What Size Card Sleeves for Magic: The Gathering?

Have some MTG cards you want to protect? You’d be a fool to collect rare cards without sleeving them! While any sleeve is better than no sleeve, choosing the incorrect size and type can lead to potential damage. Magic cards are standard size, so most sleeves will fit, but some are better than others.

Why Sleeve Your Cards?

Sleeves protect a trading card from various dangers such as light scratches, scuffs, edge wear, corner damage, and more. Condition is the most important factor when it comes to value, so preserving a mint card is critical. 

This is especially true if you pull something like a Planeswalker, which often come with pretty good monetary value.

It is so important to sleeve the cards that you care about. It is the most basic and efficient way to care for your cards. If you keep your cards in a binder, on display, or anywhere else, they should first be sleeved!

If you one day choose to sell some cards, having them sleeved is the ideal first impression you want to make upon the buyer. If the buyer sees that you have not sleeved your cards, they might back out of the deal before it is even started. Unsleeved cards are indicative of poor collecting practice, and an uneducated collector. 

Magic: The Gathering Card Dimensions

The size of an MTG card is standard trading card size, at 63 X 88mm, or 2.5 X 3.5 inches.

What size card sleeve is best for MTG cards?

The size of a Magic card is 2.5” X 3.5”, which means that any sleeve of that size or greater, will fit a Magic card. 

But which size is best?

Standard

A standard-size card sleeve is 2 5/8 “ X 3 5/8”. This will leave a small margin of space on either side and above the card. This is the standard size that is most easily found in stores and fits other trading cards like sports cards or Pokémon.

Slim

If you want a tighter fit on your card, there are 2.5” X 3.5” sleeves. If you want to find these, they are often referred to as ‘perfect fit’, ‘slim fit’, or ‘pro fit’ sleeves. These are great for sleeving a card before inserting it into a binder, screw-down, or magnetic holder.

Double Sleeving

Some collectors like to double-sleeve their cards. 

Double-sleeving is using two sleeves on one card. In this case, you’ll want to begin with a 2.5” X 3.5” slim sleeve and insert that into a larger sleeve.

Sleeving your card before inserting it into a top loader, card saver, or binder, is not double sleeving and would be considered standard practice. Click here to learn the differences between a top loader and a card saver.

Rigid and Semi-Rigid Sleeves 

Top loaders are rigid sleeves that are 3” X 4”. It is common to sleeve a card, and then insert it into a top loader. If you insert a raw card into a top loader, it will slide around and cause scuffs. For this reason, all cards inserted into top loaders must be sleeved.

A semi-rigid sleeve (also known as a card saver) is a much larger type of sleeve that is primarily used for shipping cards. These will hold your sleeved cards in a way that will allow for no movement. However, they are easy to bend. 

Final Thoughts 

If you have some Magic: The Gathering cards that you believe may be valuable, please make sure they have the appropriate sleeves. Card condition is everything when it comes to this hobby, so always be prepared. Most places where you can buy MTG cards also sell the appropriate sleeves, so keep an eye out.