Decks — Tomebound help

Create and open decks

Use Decks to create a deck, then open its workspace. Its decklist describes the plan; owned copies can stay in a binder, another deck, or this deck's physical location.
When adding a card to a deck, decklist only is checked by default if you do not own the selected printing. This adds the requirement without changing owned inventory, and the action names that decklist. If you already own the selected printing, decklist only starts unchecked. With that option off, the action names the deck and collection and also records new owned copies at the selected deck location; it does not move existing copies. A deck card's record owned copies action records only the missing quantity of its tracked printing, uses a finish that printing supports, and disappears when that printing is fully owned. It waits for printing details before recording copies. To relocate a copy you already own, use move copies to from All Cards. Undo and redo for an add restore the decklist and any newly recorded owned copies together; decklist-only adds also support undo. Price and card-detail updates do not block this undo, and unrelated decklist entries are preserved. If the add created a deck, undo removes it only when it is still empty and otherwise unchanged; redo recreates it.
Removing a card from a decklist or moving it between list sections leaves physical inventory unchanged. Build mode shows matching copies owned across the collection and, separately, all copies physically stored in this deck, including extras outside the list. The ownership header separates exact printings from copies available in other printings or languages and cards still missing. Each copy counts once within a deck. Owned counts may include copies in other decks: decklists do not reserve cards. Allocation checks compare printing requirements across decks against all owned finishes of that printing. For example, one Sol Ring can satisfy the owned check for two planned decks, but it still has only one physical location.
Decks can include maindeck, sideboard, maybeboard, and commander cards where supported by the workspace. Maybeboards are available in every format, including limited. The main, side, and maybe labels in the footer are keyboard-accessible links when that board has cards and a section to focus and scroll to in stacks, gallery, decklist, or list; pool follows the same rule. In list, cards stay grouped by board and column sorting applies within each board. Empty boards and boards without a section in the current view display plain text. Active board links underline on hover or keyboard focus, like the other footer links.
Deck history tracks meaningful edits so recent changes are visible. Open the history panel from the footer while a deck is open and it scopes itself to that deck.
Open decks and containers from the sidebar. Drag a sidebar row, or focus it and press Alt+Up or Alt+Down, to change its order. The order is shared across your signed-in devices.

