How many cards are there in Magic: The Gathering

Anyone who has ever used an MTG card database to build a Commander deck knows that there are a LOT of Magic: The Gathering cards. The total number of MTG cards depends on what Magic: The Gathering card count you want to use – there are around 27,000 unique cards, but many more if you start to include reprints, variants, and ‘out of game’ cards like art cards and tokens. Some sources, therefore, put the total number of unique MTG cards closer to 90,000! Let’s delve into how many Magic: The Gathering cards there are and why.

Brief history of Magic: The Gathering releases

To begin unpacking the question: “how many cards are there in Magic: The Gathering?” we must delve into a key component of the game: the customisability of decks. It was obvious from the beginning that there would need to be follow up ‘expansions’ to the original Magic: the Gathering card list, as printed in Alpha, so much so that the very first expansion set, Arabian Nights, was released in the very same year: 1993.

Since those early days, the structure and cadence of MTG releases has evolved. The early pattern of standalone expansions changed into a three-set block structure for a time, before reverting back to standalone sets. A key release came in 2013 with the release of Modern Masters, the first set reprint set released for the Modern format and gave birth to the ‘Masters’ reprint series, and in 2019 with Modern Horizons, which was the first to bring mechanically new cards that skipped Standard legality.

But by far the biggest change has been the continued rise of the Commander format. Wizards formally adopted the format in 2011, and changed its name to Commander, with five pre-constructed decks and new cards. Things have ramped and ramped since then, and now we have Commander focused sets (Commander Masters) and pre-cons with every Standard-legal set.

Factors contributing to the growing number of cards

The main factor in the growth of the Magic: The Gathering card list are the big sets released each year, and there are currently six sets scheduled for 2024, comprising four Standard legal sets and two special releases in Ravnica Remastered and Modern Horizons 3. When you consider the last Standard legal set to be released – The Lost Caverns of Ixalan – had 471 cards in it, these six sets will be adding a lot of cards to the Magic ecosystem in both new cards and reprint alternatives, whether they have new art, new treatments, or printed in the old border. Wizards of the Coast also offers special promotional reprints of cards for all kinds of things, from buying booster boxes to competing in certain organised play events.

Then there are the collaborations that come in two main forms – Secret Lairs and Universes Beyond. Secret Lairs are small collections of typically reprinted cards with very distinctive art often created by a beloved MTG artist. Universes Beyond refers to collaborations between MTG and other franchises and include a mixture of reprinted cards with new flavour and mechanically unique cards.

Breakdown of card types and rarities

There are other factors that contribute to the Magic: The Gathering card count, including the game itself. There are seven core card types in creatures, lands, artifacts, enchantments, instants, sorceries and Planeswalkers, and a couple of lesser seen ones (e.g. Battles). Each set has to cover these core types for the game to function, pushing up the number of cards.

Similarly, booster packs of cards are constructed in a way to feature four different rarities of cards – mythic (one in every eight boosters), rare (1 per booster), uncommon (3 per booster) and common (10 per booster).

Changes in card count over time

While the number of cards continues to grow, Wizards has ensured its core competitive format – Standard – has a rotation of card legality, meaning it doesn’t get too overwhelming. Currently on a three-year rotation, new cards can be played for roughly three years before the set it was part of can no longer be played. For eternal formats, the power-level is so high that only a handful of new cards will actually be relevant.

Collectability and value of cards

There are two main factors affecting a card's value – desirability and rarity. Firstly, how desirable is the card from a competitive play standpoint? Is it one of the key cards in a format, and, if so, is it a four-of in most decks? If the card is playable in more formats, then the value will be higher as it crosses multiple playing groups. Then there’s desirability among the casual playing group – is it unique, splashy and fun? Where prices really spike is when cards appeal to both groups, with a card like Sheoldred, The Apocalypse a prime example – being a major player in multiple competitive formats, and a favourite in Commander. And there’s collectability, especially when it comes to The Reserved List. Collectors – and many players – want cards like Juzam Dijinn, Library of Alexandra and Black Lotus because of their history and significance.

The second factor, rarity, is also multifaceted. Firstly there’s the Reserved List, a list of ancient cards that will never be reprinted, therefore hold high value. Then there is the ‘rarity’ built into the game’s production, and the rate at which mythics and rares are printed compared to commons and uncommons. Fewer mythics and rares means they typically have a higher value. One of the biggest changes, however, has been the explosion in variants. For much of Magic’s history, there were just regular printings and foils, with a few, rarer, promotional cards. Today, we’ve almost endless treatments and variations and it can be hard to keep tabs on which one is the most valuable. The new serialised cards are the extreme version of this, and it’s no coincidence that the ultimate serialised card – the one-of The One Ring – is the most valuable Magic card of all time.