The Magic: The Gathering Power Nine Explained
What Is the Power Nine?
The Power Nine is the collective name for nine cards printed in the first sets of Magic: The Gathering that are considered the most powerful cards ever designed for the game. They were included in the Limited Edition Alpha (July 1993), Limited Edition Beta (October 1993), and Unlimited Edition (December 1993) sets. No functional equivalent of any Power Nine card has been printed since, and all nine are protected by the Reserved List - Wizards of the Coast's formal commitment never to reprint them in functional form.
The Power Nine matter for two distinct reasons. As collectibles, they are the rarest cards from the game's earliest printings, with Alpha print runs of approximately 1,100 copies per card - some of the smallest production runs for any trading card ever commercially released. As game pieces, they are so powerful that they are either restricted to one copy per deck (in Vintage, the only major format where they are legal) or banned outright (in Legacy and all other constructed formats). Their combination of historical scarcity, gameplay notoriety, and Reserved List protection makes them the most valuable cards in the trading card hobby.
An Alpha Black Lotus graded CGC Pristine 10 sold for $3 million in a private sale in 2024, setting the record for the most valuable trading card ever sold. Even heavily played Unlimited copies of the most desirable Power Nine cards sell for thousands of dollars.
The Nine Cards
| Card | Effect | Why It's Broken |
|---|---|---|
| Black Lotus | Sacrifice to add three mana of any one colour. Costs zero to cast. | Provides three mana for free, effectively giving you a three-turn head start. The most powerful card ever printed. |
| Mox Pearl | Tap to add one white mana. Costs zero to cast. | A free artifact land that produces coloured mana, bypassing the one-land-per-turn rule. |
| Mox Sapphire | Tap to add one blue mana. Costs zero to cast. | As above; blue mana the most powerful colour for control and combo strategies. |
| Mox Jet | Tap to add one black mana. Costs zero to cast. | As above for black mana. |
| Mox Ruby | Tap to add one red mana. Costs zero to cast. | As above for red mana. |
| Mox Emerald | Tap to add one green mana. Costs zero to cast. | As above for green mana. |
| Ancestral Recall | Draw three cards. Costs one blue mana. | Drawing three cards for one mana is among the most efficient effects in any card game. Universally considered broken. |
| Time Walk | Take an extra turn. Costs two mana. | An extra turn for two mana is extraordinarily efficient. Extra turns are among the most powerful effects in Magic. |
| Timetwister | Each player shuffles hand and graveyard into their library and draws seven cards. Costs three mana. | Resets the game state for three mana, potentially recycling powerful cards while denying opponents their advantage. |
Why Were They Printed This Way?
Magic: The Gathering launched in August 1993 as a genuinely new concept in gaming. The design team, led by Richard Garfield, had no precedent for how powerful cards could be and still remain fun. The Power Nine were not designed to be broken - they were designed to be exciting, powerful, and rare, following the philosophy that rare cards should feel special.
The game also had no restriction lists when it launched. Players could include as many copies of any card as they wanted in a deck. In that context, four copies of Black Lotus in a deck meant an essentially free extra three mana every other game on average - a devastating advantage that helped end games before opponents could develop their strategies.
By January 1994, less than six months after launch, Wizards introduced the banned and restricted list. Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, and Timetwister were among the first cards restricted. They have remained restricted or banned in every official competitive format ever since - a status that has never changed across thirty years of the game's development.
Print Runs and Rarity
Understanding the values of Power Nine cards requires understanding their print runs:
- Alpha: Approximately 1,100 of each Power Nine card printed. Alpha cards are identifiable by their rounded corners (more rounded than Beta and later) and specific card back design. The smallest print run and the highest collector premium.
- Beta: Approximately 3,300 of each Power Nine card printed. Beta cards have slightly less rounded corners than Alpha, making the difference subtle but identifiable with practice. Second most valuable after Alpha.
- Unlimited: Over 18,000 copies of each Power Nine card printed for Unlimited Edition. Unlimited cards have white borders (Alpha and Beta have black borders) and are significantly more available than Alpha or Beta despite being far rarer than virtually every other card in the game.
Alpha and Beta cards are called "black border" cards because of the black border that frames each card face. Unlimited cards have white borders. Black border status is a significant collector premium across all Magic cards from the early sets, not just Power Nine.
Current Values by Card and Edition
| Card | Alpha (NM/LP Raw) | Beta (NM/LP Raw) | Unlimited (NM Raw) | Alpha PSA 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Lotus | $100,000-$300,000+ | $50,000-$150,000+ | $5,000-$15,000 | $3,000,000+ |
| Ancestral Recall | $15,000-$50,000+ | $8,000-$20,000 | $3,000-$6,000 | $37,000+ |
| Time Walk | $15,000-$40,000+ | $6,000-$15,000 | $2,000-$5,000 | $63,000+ |
| Timetwister | $10,000-$30,000+ | $5,000-$12,000 | $3,000-$5,000 | $86,000+ |
| Mox Sapphire | $20,000-$50,000+ | $10,000-$25,000 | $2,000-$5,000 | $50,000+ |
| Mox Jet | $15,000-$40,000+ | $8,000-$20,000 | $1,500-$4,000 | $108,000 (record sale) |
| Mox Ruby | $12,000-$30,000+ | $6,000-$15,000 | $1,000-$3,000 | $30,000+ |
| Mox Emerald | $10,000-$25,000+ | $5,000-$12,000 | $1,000-$3,000 | $25,000+ |
| Mox Pearl | $8,000-$20,000+ | $4,000-$10,000 | $800-$2,500 | $20,000+ |
Values are approximate and fluctuate with market conditions. Alpha PSA 10 populations for most Power Nine cards are in single digits - genuine extreme scarcity that drives record prices at auction.
Playing with Power Nine
Power Nine cards are legal in Vintage (formerly called Type 1), restricted to one copy per deck. Vintage is the oldest constructed format in competitive Magic and maintains a small but dedicated player community. In Vintage, running Power Nine alongside other powerful old cards creates the most explosive game play in the format - turns where players cast three or four spells before their opponent has an opportunity to respond.
The Vintage community is one of the most passionate in all of Magic. Player-owned Power Nine cards appear at sanctioned events, worn from years of actual competitive use. These heavily played but genuinely used copies are worth less than mint-condition collector copies but carry their own authenticity - proof that these are game pieces that were actually played, not merely stored.
For collectors who want the experience without the cost, proxy formats allow players to use printed stand-ins for Power Nine in casual games. Many Vintage-format playgroups specifically allow proxies of restricted cards to make the format accessible. The official cards remain the province of collectors and those who specifically want to play with original copies.
Track your MTG collection - including any Power Nine you own - at CollectionPlnr. See also our guide on the MTG Reserved List for the broader context of why these cards will never be reprinted.