Import a decklist into a new deck

Choose import when creating a deck, then paste a decklist or a provider URL (Moxfield, Archidekt, MTGGoldfish, raw GitHub files, raw GitHub Gist files, or Pastebin). Leave add these cards to my collection unchecked for a list-only import, or check it when the imported printings should also become owned collection cards. Sign in to import a provider URL.
The Name field starts as Imported deck for pasted lists; a provider import uses the source's deck name unless you enter another name. If a deck already uses that name, the review offers a new deck with a numbered name (imported deck 2) by default, or add to existing deck, which adds the list to that deck and keeps its own name, description, and format. Provider imports bring over the deck name, description, and format whenever the source supplies them. A source description that only repeats the detected format is omitted. Main deck, sideboard, commander/companion, and maybeboard cards keep their quantities and separate boards. MTGGoldfish URL imports recognize its blank-line sideboard separator. Pasted lists can use section headings or SB: prefixes; a list with no headings or comment lines and exactly two non-empty blocks separated by blank lines treats the second block as the sideboard only when the first totals at least 40 cards. Limited pools can exceed 15 cards. Leading and trailing blank lines are ignored; smaller first blocks and categorized lists stay in the maindeck. Lines such as 4 x Lightning Bolt, TappedOut's CMDR marker, and Arena's About block are understood.
When the source omits the format, Tomebound makes a best-effort inference from commander markers, deck size, copy counts, and resolved card legality across the main deck and sideboard. It tries Standard, Pauper, Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, then Vintage for 60–80-card constructed lists and labels the result inferred in the review. Source formats always take priority, including decks with commander or companion sections; a companion alone does not select Commander. Incomplete or uncertain lists remain unset. You can correct the format in Edit details after importing.
Before the deck is created, a review screen shows what was detected: commander and partners, format, maindeck/sideboard/maybeboard totals, unknown cards, unspecified printings, and duplicate lines.
Source-selected sets and collector numbers are preserved when available. MTGGoldfish imports use the author's saved versions when Use Specific Card Versions is enabled, not the site's automatically displayed cheapest versions. A neutral printing not specified label means the source only provided the card name; Tomebound selects a default printing that you can change after importing. An explicitly requested printing that cannot be matched is never silently replaced: Arena and MTGO set codes are translated, a missing collector number is matched by name within the same set, and a set code Scryfall doesn't know falls back to the card name, each flagged to check in the review.
Nothing is created yet at that point. Go back to edit the pasted list or URL and try again, or confirm to create the deck with those cards. After a successful import, Tomebound adds the deck to Decks, opens its workspace, and records both its total card count and unique-card count in history.
If any card cannot be resolved, confirmation stops without creating a partial deck or adding owned copies. Correct the unknown card or retry the lookup instead of losing it silently. If Scryfall can't be reached while a decklist is matched, the review doesn't open and nothing is imported; try again in a moment rather than correcting cards that aren't actually unknown.
Closing or canceling the review leaves your collection and deck list exactly as they were - there is no partially created deck to clean up.
Deck export offers plain text, Moxfield, Arena, MTGO, CSV, and JSON. Plain text, Moxfield, and Arena separate companions from commanders and maindeck cards. Arena and MTGO use front-face names for transforming, modal double-faced, adventure, and flip cards; split and aftermath cards keep both names. A companion repeated in an Arena sideboard exports once. Reversible cards with the same name on both faces export that name once. MTGO text separates main and sideboard with a blank line and places commanders and companions in the sideboard; reselect their roles after importing. With fewer than 40 maindeck cards, Tomebound cannot infer an MTGO sideboard on re-import; use a headed text format to preserve boards. Limited pools become sideboards in text exports, while deck CSV and JSON keep the pool board.
Imported foil annotations stay with the planned decklist, independently of owned copies. Moxfield text uses separate markers for etched and other foil types. Moxfield and ManaBox CSV keep etched as etched and simplify other premium foil finishes to foil. Collapsing printings produces name-only lines without a claimed set, number, or finish. These external formats cannot preserve every Tomebound field: use a full Tomebound JSON backup for exact deck metadata and collection restoration, or Tomebound CSV for exact collection finishes. A later deck quantity edit that leaves finish counts uncertain exports without finish markers and reports that uncertainty.

