I half wanted this to be a gag video, and half wanted it to be a serious video; needless to say - thank you regardless. This is a constant struggle for ALL of us.
@@NStripleseven if you have smaller collections you could skip leaving blank spaces for missing collector numbers. You would have to move stuff around sometimes as you get more cards, but you can rearrange the pages and only have to move a maximum of so many cards this way to rearrange.
I am not a set collector, instead I am a usability collector for the formats I play (Mostly Commander & Canadian Highlander). Instead of sorting by set, then color/number, I just sort by color, then alphabetically. This disambiguates duplicates from multiple sets, that could easily be traded away for other cards you need, and also easily denotes cards over 4 you have that you can get rid of, mostly to buylists (CK is good for buying playable bulk, but you're in Canada so your LGS is probably your best bet). Also, instead of manually sorting the multiple alpha letters, I use one of the plastic sorting trays (mine has 10 slots) and just toss out cards into each slot based on its alpha start (ABC in slot 1, DEF in slot 2, etc...) and then sort the first slot into A, B & C then sort the A alphabetically manually. This works well for a large number of cards, usually my draft chaff from multiple prereleases and drafts, after the set is out of rotation. As for tracking what you have, after you've done your sorting method of choice, using an app to keep track of cards you own is very nice, though tedious at the start. Manabox is the app I use and it is very useful to have to be able to know what you have in a few seconds to know what cards you might need from someone in a trade. Just be wary that if you do happen to remove cards from your collection, updating is important so you don't double purchase something or trade away something you need.
This is how I do it, too. I don't care about what set the card is from. I care that when I am looking for a swords to plowshares,.I can find one fast. Swords is in a million sets but I only have copies from a few specific sets. If I had to flip through a ton of binders it would take forever. Instead I can just look in the S cards in white. I also don't sort past the first letter of cards. When I crack packs, I put the cards in the back of their alphabet sections (more or less) and when I return cards from a deck, I put them in the front. That way the cards that actually get used will naturally move to the front of their alphabet section. Sure, it would be faster to find things if they were perfectly sorted, but only by a little bit most of the time, and this greatly speeds up the time to put cards away, and that is the part I dislike the most, so optimizing to make that easier is better for me.
With this method, if I have multiples of a card with different art, I can compare them all at a glance and pick the one suitable for a deck (I care about the art for themed decks).
This is how i do it. I skip the digital input as i just search for the cards i need when i finished building on moxfield. Makes it easy to enter an order on tcgplayer as i go. I should take the time to upload to a database mostly for keeping track of prices. Been playing for so long that some cards i own are worth more than i bought them for.
"Actually this is one of my favorite things about trading cards in general" I feel this on a spiritual level. In the first few months of 2018 I ended up filling two longboxes with packs. I didn't have anybody to actually play the game with, and I was only sort of interested in pulling cool/valuable cards. I just wanted to keep repeating the process of organizing them all by collector number...
I always love see how different people organize. This part of the game is one of the most relaxing to me. I've gone down the less space efficient but very aesthetic path of using the bundle boxes for each set.
Magic used to nake Gift Boxes- Boxes that came with a few sticker sheets (for labeling), a special alt-art promo card (for Return to Ravnica it was a Dreg Mangler), and 5 plastic separators with art of the basic lands in the set (and 1 nonbasic for colorless/multicolored) I have a Kaladesh box i use to store all my rares/mythics sorted by WUBRGMLC[MCL²] (White, Blue, Black, Red, Green, Multicolored, Lands, Colorless) (MCL² for Mono Colored Legendaries, Multicolored Legendaries)
30 years of collecting for me goes like this: Color, Cards Type, Mana Value. Commons, Uncommons, Rares/Mythics sorted by two Catagories: Bulk ($3 or less), or Price Cards (plus RESERVE LIST, Expensive Promo Versions.. etc.). All Rare Lands go into a Land Binder. Lands and Artifacts are money. Uncommons that are worth more than bulk go into card app system for tracking (into own lil box), as well as Commons in this regard.
@@PunkInDrublic87Gaming yes, I have been iterating different schemas until I got to a very similar of yours. This way, not only you manage reprints but when I am deckbuilding I can work from my mana curve.
@@paurullan when opening new product I put rare/mythics (or money cards regardless of rarity, in one pile, followed by uncommon and common. I have a pile for land (rares go with rares), art cards/tokens/ad cards together. All list card together, as some reprints are costly despite rarity, e.g Aura Shards). Hope this helps. Cost a lot to get this system 🤣
Only problem with binders is that they take up a lot of vertical space, and you need enough shelf space. Boxes often fit into smaller spaces that 9-card-binders don't fit in to.
My LGS has binders like this. They get wrecked from the day-to-day use, develop a lot of empty spots that the store won't consolidate because "we might get more", and you need to check 20 spots to find out there's no Lightning Bolt. Oh, and value cards aren't left in binders, leading to confusion to those of us who aren't price-savvy enough. There's a few down-sides to this.
If you go through the alphabet in reverse order, you can create a face-up pile in one go. The batching of letters makes it easier than it sounds, and you don’t have to rearrange the piles.
Its most important to me to scan every new card and upload them to my collection. That way i can at least quickly check if have any card im looking for. I use delver lens btw...
Yes i use a mtg card app n scan all my cards in there,n # each binder i own i hav 13 total now,only thing tats not scaned is my bulk but tats in mana value n color codes so can find any card easy myself.hav over 7,000 cards scanned in the app called dragon shield mtg
Me three! Currently I have all my rares and played/valuable commons and uncommons scanned in (27000 cards) and then organized into BCW 5k, 3200 boxes and the 12 Pocket folio for pricier playset.
A tip for alphabetical sorting that may help you or others: Once you have the cards sorted into the color piles, I would when holding them in your hand deal them out into two piles in front of you. One pile is "Before M" and the other piles is "After M," because M is halfway through the alphabet. So any card that starts with the letter M or a letter that comes before that goes into one side and everything else goes into the other. This should give you two piles of roughly equal size that you can then probably sort by letter directly. This may save you a little bit of time over your current method of trying to do the random letter groupings.
Ever since your last video I’ve started implementing a hybrid version of this method. I can’t thank you enough! Sets where I’ve opened tons of packs get their own binder, but I also have sets where I’ve opened maybe 3-5 boosters only. For those I have 2 big binders where they’re still separated by set and collector number.
Thanks for the video. I do it almost the same. I use 12 pocket pages from the set binders just because I like the look of those binders. Once I‘m done and I see I have more room in the binder, i spread them out s bit more. Maybe move the lands so they start again on the top of the page and if there are 10dual lands I like to have them on one page too. Tokens go to the back with the binder flipped so if I can find them very easy. Only bummer is the german cards are not really alphabetical so I can‘t pre sort like you did. After color piles I just use blocks of 10‘s of set numberes 001-009, 010-019, 020-021 etc. This results in roughly 4 or 5 piles per color and from there is is easy to sort into the pages. I do foils and fullframe also in the normal set even though it messes with the setnumbering. Special sheets go to a new page as you described. I just leave the first page empty in those binders so white can start with a full double page of 24 cards. On the first page I do stuff like prerelease stamped cards, bundel exclusive, fullframes that I really like and have a „normal“ copy and also cards I habe a lot of like shadowborne apostel or all the others with unlimited amaunts allowed in decks. And if there are scene cards, they get a fresh full page to display the scene. It was tricky with the lord of the rings set, that binder is basically full to the max. I also keep 4 of each I have, even silly commons. If I have a fifth card and I think it‘s „useless“ i throw it in a shoe box and if it is really good, i might go up to 5/6 cards in the binder since I‘m going to take some out for decks anyways. I also have a commander staples binder where I add the very best staples so If i proxy in one commander deck, i can refer to the place in that binder in case I take the deck to an LGS. At home I don’t mind about proxies since i know i have them. I also have a lands binder because i can‘t have so many copies of every good land in every deck. The lands binder is 12 pocket too so i can have all 10 of any Dual land on one page.
When sorting by set, I first sort into color piles, lands etc like you demonstrated, then what I find to be efficient is to pre-sort into piles by collector number intervals. For example, if the white cards are 0001 - 0039 for example, I would sort into piles by the tens: 0001 - 0009, 0010 - 0019, 0020 - 0029 and 0030 - 0039. Then it's incredibly easy to pick up each little pile, sort by collector number in a few seconds and stack back into one big pile, all perfectly sorted. Hope you try this!
