Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about Magikard
Getting Started
What is Magikard?
Magikard is a tracker for your physical Pokémon TCG card collection. You get one slot per Pokémon (#1-1025) and log the best real card you own for each one. When you pull a better card, upgrade the slot!
How do I sign up?
Click "Sign in with Google" in the top bar. Your collection is created automatically on first login. No extra setup needed.
Is Magikard free?
Yes! Core features — tracking your collection, wishlisting cards, searching cards, browsing sets, viewing badges, and adding friends — are completely free. Pro is an optional upgrade that unlocks extras like binder view, stats, and shared collections.
Collection
How do I add a card to my collection?
Click any Pokemon slot on the Pokedex grid, then search for the card you own. Select it to fill that slot. You can also use Snap to add cards by photo, or the Import page to add cards in bulk. New here? The first visit to the home page shows a short interactive walkthrough — you can replay it anytime via the "How to add cards" chip in the filter bar.
What is Snap?
Snap identifies a card from a photo and adds it to your collection — point your phone camera at a card, tap "Snap!", and we match it against the database. You can also upload an existing image. Snap is currently in open beta: detection isn't perfect yet, especially in poor lighting or for very rare full-art prints, and we're still improving the matching pipeline. If a snap mis-identifies your card, just tap "search instead" to find it manually. Bug reports via Feedback help us tune things.
What does "upgrade" mean?
Each slot shows your best card for that Pokemon. Cards are ranked by rarity tier: NonHolo < ReverseHolo < Holo < HalfFullArt < FullArt. Picking a higher-tier card for a slot you already own is an upgrade.
Can I track multiple copies of the same card?
Yes. Each card in your collection has a quantity counter. Use the +/- controls on the slot page to adjust it. Cards with quantity greater than 1 show up on the Duplicates page for easy trade tracking.
What is the reverse holo toggle?
Reverse holo is a print variant, not a separate card in the database. Toggle it on the slot page to mark your copy as reverse holo, which bumps NonHolo cards up to the ReverseHolo tier.
Where do card prices come from?
Market prices come from TCGPlayer via the PokemonTCG.io API. Prices are cached and refreshed every few hours. Some cards (especially those imported from TCGdex) may not have price data.
What is "cost to complete" and how is it calculated?
It's an estimate of what you'd pay on the open market to finish a collection view, based on TCGPlayer market prices:
- Pokédex — sum of the cheapest-likely card for each empty dex slot (the lowest-tier pokémon card we have price data for).
- Set / Illustrator — sum of every missing normal and reverse-holo variant you don't yet own.
- Card lists — sum of every card in the list that isn't in your collection.
Tiers & Rarity
How are rarity tiers assigned?
Cards are automatically assigned a tier based on their rarity from PokemonTCG.io:
- FullArt — Illustration Rare, Hyper, Secret, Rainbow, Ultra Rare, V, VMAX, VSTAR, GX, and more
- HalfFullArt — ex (lowercase), LV.X, Prime, BREAK, Double Rare, ACE
- Holo — anything with "Holo" not in the tiers above
- ReverseHolo — set via the reverse holo toggle
- NonHolo — Common, Uncommon, Rare, Promo, and others
Can tier assignments change?
Yes. When the tier mapping rules are updated, all cards and collection entries are automatically re-tiered on the next app restart. Your collection adjusts without any action on your part.
Friends & Social
How do I add a friend?
Open the Friends page and enter either your friend's email address or their Magikard profile handle (the part after
/profile/, e.g. @ash-ketchum). Email invites also work for people not yet on Magikard — they'll be linked when they sign up with that address.
Can I see my friend's pokédex?
Yes. Once a friendship is accepted, you can view their pokédex as a read-only grid from your Profile page.
Pro Features
What does Pro include?
Pro unlocks:
- Binder view — 3x3 page visualization of your collection
- Collection stats — completion %, tier breakdown, set progress, and collection value history (daily market value vs. what you paid)
- Smart suggestions — personalized next moves based on badge progress, gen/set gaps, and tier upgrades
- Progress over time — chart tracking your collection growth
- Shared collections — co-track with a friend
- Unlimited card lists — free accounts are limited to 3
- Unlimited decks — free accounts are limited to 3
- Daily challenge hard mode — require a specific card each day, with its own streak, leaderboard column, and mirror badges
- Supporter badge on your profile
How much does Pro cost?
Pro is pay-what-you-want, including $0. You choose your amount at checkout. Payments are processed securely through Stripe with Google Pay support.
Privacy & Data
What data does Magikard store about me?
We store your Google account ID, display name, email, and profile picture URL for authentication. Your collection data (cards, quantities, notes, prices paid), friendships, badges, and activity logs are stored to provide the app's features. See our Privacy Policy for full details.
Can I delete my account?
Yes. Go to your Profile page and scroll to the Danger Zone section. Clicking "Delete Account" permanently removes your user profile, entire collection, activity history, badges, friendships, and all associated data. This action cannot be undone.
Does Magikard share my data with third parties?
No. Your collection data stays in our database. We use Google OAuth for login, Stripe for payments, and Azure for hosting — each processes only the minimum data needed. We never sell or share your personal data.
Does Magikard use cookies?
We use a single authentication cookie to keep you signed in. It's HTTP-only, secure, and expires after 30 days. We don't use tracking or analytics cookies.
Data & Import
Where does card data come from?
Pokemon data comes from PokeAPI. Card data primarily comes from PokemonTCG.io (~17,000 cards). For cards missing from that source, TCGdex is used as a fallback.
Can I import my existing collection?
Yes. The Import page accepts bulk card lists from tcgcollector, plus the Magikard JSON/CSV format produced by the Export page (perfect for backups or moving accounts — re-importing the same file is safe and won't duplicate anything). You can also import individual cards from TCGdex on any slot page if the card isn't in the main database.
A card I own is missing from the database. What do I do?
On the slot page, use the TCGdex import option to search for and add cards that aren't in the primary database. These cards get a special
tcgdex: prefix and may not have price data.