Magic: The Gathering Bulk Organization Guide

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.

The first step of organizing bulk Magic: The Gathering cards is to determine how you plan on using your collection.

Organization Methodology for Deckbuilding

Deckbuilding doesn't 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're looking to sell or trade your collection, I'd 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 6+ copies of any single card. Choose the option that suits your needs.

Starting Your MTG Organization Process

Now that you've determined how you plan on using your collection, let's 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'd recommend using our 3D printed card sorters for holding your cards as you sort.

How Many Card Sorters Should You Have?

If you're unsure how many sets are in your bulk, start with enough "cells" (slots that hold cards) in your sorters to store 24-45 sets. That would mean printing 3-5 of our 3x3 card sorters or purchasing 1-2 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've 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've 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 seperate the sets.

Sorting Sets

We've 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

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're organizing your collection for selling or trading cards, you might take it a step further. Using labelled A–Z card sorters, I would organize each card by the second—and possibly even the third—letter. For example, if you're sorting the "A" cards, a card like "Audacious Infiltrator" might go in the "U" cell.

This is my recommendation; I don't personally sell cards so I can't 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've divided cards into their respective letters, it's 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. Personally, I'm not too concerned with keeping the color order consistent across letters, but it's common practice to follow the WURBG format: white, blue, red, black, green.

Scanning Your Cards

Once duplicates are grouped and sorted by color, it's time to scan your cards. Scanning allows you to track your collection and makes deck building incredibly easy.

If you have access to a 3D printer, consider printing the card slinger. I use Manabox on mobile with its built-in scanner.

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

Longterm storage is very personal. If you're just starting out or need some direction, I highly recommend using BCW's 800-count cardboard storage boxes. These boxes are extremely 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 neat 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's perfect for when you don't have enough cards to fill a box or when sorting incomplete sets.

Tools & Resources