I'd put everything in order in binders if I had the room. It's so satisfying to see cards in order in binders. Goes back to the old days when I collected sports and Marvel cards. But for practical purposes I still prefer to use the long boxes. They stack nicely and take up a lot less space while storing a lot of cards. I order them by set and alphabatized. I number the boxes and have a list of what sets are in what box number. I don't bother sorting color. I do, however, separate valuable/playable staple cards from the boxes and put them in separate binders where I have easy access to them that are actually separated by color, lol. Bulk cards, I basically store and if I need those cards, I just buy them. I keep a playset for normal cards, but have no limits for valuable cards, rares, mythics, and cards I just really like. I track it all with a spreadsheet that I update several times a year to loosely track value and such. When building, I reference the spreadsheet so I don't have to sort the boxes by color.
I recommend Merge sort or Quick sort when you feel comfortable. It helps sort the cards quickly and the thought effort is minimal, can have a podcast on or something. Videos might be too distracting.
@@magicmac7975 Sure! Sorry this will be a bit of a lengthy explanation, but: You're taking a pile of randomly ordered cards and sorting by collector number. Make 10 piles (for numbers 0-9). First, you place into each pile based on the number in the 1’s spot. So, pile 0 would have cards 310, 160, 010. Pile 1 would have 111, 251, 001, etc. Once all those piles are made, pick up your cards into a big stack starting with pile 0 and ending at pile 9 so that’s on top. Now, make 10 piles again, but this time you’re placing the cards down according to their SECOND digits, but still maintaining the order of the FIRST digit. For pile 1, you would put down cards 219, 119, 019. Then as you proceed you would next put down 018, 218, 418, etc working your way down to 010, 210, 410. Now, you need to pick up your piles again, BUT their orders need to be reversed. The easiest way I found to do this is take a pile in your hand one at a time, and place them back down on the table one by one. So the cards ending in 0 will go to the bottom, and the cards ending in 9 will end up back on top. Once all 10 piles are inverted in this way, pick them back up into your hand starting with pile 9, and once again sort them into piles. This will be the final sort, so you will have 3-5 piles depending on how many cards are in the set. You'll notice the piles are getting fully organized as you place them down... so for pile 0 the first card you place down is going to be 099, then 098, etc... and for pile 1 it'll be 199, 198, etc. Now just pile them together one last time, and you're done!
I like doing this for pokemon cards as I collect those. But I actually play Magic, so I organize mine in a way that I can look through cards easily while still being able to find a specific card. Instead of set number, I organize by set, color, rarity, supertype, mana cost, then alphabetically. So if I'm looking for red enchantments, I can flip to a set and just look through red enchantments. Or if I'm looking for Lord of Extinction, I can check every set he's been printed in and look through mythic multicolored creatures for 5 mana. But hey, that's just what works for me. It's always fun to see what works for various people ;3
Great idea. I have around 26k cards, and recently went through and digitizing them all in Delver Lens. Digitizing makes it crazy easy to trade, sell, build, etc. But I store all the cards in horizontal 5-row boxes, arranged alphabetically I've run with pages in the past, but if I ever got a card that janked the page-sorting convention, I'd have to rearrange pages. I do like the idea of having everything available and visible without having to finger-find each card.
I also use your bucketsort approach for sorting a set, I find it to be (one of) the fastest. Rather than binders, I put the final sets into boxes, just because I have a lot of bulk. This still retains the ability to quickly find a card, but also keeps the space requirements manageable.
For each set, there is a "card collection" list, that is used for rcq deck lists. I would recommend to get that list after you dont know what cards you could be missing. Plus you can keep that paper in the binder, and keep track of what you take out of. What do you do wih your bulk? Atm i just get random boxes, with just stacks of them. I find collection binders to take up a lot of room. I personally get 5k, and for each row, it's a set, and each 5k is that "release" season. I keep 4's because i like playing 60 card formats. I also do by collector number, because after doing a few rcq I like organizing cards that way
This video was excelent! Hope you do a video showing each collection, taking about your memories of this or that card, that was good at the moment, which survive the past of time, which one not, etc. Un abrazo desde Argentina!
I'm in the process of putting my entire collection into moxfield, and I have a 3000ct box I'm putting them into. I initially did the same sort of color sort you do, but I also separate each amount of colors in multicolor cards into their own piles. then I alphabetized each group by their first letter, and now I'm in the process of both fully alphabetizing and logging the cards in moxfield. I make that process easier on myself by going by letter, so I'll sort the cards that start with a, then b, and so on. I have a decently sized collection and this was the easiest way I could think to do it. this does come with the caveat of not being separated by set, but I don't mind, and the box I have is similar to a file cabinet where you can easily flick through the cards to find one, with the help of moxfield
I have a very similiar approach to your sorting. Though I don't bucket the cards by starting letter, but by collectors number. I start with cards from 1-9, then 10-19 and so on. This gives normal sized piles that are easy to sort without any dependance on weird piles of starting letters.
I organize into piles like you mentioned. Then I go on scryfall see how many cards in each section and half it . Reason is I open a lot. So if there are a total of 50 white cards I'll take the pile of white and pile 1-25 and 26-50. Then I organize those numerically. And I put them in no foil then foil placement. Placing them face down. And continue through all cards. Once in order I take the two best condition ones usually foil for binder and sleeve 1 other unsleaved. Unless it's of note (playable or value). If it's of value I sleeve all of them. At this point I have two sortable piles. 2 of all cards for binder set. And the rest go in bulk until needed. Then I use the app Collectr and add them all to a digital inventory. I have 1 portfolio of bulk and 1 separate binder portfolio for each set. Once all inventoried I take 2 for my binder and organize them by set #. The bulk cards are what's left over . I store them in xenoskin ultimate hives . If one xenoskin isn't full from bulk of that set. I'll take wrappers from ea. Booster (play, collector, set, etc. and line the top and bottom and sides separating it from the other set sharing the box . And I place a post it note inside the flap so when I open it it shows on writing and by booster packs which set is in the xenoskin.also i know what's all in my bulk organized by set #. I know what's in my individual binders also organized by set #. It's a pain in the ass and takes forever. And is super over kill but it is worth it whenever something needed. Hard part is putting stuff away cause xenoskins are usually full .
I think the way someone should store cards should reflect how they plan to interact with the storage. For example, the way I store cards is based on the fact that I like to build decks, mostly for EDH, and I have a whack ton of cards that I do not know the name of that I may want to use. This means that when I’m looking through my collection, I’m often looking specifically for color, mana value and card type, so that is how I organize. My method of organization looks something like: Color>rarity>type>mana value I have each color in its own bin (or if you don’t have many cards, they can just be separated by dividers), then each color is divided into rarity, then each rarity by type, then each type by mana value. This is more ideal for someone who may want to flip through their cards looking to pull some out for deck building. I also have legendary creatures (incl. backgrounds), lands, artifacts, and mana rocks all pulled out and put into their own sections. More recently I’ve been feeling the need to reorganize since I mostly use moxfield for deck building, and I have thousands of cards now, the majority of which are bulk bin commons and uncommons. I think I want to have a mass storage of the bulk bin stuff that I don’t necessarily organize, and have a smaller pool of playable cards (with some good commons/uncommons, mostly rates though) still separated by color and type but then maybe by alphabetical order (since I’m using moxfield so I will usually know the name of the card I’m looking for). Separating the cards into binders of each set is certainly the best way for collectors to separate their cards, and can definitely be useful for those who have many, many cards and have a lot of storage space, but could be very cumbersome and time consuming for deck builders.
May I recommend donating your bulk that you don't organize, rather than just tossing it in a box you'll almost never pull from? MagiKids provides free cards to programs for kids to learn Magic. They've allowed me to provide dozens of students with free cards to build their first deck and learn the game. If you aren't going to use them, give them to somebody that will.
Thanks for the video - I sort similar to how you do and do set binders as well - I do store the foils all together in numeric order, the art cards together, and store the mythics and rares that are showcase/borderless/etc - the uncommon and common showcases I put in groups of 8 or less in penny sleeves and store in 5K boxes just like I do my tokens, extra basic lands, and extra (beyond a playset) commons and uncommons - I was waiting for the punch line and was happy to get it
Hello, I just happened across your video. Thank you for sharing. It looks like you and I sort and store our cards very much the same. I would like to make one suggestion to improve your card safety. Use D-ring binders. They are not as apt to cause binder dings. And do not store the binders flat. Store them upright as you do, or in a way that the pages hang down. Binder ding prevention! You did help me with one thing I had not thought to do and that is when storing multiple of the same card, to turn the foils around to face opposite. Until I had seen what you do, I had just placed them in front of the non-foils. Thanks for that suggestion! 👍
As a person that only ever does 1 prerelease per set, then buys singles, this won't work well for me, but it's a really goo way to do it. I'm pretty sure my LGS does it this way.