Build and review

On phones, the sidebar and jump controls sit above the deck title. Build mode and export are on the next row.
Open deck details retain unsaved fields and keyboard focus during collection refreshes. Use the single workspace bar to move among Stacks, Gallery, Decklist, List, Stats, Sample hand, and Notes. As you scroll down on desktop, the compact deck bar stays at the top while the sidebar and card preview move below it; scrolling back up restores their usual positions. Stacks, Gallery, and Decklist add a contextual row with Group by, Sort within, and view settings. Group by type, mana value, color, color identity, rarity, first tag, or none, then sort by name, mana value, or price. Sparse neighboring mana-value stacks share a column automatically while tall stacks and lands keep their own columns.
The deck header puts build mode, export, and Share on the title line; click the deck name or emoji to edit details, followed by compact format and ownership disclosures and the cards, lands, average spell mana value (excluding lands), and deck value summary. Descriptions show up to two lines on every screen size; more expands the text in place and less collapses it. The full description is also available in notes and edit details. Board headings and the workspace navigation use simple dividing rules. Turn on build mode in the deck header to add ownership counts, missing-card tools, physical locations, and owned value. The ownership details disclosure expands the physical count, owned value, and how shared copies are counted. Legality is stated against the current format rules: an older Standard list can identify cards outside the current format without claiming that Tomebound knows the deck was once legal. Expand the issue summary for the full explanation. Use show cards beside an illegal status to highlight and move to the affected cards. In stacks, gallery, decklist, and list on desktop, the preview beside the deck keeps the selected card's printing, rarity, finish, condition, language, treatments, promo types, and tags in a muted caption whenever those details are available. The preview shows the decklist quantity and prefers inventory in this deck, then loose copies, then copies in other decks. Stats, notes, and an empty sample hand hide this pane; a drawn hand supports card previews. Click a deck card or its preview to open the full card drawer, or use flip card for a double-faced card. A card you do not own opens for inspection with its available art, printing, and price; collection editing and quantity controls are absent. Close or Escape returns to the deck without adding inventory. In gallery and stack boards containing multiple copies, cards have flat card edges behind the image, capped at three edges for four or more copies. Counts sit outside the art: in the left gutter in stacks and below the image in gallery. Single copies in these views have no edges or count. Stack boards containing only single copies retain full overlapping cards and their original menus; Commander stacks also hide a quantity of one. List view shows every quantity in its first data column. Click a count or the menu button to open card actions. The first menu row changes the decklist quantity with minus and plus, with a minimum of one; use remove from decklist to remove the entry. These changes leave owned collection quantities alone, appear in the footer ticker and deck history, and support undo and redo to restore the previous or changed decklist quantity. In gallery, decklist, and stack boards containing multiple copies, each entry shows at most one status outside the art: a legality issue takes priority over missing copies. Missing-copy statuses appear only in build mode. These views keep card art undimmed, without status outlines or color washes. Singleton stack boards retain their original Build mode fade for unowned cards and legality highlights. Stack counts align with the exposed name strips, and each status sits below its strip; the final card stays fully visible. Type groups fill the available columns. Decklist categories flow down a column before continuing into the next. Small categories stay together; long categories repeat their heading with (cont.). Phones use one column. Category headings show a card-type icon and total count. Flat rows highlight on hover and retain a complete keyboard focus outline; quantities, mana and prices stay aligned, with a quiet status line below the name. Long names wrap and desktop columns leave more room for them. Unavailable mana symbols show their text tokens. Gallery and stack boards containing multiple copies keep artwork flat, including foil and etched cards; finish details remain available in the preview.
In every deck format, the visual stacks give the maindeck the full workspace width. A non-empty sideboard follows underneath as a single stack, while an empty maybeboard stays hidden until cards are moved into it. Non-empty maybeboards and Limited pool sections also follow underneath the maindeck. Small, medium, and large set stack sizes on desktop. Singleton stacks retain their original responsive sizing on phones. Boards containing only single copies use no count gutter or copy-edge space, and add another column only when it meaningfully shortens the tallest stack. Boards with multiple copies reserve space for the count gutter and copy edges, and use every column that fits at the selected size.
New decks start on Standard. Choose Custom for kitchen-table or otherwise nonstandard lists, then optionally enter a name such as tiny leaders in format name (optional). You can set or change this in new-deck setup or Edit details. The name appears in the deck header and shared deck; leaving it blank shows custom. Custom and other non-preset formats have no legality checks, legality status, or outside-format counts, including in Stats and shared views. Preset formats retain their legality checks. Command-zone cards remain visible in deck views, including Brawl and imported companion decks. Selecting a commander already in the list moves one existing copy to the command zone and keeps its printing. Changing that commander returns the moved copy to its original board; only a copy added by the details form is removed. Undo restores both the previous details and affected cards. Existing cover choices are kept, and a commander becomes the default cover only when none is set. Oathbreaker commander search offers planeswalkers. Commander and Brawl use 100 cards including commanders; the picker labels Brawl (100 cards) and Standard brawl (60 cards) explicitly. Standard brawl uses its own legality pool. Existing saved formats keep their meaning. Sideboard cards and companions are outside the Commander deck-size count. Copy checks include commanders and constructed sideboards, respect restricted cards, and read any-number or capped exceptions from Oracle text, with known named exceptions retained when that text is unavailable. Commander eligibility uses the card’s type when it is decisive. Partner combinations and special commander abilities use resolved Oracle text; a resolved card with blank text has no such abilities. Checks that still need unavailable card details remain pending lookup. Commander decks can name a companion in Edit details; include it in the sideboard so its legality and color identity can resolve. An unresolved companion stays pending. Companion-specific starting-deck conditions still need manual review.
Decklist mana costs use card-symbol glyphs. List view uses the same table, sorting, column settings, keyboard selection, context menu and virtual scrolling as All Cards and containers. Its default column order puts quantity first and adds Board. Build mode also shows Owned, separating exact copies, allocated alternate printings and missing copies; entries with a legality issue show that status instead. Unknown prices remain unknown. Deck table layout settings stay on this device separately from the collection layout. Drag a header to the left or right half of another header to place it before or after that column, including at the end. Sorting by Board follows command zone, maindeck, sideboard, maybeboard, then pool; descending reverses that order. With build mode off, entries have no per-card ownership markers. Space selects a row, Shift+Up or Shift+Down extends selection, and the context menu changes the decklist quantity or board or removes the entry; these actions do not change owned inventory. Stats includes curve, rarity, composition, pips versus direct land production, deck and owned value, and the ten most expensive cards. Type groups, land counts, curves, averages, and sample hands use a double-faced card’s front type. Color grouping uses card colors; color identity grouping includes rules-text and back-face colors. The Colors chart excludes lands. Hybrid pips are divided evenly between their colors; two-or-colored and Phyrexian symbols count toward their colored option. Land sources use the mana Scryfall says the land can produce, not its color identity. Fetchlands and conditional availability are not simulated. Deck value excludes the maybeboard and identifies missing prices. Resolved deck entries cache mana costs and raw price quotes on this device, including for cards you do not own; price refreshes and currency changes do not edit your synced decklists. Decks load missing card details in batches on each device, including cards you do not own. These details are cached locally without editing your synced decklist; successfully resolved lands and unpriced cards do not trigger fresh lookups on every boot. Cards identified only by name or set and collector number retain their local details too. Unmatched cards are not repeatedly requested during the same page session; network errors, rate limits, and server errors get at most one automatic retry, and reload starts a new attempt. Sample hand shows lands drawn, expected opening-hand lands, and London mulligans; Draw card draws the next card without simulating turns. Keyboard focus stays on its controls after drawing or mulliganing. Draw is disabled when the library is empty, and decks without maindeck cards show an empty-hand message.
Maindeck dividers and pills stay ink, sideboard uses jungle, and maybeboard uses sage.

