Black Lotus Playmats

Our Black Lotus playmats center on Christopher Rush, with 27 pieces from his original 1993 Alpha art to hand-drawn originals, signed Grand Prix Limited Editions and 25th Anniversary editions. Later versions by Chris Rahn, Raoul Vitale and Scott M. Fischer join them, along with seven signed Rishadan Port playmats sketched with a Black Lotus and a hand-drawn Power Nine piece.

A Reserved List card with an unusually large catalog

Black Lotus debuted in Limited Edition Alpha (1993) with art by Christopher Rush. It's banned in Legacy and Commander, and restricted to a single copy in Vintage and Old School. As a Reserved List card, it hasn't had a regular paper printing since Unlimited Edition (1993) — which is why 27 of the playmats here are Rush's work. Every later illustration came from outside regular sets. Chris Rahn's exists only in digital sets, Vintage Masters (2014) and Alchemy: Dominaria (2022), and has never been printed on a physical card. The others are oversized cards for the Vintage Championship: Steven Belledin's in 2017 and, in 2023, those of Raoul Vitale, Jarel Threat and Scott M. Fischer.

What's in this collection

Rush's original art appears on signed Limited Editions from Grand Prix Atlantic City, Cleveland, Las Vegas and Memphis 2015; on playmats stamped with his signature rather than hand-signed, among them Limited Editions of 20 and 30 from Grand Prix Houston and New York 2016; and on the 25th Anniversary editions from Gen Con and Grand Prix, each also in foil. His hand-drawn and signed originals include "Black Lotus, Shichifukujin Dragon & Brass Man" and "Shichifukujin Dragons Admiring the Black Lotus", and two "Black Lotus Reimagined" pieces carry his own reinterpretation of the card.

Vitale's playmat, from the 2023 European Vintage Championship, is a numbered Limited Edition of 20, signed, sketched and stitched; Fischer's comes stitched and signed. Seven Rishadan Port playmats by Jerry Tiritilli, all signed, each carry a different hand-drawn sketch of a Black Lotus with a second subject, and the hand-drawn "Power Nine" piece is signed by several of the original artists.

Condition and photographs

Because many of these are signed, and several hand-drawn or individually numbered, condition and edition number matter as much as the artwork. Every listing uses real photographs of the actual playmat, so you can check the surface, the signature and (where relevant) the edition number before buying.