[2020] Seriously, why is it so hard for MTG sites to export a properly formatted Arena deck list?

Original Post — Direct link

I've been experiencing a very annoying trend since pretty much the inception of Arena: Deck list sites can't export a proper, import-able deck list to save their life. The exception? MTGGoldfish.

Take today:

Check out Mengucci's YT channel. Go to Cardboard Live where he stores his lists. The site cuts off like 15 cards and when I attempt to import the supposedly Arena formatted list, Arena throws an error. Great.

So I go over to CovertGoBlue's channel. Go to Aetherhub where he keeps his lists and I export a list formatted for Arena. Go to import it. Nope, throws an error.

In both cases what is the fix? Exporting the text version of the list from those sites, importing it into MTGGoldfish and then re-exporting it for Arena. Except for Cardboard live, where you still have to track down the missing ~15 cards from the list.

Is this really that difficult to do properly?

External link →

over 4 years ago - /u/wotc_kale - Direct link

In general, these are the formats that will work with import:

Number + Name:
4 Basri Ket

Number + Name + (SET) + Collector Number:
4 Basri Ket (M21) 7

You can misspell the name if everything else is right:
4 Bazzri Khet (M21) 7

-------

Here's what won't work:

Name + only SET or CN
4 Basri Ket (M21)
4 Basri Ket 7

Correct name, wrong SET/CN:
4 Basri Ket (M20) 78

Xs after the number:
4x Basri Ket (M21) 7

Collector Number is for a promo card or different style:
1x Basri Ket (M21) 280

------

There are two formats for deck sections. Each section must be separated by an empty line.

Unlabeled (or incorrectly labeled)
1st section is Maindeck, 2nd is the sideboard

Labeled (above section)
Deck, Sideboard, Commander, Companion

------

Import will replace cards you don't have with cards you do have if they are reprints.

I've been working to find a way to accept almost anything, so let me know things that haven't worked for you and I can see what we can do. The process should have gotten better for other languages recently, if you import with SET + CN, because spelling mistakes won't trip the system up anymore.

over 4 years ago - /u/wotc_kale - Direct link

Originally posted by andreliverod

We are probably going to do that there will only be one export button, and then an option to toggle card number/set name for MTGA.

Set + CN is better for foreign languages because it will ignore misspelled names as of the 1.09 release. The only problem I see is the using promo CNs (full art cards, etc.), we do track them by CN, but there is some work to make the import treat them as actual cards.

over 4 years ago - /u/wotc_kale - Direct link

Originally posted by wotc_kale

In general, these are the formats that will work with import:

Number + Name:
4 Basri Ket

Number + Name + (SET) + Collector Number:
4 Basri Ket (M21) 7

You can misspell the name if everything else is right:
4 Bazzri Khet (M21) 7

-------

Here's what won't work:

Name + only SET or CN
4 Basri Ket (M21)
4 Basri Ket 7

Correct name, wrong SET/CN:
4 Basri Ket (M20) 78

Xs after the number:
4x Basri Ket (M21) 7

Collector Number is for a promo card or different style:
1x Basri Ket (M21) 280

------

There are two formats for deck sections. Each section must be separated by an empty line.

Unlabeled (or incorrectly labeled)
1st section is Maindeck, 2nd is the sideboard

Labeled (above section)
Deck, Sideboard, Commander, Companion

------

Import will replace cards you don't have with cards you do have if they are reprints.

I've been working to find a way to accept almost anything, so let me know things that haven't worked for you and I can see what we can do. The process should have gotten better for other languages recently, if you import with SET + CN, because spelling mistakes won't trip the system up anymore.

Import doesn't return styled cards right now, I can see about handling that situation and replacing with unstyled versions depending on ownership.

over 4 years ago - /u/wotc_kale - Direct link

Originally posted by LeeSalt

I'm not sure if you've read through the other comments, but the crux of most of our issues seems to stem from the fact that Arena throws errors when you try to import a promo art card number (like godzilla cards) when you don't own that particular promo in your collection.

So, if it could always be filtered to the most basic edition, importing would always work since you need the basic edition of the card before promos will work anyway.

Someone mentioned that text versions of deck list exports now work, which is great news. That should have been the default format of deck list in the first place, IMHO. It's the simplest and leads to the fewest problems with promos and the like.

I don't think you can import it even if you did have it, but I might be mistaken. I will see what I can do about that.

I didn't write the original system, but I did write the simple text decklist importer. In general, I like having both. Relying on something to be spelled 100% correctly over 8 languages is pretty brittle. The CNs are written right on the card, so there really shouldn't be that many mistakes with them. Mostly, I use the simple text one myself because you can hand-edit it easier.

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