MTG Deck Import Guide: Text, CSV, and Arena Formats
August 8, 2026
How MTG deck import breaks (and how to fix it)
A decklist looks simple: quantity and card name, one per line. MTG deck import still breaks constantly, because every site layers its own rules on top: foil markers, blank-line sideboard boundaries, URL-only importers. None of it is documented where you'd look. Here's the format underneath the format, and how to read it so an export from anywhere works anywhere else.
Most of the pain comes down to three things: quantity notation, how set and printing data gets attached to a card name, and how a site marks the difference between your mainboard, sideboard, maybeboard, and commander. Get those three right and you can move a list between Moxfield, Archidekt, MTG Arena, or a spreadsheet without losing anything that matters.
The universal decklist format
Almost every deckbuilding tool reads some version of this line:
Quantity Card Name (SET) Collector Number
For example: 4 Lightning Bolt (2X2) 141. Drop the parentheses and number and you get the bare-bones version, 4 Lightning Bolt, which resolves to whatever printing the importer feels like giving you (usually the newest one it can find). Both are valid. The second one is just less precise.
Quantity notation varies more than people expect, but a good parser handles all of the common ones: 4x Lightning Bolt, 4 Lightning Bolt, and Lightning Bolt x4 all mean the same thing. Grimoria's import also accepts a stray two-column CSV row pasted straight into a text box, like 4,Lightning Bolt, since that's what you get when you copy a couple of cells out of a spreadsheet by accident.
Moving between Moxfield, Archidekt, and MTG Arena
The big three behave differently enough that it's worth knowing each one's quirks before you copy anything.
Moxfield
Moxfield's deck menu offers a few export options, and "Copy for MTGO" or plain text export both produce a clean quantity-and-name list. Foils are marked with *F* and etched foils with *E*. Commander decks are the odd one out: Moxfield doesn't print a "Commander" header at all, it just lists your commander as a trailing group after the sideboard section, separated by a blank line. Any importer that doesn't specifically account for that convention will file your commander as a sideboard card.
Archidekt
Archidekt's text export can include bracketed role tags, so a line might read 1x Sol Ring (C21) 263 [Commander]. That's convenient if the importer on the other end reads the tag, and useless noise if it doesn't. Archidekt also accepts pasted Arena and MTGO-format lists directly in its own text importer, which makes it a decent middle stop if you're bouncing a list between two tools that otherwise can't talk to each other.
MTG Arena
Arena's built-in export uses the same quantity, name, (set), collector number shape described above, confirmed in Wizards' own support documentation. That makes Arena lists easy to bring into paper deckbuilders. The catch runs the other way: Arena-only rebalanced cards carry an A- prefix (like A-Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer) that won't match anything in a paper card database, so those lines need a manual swap for the real printing before they'll resolve.
Commander, sideboard, and maybeboard: keeping your boards straight
Most parsers look for a header line to switch which board they're filling: Sideboard, Maybeboard, Commander, or shorthand like SB. A commented header (// Maybeboard) usually works too. If your source app doesn't emit an explicit header for one of these sections, a blank line often does the job instead, which is exactly the trap that catches Moxfield's headerless commander group described above.
One thing worth remembering for Commander specifically: the format doesn't use a sideboard at all, so if you see sideboard cards on an import preview for a Commander list, that's almost always a maybeboard or a leftover from whatever format the list was originally built for.
Why printings and foils get lost in translation
Plain text alone can't carry everything about a physical card. A bare card name resolves by Oracle text, not by printing, so an importer has to guess which set to pull the image and price from unless you give it a set code and collector number. Foil status only survives if the source added a marker like *F* or (Foil) and the destination knows to look for it; strip that marker along the way (paste through a plain text editor, say) and the foil flag is gone for good.
This is where a printing-aware importer earns its keep. When you include the (SET) collector number pair, Grimoria's deck import matches the exact printing instead of defaulting to the most recent one, and it reads foil markers so a foil list stays foil after the move. See Grimoria's deck sharing and export options for the full rundown of what each format preserves.