I tried this a while back, but I have a LOT of different sets, list cards/mystery boosters, commander decks, duel decks, etc. and many singles which I have purchased over the years not sharing a set with basically anything else I own which don't fit into binders very well. I ended up switching to fully alphabetized and color seperated with all cards in penny sleeves, and duplicates sharing a sleeve. Fairly easy to sort with trays, and I can find anything in my collection in under 30 seconds once it is sorted just by name, even if it has been printed in a few dozen sets.
I have gone through several sorting steps through the years. For me what I've ended up with works best for me. I have binders and boxes. I reserve my binders for Mythic and Rares, along with valuable un-common's and common's. I use boxes for bulk common's and un-common's. I start the sort by rarity, then color, from there, I use semi-alphabetical approach...only using the first letter in each card name, so that I have a stack of A's, B's, C's, and so on for each color. The first stack will include ALL of the A's of a color regardless of the next letter that follows. I find that seeing and sorting by the TINY TINY collector number is WAAAAAAAYYYY to onerous. I also DO NOT separate by set. Generally, (when you're looking for a card) you know the color, rarity, and the card name. You can quickly go through your cards to find what you are looking for.
I sort my cards into the same color tiers (WUBRG, multicolor, colorless, basic lands), then by types, then by mana value. When I'm building a deck following a curve, it helps a lot if I see that I need some 1-mana creatures to balance things out, then I can flip through them and see if any would pair well with my commander or deck strategy. Dual-type cards (like artifact creatures) get their own section too, in case I'm trying to build an artifact/enchantment/snow deck. I make some exceptions for cards that might be colorless but benefit a specific color, like a Goblin Charbelcher going with the red cards since it favors Mountains.
Just wanted to say thanks for this! Im a fairly new magic player and dont have the room or cash to collect every set, so unfortunately that means i order by colour and cmc, which is a pain whenever I get a little booster or something. However, i did treat myself to an ixalan booster box, my first box ever, recently, because i adored that set. Bought an ixalan themed binder for it, and though it was a fairly lameduck box with not much in it, the idea of turning it into a collection made all the chaff I'd never play so much more exciting, and sorting it all wad a really cathartic experience. I now have a lovely binder, and putting a missing card into it feels great. Cavern of souls can stay missing for now though, lol
This is an excellent, albiet pricey way to sort for very knowledgeable mtg players, I'm fairly new, so sorting by set would destroy my ability to find anything. Sorting by set for me would basically just throwing them into a box willy-nilly. I've also noticed when building new decks I'm aiming for synergy, and not a particular card. So i pull 60 out of the bulk, and just flip until I find anything that might work with my commander. Fliping theough pages, even if sorted just by color does feel like it would slow me down. Although the dreaded sleeve-stick can be quite the annoyance.
set sorting works really well in combination with a digital version of the collection and scryfall. Find a card you may want, cross reference your digital collection, then find the set it belongs to. the work is really all on the front end. Although, I definitely get where you're coming from.
I color sort all the commons / uncommons for each set and then put them in a 5000 ct. box for long term storage. If I need a random old common I just look up the set(s) it's in and quick run through those sections. Rares and mythics all get penny sleeved (or better for expensive stuff) and put in a fully alphabatized 5000 ct. box ignoring set/color though I may add a color sort to that box soon. I have a relatively small collection compared to many I know but I currently run about six of the 5000 ct boxes and a few smaller bulk boxes for stuff I havn't gotten around to sorting yet.
This binder is much better than what I've been doing with organizing by set and putting into long-boxes... I definitely see myself organizing out by set but always struggle with finding particular cards and have had issues where I isolate rares/mythics and curse myself later when I'm struggling to find them in a completely different system. I'm definitely noticing now that I should go back through and digitize...but I will need to see if I want to follow with this binder method or find something with equal efficacy that doesn't use binders..
I use the bundle boxes for their set and only have rares in the binders, and sort them very similarly Sorted by color, withing a color I have them in the following order Dual faced Instants Sorceries Enchantments Artifacts Creatures Enchantment creatures Artifact creatures Within each category they are sorted by cmc (x costed at the back) and then alphabetically Works very similar to yours, but doesn't need binders and sheets and I already have those boxes because I like them and the oversized dice If I ever have enough shelf space I probably will do binders and might switch to collector number if I feel like it Very neat to see that we both sort them very similarly though when we got the big piles and need to get them in order, and like how you notice the letters being weirld represented I will notice some colors will have only 1 sorcery sometimes
Not really sure what the size is... Just standard I guess? They are 1.5 inches wide. They are just the cheapest thing I could find at Walmart, for like $0.70 each :P
This is very similar to how I sort, but with the following differences: * I put the commons and uncommons sorted by collector number in a box, rather than in a binder. * I put the rares and mythics in a binder by set and collector number (I use nicer binders without rings). * Cards from older sets the predate collector numbers are sorted by set, then alphabetically by name My sorting algorithm is also a bit different. After an initial sort by color, I generally do use the collector number, and I do a physical radix sort. That means that I first sort the cards based on the last digit of the collector number. Then I stack the piles in reverse order and sort by the remaining digits . This works best if there are a lot of cards to sort (2+ boxes worth). If it's smaller I use the method in the video but using numbers rather than names because I find them easier to use. In both cases I use the names afterwards as a quick double-check.
If u have space then yea , what i have done is color in 1 box , then keyword types [draw/cycle/, [scry], removals ,win cons , sorcery, flash , enhancements [buffs /debuff] , lands all go into a land boxsplit between types [even snow ❄️] ,artifacts have thwir own box and are split via ,mana rocks , token spawners, proliferate, win cons , myrs, draw, removals, and creatures, weapons , and battles and sagas then special strats [wierd cards u build a deck around ] . Reason being is when deck building i find my self needing those keywords "i need removals or draw or jank convoke] and of course a trade binder
i used to sort this way but since ive moved to collector packs precons and singles i go by commander color usability (mix in artifacts that tap for a color in with that color). I also separate out the multicolor cards by guild/color set. Also took something from a friend so it’s by mana cost by color, and I also throw in lands
Hi Dave, I was wondering what size binders are the ones you have, are they 1" binders? Do they sufficiently fit a full set if you were to have playsets in the binder pages?
They are 1.5 inches wide. They pretty much fit one set perfectly. I used to put two sets in each, but then sets became too big with all the extra cards in bonus sheets and stuff like that. I bought literally the cheapest binders I could find at Walmart, but they work well :p
Ok I love this and I might start sorting my FaB this way. For what it's worth, you can alphabetize in one go without having to handle cards more than once. An easy thing is put it in a box. When they are alphabetized turn them up. Work front to back, sorting as you go.
Recently, I've been sorting everything by set in boxes, while separating all basic lands, nonbasic lands, tokens, and older foils. I also take all rares out and set them aside separately
Collector since Unlimited. Seller for the past 4 years. Cards sorted alphabetically by set. Sets stored by date. Each set has each card individually sleeved (fitted) and in a clear case sized for number of cards in the set. A blank card at the front and top indicating the set. Beautiful, playable, scratch-proof and waterproof. Binders leave binder dents. Cards in boxes without sleeves leaves scratches. Organizing by color is for amateurs or small collections.
5:34 Jace was originally going to be part of the OTJ “Aftermath” set, but they moved him to the main set too late for the collector numbers to be changed
I sell on TCGPlayer so I mostly go by their RI List for Direct. Reverse set order (Oldest-Newest) Then Alphabetically. I have them in 4 Row Boxes (Currently 24,000) that my friends still call rookie numbers. As for sorting them, I do piles of A-F, G-L, M-R, and S-Z. Then do my best to lay them out and pick them up in Aa-Az and so on. It makes it fast and easy to pick orders.
RE: the issue you mentioned with rings sometimes pushing against cards in the inner column, i wonder if D ring binders would help with this, since the ring is a different shape
I usually just use Ultra Pro pages, whichever it is that my LGS sells. It's true for the D ring binders, but these ones I have only cost like $0.70 each ;)
I record all of my cards in Moxfield, and have boxes that are sorted by color, and alphabetically. It's becoming unwieldy as of late though, so I'll probably split by type soon as well (Artifact, Creature, Battle, Enchantment, Instant, Planeswalker, Sorcery, etc)
I also sort my cards into set binders by collector number! The reason that Jace is placed there is because they often put Planeswalker cards into their own grouping. It's that way fir most sets anyway. My biggest issue with this is when using the prefab binders that have limited space. I kinda stopped collecting more modern sets in full because they run upwards to 700-900 cards when there's so many alternate printings/treatments
Wow. We also sort nearly the same way! Color, then piles of A-D, E-H, I-L, M-P, Q-T, U-Z. Then I do piles of A, then B, etc. Once you get used to sorting this way, it goes REALLY quick. It seems time consuming but I've timed myself. It's much quicker than just trying to do color then straight to alphabetical
@8thPlaceDave yup. I often buy bulk lots to fill out my binders. And like you said only every couple of months. Sometimes, I get some good hits that got overlooked, too. It's very cathartic to just sit and sort. Shut my brain off, put on some reruns and enjoy the sort 😆 The only difference is I have singleton set binders then I have 4 row boxes that I hold up to a playset of (so 5 copies of a card total) then any overflow goes into my own very curated (no more than 4 copies of a card, no land/tokens) bulk boxes to sell and do it all over again.
