Conditioning Standard
CONDITIONING STANDARDS
I grade every card strictly to TCGPlayer’s official conditioning guide. No guessing, no inflating grades. Every imperfection gets points, and the total decides the condition. What you buy is exactly what you get.
THE POINTS SYSTEM
- Slight imperfection = 1 point
- Minor imperfection = 2 points
- Moderate imperfection = 4 points
- Major imperfection = 8 points
Condition Grades
Near Mint (NM) Up to 3 points. Minimal handling or play wear. Cards look basically fresh out of the pack — clean surfaces, sharp corners, no real flaws except maybe a tiny nick or two.
Lightly Played (LP) Up to 6 points. Shows normal shuffling and play wear, but nothing major. Still looks great and is fully tournament legal.
Moderately Played (MP) Up to 12 points. Clear signs of use — more edgewear, scratches, scuffs, or small creases — but the card is still solid and playable.
Heavily Played (HP) Up to 24 points. Heavy wear all over. These are for budget decks, casual play, or filling collection gaps. Still sleeve-playable for most people.
Damaged (DMG) Anything over the limits above, or cards with tears, holes, water damage, major creases that affect playability, foreign substances, etc. Sold as-is with photos.
KEY DEFINITIONS Integrity – Is the card still the right shape and structurally sound? No bends, splits, or delamination that ruins it.
Playability – Can it actually be used in a game? No missing text, obscured info, or damage that makes it illegal in a tournament.
Authentication – Can I prove it’s real? I check print quality, holo patterns, card stock, and known counterfeit tells on every card before it goes up.