MTG foil types explained

Traditional foil

First appeared: Urza's Legacy, 1999

The classic rainbow foil: a holographic layer covers the whole card face and the art is printed on top of it. Urza's Legacy was the first set to put foil cards in booster packs, in February 1999. Wizards started calling it "traditional foil" after foil-etched cards arrived in 2020.

Sources: magic.wizards.com, mtg.wiki, mtg.wiki

Foil-etched

First appeared: Commander Legends, 2020

Instead of a full rainbow layer, a metallic finish highlights parts of the card, so it looks grainier and feels slightly textured. Commander Legends introduced it on alternate-frame versions of all 71 of its legends, mostly in Collector Boosters, where every pack had one.

Sources: magic.wizards.com, mtg.wiki, scryfall.com

Open it in: Assassin's Creed Collector Booster, Modern Horizons 3 Collector Booster, Commander Masters Collector Booster, March of the Machine Set Booster, March of the Machine Collector Booster, Dominaria United Collector Booster, Double Masters 2022 Collector Booster, Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate Set Booster, Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate Collector Booster, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Collector Booster.

Textured foil

First appeared: Double Masters 2022

A special textured pattern runs through the foil and gives the art a sense of movement. It debuted on five borderless mythic rares in Double Masters 2022, found only in Collector Boosters (about 3% of them).

Sources: magic.wizards.com, scryfall.com

Open it in: Marvel's Spider-Man Collector Booster, Duskmourn: House of Horror Collector Booster, Assassin's Creed Collector Booster, Modern Horizons 3 Collector Booster, Outlaws of Thunder Junction Collector Booster, Commander Masters Collector Booster, Dominaria United Collector Booster, Double Masters 2022 Collector Booster.

Galaxy foil

First appeared: Unfinity, 2022

As bright as traditional foil, but scattered with little planets and stars. It started in Unfinity Collector Boosters and came back for Edge of Eternities, again in Collector Boosters.

Sources: magic.wizards.com, magic.wizards.com, scryfall.com

Open it in: Edge of Eternities Collector Booster.

Surge foil

First appeared: Warhammer 40,000 Commander, 2022

A rippling foil pattern that MTG Wiki compares to a surging wave. Wizards introduced it in the Collector's Edition versions of the Warhammer 40,000 Commander decks, where every card is surge foil, and it has shown up on many Universes Beyond products since.

Sources: magic.wizards.com, magic.wizards.com, mtg.wiki, scryfall.com

Open it in: The Hobbit Collector Booster, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Collector Booster, Final Fantasy Collector Booster, Fallout Collector Booster, Doctor Who Collector Booster.

Neon ink foil

First appeared: Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, 2022

Fluorescent ink is silkscreened on top of traditional foil, and it glows under a blacklight. In Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty only Hidetsugu, Devouring Chaos got it, in blue, green and red from Collector Boosters, plus a yellow version given out through WPN Premium stores.

Sources: magic.wizards.com, mtg.wiki, scryfall.com

Open it in: Avatar: The Last Airbender Collector Booster, Final Fantasy Collector Booster, The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Collector Booster, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Collector Booster.

Raised foil

First appeared: Phyrexia: All Will Be One, 2023

Traditional foil with a 3-D hot stamp pressed on top, so part of the card sits raised above the surface. It first appeared as oil slick raised foil (a black stamp) in the Phyrexia: All Will Be One Bundle: Compleat Edition. Outlaws of Thunder Junction later used a raised golden stamp on five vault-frame cards from The Big Score, found only in Collector Boosters.

Sources: wpn.wizards.com, magic.wizards.com, magic.wizards.com, scryfall.com

Open it in: Avatar: The Last Airbender Collector Booster, Bloomburrow Collector Booster, Outlaws of Thunder Junction Collector Booster.

Halo foil

First appeared: March of the Machine (Multiverse Legends), 2023

A swirling, almost liquid foil effect inspired by halo, the magical substance from the story. Every Multiverse Legends card in March of the Machine has a halo foil version, always with the planar frame and only in Collector Boosters.

Sources: magic.wizards.com, magic.wizards.com, mtg.wiki, scryfall.com

Open it in: Tarkir: Dragonstorm Collector Booster, March of the Machine Collector Booster.

