How Much Are the Power Nine Magic Cards Worth?

The Power Nine are the nine most broken cards ever printed in Magic: The Gathering, all from the 1993 Alpha, Beta, and Unlimited sets: Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, and Timetwister. They exist in tiny numbers because Wizards of the Coast had no idea the game would succeed and printed Alpha at roughly 2.6 million cards total across the entire set, of which only about 1,100 copies of each rare exist. Alpha is distinguishable by its rounded corners and slightly smaller card size, Beta by square corners with a thin black border, and Unlimited by a white border. The price ladder between those three printings is steep, with Alpha typically running two to four times Beta and Beta running three to five times Unlimited. Condition is the other axis, and because these cards were played in the 1990s before sleeves were standard, high-grade copies are exceptionally scarce.

Printing is the first and largest multiplier: Alpha, Beta, and Unlimited are three distinct markets for the same card name. Grade follows, and the curve is exponential rather than linear at the top, since a PSA 9 Beta Lotus is worth several times a PSA 8. Centering is the most common grade limiter on 1993 cards, followed by print lines and the notorious edge chipping on the black borders. Provenance and authentication matter more here than in almost any other collectible because high-quality counterfeits of Power Nine cards circulate widely. Signed or altered copies trade in a separate niche and generally sell below clean examples. Finally, Unlimited copies remain tournament legal in the Vintage format while Alpha and Beta are collector items, which means the Unlimited market has a floor set by actual play demand.