Importing cards from a deck list or text

Paste a deck list, a wishlist or any one-card-per-line text and add all of it to a list or a bulk import in seconds.

Last updated 6 days ago

Got a deck list, a wishlist, or a tracker export that is just plain text — one card per line, like 4 Lightning Bolt? Text import is the fastest way to get it into CardNexus. You paste the list, we check every line against our catalog, and the cards drop into your list or your import in a few seconds. If your cards are in a spreadsheet instead, use the CSV importer. Text import is built for the way deck builders and collection trackers print their content: one line per card, with optional set codes and print numbers.

Where to find Text import

Text import always works inside a list or inside a bulk import — never straight into your inventory. You can reach it from three places:

From a list (a deck, a wishlist, a sell list) — open the list, then Add products and choose Paste a list.
From a bulk import — open your import, then Add products from text.
From your inventory — click Add to inventory, choose Bulk import, then use Add products from text inside the import workspace.

Whichever route you take, you land on a full-screen editor where you paste your list.

Before you start

You need three things:

Your cards as plain text, one card per line.
The game already chosen. Text import reads a different set of rules for each game, so the game is decided by the list or the import you came from — there is no game picker on the editor page itself.
A language and a condition. You pick these once at the top of the page and they apply to every line in the paste. English and Near Mint are pre-selected. You can change any individual card afterwards.

How to write your lines

Every line follows the same shape: an optional quantity, the card name, then optionally the set in parentheses, the print number, and a foil marker.

Only the card name is truly required. Here is what each part does:

Quantity — a number at the start of the line. Leave it out and we assume 1. Both 4 Lightning Bolt and 4x Lightning Bolt work. A line with a quantity of 0 is skipped.
Card name — required.
Set code or set name — goes in parentheses, for example (M19) or (Stellar Crown). Optional, but strongly recommended: many cards share a name across several sets, and without a set we have to guess which printing you meant.
Print number — the number printed on the card, written after the set, for example 161 or 223a.
Foil marker — *F* at the end of the line. For Magic, a bare trailing F (the Manabox style) also works.

Examples that all work

Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Bolt
4x Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Bolt (M10)
4 Lightning Bolt (M10) 146
4 Lightning Bolt (M10) 146 *F*
1 Sure Strike (M19) 161
2 Mickey Mouse (Rise of the Floodborn) #24

You can mix all of these in a single paste. Each line is read on its own, so a foil with a print number can sit right next to a bare card name.

What is not supported

One card per line only. Commas, tabs and semicolons are not separators — a line is a card.
No comment lines. Anything that is not a card will be reported as an error (with one exception for Flesh and Blood, below).
No condition or language markers inside the text. Those are the two dropdowns at the top of the page.
No file upload here. If you have a file, use the CSV importer.

Game-specific notes

Game	What is different
Magic: The Gathering	Paste output from Manabox, Moxfield, MTG Arena and most deck builders directly. A trailing F counts as foil as well as F, and 4x quantities are understood.
Lorcana	Print numbers can use a # prefix, for example 2 Mickey Mouse (Rise of the Floodborn) #24. We remove the # for you.
Flesh and Blood	A quantity is required at the start of every line. You can write the pitch colour in parentheses — (red), (yellow), (blue) — alongside or instead of the set. FAB print codes such as WTR000 are recognised, and the -RF (rainbow foil) and -CF (cold foil) suffixes automatically mark the card as foil. Exports from FaBrary are detected automatically, so their Name, Hero, Format and "Made with fabrary.net" lines are skipped instead of being flagged as errors.
Every other game	The standard format above. Set code or name in parentheses, print number after.

Tip — use set codes when you can. They are shorter, harder to mistype, and unambiguous. (M10) will always mean Magic 2010; (Magic 2010) works too, but it breaks if the set's display name ever changes.

Pasting and checking your list

Pick the language and the condition at the top of the page.
Paste your list into the editor, or type it by hand.
Click Check content.