Thank you Dave! Super cool video I love it! I have a collection at 0 bulk,I only have RL cards binders,sealed stuff and decks,everything else get sold or donated,i'm too old and doing it for far too long for still keeping in order everythings Now for the memes Your method is cool but I have a better one BURN THEM ALL!!!!😂 Thanks Dave have a great week!
I go by colour. Then I sort each colour into 3 piles, common, uncommon, rare+. I start with rares making a pile for each different rare then I go uncommons and commons. If you fan out the cards like you were about to try and make a bridge in the middle of them you can see all the cards at once and quickly sort them. The slowest part is dealing with duplicate commons and uncommons. Make piles, dont hold lots of cards thats slower. Ps I do 4 boxes a set, I need to be able to sort all 4 at once.
D ring binder reduces risk of binder ding in my experience. Public service announcement: a binder for every set takes up soooo much room. I've switched over to 4k boxes, sorted same way, seperated by dividers.
Jace Reawakened. Rosewater said he was intended for OTJ Aftermath set. When that was cancelled, Jace was moved to the main set but since that design was pretty much completed, they stuck it at the end.
Two many binders for me. I sort by color, With each having its on card types. Tribes is a seperate spot, as is specific mechanics I like to build around. All legends are in one spot, as is mana ramp
I definitely sort by color, but then by card type (creature vs non-creature) & CMC ascending but then again I don't have an excessively large collection and tend to focus on playable vs bulk
I have been tempted to make set binders but due to like mystery boosters and list prints and stuff mine are all sorted by rarity outside of cards worth money, those are in a separate binder.
I usually do a similar process, except after the color sorting I take one color and I start sorting the whole stack into chunks of 10 collector numbers so every card between 0and 9 then 10 through 19 and so on and then I do take each small pile and just got through them and put them into a card sorting tray by numbers. I don’t know if this is faster then going by names but I really do not want to think about this a lot. How ever this will collide with the showcase cards.
I’ve tried many ways to organize cards and got frustrated with having multiple versions of the same card in 7 different places because I was organizing by set when I had no reason to. Recently I’ve switched to going as simple as possible and solely separating out my rares/mythics and commons/uncommons, putting each in alphabetical order. If I need a copy of Counterspell I can simply just find my box of C/U cards that start with the letter C and find every copy I have in 5 seconds.
great video, will probably try it with a set that I want to complete, for now im just sorting by rarity and having the most valuable/playable in binders or easy to access places
I seperate by color and then order alphabetically in long boxes, 1,600 count 2 rows. Then I add them to my app to catalogue them. When i need to get them I just look for the set, colour, and name and its found easily.
Brilliant! Question: if I open a - say, a token card, how do I know how many pages down to place it when I have not filled in all the numbers of the non-token cards? Is there a way to check the last number of the non token cards (most likely the basic island card) so I know where to place the first token?
You could check the number of the basic forest, I think that is usually the last card in a set. If you're using 3 ring binders, though, you can just put the tokens in a page and take the page out to move around as you need.
I do almost the same thing as you but I try to obtain the binder of the particular set. Ie the older Ice Age, Prophecy etc... I sleeve EVERYTHING 107k plus as of right now but I have to ask, why don't you sleeve the foils??
Be careful with those O rings binder, I have had them dent and bend cards before, they can damage the cards in the sheets if there is pressure build up from the rings pulling or resting on. I prefer D rings binders bc they prevent that.
I prefer binders sorted by Color, Theme, and Function. Since I don't really buy packs and play mostly eDH/Duel Commander, I only need one copy of specific types all laid out in sectioned areas. That way I know where to get Counterspells, Elves, Planeswalkers, etc. Bulk commons handed down to me for free or pulls from packs I don't even organize unless I see potential play value in the decks I may brew or swap out. Only cards I keep organized by set are Doctor Who decks.
I sort my cards by color (identity as I mostly play commander), then by type, then cost, then alphabetically. It can take a while, sure, but it makes it very easy to find my cards that weren't from unfinity (where did i leave my Saw In Half???)
I was very surprised to see that I do something very similar, I put my rares and mythics asides and sort the rest of the set into boxes, only small difference is that the alphabetical thing that you are using don't work for cards that aren't in english, so instead I sort them by collector numbers but since its a bit much to do the whole color at once I do 10 by 10, I I would do all the 150 to 159 then 160 to 169 and so on !
I might be a little crazy, but I just alphabetize my entire collection. It's currently spread across 64 800 count boxes. Every time a new set comes out, I sort them and work them into the existing boxes.
How I organise: 1) colour: W/U/B/R/G, multi 2/3 (ally, enemy), 4/5, colourless, artifact land 2) rarity: mythic, rare (timeshifted), uncommon, common 3) type: PW, legendary, creature, sorcery, instant, enchantment, aura, artifact, equipment 4) Alphabetically: A-Z, guilds, shards, wedges, 4 or 5 colours It's a lot of work but if I will know exactly where each card is should I need it.
Issues I have with that system : - with foreign language cards (French for me) alphabetical order is messed up - when you’re looking for a specific card with many reprints and you’re not sure which edition you have it’s a nightmare
how did u acquire this large amount of thunder junction in the first place? personally, i'd only ever buy boosters or even bulk if there was something reaaaaally interesting in there that i'm guaranteed to be using, especially since lots and random bulk are a massive waste of space, time and money
Thunder junction, while I wasn't a fan of the art style, does have a decent number of solid cards and value reprints. I wouldn't recommend anyone by packs anymore if you're on a budget, but alot of TJ is a great way to grab cheaper reprints of staples.
Ithink this suffers from the collectors problem, if you collect enough cards to make this work, this is going to be a EXPENSIVE endeavour. But if you dont, its really not worth the time investments. If your not a set collector, you will often require MANY of the same card, ie you love the dr who sol ring etc, over loading capacity on a single card slot.
I half wanted this to be a gag video, and half wanted it to be a serious video; needless to say - thank you regardless. This is a constant struggle for ALL of us.
Worth noting that this only works well if your collection is big enough that you generally pick up >75% of the cards in any given set.
@@NStripleseven if you have smaller collections you could skip leaving blank spaces for missing collector numbers. You would have to move stuff around sometimes as you get more cards, but you can rearrange the pages and only have to move a maximum of so many cards this way to rearrange.
Or you could just add multiple sets to the same binder. Looks like he's done that for a few of his.
I am not a set collector, instead I am a usability collector for the formats I play (Mostly Commander & Canadian Highlander). Instead of sorting by set, then color/number, I just sort by color, then alphabetically. This disambiguates duplicates from multiple sets, that could easily be traded away for other cards you need, and also easily denotes cards over 4 you have that you can get rid of, mostly to buylists (CK is good for buying playable bulk, but you're in Canada so your LGS is probably your best bet).
Also, instead of manually sorting the multiple alpha letters, I use one of the plastic sorting trays (mine has 10 slots) and just toss out cards into each slot based on its alpha start (ABC in slot 1, DEF in slot 2, etc...) and then sort the first slot into A, B & C then sort the A alphabetically manually. This works well for a large number of cards, usually my draft chaff from multiple prereleases and drafts, after the set is out of rotation.
As for tracking what you have, after you've done your sorting method of choice, using an app to keep track of cards you own is very nice, though tedious at the start. Manabox is the app I use and it is very useful to have to be able to know what you have in a few seconds to know what cards you might need from someone in a trade. Just be wary that if you do happen to remove cards from your collection, updating is important so you don't double purchase something or trade away something you need.
This is how I'm starting to do it. I don't care which set a card came from and so many cards are printed in multiple sets.
This is how I do it, too. I don't care about what set the card is from. I care that when I am looking for a swords to plowshares,.I can find one fast. Swords is in a million sets but I only have copies from a few specific sets. If I had to flip through a ton of binders it would take forever. Instead I can just look in the S cards in white.
