Guide to Identifying Non-English Magic Cards
Everyone knows that it's cool to play with foreign Magic cards. They're harder
to get, they have a different look, and you get to show off how well you know
every card by its art. However, although most serious players
know what their cards do, they often don't know what language they are.
For those who are interested in knowing the origin of your cards, this page
is for you.
I've identified three main techniques for identifying the language of a card, and
created a web page with illustrations for each:
- Copyright line: If your card is in a European language
from before Tempest (1997), then this is the easiest way.
- Card types: I've made a table of the translation of each card type
into each language. This is handy if you're trying to figure out what the card is, as well.
- Asian languages: Techniques for distinguishing Chinese,
Japanese, and Korean cards.
Another reference you might check out is this list of
which sets have been
released in which languages.
Exception: The following five promotional cards are each printed
in a language that no other cards are. From left to right, the languages
are Hebrew, Arabic, Sanskrit, Classical Greek, and Latin.
Hopefully this is helpful to somebody. If you have any comments,
send me an email.
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Last modified: Saturday, June 14, 2014
Brett Allen
(brett@snazzorama.com)