How to Grade MTG Cards - Grade your cards BEFORE you send them to BGS

This is a few things I do to sift through cards for gradeable ones
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[@7Alberto7]

As a person who know nothing about grading apart from the general knowledge i really appreciate learning all this stuff,amazing,thanks!

[@DualBrainMTG]

Awesome! Glad you liked it

[@sdoren_9074]

When a seller lists a card with a black border on a white background or a white border card on a black background, I always ask them to retake pics. Most are unintentionally hiding flaws on the card, it's amazing how much different a card can look when it's background matches the border color. Great tip 👍

[@DualBrainMTG]

Yes! Exactly! Thanks, I don’t know if many ppl caught that

[@Zerostatik]

I transferred a Dark collection from a regular clear page binder to one of those binders with the black backed pages. I could immediately see any chipping or wear. I use those binders now for stuff I'm keeping.

[@SpenceMTG]

Love this topic!

[@DualBrainMTG]

Good stuff. It’s definitely becoming more of a Pertinent subject

[@joshg218]

MY favorite is people selling ungraded cards and List their cards as "GOOD FRONT, HP BACK" THE CARD IS HEAVY PLAYED.. IT IS ONE OBJECT.... You arent going to label a car in MINT CONDITION... EXCEPT THE ENTIRE CAR IS BEAT TO SHIT EXCEPT THE NEW PAINTED FRONT DOOR.

[@MrMlev123]

Lmao

[@DualBrainMTG]

Lol yup!

[@paulplants4158]

I enjoyed the video. I hope it gets more views. I do my first steps in the opposite order. I look at any nicks and edges, then I go to centering. Since most of my collection is raw I can live with centering but no nicks or bad edges. Will I pay a premium for off center no way. I know on sports cards PSA will give an 8 OC which I dont see on the Magic side. Oh well its how the world is now. To many people on the grading side that dont have a clue. Drink a beer for me. C ya

[@DualBrainMTG]

No doubt! Glad you liked it!

[@andejoe1]

The number of off-center cards pawned off as NM is a real frustration. Quality vid. Wish all sellers stuck to strict standards.

[@DualBrainMTG]

It’s crazy what ppl call NM nowadays

[@Road_to_Tolaria]

With respect, centering isn't a grading criteria for raw card condition, so it would be correct to grade an off-center card as NM if it meets the necessary corner, edge and surface criteria. This is true of the 4-5 largest raw card grading standards used and available for viewing at TCGplayer, CardKingdom, StarCityGames or Card Market. I know it is an important criteria for those pursuing to grade their cards with sub-grades at BGS or CGC but that doesn't imply that that it is so for everyone, who might be looking for a nice card to put into a binder. Card grading goes a long way back and centering wasn't even considered all that important at the time. I agree that LP or MP cards being graded as NM is lall too common and laughable though.

[@DualBrainMTG]

@@Road_to_Tolaria this video is kind of a “guide” to how BGS would grade. Not how raw cards are graded.

[@Road_to_Tolaria]

@@DualBrainMTG Gotcha. I was replying to the OP, Alpine Zissou

[@DualBrainMTG]

@@Road_to_Tolaria ah I c

[@Troglodytemtg]

Great info!

[@DualBrainMTG]

Thanks

[@Road_to_Tolaria]

City of Traitors is going to get hit on the corners, dammmmn! Send that Force of Negation, I'll show it some love. Great video, to see what others see in cards is always a good lesson. I think we need to be much stricter on surface. People have been expecting too high of a grade on clean cards with worn down surfaces. Still not a fan of the inconsistency in the grading market. Universal standards, within a half-point, are needed.

[@DualBrainMTG]

Exactly, this grading market is all out of whack right now.

[@BUss297]

Very nice collection 👌 👍

[@DualBrainMTG]

Y thank you sir

[@BUss297]

@@DualBrainMTG you're very welcome ☺

[@nathanhirsch4408]

Thanks for the great discussion, guys. I've got an alpha nightmare (top 5 card when i was a kid) and it's got a few dings and while it definitely wouldn't grade high do you think it's still worth grading for preservation/resale down the road?

