Summary
- Post Malone buys The One Ring card from Magic: The Gathering for $2.6 million, making it the most valuable card ever printed.
- The card is unique because it features Black Speech, a fictional language from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, unlike other copies with English text.
- TikTok user Brook Trafton found the card and decided to sell it to Post Malone, as the benefits of selling outweighed keeping it for him.
Austin Richard Post, better known by his stage name Post Malone, bought The One Ring card from Magic: The Gathering for a reported $2.6 million. The priceless card released as part of Magic: The Gathering's new Lord of the Rings set back in June.
While Wizards of the Coast technically printed multiple copies of The One Ring card, all of them but one feature English flavor text. The one that doesn't is printed in Black Speech, a fictional language of Mordor invented by J.R.R. Tolkien. Shortly following its announcement, Magic: The Gathering's unique The One Ring card attracted bounties up to $2 million.
Shortly thereafter, TikTok user Brook Trafton found this one-of-a-kind card in a booster pack. The fan revealed that while he has been playing Magic: The Gathering since he was a kid, he immediately realized that the benefits of selling The One Ring were "life-changing" and clearly outweighed the advantages of keeping it. He subsequently decided to offer the card to Post Malone, who was the first prospective buyer that he could think of. For context, Post Malone is a long-time Magic: The Gathering player who already spent eye-watering amounts of money on the popular TCG.
The 28-year-old rapper agreed to purchase the card following a meeting with Trafton, as revealed by a brief video recap of their encounter that the fan shared via TikTok. The word on social media is that Post Malone paid $2.6 million for this unique variant of The One Ring, although that figure wasn't confirmed by either the famous artist or Trafton. The alleged price is in line with the aforementioned bounties that some Magic: The Gathering collectors put out on the card.
Post Malone thus became the owner of the most valuable Magic: The Gathering card ever printed. This is far from the first occasion on which the famous artist broke the bank on an extremely rare playing card from Wizards of the Coast. Back in July 2022, Post Malone revealed he spent $800,000 on another Magic: The Gathering Card, Black Lotus. That particular collector's item has long ranked as one of the TCG's most valuable cards, and much like The One Ring, its value is only likely to appreciate over time.
August 5 will mark the 30th anniversary of Magic: The Gathering. The iconic trading card game amassed plenty of celebrity players over the years, with its list of famous fans including the likes of Felicia Day, Jason Alexander, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and xQc.