I also don't sort past the first letter of cards. When I crack packs, I put the cards in the back of their alphabet sections (more or less) and when I return cards from a deck, I put them in the front. That way the cards that actually get used will naturally move to the front of their alphabet section. Sure, it would be faster to find things if they were perfectly sorted, but only by a little bit most of the time, and this greatly speeds up the time to put cards away, and that is the part I dislike the most, so optimizing to make that easier is better for me.
With this method, if I have multiples of a card with different art, I can compare them all at a glance and pick the one suitable for a deck (I care about the art for themed decks).
This is how i do it. I skip the digital input as i just search for the cards i need when i finished building on moxfield. Makes it easy to enter an order on tcgplayer as i go. I should take the time to upload to a database mostly for keeping track of prices. Been playing for so long that some cards i own are worth more than i bought them for.
"Actually this is one of my favorite things about trading cards in general"
I feel this on a spiritual level. In the first few months of 2018 I ended up filling two longboxes with packs. I didn't have anybody to actually play the game with, and I was only sort of interested in pulling cool/valuable cards. I just wanted to keep repeating the process of organizing them all by collector number...
I always love see how different people organize. This part of the game is one of the most relaxing to me. I've gone down the less space efficient but very aesthetic path of using the bundle boxes for each set.
Magic used to nake Gift Boxes- Boxes that came with a few sticker sheets (for labeling), a special alt-art promo card (for Return to Ravnica it was a Dreg Mangler), and 5 plastic separators with art of the basic lands in the set (and 1 nonbasic for colorless/multicolored)
I have a Kaladesh box i use to store all my rares/mythics sorted by WUBRGMLC[MCL²] (White, Blue, Black, Red, Green, Multicolored, Lands, Colorless) (MCL² for Mono Colored Legendaries, Multicolored Legendaries)
30 years of collecting for me goes like this: Color, Cards Type, Mana Value. Commons, Uncommons, Rares/Mythics sorted by two Catagories: Bulk ($3 or less), or Price Cards (plus RESERVE LIST, Expensive Promo Versions.. etc.). All Rare Lands go into a Land Binder. Lands and Artifacts are money. Uncommons that are worth more than bulk go into card app system for tracking (into own lil box), as well as Commons in this regard.
@@PunkInDrublic87Gaming yes, I have been iterating different schemas until I got to a very similar of yours. This way, not only you manage reprints but when I am deckbuilding I can work from my mana curve.
@@paurullan when opening new product I put rare/mythics (or money cards regardless of rarity, in one pile, followed by uncommon and common. I have a pile for land (rares go with rares), art cards/tokens/ad cards together. All list card together, as some reprints are costly despite rarity, e.g Aura Shards). Hope this helps. Cost a lot to get this system 🤣
Only problem with binders is that they take up a lot of vertical space, and you need enough shelf space. Boxes often fit into smaller spaces that 9-card-binders don't fit in to.
True
My LGS has binders like this. They get wrecked from the day-to-day use, develop a lot of empty spots that the store won't consolidate because "we might get more", and you need to check 20 spots to find out there's no Lightning Bolt. Oh, and value cards aren't left in binders, leading to confusion to those of us who aren't price-savvy enough.
There's a few down-sides to this.
If you go through the alphabet in reverse order, you can create a face-up pile in one go. The batching of letters makes it easier than it sounds, and you don’t have to rearrange the piles.
17:49 One caveat, some sets ignore a "The" prefix for the collectors number, see The Key to the Vault between Jailbreak Scheme and Loan Shark
Two caveats: it doesn't work at all with other languages
Its most important to me to scan every new card and upload them to my collection. That way i can at least quickly check if have any card im looking for.
I use delver lens btw...
Me too ;)
Yes i use a mtg card app n scan all my cards in there,n # each binder i own i hav 13 total now,only thing tats not scaned is my bulk but tats in mana value n color codes so can find any card easy myself.hav over 7,000 cards scanned in the app called dragon shield mtg
Me three! Currently I have all my rares and played/valuable commons and uncommons scanned in (27000 cards) and then organized into BCW 5k, 3200 boxes and the 12 Pocket folio for pricier playset.
whats the pro of delver lens against manabox?
@@ohmsford94 I never used it, I am not sure it existed when i started the project.
A tip for alphabetical sorting that may help you or others:
Once you have the cards sorted into the color piles, I would when holding them in your hand deal them out into two piles in front of you. One pile is "Before M" and the other piles is "After M," because M is halfway through the alphabet. So any card that starts with the letter M or a letter that comes before that goes into one side and everything else goes into the other. This should give you two piles of roughly equal size that you can then probably sort by letter directly. This may save you a little bit of time over your current method of trying to do the random letter groupings.
That sounds quite useful!
Ever since your last video I’ve started implementing a hybrid version of this method. I can’t thank you enough!
Sets where I’ve opened tons of packs get their own binder, but I also have sets where I’ve opened maybe 3-5 boosters only. For those I have 2 big binders where they’re still separated by set and collector number.
This is how I’ve been organizing my sets for the past few years! It’s so satisfying, and this video makes me glad I’m not the only one hahah!
Thanks for the video. I do it almost the same. I use 12 pocket pages from the set binders just because I like the look of those binders. Once I‘m done and I see I have more room in the binder, i spread them out s bit more. Maybe move the lands so they start again on the top of the page and if there are 10dual lands I like to have them on one page too.
Tokens go to the back with the binder flipped so if I can find them very easy.
Only bummer is the german cards are not really alphabetical so I can‘t pre sort like you did. After color piles I just use blocks of 10‘s of set numberes 001-009, 010-019, 020-021 etc. This results in roughly 4 or 5 piles per color and from there is is easy to sort into the pages.
I do foils and fullframe also in the normal set even though it messes with the setnumbering. Special sheets go to a new page as you described.
I just leave the first page empty in those binders so white can start with a full double page of 24 cards. On the first page I do stuff like prerelease stamped cards, bundel exclusive, fullframes that I really like and have a „normal“ copy and also cards I habe a lot of like shadowborne apostel or all the others with unlimited amaunts allowed in decks. And if there are scene cards, they get a fresh full page to display the scene. It was tricky with the lord of the rings set, that binder is basically full to the max.
I also keep 4 of each I have, even silly commons. If I have a fifth card and I think it‘s „useless“ i throw it in a shoe box and if it is really good, i might go up to 5/6 cards in the binder since I‘m going to take some out for decks anyways.
I also have a commander staples binder where I add the very best staples so If i proxy in one commander deck, i can refer to the place in that binder in case I take the deck to an LGS. At home I don’t mind about proxies since i know i have them.
I also have a lands binder because i can‘t have so many copies of every good land in every deck.
The lands binder is 12 pocket too so i can have all 10 of any Dual land on one page.
When sorting by set, I first sort into color piles, lands etc like you demonstrated, then what I find to be efficient is to pre-sort into piles by collector number intervals. For example, if the white cards are 0001 - 0039 for example, I would sort into piles by the tens: 0001 - 0009, 0010 - 0019, 0020 - 0029 and 0030 - 0039. Then it's incredibly easy to pick up each little pile, sort by collector number in a few seconds and stack back into one big pile, all perfectly sorted. Hope you try this!
I'd put everything in order in binders if I had the room. It's so satisfying to see cards in order in binders. Goes back to the old days when I collected sports and Marvel cards. But for practical purposes I still prefer to use the long boxes. They stack nicely and take up a lot less space while storing a lot of cards. I order them by set and alphabatized. I number the boxes and have a list of what sets are in what box number. I don't bother sorting color. I do, however, separate valuable/playable staple cards from the boxes and put them in separate binders where I have easy access to them that are actually separated by color, lol. Bulk cards, I basically store and if I need those cards, I just buy them. I keep a playset for normal cards, but have no limits for valuable cards, rares, mythics, and cards I just really like. I track it all with a spreadsheet that I update several times a year to loosely track value and such. When building, I reference the spreadsheet so I don't have to sort the boxes by color.
I recommend Merge sort or Quick sort when you feel comfortable. It helps sort the cards quickly and the thought effort is minimal, can have a podcast on or something. Videos might be too distracting.
Radix sort works well also.
Please @@benduker, inform me about Radix sort (I want to learn through others.)
@@magicmac7975 Sure! Sorry this will be a bit of a lengthy explanation, but:
You're taking a pile of randomly ordered cards and sorting by collector number. Make 10 piles (for numbers 0-9). First, you place into each pile based on the number in the 1’s spot. So, pile 0 would have cards 310, 160, 010. Pile 1 would have 111, 251, 001, etc.
Once all those piles are made, pick up your cards into a big stack starting with pile 0 and ending at pile 9 so that’s on top. Now, make 10 piles again, but this time you’re placing the cards down according to their SECOND digits, but still maintaining the order of the FIRST digit. For pile 1, you would put down cards 219, 119, 019. Then as you proceed you would next put down 018, 218, 418, etc working your way down to 010, 210, 410.
