Decked Drafter vs MTG Scanner
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Decked Drafter
Practice Magic: The Gathering draft and sealed deck skills with a full simulator. Get expert strategy tips, card ratings, and AI opponents to hone your deck-building abilities. Test your creations and improve your game.
- Draft simulator against AI opponents
- Expert card ratings and strategy tips
- Practice with various Magic expansions
- Deck building and testing tools
- Card sorting by color, type, and rarity
- View card prices from TCGplayer.com
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Decked Drafter is the only app designed to help Magic: the Gathering players improve their draft and sealed deck skills, featuring a full draft simulator and expert strategy tips and card ratings. The perfect app for any draft or sealed deck fan, players can pick the Magic the Gathering expansion they would like to practice with, then launch into an event against seven other A.I. opponents. Open powerful cards from sets like Scars of Mirrodin and easily sort the contents by color, type and rarity. Then pick the best card for your deck and pass the rest to your opponent, working to build the most powerful deck at the table. Making the right draft pick is never easy, but for the first time ever you're not alone. Marlon Egolf, DraftMagic.com columnist and Grand Prix Boston 2009 Champion, provides a full strategy analysis for each Magic card contained within the app. Improve your strategy skills with the help of these card ratings, which give a detailed look into the power level of each card. His expert ratings are also used to tune the A.I. opponents, making Decked Drafter the closest experience to actually drafting with the pros, and an incredible strategy resource. After the draft is finished, build your deck using the simple interface, swapping cards around with a simple touch. Once the deck is built, test it in the draw simulator, email the list to your friends, or print out the decklist and assemble the deck with your own collection! Or access the handy card ratings and strategy tips at any time, making Decked Drafter the perfect pocket guide for your next draft event. Whether you're a seasoned drafter looking to refine your skills, or a Magic noob just learning how to play, this is the app for you! Learn from the pros by practicing with Decked Drafter, and you will be sure to dominate your next draft! Features - The only Magic the Gathering draft simulator available for the iPhone or iPod touch - Practice drafting against skilled virtual opponents, learning which cards to pick and why - Access ratings and strategy tips for every card on-the-fly Improve your draft and sealed deck skills! Drafting and Sealed Deck - Open virtual packs from actual Magic the Gathering expansions - Sort the contents of each pack by color, type or rarity - Easily pick and pass cards using the simple interface - Stop the action at any time to examine your picks, or sneak a peek at your opponent's - Having trouble? Check Marlon's strategy tips; or press the Suggest button! - View the price of a card, courtesy of TCGplayer.com -- decide if it is worthwhile giving up your pick to select a card that will pay for your entire draft! Deck Building - Add and remove cards from your deck with a simple touch - Easily sort draft picks by type, cost, color or name - Test draw from your deck to see how it performs - Email your decklist to your friends, or print it out and play in real life! - .Dec support lets you easily import your decklist to Decked Builder, Magic Online or Apprentice New to drafting? Learn the rules with the included guide! Notes: Comes complete with access to the entire Scars of Mirrodin expansion. Additional expansions are available for purchase, including Mirrodin Besieged and New Phyrexia. Each of these expansions improves the Decked Drafter A.I. so it can draft with this new set of cards, and of course, features full analysis and strategy tips for every card in the set. We try to target about 100 words of writeup for each card on average, which results in about 23,000 words of strategy tips for just Scars of Mirrodin alone.
MTG Scanner
This app helps Magic: The Gathering players scan, value, and organize their card collections. Build decks, track card prices, and connect with friends for trading. It's designed for both collectors and competitive players to enhance their game experience.
