A card design is the underlying card: its name, collector number, text, colour, and other gameplay-facing information. A printing is a particular version of that design in the database. A treatment is the way the app describes a finish or special presentation, such as foil, cold foil, alternate art, Enchanted, Epic, or Iconic.
Why this distinction matters
Checklist totals can look confusing if you expect every row to mean a unique card design. The app often works with printings because simulation and collection tracking need to know whether a foil or special version exists. That means total printings can be higher than the number of unique card names or collector numbers.
| Treatment | Meaning in app data | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Regular | A normal printing without a special finish flag in the app data. | Shown without a treatment badge. |
| Foil | A printing with foil data, commonly represented by `is_foil` or a non-None foil type. | May be merged with its regular counterpart in collection-style views. |
| Cold Foil | A special foil finish when the imported data marks `is_cold_foil`. | Shown as a stronger pull treatment when present. |
| Alternate Art | A printing marked as alternate art with a non-standard variant or finish. | Shown with an Alt Art badge when the display utility detects it. |
| Epic | A special rarity/treatment represented by current app data. | Handled as a special pull when a set supports it. |
| Enchanted | A collector-focused special printing rarity. | Shown as Enchanted and treated as a chase outcome. |
| Iconic | A scarce special rarity represented in imported data. | Shown as Iconic and sorted above other pulls in recap views. |
How standard foils are handled
The collection display merges standard non-foil and standard silver-foil pairs when they represent the same ordinary card. This keeps the checklist easier to scan. The merged row can still show labels such as Foil available or Foil only based on the imported printings.
Special rarities are not merged the same way, because Enchanted, Iconic, Epic, and other alternate-style printings are meaningful separate collector outcomes in the simulator.
How badges should be interpreted
Treatment badges are display aids, not official value claims. They reflect the fields the app received for a card printing and the frontend treatment rules. If a badge looks wrong, the likely issue is the imported rarity, foil type, variant type, or alternate-art flag for that card.
How to inspect treatments
Use set pages to browse imported printings, card search to look for a specific card, and the collection tracker to see how merged standard printings affect a practical checklist. For simulator pulls, the pack and box recap surfaces notable treatments so stronger pulls are easier to review.