Magic: The Gathering includes reserved list reprints in $999 30th Anniversary Edition product

Wizards of the Coast is reprinting cards from Alpha, including those on the reserved list, in a limited-print $999 booster product to celebrate 30 years of Magic: The Gathering.

As a part of the game’s 30th anniversary, Wizards of the Coast is printing a special product for collectors at a high price. Cards from Magic’s first set, Alpha, will be available in the 30th Anniversary Edition product that includes four booster packs of 15 cards each. This comes out to around $250 per pack. The release goes on sale on Nov. 28 and will be shipped in late 2022 and early 2023.

All cards will not be tournament legal and include a special card back to differentiate them from regular Magic cards.

The packs will contain 13 cards in the modern frame made up of one rare, three uncommons, seven commons, and two basic lands. One basic land will be in the retro frame. To round out the pack, one additional retro frame card is included, as well as a token. Cards will be given a modern frame and look, but retro-frame versions will be included for most cards.

Six cards from Alpha have been removed and will not be included in the product. These cards are Contract from Below, Darkpact, Demonic Attorney, Earthbind, Weakness, and Crusade.

Alpha is home to some of Magic’s most powerful cards, the Power Nine, and a handful of other high-value cards that are on the reserved list. This includes cards like Black Lotus, Ancestral Recall, and original dual lands.

The reserved list is a collection of over 500 cards from the early days of Magic that will never be officially reprinted so they retain their value on the secondary market.

To get around this reserved list restriction, Wizards is reprinting Alpha cards as non-tournament legal cards that are intended for collectors and casual play. They are not legal in any sanctioned Magic event. 

WPN stores will receive copies of the 30th Anniversary Edition. WPN stores will be given one display and Premium WPN stores will get three displays.

This isn’t the first time Wizards has printed non-tournament legal proxy cards. Gold-bordered World Championship preconstructed decks included cards played in prominent Pro Tour and World Championship decks with a gold border and different card backs. These proxies included cards like Gaea’s Cradle, whose black-bordered counterparts go for around $1,000 apiece. 

Magic is celebrating its 30-year anniversary throughout the month of October with special promo cards and a Magic 30 event in Las Vegas that will feature panels, draft events, and this year’s Magic World Championship.