Now, you need to pick up your piles again, BUT their orders need to be reversed. The easiest way I found to do this is take a pile in your hand one at a time, and place them back down on the table one by one. So the cards ending in 0 will go to the bottom, and the cards ending in 9 will end up back on top.
Once all 10 piles are inverted in this way, pick them back up into your hand starting with pile 9, and once again sort them into piles. This will be the final sort, so you will have 3-5 piles depending on how many cards are in the set. You'll notice the piles are getting fully organized as you place them down... so for pile 0 the first card you place down is going to be 099, then 098, etc... and for pile 1 it'll be 199, 198, etc.
Now just pile them together one last time, and you're done!
I like doing this for pokemon cards as I collect those. But I actually play Magic, so I organize mine in a way that I can look through cards easily while still being able to find a specific card.
Instead of set number, I organize by set, color, rarity, supertype, mana cost, then alphabetically. So if I'm looking for red enchantments, I can flip to a set and just look through red enchantments. Or if I'm looking for Lord of Extinction, I can check every set he's been printed in and look through mythic multicolored creatures for 5 mana.
But hey, that's just what works for me. It's always fun to see what works for various people ;3
Perfect timing with the upload, I've been meaning to organize my collection so I'll take this as my sign to do so
Great idea. I have around 26k cards, and recently went through and digitizing them all in Delver Lens. Digitizing makes it crazy easy to trade, sell, build, etc. But I store all the cards in horizontal 5-row boxes, arranged alphabetically I've run with pages in the past, but if I ever got a card that janked the page-sorting convention, I'd have to rearrange pages. I do like the idea of having everything available and visible without having to finger-find each card.
How to organize your cards
Pile 1: Hasheps Oasis
Pile 2: Chaff (aka everything else)
This is the way
I also use your bucketsort approach for sorting a set, I find it to be (one of) the fastest. Rather than binders, I put the final sets into boxes, just because I have a lot of bulk. This still retains the ability to quickly find a card, but also keeps the space requirements manageable.
For each set, there is a "card collection" list, that is used for rcq deck lists. I would recommend to get that list after you dont know what cards you could be missing. Plus you can keep that paper in the binder, and keep track of what you take out of.
What do you do wih your bulk? Atm i just get random boxes, with just stacks of them.
I find collection binders to take up a lot of room.
I personally get 5k, and for each row, it's a set, and each 5k is that "release" season. I keep 4's because i like playing 60 card formats.
I also do by collector number, because after doing a few rcq I like organizing cards that way
Bulk should be donated to MagiKids.
This video was excelent! Hope you do a video showing each collection, taking about your memories of this or that card, that was good at the moment, which survive the past of time, which one not, etc. Un abrazo desde Argentina!
I'm in the process of putting my entire collection into moxfield, and I have a 3000ct box I'm putting them into. I initially did the same sort of color sort you do, but I also separate each amount of colors in multicolor cards into their own piles. then I alphabetized each group by their first letter, and now I'm in the process of both fully alphabetizing and logging the cards in moxfield. I make that process easier on myself by going by letter, so I'll sort the cards that start with a, then b, and so on. I have a decently sized collection and this was the easiest way I could think to do it. this does come with the caveat of not being separated by set, but I don't mind, and the box I have is similar to a file cabinet where you can easily flick through the cards to find one, with the help of moxfield
I have a very similiar approach to your sorting. Though I don't bucket the cards by starting letter, but by collectors number. I start with cards from 1-9, then 10-19 and so on. This gives normal sized piles that are easy to sort without any dependance on weird piles of starting letters.
7:18 I can only picture Timmy Turner’s dad saying “And this is where I would put my commander exclusive cards - IF I HAD ANY!”
Haha
I organize into piles like you mentioned. Then I go on scryfall see how many cards in each section and half it . Reason is I open a lot. So if there are a total of 50 white cards I'll take the pile of white and pile 1-25 and 26-50. Then I organize those numerically. And I put them in no foil then foil placement. Placing them face down. And continue through all cards. Once in order I take the two best condition ones usually foil for binder and sleeve 1 other unsleaved. Unless it's of note (playable or value). If it's of value I sleeve all of them. At this point I have two sortable piles. 2 of all cards for binder set. And the rest go in bulk until needed. Then I use the app Collectr and add them all to a digital inventory. I have 1 portfolio of bulk and 1 separate binder portfolio for each set. Once all inventoried I take 2 for my binder and organize them by set #. The bulk cards are what's left over . I store them in xenoskin ultimate hives . If one xenoskin isn't full from bulk of that set. I'll take wrappers from ea. Booster (play, collector, set, etc. and line the top and bottom and sides separating it from the other set sharing the box . And I place a post it note inside the flap so when I open it it shows on writing and by booster packs which set is in the xenoskin.also i know what's all in my bulk organized by set #. I know what's in my individual binders also organized by set #.
It's a pain in the ass and takes forever. And is super over kill but it is worth it whenever something needed.
Hard part is putting stuff away cause xenoskins are usually full .
I think the way someone should store cards should reflect how they plan to interact with the storage. For example, the way I store cards is based on the fact that I like to build decks, mostly for EDH, and I have a whack ton of cards that I do not know the name of that I may want to use. This means that when I’m looking through my collection, I’m often looking specifically for color, mana value and card type, so that is how I organize. My method of organization looks something like:
Color>rarity>type>mana value
I have each color in its own bin (or if you don’t have many cards, they can just be separated by dividers), then each color is divided into rarity, then each rarity by type, then each type by mana value. This is more ideal for someone who may want to flip through their cards looking to pull some out for deck building. I also have legendary creatures (incl. backgrounds), lands, artifacts, and mana rocks all pulled out and put into their own sections.
More recently I’ve been feeling the need to reorganize since I mostly use moxfield for deck building, and I have thousands of cards now, the majority of which are bulk bin commons and uncommons. I think I want to have a mass storage of the bulk bin stuff that I don’t necessarily organize, and have a smaller pool of playable cards (with some good commons/uncommons, mostly rates though) still separated by color and type but then maybe by alphabetical order (since I’m using moxfield so I will usually know the name of the card I’m looking for).
Separating the cards into binders of each set is certainly the best way for collectors to separate their cards, and can definitely be useful for those who have many, many cards and have a lot of storage space, but could be very cumbersome and time consuming for deck builders.
May I recommend donating your bulk that you don't organize, rather than just tossing it in a box you'll almost never pull from? MagiKids provides free cards to programs for kids to learn Magic. They've allowed me to provide dozens of students with free cards to build their first deck and learn the game. If you aren't going to use them, give them to somebody that will.
Thanks for the video - I sort similar to how you do and do set binders as well - I do store the foils all together in numeric order, the art cards together, and store the mythics and rares that are showcase/borderless/etc - the uncommon and common showcases I put in groups of 8 or less in penny sleeves and store in 5K boxes just like I do my tokens, extra basic lands, and extra (beyond a playset) commons and uncommons - I was waiting for the punch line and was happy to get it
Hello, I just happened across your video. Thank you for sharing.
It looks like you and I sort and store our cards very much the same. I would like to make one suggestion to improve your card safety. Use D-ring binders. They are not as apt to cause binder dings. And do not store the binders flat. Store them upright as you do, or in a way that the pages hang down. Binder ding prevention!
You did help me with one thing I had not thought to do and that is when storing multiple of the same card, to turn the foils around to face opposite. Until I had seen what you do, I had just placed them in front of the non-foils. Thanks for that suggestion! 👍
I'm really happy to hear that we organise our binders in exactly the same way lol
As a person that only ever does 1 prerelease per set, then buys singles, this won't work well for me, but it's a really goo way to do it. I'm pretty sure my LGS does it this way.
I tried this a while back, but I have a LOT of different sets, list cards/mystery boosters, commander decks, duel decks, etc. and many singles which I have purchased over the years not sharing a set with basically anything else I own which don't fit into binders very well. I ended up switching to fully alphabetized and color seperated with all cards in penny sleeves, and duplicates sharing a sleeve. Fairly easy to sort with trays, and I can find anything in my collection in under 30 seconds once it is sorted just by name, even if it has been printed in a few dozen sets.
I have gone through several sorting steps through the years. For me what I've ended up with works best for me. I have binders and boxes. I reserve my binders for Mythic and Rares, along with valuable un-common's and common's. I use boxes for bulk common's and un-common's. I start the sort by rarity, then color, from there, I use semi-alphabetical approach...only using the first letter in each card name, so that I have a stack of A's, B's, C's, and so on for each color. The first stack will include ALL of the A's of a color regardless of the next letter that follows. I find that seeing and sorting by the TINY TINY collector number is WAAAAAAAYYYY to onerous. I also DO NOT separate by set. Generally, (when you're looking for a card) you know the color, rarity, and the card name. You can quickly go through your cards to find what you are looking for.
