Magic Card Condition Guide
From Near Mint to Damaged — learn how the TCGplayer and Cardmarket condition grades work and how they affect your card's value.
Near Mint — The Baseline for Full Market Price
Near Mint is the default grade for well-kept Magic singles and the condition every price you see online assumes. Here is what NM tolerates, and what pushes a card below it.
Lightly Played — A Small Step Below Near Mint
Lightly Played cards show minor wear you notice on close inspection but stay clean and sharp overall. LP copies usually sell for roughly 10–20% below Near Mint.
Moderately Played — Honest Wear, Still Sleeve-Playable
Moderately Played cards carry obvious wear — whitening, scratches, maybe a light crease — but stay perfectly playable in sleeves at a larger discount.
Heavily Played — Rough but Ready in a Sleeve
Heavily Played cards show major wear and creasing yet stay clearly identifiable and playable once sleeved, at a deep discount to Near Mint.
Damaged — The Lowest Tier, With a Few Exceptions
Damaged (DMG) covers tears, water damage, heavy creasing, and writing. It is the bottom of the scale, worth chasing mainly for hard-to-find or vintage cards.
Every Grade Step Costs You — Here's How Much
Condition can barely dent a common or halve the price of a vintage staple. Here is how the NM-to-played spread actually works, and where it matters most.
Why Foils Warp, Cloud, and Show Every Line
Foil Magic cards carry condition problems non-foils never face — curling, clouding, and visible print lines — because of how they are built.
Centering — The Flaw Hiding in Plain Sight
Centering is how evenly a card sits inside its borders, front and back. On black-bordered Magic frames it is unusually easy to spot — and it feeds straight into grading.
Edge Whitening — The Most Common Flaw in the Hobby
On black-bordered Magic cards, the exposed white core shows at the slightest edge wear. Here is how to spot whitening, judge it, and stop it before it starts.
Grade Any Card in Five Minutes
A repeatable routine for judging Magic card condition — light, corners, edges, surface, centering, both faces — then confirm the value with a scan.
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