As usual for an MTG Set, The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth has a lot for players to be excited about. With format-warping spoilers, valuable reprints, and oodles of Lord of the Rings lore, Tales of Middle-earth has it all. As tantalizing as these details are, however, one card has been keeping MTG players’ interest more than any other: The One Ring.
More than just being an incredibly flavorful spoiler for the set, The One Ring has a very fitting quirk. To celebrate the set, Wizards of the Coast is printing a one-of-one serialized version of The One Ring. This card is being randomly inserted into one of the roughly three million Collector Boosters that will be available at launch.
Unsurprisingly, considering this card is tied for being the rarest MTG card ever printed it is expected to be incredibly expensive. In fact, many players have suggested it could be the most expensive MTG card ever sold. Considering this record is currently held by an $800,000 Black Lotus, this is not an easy record to break. Thanks to a recent flurry of prospective bids, however, The One Ring might just take Black Lotus’ crown.
The Bidding War Begins
Shortly after The One-of-One Ring was first officially spoiled, bids to buy the card quickly started rolling in. The first major one of these was from MTG collector Dan Bock. Kicking off proceedings with an incredible bid of $100,000, The One Ring had already earned its place in MTG history. While this bid made The One Ring already incredibly expensive, many MTG players believed this to just be the start.
For better or worse, that assumption was correct. Recently, the highest-known bid jumped up to a staggering $190,000. This was thanks to a generous offer by the storefront Mystery MTG. With Mystery MTG also stating they were planning to counter higher offers, it seemed only a matter of time before another price jump occurred. What no one was expecting, however, was for this price jump to happen so soon.
Yesterday, the prospective price for The One Ring jumped up to $250,000. Coming from Good Games TCG, this offer didn’t just include a quarter of a million dollars, but also a mini holiday! Offering a “there and back again” return flight adventure to Sydney, Good Games TCG’s bid was certainly quite the treat.
Considering a quarter of a million dollars makes The One Ring the second most expensive MTG card of all time, you might think his offer would take some beating. It took six hours. Coming back again to make sure the ring is theirs, Mystery MTG upped their bid in a big way. Increasing their standing offer to $309,000, it’s safe to say the bidding war has truly begun.
Just as quickly as this bidding war started, however, it may already be over, as one of MTG’s biggest celebrities has thrown the gauntlet down.
$500,000 for The One Ring
To the wider world, Cassius Marsh is likely best known for their eight-year-long career in the NFL. Within the TCG world, however, Cassius Marsh is regarded as one of the biggest collectors out there. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that Marsh wants to get their hands on The One Ring.
To try and do just that, on the 31st of May, Marsh put out a $150,000 bounty on The One Ring. While by no means a small amount of money, this bounty has obviously since been beaten. Luckily for The One Ring’s finder, however, Marsh wasn’t done there as they’ve now significantly upped their offer.
In a recent Twitter post, Cassius Marsh announced they are now offering $500,000 for The One Ring! Alongside this staggering amount of money, Marsh will also fly the finder out to California and “show you a good time.”
While it could have been said for any of the previous offers, this bounty really seems like it will take some beating. Jumping the previous highest offer by almost $200,000, this offer is certainly a dramatic statement of intent. As if the money wasn’t enough of an indicator, however, Marsh has also stated on Twitter “I want that ring!!!”
We Wants It, We Needs It. Must Have the Precious.
Thanks to this bid from Cassius Marsh, obviously the one-of-one copy of The One Ring is already incredibly expensive. The question remains, however, how much more expensive can this card get? Judging by this recent bidding war, a million-dollar bounty may not seem too farfetched. That being said, however, we’re quickly running out of people who can afford to outbid the current offer.
As much as it is a very gorgeous, if slightly pringled card, $500,000 is a whole lot of money. It’s enough to buy a house, a fleet of cars, or roughly two million chicken nuggets! Due to this, not many MTG players are going to fork over this kind of money. In fact, at this price tag, it seems the only buyers will be celebrity MTG players or wealthy LGS owners. This could mean that Cassius March will indeed become the owner of the one-of-one The One Ring.
That is, of course, provided that MTG’s other major celebrity doesn’t swoop in with their own incredible offer. So far, despite arguably being MTG’s biggest celebrity, Post Malone hasn’t put a bounty out on The One Ring. Since it’s the rarest card ever printed, this may seem like a missed opportunity. Just because they’re a celebrity, however, it doesn’t mean they have to own every rare card that gets printed.
Ultimately, no matter how compelling these bids are, there’s no guarantee that The One Ring will ever be found. It’s entirely possible, for instance, that The One Ring will never be opened, with the lucky pack forever being in storage. Alternatively, an unaware casual player could find the card, not be able to read it, and then bin it. Considering the card’s value, hopefully, that won’t happen.
Read More: Wizards Releases New MTG LotR Promos Starring Elijah Wood!
