zero after burning yourself with City of Brass et al.
For sets from before, say, Time Spiral block (I'm a bit fuzzy on a good dividing line here, but anything printed before Mirrodin definitely qualifies), it was rare to see cards get above 20 USD ever, and very occasionally it might hit 25-30. The first card I remember seeing hitting 30+ since then was Jace, the Mind Sculptor, who was being presold for $50 on SCG at the time.
As for The One Ring, I would have listed that as an honourable mention, because every other version discussed that made it on the list was the standard version, not a foil or an alternate art or whatever. The regular version of The One Ring according to MTG Goldfish currently goes for between 50-80 USD depending on which version, usually 70-something.
You didn't include special printings of cards for previous years but counted 1/1 One Ring for 2023...
Well, the one of one ring is kinda a special case. It’s not a special printing, it’s THE special printing. Idk tho
Yeah, based on the feedback in the comments if I was making the video today I would have the pack version of The One Ring for 2023 and just talk about the 1 of 1 printing. I was thinking that it counted as a new card printed in a booster, but maybe it shouldn't have.
I remember P3K packs being available at my local shop for 3 dollars a pack instead of the usual 4 because nobody really wanted the set. I probably bought 10 or so packs, still have all the commons and uncommons but have no clue what the rares were or what happened to them lol
The best trade I ever got was there was a very short time where Verderous Gearhulk and Polluted Delta (KTK) were both $20 at the time.
I can't believe I traded my playset of baby Emrakul. 😖 It was about to rotate from standard so I got rid of it.
The only good deals I made from this list was pre-ordering baby Jace for 15$ and Scarab God for 10$. Then buy listing Jace for 75$ and Scarab God for 60$ a few weeks before rotation.
Certified old guy here. The major reason Mirror Universe was so expensive was that it is among the first combos to win the game almost immediately. You cast "Mirror Universe" then "Lich", and on next turn activate the Mirror and its game over. If the opponent wasn't playing White or Red (Disenchant or Shatter), you were likely doomed and might still be anyhow if you didnt have either at hand. The "Chef's Kiss" would be to Time Walk right into your next upkeep; something that was not unthinkable in that time period.
Why is Mirror Universe so expensive? The answer is so obvious! Phil Foglio art.
I was looking through my Dads old collection of cards. Found 3 lions eye diamonds in pretty good condition
Painter's Servant was the only good Scarecrow, the rest of his race was worthless, but he was good to combo with that one burn card, Chaotic Backlash. Deal 2 damage for ever blue or white permanent, by making everything blue, they just take two damage for everything on the board, if it was pretty much a one shot kill most of the time if it was allowed to resolve.
I'm sure there are more interesting combos to do with it, but that was just from the same block and I had it in a burn deck, might still have it actually, also with Chandra in it I think, and that elemental that let you throw spare mana on it.
edit: fixed the card name
TL;DR of this vid - 2 bullet points:
1) The 1st 9 years of _Magic_ were *weird*
2) 85% of the secondary market pricing is in Commander/EDH's FIRM CONRTOL
That does about sum it up.
Actually your wrong about the black lotus. The first ever official price guide came out in early 1994, just after antiquities came out, and a Alpha Mox Ruby and Sapphire tie for the highest at $25.50, whereas the Alpha black lotus came in at $25.00. :)
Its like buying the boxed Monopoly game. Only you need to pull all the dollars out of your pocket to play it.
I picked up a playset of Rhystic Study for $0.70 each in Nov. of 2010. When exactly did it explode in value? Commander's Arsenal didn't release till 2 years later.
It never really exploded. It just went up over the last 14 years since you bought them
@@leroyj62 If I'm understanding correctly, you are saying that they weren't worth a ton when they were reprinted in Commander's Arsenal 2 years after I bought them? If true, then perhaps their reprint in a higher rarity and then seeing play is what started the trend?
To be fair to necropotience cards were a lot worse in 1995
I think, if you were going to go back through the card reviews and talk about what people thought about cards like Necropotence when it was printed, you also should have mentioned what people thought about Jace, Vryn's Prodigy when it was previewed, because surely everyone got that card right.
