Magic cards are tiny rectangles that somehow contain dragons, lawyers, and 12 lines of reminder text. So yes, size matters. Whether you’re buying sleeves, building storage, or printing custom cards, you want the actual dimensions of Magic: The Gathering cards in something more precise than “about this big.”

The standard MTG card size

The official rules describe “traditional” Magic cards as measuring approximately 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches. In metric, that’s 63.5 mm × 88.9 mm.

If you’ve ever seen 63 mm × 88 mm (often called “Euro poker size”), that’s basically the same thing in practice. Many manufacturers and templates round to whole millimeters, and most sleeves have a little extra room anyway. The important part is you are in the standard trading card family, not the smaller “Japanese size” used by some other games.

Here are the numbers most people actually need:

  • Width: 2.5 in (63.5 mm)
  • Height: 3.5 in (88.9 mm)

Corner radius (the part people forget until it looks wrong)

Cards don’t have sharp corners because sharp corners are how you turn shuffling into a minor medical event. Standard MTG sized cards use a rounded corner with a radius around 1/8 inch, which is 3.175 mm.

If you’re cutting cards yourself or ordering custom prints, matching the corner radius is what makes a card feel “normal” in the hand and not like a coupon you found in a drawer.

Sleeves that fit MTG cards

When sleeves say “standard size,” they mean MTG sized cards.

A common spec for standard card sleeves is:

  • Sleeve size: about 66 mm × 91 mm
  • Max card size: up to 64 mm × 89 mm

That extra wiggle room is intentional. It makes sleeving tolerable, and it prevents corners from getting chewed up the first time someone riffle shuffles like they’re auditioning for a casino job.

Printing at the correct size (without accidentally making tiny cards)

If you’re printing proxies or custom cards, the most common mistake is letting software “help” by scaling to fit the page. That’s how you end up with a deck of slightly-too-small cards that feel like they came from a cereal box promotion.

Use this simple framework:

1) Trim size (final card size)

Set the finished card to:

  • 63.5 mm × 88.9 mm (2.5 in × 3.5 in)

2) Add bleed (so the art reaches the edge after cutting)

Many print templates use 3 mm bleed (about 1/8 inch) on all sides.

So your full artwork canvas becomes roughly:

  • 69.5 mm × 94.9 mm (trim size plus 3 mm on each edge)

3) Keep a safe area (so text doesn’t get guillotined)

Keep important text and symbols at least 3 mm inside the trim edge. Printers and cutters are accurate, but “accurate” still includes “occasionally trims the exact pixel you cared about most.”

Quick FAQ

Are MTG cards the same size as Pokémon cards?
Yes, they’re both in the standard trading card size family (the 2.5 in × 3.5 in neighborhood).

Why do I see both 63 × 88 mm and 63.5 × 88.9 mm?
Because one is rounded metric sizing and the other is the clean inch measurement converted to millimeters. In real life, they’re close enough that sleeves and storage don’t care.

Are Yu-Gi-Oh cards the same size?
No. Yu-Gi-Oh cards are smaller, roughly 59 mm × 86 mm, which is why they use “Japanese size” sleeves.