- Scan Magic cards in any language
- Real-time card price tracking
- Organize cards into custom folders
- Build and export MTG decks
- Compare trade values with friends
- Track top card movers
- Weekly collection statistics emails
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Dragon Shield - MTG Scanner & Card Manager is the ultimate tool for scanning, valuing, organizing, and trading your Magic cards. Instantly recognize cards in any language, build powerful MTG decks, track your collection’s value over time, and connect with friends. Built for collectors and competitive players alike, this app helps you master your Magic: The Gathering™ experience. SOCIAL & FRIENDS Add and connect with friends on the app View your friends' collection, decks, wish and trade list Share your own lists and discover new cards through your network SCAN MAGIC CARDS Instantly scan cards in any language using advanced image recognition Real-time translation of foreign-language cards Check daily prices from TCGPlayer, CardMarket, CardKingdom and MTGMintCard Track 30-day price history for any Magic card Find format legality and oracle text and official rulings COLLECTION MANAGER Organize your MTG cards into custom folders Add folder images and track value over time Export your collection to CSV or text for backups and trades Stay informed with built-in card price tracking MULTIPLE SORTING OPTIONS AND FILTERS Get folder statistics (Mana Cost, Card Color, etc.) MTG DECK BUILDER Build decks with full support for sideboards and filtering Export decks to CSV or text to share with friends or import into tournaments See deck stats like mana curve, color balance, and type spread TRADE TOOL Compare the trade value between two players instantly See exactly who's ahead in the trade and by how much Use wishlists and tradelists to plan and manage your deals TOP MOVERS: WINNERS & LOSERS Track which Magic cards are rising or falling in value Filter by format, date range, or even just your own collection See the top card winners and losers within your collection WEEKLY COLLECTION EMAILS Get automatic weekly emails with stats about your MTG collection See value changes, new additions, and pricing trends over time
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: MTG Scanner at 4.6 against Decked Drafter's 2.6. MTG Scanner also leads on ratings volume (3.8K vs 17) and chart position (#180 vs unranked). Decked Drafter's advantage is review sentiment (59% vs 44%) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Decked Drafter sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and MTG Scanner sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
MTG Scanner holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 2.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: MTG Scanner has 3.8K ratings behind it against 17, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 59% of Decked Drafter's written reviews are positive against 44% of MTG Scanner's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Decked Drafter ships an update monthly, MTG Scanner every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Decked Drafter | MTG Scanner |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.6 (17 ratings) | 4.6 (3.8K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 59.3% of reviews — better | 44.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 17 | 3.8K — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | — | #180 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 28 MB | 230 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 9+ |
| Developer | TJ Soft | ARCANE TINMEN APS |
Customer experience
Decked Drafter
MTG Scanner
User reviews
Decked Drafter
From 17 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Clean and intuitive user interface
- 📚 Expert card ratings and commentary from experienced players
- 🎮 Effective practice tool for improving drafting skills
- ⚡ Works offline without requiring WiFi
- 🤖 Functional AI drafting opponents
Room to improve
- 💰 Expensive per-set pricing ($2.99-$5.99 each)
- ⏱️ Slow updates for new set releases
- 🤖 AI drafts unrealistically, ignoring color signals
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
- ❌ Missing card art and image loading problems
MTG Scanner
From 3.8K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast scanning
- 👍 Good for organizing collection
- 💰 Useful price tracking
- 🗂️ Customizable folders/decks
Room to improve
- 🐛 Inconsistent card recognition
- 💰 Expensive subscription model
- 🔍 Limited search/filter options
- 🔗 Lack of integration with other apps
Bugs and requests
Decked Drafter
Reported bugs
15 issues- Card art fails to load, showing only card backs
- Database update stuck at version 78
- App crashes when adding lands to decks
- Crashes when clicking feedback button
- In-app purchases not delivering purchased content
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- Unable to download new sets after purchase
- Pack generator hangs at 'downloading 6 images left'
- Crashes on recent iPhone updates
- Two-finger swipe required to read cards (poor UX)
- Inconsistent pack generation (missing guaranteed cards)
- Redundant cards appearing multiple times in packs
- Rare cards appearing too late in packs
- Purchase restore functionality broken
- RSS feeds broken
- Image fetching causes UI flickering
Requested features
16 requests- 4-pack sealed draft mode
- Multiplayer drafting with human opponents
- Locally stored card database and collection system
- Ability to save and review drafted decks
- Landscape mode support
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- Bundle pricing for multiple sets
- Free access to rotated-out sets
- MTGO cube draft support
- Older set availability (Ravnica, Urza's, Time Spiral blocks)
- Card storage/bookmarking feature
- Deck rating based on card power levels
- One-time purchase option instead of per-set fees
- Ad-supported free version with limited sets
- Ability to set default draft set
- Improved bot color-fixing logic
- Pre-release set availability before official launch
MTG Scanner
Reported bugs
3 issues- Login issues
- Incorrect card identification
- Scanning bugs with certain card types
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to import/export deck lists
- Display deck value in collection
- Improved scanning for special cards
- More comprehensive filtering options
In-app purchases
Decked Drafter
- Mirrodin Besieged Set$1.99
- New Phyrexia Set$1.99
- Magic 2012 Set$1.99
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- Innistrad Set$2.99
- Magic 2013 Set$2.99
- Return to Ravnica Set$2.99
- Gatecrash Set$2.99
- Magic 2014 Set$2.99
- Theros Set$2.99
- Shadows over Innistrad Set$3.99
MTG Scanner
- Mythic Monthly$1.991 Month
- Rare Monthly$1.991 Month
- Common Monthly$1.991 Month
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- Uncommon Monthly$3.991 Month
- Premium Monthly1 Month trial$3.991 Month
- Premium Monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
- Mythic Yearly$9.991 Year
- Premium Yearly7 Days trial$29.991 Year
- Common Yearly$39.991 Year
- Uncommon Yearly$39.991 Year
- Premium Yearly1 Month trial$39.991 Year
- Premium Yearly7 Days trial$39.991 Year
Questions
Is Decked Drafter free?
Is MTG Scanner free?
Which has better reviews, Decked Drafter or MTG Scanner?
Do Decked Drafter or MTG Scanner have ads?
Which is updated more often, Decked Drafter or MTG Scanner?
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