MTG has a deep history. Being the longest-running successful TCG in history, a select few cards are worth the same amount as a house. Black Lotus is not only the game’s most expensive card but may also be the game’s most famous one. This makes up only one of the Power Nine, a renowned group of cards widely considered the most expensive and influential in the game’s history. That being said, there are still some bizarre gems forgotten by history that fetch a gigantic price when they do show up. One of these cards is called Splendid Genesis, a card that only has a few copies in existence.
Splendid Genesis
Splendid Genesis is a card gifted to some of Richard Garfield’s friends celebrating the birth of his first child, a girl named Terry. There are two editions of this card that exist. The one pictured above is the more common one, of which we know that there are 110 in existence.
As mentioned by Redditor themisprintguy, one of the few owners of a copy of Splendid Genesis, the rarer of these two printings was on the birth announcement Garfield handed out to his friends. As such, there are likely around only 100 copies in existence (or less), with themisprintguy only seeing four in the last decade. This version of Splendid Genesis has reappeared for auction on Heritage Auctions. It is important to note that this is the first time that the rarer version of Garfield’s Splendid Genesis has appeared for public auction. A picture is provided in the link provided in this paragraph with this information attached:
“Magic: The Gathering Richard Garfield Birth Announcement Booklet (1997). Richard Garfield was the creator of one of the world’s most popular trading card games, Magic: The Gathering. Being the game’s creator gave Garfield a few advantages, including the chance to create cards celebrating key moments of his life. To commemorate the birth of his first child, Garfield created a card known as Splendid Genesis gifted only to family and close friends and regarded Wizards of the Coast employees. The card was distributed inside a unique birth announcement with a note announcing Terry Linnea Garfield’s birth. Offered here is the announcement booklet, with the message inside that reads, “Lily and Richard Garfield are happy to announce the birth of their daughter Terry Linnea Garfield September 24th, 1997. Please note that a photocopy of the card is glued to the front of the booklet. The rarity of these cannot be overstated, as this is the first time that a copy has been offered at a public auction. The booklet is in Excellent condition.”
The current bid on this card is only $430, but many MTG players following this auction expect the card to surpass $15,000 should it be sold. There have reportedly been some questionable accusations about this host, with the validity of such claims remaining unconfirmed but strongly disputed by the names involved. Either way, it will be interesting to see what this invitation will sell for.
Fraternal Exaltation
Fraternal Exaltation celebrates the birth of Schuyler. This card was released in 1999, two years after the first MTG birth celebration card Splendid Genesis. Like the previous card, Fraternal Exaltation has an extremely limited print run: this time featuring 220 available copies. These cards feature unique Shahrazad-like effects. They will start a new game to include a new player, presumably the player the card is celebrating.
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Proposal
Proposal is a rarer card that follows suit with exclusive MTG cards celebrating significant milestones in Richard Garfield’s life. This card was used by Richard Garfield to propose to his girlfriend Lily. There are, apparently, only nine of these in existence. Garfield wanted to propose to Lily while playing a game of MTG with her and cast the card within the game. Ironically, the story goes that Garfield could not draw the spell for three games in a row, with Lily asking him if he wanted to stop because he couldn’t win with the deck he was playing. He eventually legally casted the card in his fourth game, where his proposal was successful. Garfield did not want this card to be distributed, so it just about disappeared after the proposal itself.
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The Most Expensive Unplayable MTG Cards Ever
As one may expect with the unique nature of these cards, none of them are legal in any MTG format. Should you find one of the few copies of these in existence, it should not be too difficult to convince your EDH table to allow you to play with these pieces of MTG history. Considering that these are all likely worth tens of thousands of dollars, however, playing with these cards may be regarded as foolish. It’s really cool that cards like this exist in MTG’s history, and it makes me wonder if any more will be made. Rosewater has reportedly joked that he will take care of the black card named Eulogy for the cycle. While funny, I hope that this card is not printed anytime soon.