What kind of person underrated Jace, Vryn's Prodigy?
@@MTGGoldfish A fool, surely ;)
Very interesting. Thks
Pretty sure Bonfire of the Damned hit close to $50 at one point during its time in Standard, making it more expensive than Thundermaw
It did. I was selling them for $60 at one point.
Wtf you mean cavern gets “reprinted constantly” ??? It had one booster set printing, 3 masters set printings, and 2 masterpieces. If you ask me, its no f’ing wonder its still $50
1997 should be Cursed Scroll, not Time Warp
The 90's prices are tricky. I used the old Scrye and Duaelist magazines for prices, but only about one issue per year is actually online anywhere so it's possible that Cursed Scroll was pricier than Time Warp at some point in the year, but it wasn't for the issue I had with the prices.
As a casual player in the 90’s I didn’t see the point of having a Black Lotus for $60-100 when I could simply kill my opponent in turn 4-6 using normal ramp and such. I guess it pays to be a power gaming butthole after all. #Memberberries #BoomerBummer
i don't think you should have ended the video with the 001/001 ring and continued with the normal cards of 2023. in no other years you counted the serialized cards.
though it deserves a mention its kind of unfair.
Are these adjusted for inflation?
No, they are printed at the time from old priceguides and the wayback machine, not inflation adjusted.
@@MTGGoldfish hmm wonder how many more sets had their best value drop considering inflation. I remember the modern best beating out the old by only a few dollars several times
I just bought 2-3k 1993 cards lol it’s so annoying that I don’t know shit
29:42 meanwhile Urza‘s Saga and Boseiju😅
How did I not get Tarmogoyf. I went with Doran.
Edit: the rules seem pretty inconsistent for the video. Reflecting Pool was a reprint and counted but the expedition polluted delta doesn't? Also True Name being counted but Mana Crypt being excluded.
Reflecting Pool was just a mistake (I forgot it was a reprint for some reason, so that's on me). The general criteria was "new cards (so not reprints) printed in an actual product (so random promos wouldn't could)" but maybe it was a bit loose.
@@MTGGoldfish oh okay, I get it. I didn't understand that it wasn't counting promos and thought it wasn't counting non-booster products. Thanks for the clarification
Maybe when the channel wants to talk about old cards, get someone who was playing at the time or is at least knowledgeable about that period instead of "herp derp I don't know why people like this card lulz"!"
Just wanted to say that the amount of effort put into these videos and this channel is incredible. Thank you to the MTGGoldfish cast and the editors for all that you do!
Yes
Seth i really want to thank you for taking the time to compile these historical info videos.
Magic history is super ephemeral and without videos like this, we will lose that.
Yeah, "herp derp I dunno why this card was popular" is really good historical info.
Mirror universe was expensive because you didn't lose the game until the end of a step or phase, so if you could pay all your life to abilities and such, you could trade life points before the end of that step or phase and then your opponent lost
Thx
People also have to remember that when Jace the mindsculptor was in standard, there really weren't many ways to deal with planeswalkers once they were on the field. In fact the best way was to play your own Jace, which back then killed off both Jaces. So whoever got there Jace out first had a huge advantage.
Yeah, that's true. Answers to planeswalkers weren't really a thing back then.
I remember hearing people playing that Slash Panther to try to kill JTMS...
JTMS was so good that people were playing Loryn Jace just to have a 5th card that was mid, but prevented your opponent from playing a Jace (then the rule got changed, and it still worked as a "kill target Jace" spell).
Yeah, for Planeswalker removal, people played things like Hex Parasite, Vampire Hexmage, Oblivion Ring, Beast Within, and Lightning Bolt to deal with Plabeswalkers.
Time warp makes me think - we've seen the fastest bannings, but what are the slowest bannings? Cards that became surprisingly broken late in their life?
It's pretty normal for a bad do-nothing card to be hit by rules changes or unexpected synergy later on, becoming broken. It doesn't always get banned, sometimes they hit the new half or other parts of the deck etc.
