Dark Ritual is one of the most iconicMagic: The Gatheringcards of all time. Released in the very first set of the game, Dark Ritual is a staple in every format it’s legal in, from the casual Commander format to the highest-powered formats of Legacy and Vintage.
Dark Ritual is the reason why cards that add mana to your mana pool are called rituals in the first place. It ramps you up and gets you ahead on mana, and it is one of the best black cards ever printed. It’s powerful, iconic, and a staple, making the fanciest versions of Dark Ritual highly valuable.
10Destroy All Humans Promo Dark Ritual
Market Price: $17.38
Destroy All Humans. They Can’t Be Regenerated is an ongoing manga series that started in 2019, which is based on Magic: The Gathering (the card game itself, not the world of Magic). It’s set in the 90s at a middle school during the Urza block of the game.
Every volume of the manga comes with a promotional card that was released during the Urza block era of the game. Dark Ritual is among these, and is currently only available in Japanese. The manga only became translated to English in late 2024, but an English version will be released when that volume comes out.
9Foreign Black Border Dark Ritual
Market Price: $19.99
You might find it odd that foreign black border cards are essentially considered a different set. This is because they include the cards from the Revised and Fourth Edition sets, which are normally white bordered as they are reprints. However, in some languages, these original sets never came out (as the decision to translate for those languages was made after their release).
This makes theforeign black border version of Dark Ritual valuable, as it’s a cheaper alternative to a black border version of the card without breaking the bank for an Alpha or Beta printing. Its price is lower than those, but much higher than other Dark Ritual cards.
8Japanese Mystical Archive Dark Ritual
Market Price: $24.67
In the Strixhaven set, a bonus sheet was included called Mystical Archive that featured iconic instant and sorcery spells from throughout Magic’s history. There were two versions of these cards, one in various languages and one in Japanese featuring unique art.
Among the cards included in Mystical Archive is Dark Ritual. While the global versions have some value, the Japanese version is one of the most valuable cards on the whole bonus sheet. It’s fantastic art and border treatment make for one of the most unique Dark Rituals you can own.
7Amonkhet Invocations Dark Ritual
Market Price: $118.65
Amonkhet Invocations are a small collection of 54 cards that were randomly put inside booster packs in the Amonkhet block. These cards were very controversial, being met with a mixed reaction due to the text, card frame, and difficulty of being able to tell what color they were.
Despite this mixed reception, due to how incredibly hard they were to open in a pack, many of them have high value. The Dark Ritual printing in Amonkhet Invocations is no exception, with it being one of the most valuable ones you may own.
6Mystery Booster 2 Dark Ritual (Foil)
Market Price: $135.26
Mystery Booster 2 is a convention-exclusive set, often played at conventions such as MagicCon. For the second Mystery Booster set, a ton of existing cards were given a border treatment matching those found in the Future Sight set.
While the regular printing of Future Sight border Dark Ritual won’t break the bank, the foil version might, being worth significantly more. Foils in Mystery Booster 2 are incredibly rare, so the odds of opening this version of Dark Ritual are very low, making it a very valuable Dark Ritual.
5Frank Franzetta Dark Ritual (Foil)
Market Price: $140.81
For the unfamiliar, Frank Franzetta is one of the most iconic artists when it comes to fantasy and science fiction. He’s been inducted into multiple Hall of Fames and has been cited by popular filmmakers and fellow artists as a large inspiration.
Frank Franzetta unfortunately passed in 2010. Wizards of the Coast partnered with his estate to select original artworks from Franzetta to usefor a Secret Lair dropfeaturing Frank Franzetta art. Dark Ritual was among these, and quickly became one of the most valuable Dark Rituals you can own.
4Judge Gift Dark Ritual
Market Price: $147.77
More oftenreferred to as Judge Promos, Judge Gift cards were given to official Magic judges for helping out at various events and tournaments. These Judge Gift cards are often of staples and, in some cases, feature entirely new art.
The Judge Gift version of Dark Ritual features art exclusive to that version, and has not appeared on any other version of the card (sans a special Magic Online promo only available in that game). Judge Gift cards tend to be very valuable, as they are only given to a select group of people who require you to pass various tests.
3Beta Dark Ritual
Market Price: $174.99
Beta is the second-ever Magic set ever released. For the most part, it is identical to Alpha (the first set) as it was simply meant to be another run of the set after Alpha went out of print. The only difference is that Beta includes two cards that were left out of Alpha and fixes a few reprints.
Beta and Alpha were released very close together, and both include very valuable cards due to how hard it is to get your hands on the set now. Even though it’s not a part of the Reserved List like many cards from this set, the Beta printing is still one of the most valuable versions of Dark Ritual you’re able to own.
2Mercadian Masques Dark Ritual (Foil)
Market Price: $247.34
Unlike modern sets, back in the day, getting a foil wasn’t guaranteed, and some boxes contained booster packs that didn’t have one at all. To add to this, the odds of actually opening a foil were 1:100. Mercadian Masques was also unique in that it was thefirst time basic lands could come in foils, as well as the first set to come out after the cut-off for the Reserved List was decided.
Dark Ritual was only a common in Mercadian Masques, so while the base printing isn’t too much, the foil version is one of the biggest chase cards in the set. It’s both an iconic card and uses art from Rebecca Guay, one of Magic’s most popular artists, to make it one of the most valuable Dark Rituals you can own.
1Alpha Dark Ritual
Market Price: $298.05
The first ever set of Magic: The Gathering, Alpha, also houses the most valuable Dark Ritual you can have. Many of Magic’s most iconic cards, like Lightning Bolt, Sol Ring, and the Power 9, were all included in Alpha. The Alpha printings used a 2mm radius for the corners instead of the 1mm radius used later, making Alpha cards easy to identify despite being visually identical to Beta in every other way.
Alpha is one of the hardest sets to get a pack of, and includes so many popular cards that the Alpha Dark Ritual is easily the most valuable one you may own.