I sort my cards into the same color tiers (WUBRG, multicolor, colorless, basic lands), then by types, then by mana value. When I'm building a deck following a curve, it helps a lot if I see that I need some 1-mana creatures to balance things out, then I can flip through them and see if any would pair well with my commander or deck strategy. Dual-type cards (like artifact creatures) get their own section too, in case I'm trying to build an artifact/enchantment/snow deck. I make some exceptions for cards that might be colorless but benefit a specific color, like a Goblin Charbelcher going with the red cards since it favors Mountains.
Your card handling is super impressive, the fluidity is nuts
Haha
Good info. I suggest D ring binders. That removes the chance of binder ding so long as you don’t overfill the binder
Just wanted to say thanks for this! Im a fairly new magic player and dont have the room or cash to collect every set, so unfortunately that means i order by colour and cmc, which is a pain whenever I get a little booster or something.
However, i did treat myself to an ixalan booster box, my first box ever, recently, because i adored that set. Bought an ixalan themed binder for it, and though it was a fairly lameduck box with not much in it, the idea of turning it into a collection made all the chaff I'd never play so much more exciting, and sorting it all wad a really cathartic experience. I now have a lovely binder, and putting a missing card into it feels great.
Cavern of souls can stay missing for now though, lol
Awesome, Ixalan is one of my favourite sets :)
@@8thPlaceDave CoI introduced Amalia, my favourite character, so it felt right to collect! Have a good one.
Most of my binders are layed flat and i use d-rings to help avoid binder bites. Also i try not to overstuff them.
This is very pretty. I am currently using the "buy things again" method when building a new deck
This is an excellent, albiet pricey way to sort for very knowledgeable mtg players, I'm fairly new, so sorting by set would destroy my ability to find anything. Sorting by set for me would basically just throwing them into a box willy-nilly.
I've also noticed when building new decks I'm aiming for synergy, and not a particular card. So i pull 60 out of the bulk, and just flip until I find anything that might work with my commander. Fliping theough pages, even if sorted just by color does feel like it would slow me down.
Although the dreaded sleeve-stick can be quite the annoyance.
My Ideal sorting setup would be a dual ream box for each color, type, and if large enough, rarity.
set sorting works really well in combination with a digital version of the collection and scryfall. Find a card you may want, cross reference your digital collection, then find the set it belongs to. the work is really all on the front end. Although, I definitely get where you're coming from.
Sorting by set kind of naturally clumps together cards that have synergy though due to the way Wizards bundles mechanics with sets for limited
I color sort all the commons / uncommons for each set and then put them in a 5000 ct. box for long term storage. If I need a random old common I just look up the set(s) it's in and quick run through those sections.
Rares and mythics all get penny sleeved (or better for expensive stuff) and put in a fully alphabatized 5000 ct. box ignoring set/color though I may add a color sort to that box soon.
I have a relatively small collection compared to many I know but I currently run about six of the 5000 ct boxes and a few smaller bulk boxes for stuff I havn't gotten around to sorting yet.
This binder is much better than what I've been doing with organizing by set and putting into long-boxes...
I definitely see myself organizing out by set but always struggle with finding particular cards and have had issues where I isolate rares/mythics and curse myself later when I'm struggling to find them in a completely different system.
I'm definitely noticing now that I should go back through and digitize...but I will need to see if I want to follow with this binder method or find something with equal efficacy that doesn't use binders..
I use the bundle boxes for their set and only have rares in the binders, and sort them very similarly
Sorted by color, withing a color I have them in the following order
Dual faced
Instants
Sorceries
Enchantments
Artifacts
Creatures
Enchantment creatures
Artifact creatures
Within each category they are sorted by cmc (x costed at the back) and then alphabetically
Works very similar to yours, but doesn't need binders and sheets and I already have those boxes because I like them and the oversized dice
If I ever have enough shelf space I probably will do binders and might switch to collector number if I feel like it
Very neat to see that we both sort them very similarly though when we got the big piles and need to get them in order, and like how you notice the letters being weirld represented I will notice some colors will have only 1 sorcery sometimes
What size 3-ring binder do you use? Might be fun to do this with Bloomburrow with my kids.
Not really sure what the size is... Just standard I guess? They are 1.5 inches wide. They are just the cheapest thing I could find at Walmart, for like $0.70 each :P
@@8thPlaceDave thanks! It was the 1.5 inches I was looking for
This is very similar to how I sort, but with the following differences:
* I put the commons and uncommons sorted by collector number in a box, rather than in a binder.
* I put the rares and mythics in a binder by set and collector number (I use nicer binders without rings).
* Cards from older sets the predate collector numbers are sorted by set, then alphabetically by name
My sorting algorithm is also a bit different. After an initial sort by color, I generally do use the collector number, and I do a physical radix sort. That means that I first sort the cards based on the last digit of the collector number. Then I stack the piles in reverse order and sort by the remaining digits . This works best if there are a lot of cards to sort (2+ boxes worth). If it's smaller I use the method in the video but using numbers rather than names because I find them easier to use.
In both cases I use the names afterwards as a quick double-check.
If u have space then yea , what i have done is color in 1 box , then keyword types [draw/cycle/, [scry], removals ,win cons , sorcery, flash , enhancements [buffs /debuff] , lands all go into a land boxsplit between types [even snow ❄️] ,artifacts have thwir own box and are split via ,mana rocks , token spawners, proliferate, win cons , myrs, draw, removals, and creatures, weapons , and battles and sagas then special strats [wierd cards u build a deck around ] .
Reason being is when deck building i find my self needing those keywords "i need removals or draw or jank convoke] and of course a trade binder
i used to sort this way but since ive moved to collector packs precons and singles i go by commander color usability (mix in artifacts that tap for a color in with that color). I also separate out the multicolor cards by guild/color set. Also took something from a friend so it’s by mana cost by color, and I also throw in lands
Cool video, how about a highlights tour of the collection? Love to see what vintage stuff you've got, for example.
Hi Dave, I was wondering what size binders are the ones you have, are they 1" binders? Do they sufficiently fit a full set if you were to have playsets in the binder pages?
They are 1.5 inches wide. They pretty much fit one set perfectly. I used to put two sets in each, but then sets became too big with all the extra cards in bonus sheets and stuff like that. I bought literally the cheapest binders I could find at Walmart, but they work well :p
@@8thPlaceDave much obliged!
Ok I love this and I might start sorting my FaB this way. For what it's worth, you can alphabetize in one go without having to handle cards more than once. An easy thing is put it in a box. When they are alphabetized turn them up. Work front to back, sorting as you go.
Nice method for a giant collection that is wide enough, otherwise there will be bunch of binders with
Recently, I've been sorting everything by set in boxes, while separating all basic lands, nonbasic lands, tokens, and older foils. I also take all rares out and set them aside separately
Collector since Unlimited. Seller for the past 4 years.
Cards sorted alphabetically by set. Sets stored by date.
Each set has each card individually sleeved (fitted) and in a clear case sized for number of cards in the set. A blank card at the front and top indicating the set.
Beautiful, playable, scratch-proof and waterproof.
Binders leave binder dents.
Cards in boxes without sleeves leaves scratches.
Organizing by color is for amateurs or small collections.
5:34 Jace was originally going to be part of the OTJ “Aftermath” set, but they moved him to the main set too late for the collector numbers to be changed
I sell on TCGPlayer so I mostly go by their RI List for Direct. Reverse set order (Oldest-Newest) Then Alphabetically. I have them in 4 Row Boxes (Currently 24,000) that my friends still call rookie numbers. As for sorting them, I do piles of A-F, G-L, M-R, and S-Z. Then do my best to lay them out and pick them up in Aa-Az and so on. It makes it fast and easy to pick orders.
I use mostly fatboxes/boxes for cards below 1EUR binders for above and sort them by color then scan them in Delver Lens
RE: the issue you mentioned with rings sometimes pushing against cards in the inner column, i wonder if D ring binders would help with this, since the ring is a different shape
What binder pages do you use? Also, to prevent against binder dings use D-ring binder pages.
I usually just use Ultra Pro pages, whichever it is that my LGS sells. It's true for the D ring binders, but these ones I have only cost like $0.70 each ;)
I record all of my cards in Moxfield, and have boxes that are sorted by color, and alphabetically. It's becoming unwieldy as of late though, so I'll probably split by type soon as well (Artifact, Creature, Battle, Enchantment, Instant, Planeswalker, Sorcery, etc)
I also sort my cards into set binders by collector number!