Take Summer Bloom & Eye of Ugin for example. They both were niche 3rd tier cards, around for several years and forgotten about, then got support printed and became ridiculous mana cheat engines. A swarm of powerful low-cost Eldrazi turned Ugin into something way more powerful than it's designed. Meanwhile, Summer Bloom is only explosive when combined with Amulet of Vigor and a bounce-land such as Simic Growth Chamber to generate insane mana on turn 2.
If you’re including the one of one ring shouldn’t you include cards like the Neon Ink Hudetsugu and the Shattered Glass Transformers? I think those are over/close to 1k and beat out sheoldred etc
After reading the comments I regret focusing on the 1 of 1 ring as much as I did. I probably should have just had the normal printing as the most expensive card and then mention the 1 of 1 version for consistency's sake.
This is exactly how I would imagine a gold fish to sound if it could talk.
One thing you didn't mention about why Pithing Needle was so expensive: Saviors of Kamigawa was one of the worst sets in the history of Magic, and nobody wanted to open it. At the time, the set only really had two cards anybody wanted out of the set: Twincast and Pithing Needle.
I was playing during Prophecy and rhystic study was complete, worthless crap. Then I took a LOOOONG break from the game and started playing Commander around 2019. I'll never forget the first time I saw rhystic study cast. I couldn't process how this utter garbage card from my childhood was now a powerhouse
If the Invocations, Zendikar Expditions etc don't count, then neither does the 1/1 One Ring.
Ive never paused a video so fast because of the creators voice being that cringey. I watched on mute with subtitles
Back then I traded my Lion's Eye Diamond for a Taniwha because I loved legendary creatures, they were special back then. One of the worst deals in my life, maybe in history.
You do realize he said in this very video that people traded Lotuses for Shivans, right?
During Shadowmore pre-release I traded my foil Painter's Servant for a playset of Boggart Ram-Gang 🙃
@afikolami At the Masques prerelease, someone sold their foil Brainstorm to my buddy (who says he hates foils) for $1.
I bought a foil Priest of Titania out of a store's common bin for 10 cents.
18:08 ok, I am nitpicking here, but Lobotomy was first printed in Tempest, and reprinted in invasion.
2:06 bit disingenuous. _Alpha_ Shivan Dragons seem to be worth several thousand dollars today.
While Shivan Dragon may not be worth much, I reckon an Alpha Shivan Dragon is probably worth many many dollars
Yeah, the Alpha printing is still pricy for sure.
You go from not talking about any serialized cards from Brothers War to jump instantly to the serialized One Ring. There are a lot of serialized cards from Bro that I'm sure are still more expensive than $80 for 2022.
I've only been playing magic for a few years, but I'm loving these historical retrospectives. Keep em coming please!
Deserted Temple was reprinted in LOTR it now sells for $7.
They are $18 on TCG. Where can you buy them for $7?
@@thechestrockfield its the box topper version "Weathertop"
I don't know if others have commented this (if someone did, I didn't notice), but Reflecting Pool was actually a reprint in Shadowmoor, and was first printed in Tempest. I know, because I own that version.
Also this made me realise that two years in a row I opened the most expensive cards, and just held to them (while they tanked), they're Teferi HOD and Wrenn and 6. I'm not really regretting it, but it's interesting that it happened twice in a row.
Oh and I finally realised why people back in like 2000 or 99 told me I was "swindled" because I bought a mono-green deck from a schoolmate, but he tactically took Multani, Maro-Sorcerer out. OTOH he didn't take out (then not that pricey) Gaea's Cradle, so that "investment" payed off...
Ugh, you are right. Reflecting Pool shouldn't have counted. I totally forgot it was a reprint. Oops.
Great video! Kinda glad to see black lotus take its spot back as #1!
I remember being 10 years old and tearing a lions sue diamond in half…just because 😢
Nice video, dude. I just want to say that while the price of The One Ring most likely wont be beat by a Lotus, there could technically still be a BGS all 10's Black Lotus out there sitting in a box/booster somewhere. If there was a ever a "Best condition Lotus EVER to ever see the light of day" it could very well be 2 million if it were sold in some years from now. I am hoping.