Text, URL, or CSV: which one to use
Pick based on how much precision you need and where the list is coming from.
| Method | Best for | What it keeps |
|---|---|---|
| Direct URL (Moxfield or Archidekt link) | Moving a whole deck in one step | Name, quantity, boards, and printing when the source deck specifies one |
| Plain text paste | Lists from forums, Reddit, or a friend's message | Name and quantity always; printing and foil only if the line includes them |
| CSV | Bulk edits or lists that already carry set, condition, and language data | Whatever columns the file has: printing, foil, condition, language, notes |
If you're only trying to get card names into a new deck fast, plain text is fine. If you care about which exact foil Cavern of Souls you own, a URL import or a CSV with set and collector number columns is worth the extra minute. See Grimoria's collection import and export guide for how the CSV column mapping works.
Importing a decklist into Grimoria, step by step
Once you know which format you're starting from, the process itself is quick.
- Copy the decklist from its source, or grab the deck's Moxfield or Archidekt URL.
- In Grimoria, start a new deck and choose the import option instead of building from scratch.
- Paste the URL or the text list. Grimoria previews every card it recognized, plus anything it couldn't match.
- Review the unresolved cards. Most of the time it's a name mismatch you can fix by typing the card's actual name.
- Confirm the boards (mainboard, sideboard, maybeboard, commander) look right, then finish the import.
If you'd rather start from a known-good list instead of importing someone else's, browsing deck building tools or a precon is usually a faster starting point than fixing a messy paste.
Common import errors and fast fixes
| What you see | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| "Card not found" | Universes Beyond flavor name, foreign-language name, or a typo | Look up the card's official English name on Scryfall and swap it in |
| Wrong printing selected | Text-only line with no set code, so the importer picked the newest one | Add (SET) collector number to the line, or re-import via CSV/URL |
| Commander landed in the sideboard | Headerless Moxfield-style export with no explicit Commander section | Re-tag the card as commander after import; most tools let you flip this in one click |
| Foils show up as non-foil | Foil marker was stripped when the text passed through another editor | Re-export from the source and paste directly, without an intermediate copy step |
| Arena-only card won't resolve | Rebalanced card with an A- prefix that doesn't exist as a paper printing | Replace it with the un-rebalanced paper version by name |
Frequently asked questions
Why did my Moxfield deck import wrong somewhere else?
Moxfield's plain text export doesn't include a Commander header. It lists the commander as the last group of cards after the sideboard section, separated by a blank line. If the importer you're using doesn't specifically watch for that pattern, it files your commander as a sideboard card and you have to reassign it manually.
Does deck import preserve foils and exact printings?
Only if the source data includes them. A bare card name resolves by Oracle text and defaults to a recent printing with no foil flag. Include a set code, collector number, and a foil marker like *F* on the line, or use a URL or CSV import that carries that data, and the exact printing and foil status carry over.
Can I import an MTG Arena decklist for paper Magic?
Yes, Arena's built-in export uses the standard quantity, name, set, and collector number format that most paper deckbuilders read natively. The one exception is Arena-only rebalanced cards, which use an A- prefix and need to be swapped for their real paper printing before they'll match.
What's the difference between a sideboard and a maybeboard on import?
A sideboard is cards you can swap in between games in a best-of-three constructed match, and it doesn't exist as a concept in Commander. A maybeboard is just a personal shortlist of cards you're considering for the deck. If a Commander import shows sideboard cards, they're almost always leftover maybeboard entries or cards from a different format's list.
Why do some cards show up as unrecognized when I import a list?
The importer usually matches by exact card name. Universes Beyond crossover cards, cards with foreign-language names, alternate-art nicknames, and simple typos all cause a miss. Checking the card's official name on Scryfall and correcting the line almost always resolves it.
Next step
If you've got a decklist sitting in a text file, a Moxfield tab, or a screenshot you typed out by hand, the fastest way to see all this in action is to paste it straight into a new deck and watch what resolves. Fix the handful of lines that need a set code or a name correction, and the rest takes care of itself.