Card condition
(English translation*)
Mint (MT)
Near Mint (NM)
Excellent (EX)
Good (GD)
Light Played (LP)
Played (PL)
Poor (PO)
Assessing the condition of a card is one of the most common causes of conflict between buyers and sellers. One reason for this is that this classification is very subjective. A card that someone rates as Near Mint can only be Excellent for another. To some extent, such problems are inevitable. In order to at least reduce the possibility of such misunderstandings, we have created a guide to help you evaluate cards correctly.
Mint (MT)
A mint card is in perfect condition. This means that the front is in perfect condition, has no scratches and is absolutely flawless. The back must also be in perfect condition so that it cannot be distinguished from the back of a card from a freshly opened booster. Cards signed by an artist or stamped at a Grand Prix must never be classified as new, regardless of whether the card would otherwise be new.
In most cases, however, it makes little sense to list cards as mint. For cards that are still being printed, the value of a Mint card hardly differs from that of a Near Mint card. The standards for a mint card are much higher. As a result, not much can usually be gained from the higher classification, but it can annoy a collector. With really old cards, the difference between a Near Mint and a Mint copy of a card can be very large. Here it makes sense to carefully check whether a card is as good as new and then adjust it accordingly.
Near Mint (NM)
A card in the Near Mint condition seems to have never been played without a sleeve. Minor blemishes are acceptable, but there shouldn't be any major signs of wear and tear.
The edge of a Near Mint card may have some small white areas, but these can really only be very few, very small areas. The card must appear clean in broad daylight. A small tolerance is also allowed here, but scratches are taboo.
Another way of describing the Near Mint card would be that the card in a tournament deck will be considered unmarked when played in an unsleeveed deck (which in our opinion should definitely not be done).
Since the term mint is often not used at all to refer to current cards, near mint usually means that the card is in better condition too.
Excellent (EX)
A card in the "Excellent" condition appears to have been used for some games without sleeves. In most cases, you can see at a glance that an excellent card is not in perfect condition. However, the damage should only be minor.
Excellent cards usually have some white spots around the edge and in the corners. The surface can have a few small scratches, but these should not be visible in normal light.
The condition of an excellent card is usually such that it is not entirely clear whether it would be considered unmarked in a tournament if it were played without a sleeve.
Good (GD)
A card in the condition “Good” appears to have gone through a long tournament without a sleeve.
A card in Good condition usually has significant wear and tear on all areas of the card, leaving white areas around the corners and edges. The surface of the card has often got some scratches and is slightly soiled. However, these are just normal signs of use. The card has no kinks or water damage.
A card in good condition would not be considered unmarked in any tournament if played without a sleeve. Of course, this also applies to all cards in poor condition.
Light Played (LP)
A card in the Light Played condition seems to have been played for a long time without sleeves.
The most important criterion for a card in the Light Played condition is that it is without a doubt legal when played in a case. In addition, the card has not been tampered with so that it has no blackened edges and has not been scrawled.
Played (PL)
A card in the played condition looks as bad as a card can be with normal use.
A played card looks quite badly damaged and it is not always clear whether it is still approved for tournaments in a sleeve. However, the card has not been tampered with so that it has no blackened edges, has no scrawl, or is cracked.
Poor (PO)
All other cards are poor. Typically, a card in the poor condition has damage that cannot be caused by normal play with a card.
A card in the poor condition can safely be said to have been destroyed. It is either damaged in such a way that it obviously cannot be used in any tournament or has been damaged in some other way in such a way that its value has been almost completely destroyed. Examples include blackened edges, scrawled cards, severe water damage, and cracks in the card.
Altered Cards
A card that's altered is a card that has been artistically altered. Most often, the image is expanded to sleeve the entire map. However, there are basically no limits to the artist's imagination. An altered card should only be offered with one picture.
Kinks
If the card has been kinked (e.g. by bending it too much), this should always be stated in the descriptions.
Blackened Edges Whenever
the edges of a card are tampered with, the card always becomes a poor condition card. The blackening of the edges is mostly done to make a card look better than it really is. If this is used to sell a card for more than it's really worth, it is fraudulent and can result in the exclusion of the vendor from the LastDraw Marketplace. Anyone who offers cards with blackened edges should always make sure that they are offered as poor.
Old cards
Whether a card is two days or 20 years old does not play a role in its evaluation. An old card must meet the same criteria as a new one.
Flatness
Usually a card should be flat. If you put them on a table, you shouldn't see a bulge. Slight variations from this are fine for a card that has not been classified as Mint. It only becomes problematic if the card is bent in such a way that it can no longer be brought into a shape in which it is approved for tournaments. In this case, the card must be classified as played or poor.
PSA
Abbreviation for Professional Sports Authenticator. PSA offers authentication and classification of cards by professionals. Next to an offer there is sometimes a description like PSA 8.5. This means that the card has been checked by PSA, rated an 8.5 and then sealed. If a card has a PSA description, it usually means that it is still sealed in the original. The PSA rating scale ranges from 1 / Bad to 10 / Gem Mint.
Scratched
If a card has scratches on the surface, its Good or worse. Scratches are particularly relevant for FOIL cards as the surface is much more sensitive here.
Signed
A card can be marked as signed on LastDraw if it is signed. It is advisable to name the signatory in the description.
*This translation is provided for the Customer’s convenience only. The German language version, not the translation shall be legally binding on the Parties. The German language version and not its translation(s) will govern in the event of a conflict between the German language version and a translation.