Riftbound Card Condition Guide: NM, LP, MP, HP and DMG Explained
The short version
- Five condition tiers, standard across the TCG hobby: Near Mint, Lightly Played, Moderately Played, Heavily Played, Damaged — Riftbound cards use the same scale as every other trading card game.
- Prices on RiftCompare assume Near Mint unless a listing says otherwise — that's the benchmark every store's headline price is quoted against.
- Condition is a real price multiplier, not a vague discount: a Lightly Played card is worth roughly 85% of the same card Near Mint; Damaged drops to around 40%.
- Grading is always the seller's judgement call — the same card can get graded differently by two different stores, so check listing photos on anything but a cheap common.
Every Riftbound price you see — on RiftCompare or anywhere else — is quoted against a condition grade, whether or not the store says so out loud. Here's what each grade actually means, and why it should change what you're willing to pay.
The five condition tiers
Riftbound singles use the same five-tier condition scale as most other modern trading card games:
| Grade | Full name | What it looks like |
|---|---|---|
| NM | Near Mint | No visible wear — sharp corners, clean surface, no edge whitening. The benchmark condition. |
| LP | Lightly Played | Minor wear only: a touch of edge whitening or a faint scuff, not obvious at a glance. |
| MP | Moderately Played | Visible scratches or scuffing, more noticeable whitening, wear you'd spot without looking closely. |
| HP | Heavily Played | Significant wear — creasing, heavier whitening, rounded or damaged corners. Still whole and playable. |
| DMG | Damaged | Structural damage: tears, water damage, heavy creasing, writing, or anything beyond cosmetic wear. |
Near Mint is the benchmark. Unless a listing explicitly says otherwise, assume a quoted price is for a Near Mint copy — that's the condition every price comparison on RiftCompare, and effectively every store's headline price, is quoted against.
Why condition changes what you should pay
Condition isn't a vague "a bit cheaper" — it's a real, fairly consistent discount off the Near Mint price. As a rough guide across the hobby:
- Lightly Played — around 85% of Near Mint
- Moderately Played — around 70% of Near Mint
- Heavily Played — around 55% of Near Mint
- Damaged — around 40% of Near Mint
Those are typical ranges, not a fixed rule — individual stores set their own condition discounts, and a genuinely rare or expensive card can hold its value at a lower grade better than a cheap common does, simply because demand for that specific card is higher regardless of condition.
Grading is a judgement call, not a certificate
Unlike some collectibles markets, raw Riftbound singles don't go through a centralised third-party grader before they're sold — the store or the seller assigns the condition at the point of listing, based on their own eye and their own standards. That means:
- The same physical card can get graded differently by two stores. One might call a card Lightly Played where another calls it Near Mint.
- Photos matter more than the label. On anything above a cheap common, look at the actual listing photos rather than trusting the grade alone — especially for corners and edges, where wear is easiest to miss in a low-resolution photo and easiest to spot in a good one.
- "NM/M" or "NM-M" listings (Near Mint to Mint) are common shorthand for "as good as it gets" — factory-fresh, no handling wear at all.
Third-party grading (slabbed cards)
Riftbound's highest-value chase cards — Signature printings, alt-arts, cards tied to popular champions — increasingly get sent to third-party grading services (PSA and similar), which assign a numeric grade and seal the card in a protective case. That's a genuinely different market from raw singles: a graded card's price reflects both the card and the grade, and doesn't move as a simple multiple of the raw Near Mint price. If you're buying to collect rather than to play, it's worth deciding up front whether you want raw or graded copies — the two markets can diverge significantly on a card's most expensive printings.
Buying with condition in mind
When you're comparing prices — on RiftCompare or anywhere else — the condition grade is doing as much work as the number next to it. A "cheap" Moderately Played listing next to a Near Mint one at a similar price isn't actually the better deal.
Browse every Riftbound card for live prices across every store we track, or read how to store and protect your cards so the condition you buy at is the condition you still have next year.
Frequently asked questions
What does NM mean for a Riftbound card?
Near Mint — a card with no visible wear: sharp corners, no scratches or scuffs, no whitening on the edges or back. It's the benchmark condition every store's headline price assumes unless stated otherwise.
What's the difference between Lightly Played and Moderately Played?
Lightly Played (LP) means minor wear only — a little edge whitening or a faint scuff, nothing that affects how the card looks from a normal distance. Moderately Played (MP) is a step up: visible scratches, more noticeable whitening, or light surface wear you'd spot without looking closely.
Does card condition actually affect the price?
Yes, substantially. As a rough guide, Lightly Played typically prices around 85% of Near Mint, Moderately Played around 70%, Heavily Played around 55%, and Damaged around 40% — though individual stores set their own exact discounts.
Who decides a card's condition grade?
The seller, at the point of listing — Riftbound doesn't have a centralised third-party grading body the way some other collectibles do. That's why the same card can be graded slightly differently by two different stores; check listing photos before buying anything above a low-value common.
Should I buy graded (slabbed) Riftbound cards?
Third-party grading (PSA and similar) exists for Riftbound's highest-value chase cards, but it's a separate market from raw (ungraded) singles pricing, and most cards you'll buy day-to-day are traded raw. Treat a graded card's price as its own thing rather than a multiple of the raw price.
Ready to buy?
Every card's live price across every store we track — Near Mint unless a listing says otherwise.