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Unfortunately, and I say this from excruciating experience, this isn't a complete/accurate representation of all M:TG cards. I spent the summer of 2011 scrapin

Unfortunately, and I say this from excruciating experience, this isn't a complete/accurate representation of all M:TG cards. I spent the summer of 2011 scraping Gather to build out a product catalog and API for a start up that didn't start. I really wish that I had taken the time to put the data out as a torrent. "Magic: The API" doesn't appear to support: * Multi-faceted cards such as "Fire // Ice"(http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=292753&part=Ice http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiver...) Both return the data for the "Fire" facet, but with different artists: http://mtgapi.com/api/v1/fetch/id/27165 http://mtgapi.com/api/v1/fetch/id/27165 & http://mtgapi.com/api/v1/fetch/id/27166 http://mtgapi.com/api/v1/fetch/id/27166 * Double sided cards such as "Student of Elements" (http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=78691 http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiver...) Only shows data for "Tobita, Master of Winds": http://mtgapi.com/api/v1/fetch/id/78691 http://mtgapi.com/api/v1/fetch/id/78691 * Double cards such as B.F.M (http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=9844 http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiver...) Only shows 1/2 of the cards: http://mtgapi.com/api/v1/fetch/id/9844 http://mtgapi.com/api/v1/fetch/id/9844 * Multi-sided cards such as "Cloistered Youth // Unholy Fiend" (http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=221212 http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiver...) Only shows the "Unholy Fiend" data: http://mtgapi.com/api/v1/fetch/id/221212 http://mtgapi.com/api/v1/fetch/id/221212 M:TG has 20 years of strangeness to take into account when creating a data model... And Gatherer has its own issues. For example, the way symbols are represented in card text is inconsistent. (e.g. The tap symbol can be represented as both "ocT" and "{T}", and the representations for mana symbols have evolved inconsistently as well.) Wizards of the Coast are the only ones who can build this API legally. They hold the copyright on all of the data related to M:TG and I truly wish that they would open up it up so that we, as a people, wouldn't have to spend hundreds of hours recreating the wheel. Poorly. [0] Fortunately, I stopped what I was doing and started on a board gaming "thingy" with friends instead: http://www.shutupandsitdown.com/ http://www.shutupandsitdown.com/ [0]: That isn't to say that the mtgapi.com guys/gals did a shoddy job. It's just a big task that WotC should be forward looking enough to do themselves. While I have WotC on the line... Why wasn't the D&D 5th Edition SRD hosted on GitHub during development?

ubernostrum 13y ago
Not to mention that Gatherer doesn't actually contain everything. For example: http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=373334 http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiver... Even without counting the two Collector's Edition print runs of the original core set, it's also missing the Anthologies printing, the FNM promo printing and the judge promo printing along with the version that appeared in the Coldsnap theme deck "Kjeldoran Cunning" (which kept the Ice Age art and expansion symbol but put it in the modern card frame). Meanwhile, this has all of those printings listed: http://magiccards.info/ddf/en/22.html http://magiccards.info/ddf/en/22.html
niels_bom 13y ago
I think http://mtgjson.com/ http://mtgjson.com/ does it better.
- fesja 13y ago
  wow, that's really sweet! I'd have done a great job with this info 12 years ago when I created a top MTG website ;) So many good times!
- joefritz 13y ago
  Wow, just looking at the example card on that makes me realize how ridiculous MTG has gotten in terms of powerful cards. Each edition seems to get closer to a "tap to win game" card.
  - Slackwise 13y ago
    Exact opposite, actually. The dev team learned their lesson from the earlier days[1] and do strict evaluations of cards and interactions before releasing them. The most popular format, "Standard", is played with the last 2 "blocks" (3 sets of card "sets"), and 1 "Core Set". So basically the last 1.5—2 years worth of cards. Those interactions are studied carefully before being released. Very infrequently do you run into something truly overpowered and needing to be banned from the competitive scene. Not to mention, in the most basic sense, cards like Counterspell[2] will probably never be printed in a Standard playable set, but cards like Cancel[3] will. One being too cheap to cast and being almost game breaking, while the other has its power balanced just right for the cost. [1]: http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/ld/259 http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/dai... [2]: http://magiccards.info/jvc/en/24.html http://magiccards.info/jvc/en/24.html [3]: http://magiccards.info/m14/en/45.html http://magiccards.info/m14/en/45.html

ubernostrum 13y ago

Not to mention that Gatherer doesn't actually contain everything. For example: http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=373334 http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiver... Even without counting the two Collector's Edition print runs of the original core set, it's also missing the Anthologies printing, the FNM promo printing and the judge promo printing along with the version that appeared in the Coldsnap theme deck "Kjeldoran Cunning" (which kept the Ice Age art and expansion symbol but put it in the modern card frame). Meanwhile, this has all of those printings listed: http://magiccards.info/ddf/en/22.html http://magiccards.info/ddf/en/22.html

niels_bom 13y ago

I think http://mtgjson.com/ http://mtgjson.com/ does it better.

fesja 13y ago
wow, that's really sweet! I'd have done a great job with this info 12 years ago when I created a top MTG website ;) So many good times!
joefritz 13y ago
Wow, just looking at the example card on that makes me realize how ridiculous MTG has gotten in terms of powerful cards. Each edition seems to get closer to a "tap to win game" card.
- Slackwise 13y ago
  Exact opposite, actually. The dev team learned their lesson from the earlier days[1] and do strict evaluations of cards and interactions before releasing them. The most popular format, "Standard", is played with the last 2 "blocks" (3 sets of card "sets"), and 1 "Core Set". So basically the last 1.5—2 years worth of cards. Those interactions are studied carefully before being released. Very infrequently do you run into something truly overpowered and needing to be banned from the competitive scene. Not to mention, in the most basic sense, cards like Counterspell[2] will probably never be printed in a Standard playable set, but cards like Cancel[3] will. One being too cheap to cast and being almost game breaking, while the other has its power balanced just right for the cost. [1]: http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/ld/259 http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/dai... [2]: http://magiccards.info/jvc/en/24.html http://magiccards.info/jvc/en/24.html [3]: http://magiccards.info/m14/en/45.html http://magiccards.info/m14/en/45.html