We then run every line against the CardNexus catalog. Two things happen when the check comes back:

Your text is rewritten. Every line we matched is rewritten in its full, canonical form — quantity, card name, the set we chose, the print number and the foil marker. This is how you see which printing we picked for you, so it is worth a quick read before you continue. Lines we could not match are left exactly as you typed them.
Problem lines are flagged. They get a red marker in the left gutter of the editor, and the full list of problems appears underneath, each one labelled with its line number.

While the check runs, the editor is briefly read-only. As soon as you edit a flagged line its error clears — then click Check content again.

Every line has to be valid before you can continue. If even one line still has a problem, the Add to list / Add to import button stays hidden. Fix the flagged lines, or remove them from the paste, and check again.

How we choose a printing when you don't give a set

If you leave the parentheses off, we do not ask you to choose — we pick for you, in this order:

We look at every printing of that card in the game.
We prefer a printing that exists in the language you chose at the top of the page.
Among those, we prefer the most recently released set.
We prefer the normal, non-foil finish unless you wrote F.

If the card only ever existed as a foil, we take the foil printing and mark the line as foil for you, even without the marker.

This is fast and usually right, but it does mean that for a card printed in many sets you may not get the exact printing you had in mind. If the specific printing matters to you, write the set in parentheses.

The problems you might see

Each problem tells you the line number and the reason. Click into that line, fix it, and check again.

cannot find product — the card name does not match anything in our catalog for this game. Nearly always a typo, so check the spelling: we match the name exactly and will not correct an approximate spelling for you. It can also mean the card comes from a set we have not added yet.
cannot find expansion — the set you wrote in parentheses does not match any set we know for this game. Either the code or the name is wrong (M-19 instead of M19), or it is a set we do not support yet. Try the set code rather than the full name.
invalid expansion identifier — the set code is malformed, with extra characters or unusual punctuation. Retype it.
is not available in — the card exists, but it was never printed in the language you selected at the top of the page. Either change the language for the whole paste, or move that card to a separate paste with the right language.
Metadata mismatch — the details on the line contradict each other. On Flesh and Blood this usually means the pitch colour you wrote does not match that card.

Finishing up

Once every line is valid, the button at the bottom becomes available — Add to list or Add to import, depending on where you started. Click it and your cards are added, then you are taken back to your list or your import.

If you were working inside a bulk import, remember that nothing is in your inventory yet. The cards sit in the import workspace, where you can still change the condition, language, quantity, selling price and tags on each row. They only reach your inventory when you commit the import.

Frequently asked questions

How many cards can I paste at once?

There is no fixed limit. Very large pastes simply take a little longer to check.

Can I mix quantities, foils and regular cards in the same paste?

Yes. Every line is independent. 4 Counterspell (7ED), then 1 Lightning Bolt (M10) 146 *F*, then Black Lotus (LEA) all work together in one paste.

Will I get duplicates if I paste the same card twice?

Yes — identical lines are not merged. Paste 2 Lightning Bolt twice and you get two separate entries of 2 copies each, not one entry of 4. Combine them in the text before you check, or merge them afterwards.

Why are the language and condition pickers at the top instead of on each line?

Because most people paste a list where everything is the same — an entire English Near Mint deck, for example. Setting it once is much faster. If your cards differ, you can adjust them individually afterwards in the list or in the import workspace.

What happens to a line with a quantity of 0?

It is skipped silently. This is handy when your deck builder exports empty sideboard slots.

Can I import from TCGplayer, Manabox or Dragon Shield this way?

For those, the CSV importer is the better fit — they export structured files with far more detail than plain text. Text import is best for deck-builder exports, hand-written lists, and lists copied out of Discord or a forum post.

Does Text import put my cards up for sale?

No. Text import adds cards to a list or to an import. Once they are in your inventory you can list them for sale from there — or use List for sale via CSV if you want to import and price in one go.

Which games work with Text import?

All of them. Magic: The Gathering, Flesh and Blood and Riftbound have their own dedicated rules; every other game on CardNexus uses the standard format described above.