It would have been helpful if the old prices were adjusted for inflation. As it stands now, the list is a little misleading.
All the cards ever can be bought on shady Chinese websites. I love them and use them all the time. I win most tournaments at my local games shop because of this.
Lolllll I can't tell if you're joking
@@senoreverything6366 why would I?
Black Lotus will still be the biggest price tag to me in MTG. Really can't count a gimicky one of a kind card. Lotus might be expensive, but still findable. The One Ring more then likely will end up changing hands a few times, but in the history of the game, will later just be a footnote.
Unless Post dies, I don't see it changing hands at all...
First turn voltaic key + time vault + black lotus. Never ever forgive poor game mechanics.
Thank you for this trip down to memory lane, never knew Gemstone Caverns is so expensive now, I think I have two playsets in my binder, bought for dollar or so back in the day. Maybe it's time to trade them for the new fancy surveil lands.
I changed my Sliver deck Commander once I found out Sliver Queen was like 150 bucks.
Yeah, the TLDR of this video is basically that legendary Slivers are super expensive.
balduvian horde 4 to cast for 5/5 creature is such a badass card in early mtg days. if my memory serves me right, players could summon this beast w/ black lotus in turn 1.
Misinformation at 18:08. Lobotomy wasn't the first version of the Cranial Extraction effect. It was a more flexible version of a cycle from Urza's Destiny. Sowing Salt, Scour, Eradicate, Quash, and Splinter all targeted a card and removed all copies in opponent's hand, library, and graveyard from the game.
Bonfire of the Damned was definitely more expensive than Thundermaw Hellkite in 2012, I remember it peaking at $48. Brimaz also hit $35 during 2014.
@43:50 - when a woman laughs at you for having spent $2,000,000 on a magic card. .. never trust people with face tattoos to make smart decisions because they did decide to tattoo their face.
I was so happy I sold my Shepards when I did I got $780 for a play set and $320 for a foil I was lucky and able to get my hands on a ton of jumpstart having a connect at wotc
My brother was a software developer from 2008-2022 and he could get stuff so easy and cheap he was very high up they would give him stuff all the time every year I’d get at least 2/3 case of boxes for Christmas still do even though he left saved a ton just got a case commander legends and new capena
@MTGGoldfish, cool video, next time It could be good if you could add prices also updated by inflation. That would give them a bit more direct comparison to todays prices :)
Let me be real. Been playing magic since ice age... Collected 1st addition pokemon. Laughed my ass off looking at an inquest magazine. it's almost not right .
I have a gaia's cradle and I had it in my deck that I played with regularly for years before one of my friends saw it and was like "you know that's a 300 dollar card right?" I have since replaced it in my deck with a proxy. That was like a decade ago
Funny thing is now, or even 3 months after this video came out, chrome Mox would also be the most expensive card from 2003 today as well as back then
One ring doesnt count, it was literally printed as a cash grab, wonderful how community reacted for 30th anniversary, and didnt see its exact same shit as a couple months ago. If you count in alt ver of ring, why you didnt count alt versions of other .cards too? Its just insulting to whole mtg history to count ring as the most expensive card
I still have tonne of Rhystic study (although not in good condition) because i open so many booster back then.
I think that this video illustrates the divergence of prices from source to source. I played back in the day, and the prices that I remember from the 98/99 era are nothing like what you are quoting. I normally used Scrye, and so did all of the shops in my area back then.
im surprised there cant be a deck that utilizes life swap nowadayz...but then again im surprised i cant even play mtg arena cause its to complicated...oh what magic hath become
Whoever makes these thumbnails needs to know the $dollar sign going in FRONT of the number, not after it.
I have four altered art L.E.Ds in my dredge deck. They're my most cherished cards.
my black lotus was $0.50 and the back is a cool blue yugi-oh spiral so who’s the real winner
slightly outdated now. someone dropped 3 mil on a psa 10 alpha black lotus a couple weeks ago
I mean technically the base version of The One Ring is way cheaper, and the one of one version is more like the Kaladesh Invention cards, but even the regular version is still stupid expensive. At my LGS its $100 CAD.