Fracture foil

First appeared: Duskmourn: House of Horror, 2024

Wizards introduced fracture foil as a brand-new foil for the Japan Showcase cards in Duskmourn, which feature art by Japanese artists. Those cards come only from Collector Boosters, and the treatment has returned on Japan Showcase cards in later sets.

Sources: magic.wizards.com, mtg.wiki, scryfall.com

Open it in: Reality Fracture Collector Booster, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Collector Booster, Lorwyn Eclipsed Collector Booster, Edge of Eternities Collector Booster, Aetherdrift Collector Booster, Foundations Collector Booster, Duskmourn: House of Horror Collector Booster.

Mana foil

First appeared: Foundations, 2024

The five mana symbols are laid over the card in a pattern across its face. In Foundations, every borderless rare and mythic rare has a mana foil version, found only in Collector Boosters and always in English.

Sources: magic.wizards.com, mtg.wiki, scryfall.com

Open it in: Foundations Collector Booster.

Dragonscale foil

First appeared: Tarkir: Dragonstorm, 2025

A textured foil meant to look like a dragon's scaly hide. It debuted on the five enemy-color fetch lands from the Special Guests sheet in Tarkir: Dragonstorm Collector Boosters, with new art for each.

Sources: magic.wizards.com, mtg.wiki, scryfall.com

Open it in: Tarkir: Dragonstorm Collector Booster.

Singularity foil

First appeared: Edge of Eternities, 2025

Made specifically for Edge of Eternities and used on just one card: a textless Sothera, the Supervoid. It turns up in fewer than 1% of Collector Boosters.

Sources: magic.wizards.com, scryfall.com

Open it in: Edge of Eternities Collector Booster.

Cosmic foil

First appeared: Marvel's Spider-Man, 2025

Cosmic foil debuted in Marvel's Spider-Man on a textless version of The Soul Stone, found in a very small number of Collector Boosters.

Sources: magic.wizards.com, scryfall.com

Open it in: Marvel's Spider-Man Collector Booster.

Facet foil

First appeared: Reality Fracture, 2026

Facet foil comes from Reality Fracture, where it makes the broken-mirror shards on the shattered mirror showcase cards shimmer. Those cards appear only in Collector Boosters.

Sources: magic.wizards.com, scryfall.com

Open it in: Reality Fracture Collector Booster.

Step-and-compleat foil

First appeared: Phyrexia: All Will Be One, 2023

A repeating pattern of raised Phyrexian symbols covers the card, a nod to red-carpet step-and-repeat banners. In Phyrexia: All Will Be One it was used on borderless showcase cards and Phyrexian-language cards, one per Collector Booster.

Sources: magic.wizards.com, mtg.wiki, scryfall.com

Open it in: Final Fantasy Collector Booster, Phyrexia: All Will Be One Collector Booster.

Double rainbow foil

First appeared: The Brothers' War, 2022

Wizards calls it a double rainbow version of traditional foil, with a brighter, more multicolored shine. It debuted on the serialized Retro Artifacts schematics in The Brothers' War Collector Boosters, and serialized cards in later sets such as March of the Machine use it too.

Sources: magic.wizards.com, magic.wizards.com, mtg.wiki, scryfall.com

Open it in: Lorwyn Eclipsed Collector Booster, March of the Machine Collector Booster.

Serialized

First appeared: The Brothers' War, 2022

Each copy carries a stamped number, like 1/500, showing exactly how many exist. The Brothers' War put them in boosters first: each of the 63 Retro Artifacts schematics came in 500 numbered double rainbow foil copies, only in Collector Boosters. A single mirrored Viscera Seer numbered to 100 was a Secret Lair bonus card in 2021.

Sources: magic.wizards.com, mtg.wiki, scryfall.com

Open it in: Reality Fracture Collector Booster, Secrets of Strixhaven Collector Booster, Final Fantasy Collector Booster, Tarkir: Dragonstorm Collector Booster, Aetherdrift Collector Booster, Innistrad Remastered Collector Booster, Assassin's Creed Collector Booster, Modern Horizons 3 Collector Booster, Fallout Collector Booster, Ravnica Remastered Collector Booster, The Brothers' War Collector Booster.