Comparison

Deckforger vs MTG Scanner

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Deckforger

Easily create and manage decks for your favorite trading card game. Search for cards, view their details, and analyze your deck's statistics. Includes a life counter for two players and the ability to test sample hands.

Highlights
  • Deck creation and management
  • Extensive card search filters
  • 2-player life counter
  • Card statistics analysis
  • Sample hand and mulligan testing
  • Up-to-date card database
Features
Read full description

A simple deck-building app for your favorite trading card game. Simply create a deck, search for cards, and add them to the deck. Includes a 2-player life counter. View details on any card and search by name, rules text, type, color, cost, set, format, and more. Share your deck via e-mail, message, and more. Check out statistics on your deck by its cards' colors, types, and cost. Draw sample hands and test mulligans. Look up card rulings and prices. Card database always up to date. 100% free. No ads, no in-app purchases.

About

MTG Scanner

This app helps Magic: The Gathering players manage their card collection and build decks. It offers fast searching, intuitive deck building with legalities checks, and collection organization. Discover new cards and build powerful combos with this comprehensive companion.

Highlights
  • Card collection management
  • Intuitive deck building
  • Fast and flexible search
  • Format legality checks
  • Card information and rulings
  • Collection organization
  • Discover new cards
Features
Read full description

Scan, collect, build, and playtest your Magic: The Gathering cards in one beautiful, native app. Lion’s Eye is the fast, flawless MTG companion for collectors and deck builders. NEW: Playtest your decks with friends over FaceTime, search in your own words, and find the combos hiding in your collection. PLAYTEST WITH FRIENDS — FREE Start a FaceTime call and play your decks head to head with SharePlay. Draw, shuffle, mulligan, and play out your hand on a real tabletop. No friends online? Practice against a bot (beta). SEARCH IN YOUR OWN WORDS Type or say what you want, like “goblins with haste under 3 mana,” and Lion’s Eye builds the search for you. Full support for Scryfall search syntax, with suggestions that find the exact card name without guesswork. Add cards to your collection or a deck right from the search results. BUILD BETTER DECKS Drag-and-drop deck building with easy menus for moving and editing cards. Real-time checks for format legality, commander color identity, ban lists, and companion rules. Commander, Standard, Modern, Pioneer, Legacy, Pauper, and more. Export to Moxfield in one tap. YOUR COLLECTION, BEAUTIFULLY ORGANIZED Automatically sorted by color, type, mana value, rarity, set, and format. Sort by recently added, quantity, name, release date, set number, rarity, color, mana value, type, or price. Group cards in your collection and decks, and see your collection at a glance with charts and statistics. DISCOVER Featured stories, Legend Builds, color spotlights, and new deck ideas. The latest Magic news and articles, with every card they mention. The top 50 cards in each format by price. EVERY DETAIL OF EVERY CARD Card info, related cards, every printing, legalities, and rulings. Flip double-faced cards with a gesture, and rotate Battles and other horizontal cards. A one-of-a-kind foil effect that catches the light as you tilt your phone. Show off that foil mythic you love. BUILT FOR APPLE DEVICES Native on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Siri and Shortcuts actions for card images, oracle text, and rulings. Full Dynamic Type and VoiceOver support. Mana symbols are read aloud, and charts support Audio Graphs. LION’S EYE PLUS Take your collection further: Card scanner with Auto Scan: Scan cards fast, with collector number detection to find the exact printing. Combos: See the combos your collection and decks can already make, powered by Commander Spellbook. EDHREC recommendations: Upgrade your Commander decks with built-in synergy suggestions. Collection Tracker: See which cards you already own while you build and search. Unlimited decks: Build as many decks as you want. Smart Lists and Saved Searches: Auto-updating lists of your cards, powered by Scryfall syntax. Advanced Search and Custom Syntax: Build precise searches, online or offline, including Lion’s Eye’s own Scryfall-style filters. Deck Legality Warnings: Get legality, commander, and companion alerts as you build. Tags: Organize and personalize with tags. Group, select, and filter by tag. Deck and card customization: Bulk swap cards, rate them, track condition, and add notes and photos. The full Discover experience, including News & Articles. Download Lion’s Eye free and start building your collection today. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula

Screenshots

Deckforger3 screens
MTG Scanner4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: MTG Scanner at 4.5 against Deckforger's 3.8. MTG Scanner also leads on ratings volume (131 vs 17). Deckforger's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 26.0). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. MTG Scanner sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Deckforger asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

MTG Scanner holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: MTG Scanner has 131 ratings behind it against 17, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Deckforger's written reviews are positive against 68% of MTG Scanner's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Deckforger ships an update fortnightly, MTG Scanner every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Deckforger versus MTG Scanner: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDeckforgerMTG Scanner
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.8 (17 ratings)4.5 (131 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews68.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings17131 — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS10.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size32 MB48 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperGabriele PregadioOrlando Gabriel Herrera

Customer experience

Deckforger

All ratings17 ratings
Positive70.6%
Neutral5.9%
Negative23.5%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral8.3%
Negative25.0%

MTG Scanner

All ratings131 ratings
Positive86.3%
Neutral5.3%
Negative8.4%
Written reviews113 reviews
Positive68.1%
Neutral10.6%
Negative21.2%

Bugs and requests

Deckforger

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

MTG Scanner

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Scan feature automatically adds cards
  • Incorrect card prices, especially for foils
  • Crashes on load, camera issues

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to change card variants
  • Improved deck building experience
  • More comprehensive card database
  • Better collection analytics and reporting
  • Dark mode option

In-app purchases

None

Deckforger

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

MTG Scanner

Subscriptions3
  • Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Pay-As-You-Go$2.997 Days
  • Unlimited Annual14 Days trial$29.991 Year

Questions

Is Deckforger free?
Deckforger is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is MTG Scanner free?
MTG Scanner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Deckforger or MTG Scanner?
MTG Scanner is rated higher. Deckforger averages 3.8 out of 5 from 17 ratings, while MTG Scanner averages 4.5 from 131 ratings.
Do Deckforger or MTG Scanner have ads?
Neither Deckforger nor MTG Scanner shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Deckforger or MTG Scanner?
Deckforger ships an update fortnightly, and MTG Scanner every 10 days. Most recently, Deckforger was updated on November 2, 2026 and MTG Scanner on November 3, 2026.

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