[@DualBrainMTG]

I have graded Alpha cards as low as 7.5 is it worth is? Idk as only time will tell. I did it so I could protect the card and keep it from getting worse…

[@erikentrepreneur2000]

What is the proper centering measurements for magic using the centering grading tool?

[@Brehvon]

I think I answered my own question in the first couple minutes. If the card didn't come straight out of the pack, and sometimes even if it did, it's best meant for the fire? At least as far as "collectors" are concerned?

[@MTGNorth]

Good vid lads. That Pact of Negation is spicy, having the back still fairly centered. But I mean, Black Crappie is trump here. Winner winner fishy dinner

[@DualBrainMTG]

Yeah it’s definitely a pretty crazy card

[@DualBrainMTG]

Black Crappie FTW lol (Local fish&game was giving them away at a community event so ofc my card collecting ass had to get them… hahaha)

[@teamcosmicseeds]

Do you still have the pact of negation? I'm definitely interested 😮❤🎉😊#mfga

[@NerdAndProudOfIt]

i am not into grading my cards much, but what i have seen recently is that EU grading is so different to US grading, which surprises me.

[@DualBrainMTG]

Can you elaborate on how exactly??

[@NerdAndProudOfIt]

@@DualBrainMTG sure can! you guys are much more strict when it comes to grading. let s put the benchmark to mint/NM/excellent/very good/good/MP/P and poor. what would classify as NM in europe would be seen excellent, maybe even very good in the US. mild play in europe definetely is played if not even poor in the US. i ordered a NM power artifact from the US and one from germany. the german one is clearly worse than the US one. and i had that with some other cards as well. that s always from a personal viewpoint of the seller/buyer, of course, and the grading companies might be more consistent, i don t know.

[@DualBrainMTG]

@@NerdAndProudOfIt I’d be very interested to compare grades from a few grading companies… like see what’s an 8 to BGS, PSA, CGC l, and the European grading companies

[@NerdAndProudOfIt]

@@DualBrainMTG it surely would be interesting to know! if i can help out with EU grading info by submitting a couple if my cards and giving you the info, i d be happy to do that! but like i said, i am really not an expert when it comes to grading 😜. i m a player at heart, so i never got into the grading part of the game.

[@DualBrainMTG]

@@NerdAndProudOfIt let’s do some type of collaboration with that. Do you have IG? If so, send me a DM there…

[@felipecarvalheiragarcia2937]

Hahahah mtg and fishes! Best stuff

[@DualBrainMTG]

Lol, you liked that??

[@ep1phany62]

Foil Rhystic Study😳

[@DualBrainMTG]

I actually FOUND that in a flea market purchase and discovered it on camera for the channel, go check out my flea market videos 😀

[@jeffreyjaros5924]

do you prefer BGS or PSA? also, i've seen that people think CGC grades "too hard". do you think that has anything to do with the way BGS is now grading?

[@DualBrainMTG]

I have always preferred BGS. The MTG market does also. That may change. As far as CGC grading hard that’s OK as long as there ARE 10s and that it’s consistent. Not having 10s is as bad as over grading. There are legit 10s and if they get cut to 9.5s that’s a shame… so we need to be sure that there’s a real mathematical scale being adhered to.

[@jeffreyjaros5924]

@@DualBrainMTG it's funny b/c i've heard Rudy say many times he prefers PSA....he's so out of touch....lol

[@Road_to_Tolaria]

@@jeffreyjaros5924 PSA doesn't grade centering to my knowledge. They also don't have sub grades or half point grades and these factors really make comparing dick size at that last half inch an impossibility.

[@l2fennone798]

if I want to buy graded cards from you do you ship to Europe ?

[@DualBrainMTG]

Yes I do.

[@l2fennone798]

@@DualBrainMTG do you have any Earthbind for sale or did you post your cards at some site like eBay or something ?

[@DualBrainMTG]

@@l2fennone798 I don’t, my stuff is on eBay

[@l2fennone798]

@@DualBrainMTG :( , will take a look at your eBay , thanks

[@DualBrainMTG]

@@l2fennone798 no doubt