Learn how to efficiently organize thousands of Magic: The Gathering cards using a proven system for easy deckbuilding, trading, or selling. This comprehensive guide walks you through sorting by set, organizing alphabetically, and properly storing your collection.
Table of Contents
The first step of organizing bulk Magic: The Gathering cards is to determine how you plan on using your collection.
Note: There are many different approaches to organizing a collection and this is just my personal process. If you have never organized bulk before, it is a great place to start. But experiment. Do your thing.
Organization Methodology for Deckbuilding
Deckbuilding does not generally require quite as much precision as organizing a collection for trade or sale. In my opinion, the final state of a well organized collection for deckbuilding should be:
- Sets organized alphabetically
- Cards in a set organized alphabetically
- Cards organized by color in their respective letter
- Cards scanned and put into a collection manager like Manabox or Moxfield
This method makes it easy to find individual cards for a deck from a deck list or to browse your collection organically to build a deck from scratch.
Organization Method for Selling or Trading
If you are looking to sell or trade your collection, I recommend going for a fully alphabetized set down to the first three letters or organizing by the collector number in binders.
Both options will allow you to find individual cards a bit more quickly than the deckbuilding method. However, the binder method is a bit limiting if you have six or more copies of any single card. Choose the option that suits your needs.
Starting Your MTG Organization Process
Now that you have determined how you plan on using your collection, let us jump into the organization process.
Organizing Sets
The first step in organizing is breaking your bulk into sets based on the set code, the three to four character code Wizards assigns to each set. You can find a full list of all set codes on Scryfall.
I recommend using our 3D printed card sorters for holding your cards as you sort.
How Many Card Sorters Should You Have?
If you are unsure how many sets are in your bulk, start with enough cells in your sorters to store 24 to 45 sets. That would mean printing three to five of our 3x3 card sorters or purchasing one to two of the TitanShield card sorter.
As you work through your collection, you may need to add more sorters to accommodate your growing number of sets. I have never had bulk lots contain more than 200 sets, but your situation may be different.
Another approach is to print or purchase a card sorter for each letter in the alphabet, then default to putting each set in its respective sorter.
This is the method I normally use and it accommodates most bulk collections I have purchased. One thing to note is that certain letters of the alphabet are used more frequently. You may need to have sets spill over into additional card sorters. The most common set code letters are:
- Y - 274 sets
- M - 191 sets
- S - 55 sets
Start with a few card sorters and expand as necessary.
As certain sets or letters fill up a cell in the sorter, I move them to a BCW storage box and use index cards to temporarily separate the sets.
Sorting Sets
We have made a set sorter tool to help you map out the sets in your card sorter of choice. This makes it much easier to keep track of which sets go in each cell.
How to Know Which Set Your Card Belongs In
For cards after 1998: Most sets released after Exodus (June 15, 1998) have the set code printed at the bottom left corner of the card, making it easy to recognize which set your card belongs to.
For cards 1993 to 1998: Sets released between Arabian Nights (1993) and Exodus (1998) will need set code lookup. The set sorter tool can help with this. When you click on a cell in the sorter, a search bar appears allowing you to search by the card release year from the copyright statement and then match the set icon.
For cards before 1993: Cards released before Arabian Nights will not have a set code or set icon. These can be trickier to identify. I recommend looking up the card on Scryfall and matching it to the correct set.
Pro Tip: After a few hours of sorting, the patterns become second nature and set sorting turns into muscle memory.
Organizing Alphabetically
After splitting your bulk into sets, move on to sorting alphabetically. Using four card sorters with a label option enabled is the best method, as it dedicates one cell per letter of the alphabet.
I add printed labels to each row to quickly identify where each letter goes. This is especially useful when starting a set. After a few minutes, the placement becomes muscle memory and speeds up the process.
Alphabetizing for Selling or Trading
If you are organizing your collection for selling or trading cards, you might take it a step further. Using labeled A to Z card sorters, I would organize each card by the second and possibly the third letter. For example, if you are sorting the A cards, a card like Audacious Infiltrator might go in the U cell.
This is my recommendation. I do not personally sell cards so I cannot say for sure if this extra level of organization is worth the effort. However, if you have someone else pulling cards, it makes finding a specific card easier.
Grouping Duplicate Cards
After you have divided cards into their respective letters, it is a good idea to go through each letter and group duplicate cards. I use an additional three of the 3x3 card sorters for this. Depending on your set and collection size, you might need more sorters.
This is probably the most tedious part of the process, so I like to put on an episode of Shuffle Up and Play while I work.
Grouping By Color
Now that duplicate cards are grouped, you can grab each stack and sort them by color. I am not too concerned with keeping the color order consistent across letters, but it is common practice to follow the WURBG format: white, blue, red, black, green.
Scanning Your Cards
Once duplicates are grouped and sorted by color, it is time to scan your cards. Scanning allows you to track your collection and makes deck building very easy.
If you have access to a 3D printer, consider printing the card slinger. I use Manabox on mobile with its built in scanner.
Pro Tip: Because your cards are already split into sets, you can set a filter on Manabox so it scans the correct version of the card. This helps catch any mistakes made during set sorting, as a card will not match if it is not in the selected set.
After scanning one letter, move on to the next. I recommend starting with Z and working backwards so that by the end your cards are in alphabetical order with A or a number at the front.
Once scanning is complete, upload your collection to Moxfield. Their web interface lets you manage your collection on a computer, as Manabox is currently a mobile only app.
When deckbuilding, you can use our deck check tool to compare your Moxfield collection to a deck list, quickly identifying which cards you have and which you need.
Storing Your Organized Collection
Long term storage is very personal. If you are just starting out or need some direction, I highly recommend using BCW 800 count cardboard storage boxes. These boxes are affordable and generally hold an entire set.
If your collection fills more than four BCW 800 count boxes, consider picking up a BCW card house, a self contained storage solution that holds up to nine boxes.
For storing multiple sets in a single box, use our card divider generator to create cardstock dividers. This tool integrates with our set sorter so you can export a CSV and generate a divider for every sorted set. A helpful feature is that it also pulls in the set icon, making it easier to reorganize or add cards later.
Another useful tool for card storage is the 3D printable adjustable storage spacer. This is a simple 3D printable tool that allows you to adjust the spacing inside of your storage boxes. It is perfect for when you do not have enough cards to fill a box or when sorting incomplete sets.