DeckScout: questions and answers

Where do I export my collection from?

ManaBox, Deckbox, Moxfield, Archidekt and TCGplayer are all supported: drag in whichever CSV your app produces, detection is automatic. Step by step, with fixes for a failed upload: import guides.

• ManaBox: Collection tab → menu (⋮) → Export → CSV.
• Deckbox: Cards/Inventory page → View → Export.
• Moxfield: Collection → More → Export CSV.
• Archidekt: Collection page → Export.
• TCGplayer: Account → Settings → Sharing → set CSV as the share format, then share your Collection.

Do I need an account?

No: landing on the page and a couple of searches work with no sign-in at all. Past that, or to save a named config, sign in with one of the accounts offered at the top of the page; you get your own monthly quota, no payment involved.

My CSV isn't recognized, what do I do?

Make sure you exported the full collection, not a filtered or partial view. DeckScout looks for a card-name column (Name, Card Name, Simple Name...) and a quantity column (Quantity, Count...); if the error names a specific source, check your file's header row against what that export normally produces.

Why is Moxfield greyed out?

Moxfield only serves tools its support has approved, and DeckScout is not one of them, so the source stays off and EDHREC/Archidekt/MTGGoldfish cover you instead. To check a Moxfield deck, export it as text from Moxfield and paste the list under Check a deck.

What's the difference between "Find decks" and "Check this deck"?

Find decks searches decks in your chosen format and colors (EDHREC/Archidekt/MTGGoldfish averages and top decks, not any specific list) and shows which ones you're close to. For Commander it starts from EDHREC's average decks for the commanders you already own, then fills in with the most popular ones. It won't recognize your own decklist just because it's public: a niche or personal build usually isn't among the most-viewed decks in its colors, so it won't surface there.

Check this deck is the opposite: you already know exactly which deck (your own build, a precon, a friend's list) and want to know how close your collection is to it. Paste its Archidekt or MTGGoldfish URL, an EDHREC commander's page, or a plain-text decklist (the way to bring in a Moxfield deck) and it's checked directly, no searching involved.

"Within these colors" vs "identity exactly this": what's the difference?

By default a deck passes if its color identity fits inside your chosen colors, a mono-blue deck passes a UR filter. Turn on identity exactly this to require an exact match instead.

Why are my card lists grouped, and by what?

For commander decks, the owned and missing lists can be read two ways, with the toggle above each list. By card type is the obvious one. By what it does follows the Command Zone's template: ramp, card advantage, targeted interaction, mass interaction, and synergy, the cards that make the deck itself. Lands get their own line.

It answers a question the flat list cannot: missing 40 cards means nothing, missing nine pieces of ramp means you know what to buy first, and owning the whole synergy core means the deck is closer than the percentage makes it look.

Most roles come from Scryfall's oracle tags, which are maintained by the community: a person decided that Swords to Plowshares is removal. For the cards nobody has tagged, and they are mostly the ones that make your deck your deck, the role is read from the card's own rules text here, and the line under each list says how many of those there were. A card that does two things is filed under the more decisive one, and anything that cannot be placed says "Unclassified" instead of pretending. Other formats keep the plain list.

Where does the Commander bracket come from?

From the deck itself, unless its author declared one (Archidekt and Moxfield let them, most lists don't). DeckScout reads the 99 for the four things the bracket rules ask about: cards on Wizards' Game Changers list, mass land denial, chained extra turns, and well-known two-card infinite combos. A chip marked B~3 is that reading, B3 is the author's own declaration.

The reading is a floor, not a verdict: cards can prove a deck is at least bracket 3, never that it stops there. So bracket 1 (Exhibition) and 5 (cEDH) only show up on decks whose author declared them, and a list declared Core that runs Armageddon is filtered as bracket 4, with the reason spelled out under the deck name.

Why don't basic lands count toward completion?

Basic lands (snow versions included) are excluded from both sides of the completion score, since they're treated as unlimited: the question is about your non-basic collection, not whether you own enough Forests.

Can I see what a card actually looks like?

Hover any card name in a list, missing, owned, reserved or in the shopping list, and its card image appears. On a phone, tap the name instead, and tap again to close it. Images come from Scryfall directly.

The commander thumbnail beside a commander deck works the same way: hover, tap or tab to it and the card opens full size. Its line next to the deck carries the mana cost, the mana value and the type line, and the abilities are one click away under it.

What are binders, and why would I exclude one?

Binders (ManaBox exports only) let you group cards, for example a wishlist or a deck you've already built that you don't want counted twice. Click a binder chip to exclude it from your totals; other sources have no equivalent concept, so they show no chips.

What is the difference between saving a deck and reserving its cards?

Save deck keeps the list in My decks, with what it was missing that day, so you can come back to it. It changes nothing in your searches.

I built it is for a deck you actually put together: the cards you own for it are reserved, so later searches stop counting them, because a copy sleeved into one deck is not free for another. Release them when you take the deck apart and they count again, the list stays saved. Both need an account, so your decks are still there next time, and both are also on your profile.

A deck shows "n/a" for missing value, why?

Prices come from Scryfall. If fewer than 70% of a deck's missing cards have a known price, DeckScout shows "n/a" instead of guessing: usually means obscure or very new cards.

Is my collection data private?

Yes. Everything runs on this server: your collection, results and exports are never shared with third parties. The only outbound traffic is card names sent to the public sources (EDHREC, Archidekt, MTGGoldfish, Scryfall) to look up decks and prices. The full account is in the privacy policy.

How do free scans and Ko-fi support work?

Every signed-in account gets a shared monthly cap of discovery scans, paying is never required. Supporting the project on Ko-fi with the same email you sign in with adds a bonus on top, as a thank-you; it's never a paywall, the free baseline never goes away. See the Support section for the full picture.