How to Spot Fake Magic Cards

Counterfeits get better every year, but real Magic cards still share tells that fakes struggle to reproduce. Run through this before any significant purchase.

The quick checks

• The light test. Hold the card to a bright light. Genuine cards have a black core that blocks most light — they look dark grey. Most fakes glow through.
• The bend test. A real card bends and snaps back without creasing. (Don't do this on cards you don't own.)
• The rosette pattern. Under a loupe, real cards show a tight, random rosette dot pattern. Fakes often show a regular grid or blurry dots.
• The green-dot / print line. On the back, the line between the white border and the card frame is crisp on real cards.

When buying online

You can't loupe a card through a screen, so reduce risk instead: prefer graded copies for expensive cards, buy from stores with returns, and be sceptical of prices far under market. On every card page here, the lowest delivered price is shown alongside the store — if one listing is suspiciously cheap, it usually isn't the bargain it looks like.