Magic foil types explained, from traditional to galaxy

A foil Magic card has a reflective layer that the plain version lacks, and Wizards of the Coast now makes many kinds. Traditional foil is its standard finish. Foil-etched cards arrived in 2020, and many recent sets name a treatment of their own: galaxy, confetti, textured, surge, singularity and more. Each foil is a separate printing with its own price, and foils are judged for wear by the same standards as other cards, with a few faults of their own.

What is traditional foil, and how is foil-etched different?

Traditional foil is Wizards’ name for its standard shiny finish. MTG Rocks dates foil Magic cards to Urza’s Legacy in 1999, says the look changed with Eighth Edition in 2003, and describes today’s version as a clean rainbow shimmer over the whole card.

Foil-etched is a different process with a different look. Wizards introduced the foil-etched treatment on Commander Legends showcase cards in 2020, with two in every Collector Booster and fewer in Draft Boosters. MTG Rocks describes the finish as a more metallic shimmer that highlights only some parts of the card, and notes that it varies in strength from set to set. Foil-etched is still among Wizards’ print treatments, and each Commander Deck carries an extra foil-etched display commander alongside two traditional foils.

Which foils has Wizards named, and when?

Many named foils belong to one set or product, and a few come back. The table runs in order of the set’s year, with MTG Rocks’ description of the look where it gives one.

Three notes on reading it:

• Which treatments were firsts. Wizards called foil-etched and neon ink new treatments, galaxy foils new and confetti foil never seen before. Textured foil was first seen in Double Masters 2022, and surge foil began in the Warhammer 40,000 Commander decks in 2022 before reaching other Universes Beyond products.
• Surge foil keeps coming back. In 2026 it is in The Hobbit’s Collector Boosters and on the full-art lands of its Gift Bundle, and in the Star Trek Collector’s Edition Commander decks, listed for preorder under a November 13 release date.
• A few foils sit outside this table. MTG Rocks’ 2023 guide also lists gilded foil (Streets of New Capenna), double rainbow foil (serialized cards from The Brothers’ War), step-and-compleat and oil-slick raised foil (Phyrexia: All Will Be One) and halo foil (March of the Machine), all from 2022 and 2023 sets.

Our guide to Magic card rarities explains where headliners and serialized cards sit, and the holofoil entry explains the shiny finish.

How many foils come in a pack?

It depends on the pack, and it is about to change:

• Collector Boosters: 8 to 10 foil cards in each.
• The main booster: at least one foil in every pack, for now. Since October 5, 2026, Wizards calls it just the Booster Pack. Wizards still promised a foil in every pack of Lorwyn Eclipsed in January 2026.
• Set Boosters: at least one foil in every pack.
• Draft Boosters: traditional foil cards in 1 in 3 packs.
• Starter Kits: two traditional foils.

On October 5, 2026, Wizards announced changes that start with Nauctis, the first set of 2027. Foil commons and uncommons leave the Booster Pack and a foil is no longer promised in each one; any foil you do find will be a rare or mythic rare, and those will turn up more often, though Wizards gave no figure. Collector Boosters lose two foil commons and one foil uncommon, which are not replaced. Japan Showcase cards, until now only in Collector Boosters, can appear in the Booster Pack in traditional foil. Our guide to Magic Collector Boosters covers the rest of those changes, and the Collector Booster entry defines the pack.

How do you price a foil?

As its own printing. Marketplaces keep the finishes apart: TCGplayer’s price report of May 19, 2026 writes the finish in parentheses after a card’s name, with versions such as Foil Etched, Rainbow Foil and Confetti Foil, each with its own Market Price. A foil is not always the pricier copy either. MTG Rocks notes that some traditional foils sell for less than the non-foil version.

Set the finish filter before you read a price, and check that a listing names the foil you hold. Our guide to checking Magic card prices walks through naming the exact printing, and the guide to market, listed and sold prices explains which figure to trust.

How are foils judged for wear?

By the same standards as other cards, TCGplayer says, though some faults show more on a foil. It adds that foil Magic cards in particular may be more prone to curling, and names two faults found only on foils:

• Foil bubbling. Air trapped under the foil layer during printing leaves small raised bumps. In TCGplayer’s Direct program, a bubble under 1mm across does not affect condition. One larger than 1mm that visibly lifts the foil from the card stock makes the card Damaged, because the foil may tear.
• Speckled foil. Ink that fails to stick to the foil layer lets the foil show through in patches. TCGplayer measures it against the defect sizes in its conditioning standards.

Curling is common. TCGplayer says foils can warp in transit with changes in weather and temperature, that a foil can show a slight warp even straight from the pack, and that it treats curling as a condition issue. It suggests leaving a warped card inside a heavy hardcover book, with more books on top, for a couple of days.

That advice has a catch for a card you plan to grade. CGC treats pressing as an alteration that can get a card sent back ungraded, marked as showing evidence of tampering, with the grading fee still charged. Ask before you flatten a card you mean to send. Our guides to card condition grades and checking a card before grading cover the rest.

A quick way to name your foil

1. Check the set. Find the set symbol and code, and look the set up on Wizards’ product page for the treatments it lists.
2. Look at the whole card. Shine across the full face suggests traditional foil; metal on parts of the card suggests foil-etched; stars, ridges or confetti suggest the named foils above.
3. Match the listing. Find the same finish on a marketplace product page before you trust a price.
4. Store it flat. Sleeve the card and keep it in a toploader or binder. Our guide to storing trading cards covers foils that warp.

For other card games, see the trading card hub.

Frequently asked questions

What is halo foil?

Halo foil is a Collector Booster finish from March of the Machine, where it always comes with the planar frame. Tarkir: Dragonstorm brought it back for its ghostfire cards.

Which cards come in dragonscale foil?

In Tarkir: Dragonstorm, dragonscale foil is on the 5 enemy-color fetch lands, printed as Special Guests cards. Each dragonscale foil land has art that differs from its non-foil and traditional foil versions.

What is the singularity foil Sothera?

It is a textless Sothera, the Supervoid with art by Micha Huigen, in a foil Wizards made for Edge of Eternities. It is printed only in English.

Which Wilds of Eldraine cards come in confetti foil?

The 20 anime borderless Enchanting Tales: 5 rares and 15 mythic rares.