The reason that Jace is placed there is because they often put Planeswalker cards into their own grouping. It's that way fir most sets anyway.
My biggest issue with this is when using the prefab binders that have limited space. I kinda stopped collecting more modern sets in full because they run upwards to 700-900 cards when there's so many alternate printings/treatments
Wow. We also sort nearly the same way!
Color, then piles of A-D, E-H, I-L, M-P, Q-T, U-Z. Then I do piles of A, then B, etc.
Once you get used to sorting this way, it goes REALLY quick. It seems time consuming but I've timed myself. It's much quicker than just trying to do color then straight to alphabetical
It's enjoyable too, at least when you only do it once every couple of months. Having to do it all the time would get tedious fast
@8thPlaceDave yup. I often buy bulk lots to fill out my binders. And like you said only every couple of months. Sometimes, I get some good hits that got overlooked, too. It's very cathartic to just sit and sort. Shut my brain off, put on some reruns and enjoy the sort 😆
The only difference is I have singleton set binders then I have 4 row boxes that I hold up to a playset of (so 5 copies of a card total) then any overflow goes into my own very curated (no more than 4 copies of a card, no land/tokens) bulk boxes to sell and do it all over again.
Thank you Dave! Super cool video I love it! I have a collection at 0 bulk,I only have RL cards binders,sealed stuff and decks,everything else get sold or donated,i'm too old and doing it for far too long for still keeping in order everythings
Now for the memes
Your method is cool but I have a better one BURN THEM ALL!!!!😂
Thanks Dave have a great week!
Haha thanks, you too ;)
I go by colour. Then I sort each colour into 3 piles, common, uncommon, rare+. I start with rares making a pile for each different rare then I go uncommons and commons. If you fan out the cards like you were about to try and make a bridge in the middle of them you can see all the cards at once and quickly sort them. The slowest part is dealing with duplicate commons and uncommons. Make piles, dont hold lots of cards thats slower.
Ps I do 4 boxes a set, I need to be able to sort all 4 at once.
D ring binder reduces risk of binder ding in my experience. Public service announcement: a binder for every set takes up soooo much room. I've switched over to 4k boxes, sorted same way, seperated by dividers.
Jace Reawakened. Rosewater said he was intended for OTJ Aftermath set. When that was cancelled, Jace was moved to the main set but since that design was pretty much completed, they stuck it at the end.
I was waiting for this video after the 40K bulk buy.
xD
What is your opinion on D ring binders to avoid binder ding?
Two many binders for me.
I sort by color,
With each having its on card types.
Tribes is a seperate spot,
as is specific mechanics I like to build around.
All legends are in one spot,
as is mana ramp
I definitely sort by color, but then by card type (creature vs non-creature) & CMC ascending
but then again I don't have an excessively large collection and tend to focus on playable vs bulk
I have been tempted to make set binders but due to like mystery boosters and list prints and stuff mine are all sorted by rarity outside of cards worth money, those are in a separate binder.
I lost my passion for set collecting but I respect it. ✊
I usually do a similar process, except after the color sorting I take one color and I start sorting the whole stack into chunks of 10 collector numbers so every card between 0and 9 then 10 through 19 and so on and then I do take each small pile and just got through them and put them into a card sorting tray by numbers. I don’t know if this is faster then going by names but I really do not want to think about this a lot. How ever this will collide with the showcase cards.
Haha yeah the showcase art cards really mess with collector numbers
I’ve tried many ways to organize cards and got frustrated with having multiple versions of the same card in 7 different places because I was organizing by set when I had no reason to. Recently I’ve switched to going as simple as possible and solely separating out my rares/mythics and commons/uncommons, putting each in alphabetical order. If I need a copy of Counterspell I can simply just find my box of C/U cards that start with the letter C and find every copy I have in 5 seconds.
great video, will probably try it with a set that I want to complete, for now im just sorting by rarity and having the most valuable/playable in binders or easy to access places
I seperate by color and then order alphabetically in long boxes, 1,600 count 2 rows.
Then I add them to my app to catalogue them.
When i need to get them I just look for the set, colour, and name and its found easily.
Brilliant! Question: if I open a - say, a token card, how do I know how many pages down to place it when I have not filled in all the numbers of the non-token cards? Is there a way to check the last number of the non token cards (most likely the basic island card) so I know where to place the first token?
You could check the number of the basic forest, I think that is usually the last card in a set. If you're using 3 ring binders, though, you can just put the tokens in a page and take the page out to move around as you need.
@@8thPlaceDave Ah! thanks
I do almost the same thing as you but I try to obtain the binder of the particular set. Ie the older Ice Age, Prophecy etc... I sleeve EVERYTHING 107k plus as of right now but I have to ask, why don't you sleeve the foils??
can't be bothered xD
Be careful with those O rings binder, I have had them dent and bend cards before, they can damage the cards in the sheets if there is pressure build up from the rings pulling or resting on. I prefer D rings binders bc they prevent that.
I prefer binders sorted by Color, Theme, and Function. Since I don't really buy packs and play mostly eDH/Duel Commander, I only need one copy of specific types all laid out in sectioned areas. That way I know where to get Counterspells, Elves, Planeswalkers, etc. Bulk commons handed down to me for free or pulls from packs I don't even organize unless I see potential play value in the decks I may brew or swap out. Only cards I keep organized by set are Doctor Who decks.
Are they 1inch binder or 1,5 inch ? Good job and nice collection
I sort my cards by color (identity as I mostly play commander), then by type, then cost, then alphabetically. It can take a while, sure, but it makes it very easy to find my cards that weren't from unfinity (where did i leave my Saw In Half???)
What binders and what sleeve pages do you use?
I just got the cheapest binders I could find from the office supplies section of Walmart, and I have standard Ultra Pro pages I bought from my LGS.
@@8thPlaceDave Thanks
I was very surprised to see that I do something very similar, I put my rares and mythics asides and sort the rest of the set into boxes, only small difference is that the alphabetical thing that you are using don't work for cards that aren't in english, so instead I sort them by collector numbers but since its a bit much to do the whole color at once I do 10 by 10, I I would do all the 150 to 159 then 160 to 169 and so on !
i separate by color like you do but then each color i organize by collector number from lowest to highest in a big area in piles
I might be a little crazy, but I just alphabetize my entire collection. It's currently spread across 64 800 count boxes. Every time a new set comes out, I sort them and work them into the existing boxes.
How I organise:
1) colour: W/U/B/R/G, multi 2/3 (ally, enemy), 4/5, colourless, artifact land
2) rarity: mythic, rare (timeshifted), uncommon, common
3) type: PW, legendary, creature, sorcery, instant, enchantment, aura, artifact, equipment
4) Alphabetically: A-Z, guilds, shards, wedges, 4 or 5 colours
It's a lot of work but if I will know exactly where each card is should I need it.
I also love sorting cards!
Issues I have with that system :
- with foreign language cards (French for me) alphabetical order is messed up
- when you’re looking for a specific card with many reprints and you’re not sure which edition you have it’s a nightmare
I plan to store my cards either by color and alphabetical, or color set. I already have a land box
pretty sure jace is numbered that way because he wasn't supposed to be in the main set, but rather the "aftermath" set.
I would recomand general sorting.
First i did verry specific sorting.
That takes me to much maintenance.
Also i just keep them in stacks.
how did u acquire this large amount of thunder junction in the first place? personally, i'd only ever buy boosters or even bulk if there was something reaaaaally interesting in there that i'm guaranteed to be using, especially since lots and random bulk are a massive waste of space, time and money
I attended a decent number of drafts, and also opened 5 prerelease kits when the set came out.
Thunder junction, while I wasn't a fan of the art style, does have a decent number of solid cards and value reprints. I wouldn't recommend anyone by packs anymore if you're on a budget, but alot of TJ is a great way to grab cheaper reprints of staples.
Going back to set this up now would be so hard
Yeah, you kind of need to do it as sets come out, otherwise sorting through multiple sets at a time takes... a long time
If I did that to my collection that ranges from old school white boarder cards to new ones it would take me 32.6 years to complete.
It would be cool though
Need part 2 on how to sort and organize thousands of copies of Seance
Step 1: Put them in a box
There is no step 2!
@@8thPlaceDave "there's gotta be a better way"
My personal method is buying singles for deck building and having no bulk.
I do this but its too much effort tbh especially reserving slots for future cards.
Ithink this suffers from the collectors problem, if you collect enough cards to make this work, this is going to be a EXPENSIVE endeavour. But if you dont, its really not worth the time investments. If your not a set collector, you will often require MANY of the same card, ie you love the dr who sol ring etc, over loading capacity on a single card slot.