The thing is so good that it's kind of crazy. Colorless so any deck could add it, protection from everything, and so desirable as a play-set of 4 so that you can legend-rule it out to prevent it from killing you... and just a huge card draw engine on demand. Crazy crazy good.
@@51gunner Yeah I've been seeing the turbofog deck using The One Ring and Teferis Tutelage on Historic a lot recently, and in my commander games I've just been killing it literally the moment it hits the battlefield. Really good card.
To the editor: Lobotomy was first printed in Tempest. :)
If second chance was in modern you know that would have been played on Against the odds
I like how post malone made up an entire rap career to justify his mtg collecting.
the most valuable 2017 card is Edgar Markov at $130
Necro decks were huge in 95-96 from what I recall
The one ring was such a joke. I hate that so many people are such suckers.
If only they got rid of the reserved list
Fax
1999 SHoul've been Masticore, why isn't it there?
I just purchased a big lot of magic cards and one of those cards is a black lotus
sooo watch out for blue, green, artifacts and lands? got it.
I was excited in 2013 to be able to buy a few of those Commander decks with True Name Nemesis before they all sold out everywhere 😅
I remember that time, they were almost impossible to find for a while until Wizards finally released more of them.
I have a Japanese copy of Intuition that at the time like 6 years ago bought for 65 bucks.
Sounds like a good deal :)
I kinda love that Post Malone fangirls for MTG :D
Man seeing this made me really piss about the RL even more, we could get the reprint of Cradle for prolly 50$ but becos some minority don't want to see their Saga's number go below 700$.
Hah! Bought 3 doubling seasons back then :D
17:30
Didn’t know post Malone was so into magic lol
In '97, i bought the Arabian Nights set for $175. The guy i had purchased them from had taken them straight from boosters, years earlier, and straight into hard cases. My parents were pissed that I "wasted" my money. Ohhhh those cards were MINT. About a year later, i sold them for $550 so I could have some extra money (mainly to bring my girlfriend at the time to prom).
I thought nothing of it... until I checked prices online in the past year or so. I want a time machine... 😭
What the hell happened?!?
Was around in 1994 and bought Revised in stores - Balduvian Hordes was = Juzam Djinn (most expensive AN card for ages, till Bazaar took over), but for RED who wants speed.
Back then removal was a lot harder, so bigger creatures was king.
Love your content, Seth. Keep it up, It's a rare thing being a content creator and no matter how much or how little effort you put into content, We still wanna see it!
Thanks :)
3:06 You don't sac creatures to tabernacle despite what the printed text says. It was errated to destroy instead.
Good call. I actually didn't realize that, although I guess outside of fringe situations like regenerate it plays the same for the most part.
My favorite MTG content out there next to maybe Rhystic Studies or Spice.
Thanks!
ua-cam.com/video/knDQsb_EuYs/v-deo.html all these dual lands no sleeves. the best days
So much work done for this video, great work as always Seth
Just want more LoTR themed mtg packs please
I feel like Scry suffered a lot from the fact that most people didn't know what constituted a truly good card in a general context (ie kitchen table good), let alone know about all the niche uses for stuff. Even the internet had much worse advice than now, where you can glean quite a bit with a little invested time. Still today though people aren't perfect at this, most people know of cards that are really good for their price, but because they are so unknown they don't move much, and we can all name a bunch of cards that are solid enough cards but cost maybe x10 what they are realistically worth, and aren't even on the Reserved List. People still kind of suck at evaluating cards.
Ha! I do actually have one of these! I have a Deserted Temple I cracked in an old starter deck (it also came with a terrible Vampire, so both rares were complete trash then, and one still is). I have a few of these in different printings, but not many of the OG printings. I think your lists like this shouldn't look at Commander stuff, or weird print stuff like the 1 of 1 The One Ring, maybe I'm too much of a purist for wanting you to stick with standard legal stuff only?
20:53 Richard pulling out a rated OG Tarmogoyf to use as a TOKEN on a recent episode of Commander Clash really put into perspective how things have changed.