Export and share

Export decklists for external tools from the deck workspace.
Share creates a read-only link for a deck or collection view without giving edit access. Stop sharing turns the link off; if Tomebound cannot confirm that, it says so and keeps the link listed so you can try again.
While a share link is being created, repeated creation is disabled and you can still close the dialog. The new URL is selected for copying when creation finishes. Opening a shared link shows a focused read-only view: a banner across the top names what is being shared and when it was updated, and the table or card view fills the width. Exit in that banner returns you to your own collection. Shared decks carry the full list's price quotes with their currencies, mana costs, and format name. Shared decks and containers use the viewer's selected currency when a quote is available; older share amounts without a currency are treated as USD. Deck shares show legality only for preset formats; on a phone they open directly in decklist view with one compact view picker. A shared all-cards link follows your latest synced collection: an open viewer checks for changes about every 15 seconds while its tab is visible and downloads the collection again only when it has changed. A shared deck's link updates after an edit in the browser holding the link is saved to the cloud, so a change the cloud refuses never reaches it. If a shared link can't be opened, the page says whether the link no longer exists or the share couldn't be loaded; for a load failure or a load that takes longer than 15 seconds, Try again reloads it. Stopping a share that was already removed counts as stopped.
Shared snapshots omit row selection and every editing action, including move, add-copy, and delete controls in card details. You can still browse card details. The sidebar and user account actions stay hidden; what you are signed in as does not change what a shared link shows, and viewing one never touches your own collection.

Ownership and missing cards

The deck header shows an owned count against the maindeck total. When every card is on hand it reads as a plain count; when cards are short, it becomes an "N/total owned · M missing" button.
Opening it lists what's short, grouped into not owned, a different printing owned, and ambiguous (several other printings owned) - each entry explains the match, like owning a copy in another container under a different set.
From there you can point the deck at a printing you already own, choose which owned copy to use when more than one qualifies, or mark an entry as leave missing to quiet it until something changes. If that printing is already on the same deck board, the two decklist quantities combine. For commanders and partners, changing to an owned printing updates the command-zone card and deck header together; editing other deck details keeps an already-tracked printing unless you change the card itself.
Buy missing opens every uncovered copy in TCGplayer Mass Entry, matching the header missing count. Exact-printing needs are allocated first, then spare copies of other printings; each owned copy covers one need. Alternate copies already filed in another deck are not spare. Partially covered and ambiguous rows still contribute their remaining shortage, and leave missing only hides the review prompt. Copy list copies this same purchase list.
Ember marks missing quantities, decklist/list names and dots, and stack/gallery missing pills; owned counts remain ink.