Contact

If you encounter any issues or need to exchange information, please feel free to contact us through the following link: My profile

Scryfall.com Scraper: Extract Card Data & Pricing Intelligence

Introduction

Scryfall stands as "a fast, powerful, comprehensive Magic: The Gathering card search" engine that has revolutionized how players and developers access Magic card data. With "a large set of keywords and expressions you can use to find Magic: The Gathering cards", Scryfall's advanced search capabilities enable precise filtering across the entire Magic database.

However, manually extracting data from complex search results becomes impractical when dealing with large datasets. Whether you're analyzing market trends across specific card sets, building comprehensive databases for tournament preparation, or conducting research on Magic's design evolution, the need for automated bulk data extraction from Scryfall's search results is critical. Our Scryfall Search Scraper addresses this challenge by automating the extraction of detailed card information from any Scryfall search query, enabling efficient processing of hundreds or thousands of cards at once.

Scraper Overview

The Scryfall Search Scraper is a specialized tool designed to process Scryfall's advanced search URLs and extract comprehensive card data from paginated search results. Unlike simple card scrapers that target individual card pages, this scraper handles the complexity of Scryfall's search system, processing multiple pages of results and extracting detailed information from each card found.

Key Capabilities:

• Advanced Query Processing: Handles complex Scryfall search syntax including set codes, rarity filters, collector number ranges, and multi-parameter queries
• Pagination Management: Automatically processes multiple pages of search results to capture complete datasets
• Flexible Result Limits: Configurable items per URL to control data volume and processing time
• Proxy Integration: Built-in residential proxy support ensures reliable access and prevents rate limiting
• Structured Data Output: Delivers consistent, structured card information ready for analysis or integration

Target Applications:

• Market analysis and price tracking across card categories
• Set completion tracking and collection management
• Tournament meta analysis and deck building research
• Academic research on Magic card design and power level
• Database building for MTG-related applications and tools

User Categories:

• Data analysts and market researchers
• MTG application developers and database administrators
• Competitive players and tournament organizers
• Content creators and MTG community builders
• Academic researchers studying game design

Input and Output Details

Example url 1: https://scryfall.com/search?order=set&q=set%3Apdft+is%3Astamped&unique=prints

Example url 2: https://scryfall.com/search?order=set&q=set%3Afca+border%3Aborderless+-type%3Aplaneswalker&unique=prints

Example url 3: https://scryfall.com/search?order=set&q=e%3Atdm+cn%E2%89%A51+cn%E2%89%A4286&unique=prints

Example Screenshot of card information page:

Input Format

The scraper accepts JSON configuration with several key parameters:

Input:

{
  "max_retries_per_url": 2, // Maximum waiting time when accessing the links you provided.
  "proxy": { // Add a proxy to ensure that during the data collection process, you are not detected as a bot.
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL" 
    ],
    "apifyProxyCountry": "SG" // You should choose an Country that coincides with the Country you want to collect data from
  },
  "max_items_per_url": 20,
  "urls": [ 
    "https://scryfall.com/search?order=set&q=set%3Apdft+is%3Astamped&unique=prints", 
    "https://scryfall.com/search?order=set&q=set%3Afca+border%3Aborderless+-type%3Aplaneswalker&unique=prints",
    "https://scryfall.com/search?order=set&q=e%3Atdm+cn%E2%89%A51+cn%E2%89%A4286&unique=prints"
    // // Links to card list by query page.
  ]
}

Parameter Explanations:

• max_retries_per_url: Retry attempts for failed requests (2-3 recommended for stability)
• proxy: Essential for large-scale scraping operations to avoid detection
  • useApifyProxy: Enables professional proxy rotation for reliable access
  • apifyProxyGroups: "RESIDENTIAL" provides most authentic browsing patterns
  • apifyProxyCountry: Geographic location matching your analysis focus
• max_items_per_url: Limits results per search query (1-175 items, as Scryfall "returns 175 items per page")
• urls: Array of Scryfall search URLs with encoded query parameters

Output Format

You get the output from the Scryfall.com Card Search Scraper stored in a tab. The following is an example of the Information Fields collected after running the Actor.

[ // List of card information
  {
  "url": "https://scryfall.com/card/eoe/18/focus-fire",
  "name": "Focus Fire (Edge of Eternities)",
  "description": "{W} • Instant • Focus Fire deals X damage to target attacking or blocking creature, where X is 2 plus the number of creatures and/or Spacecraft you control. • Edge of Eternities (EOE) #18 • Illustrated by Borja Pindado • Magic: The Gathering, MTG",
  "sku": "a9ddfcbc-0f84-4315-aaa3-ca54ff64d7de",
  "brand": {
    "@type": "Brand",
    "name": "Magic: The Gathering",
    "url": "http://magic.wizards.com"
  },
  "image": [
    "https://cards.scryfall.io/png/front/a/9/a9ddfcbc-0f84-4315-aaa3-ca54ff64d7de.png?1752946622",
    "https://cards.scryfall.io/large/front/a/9/a9ddfcbc-0f84-4315-aaa3-ca54ff64d7de.jpg?1752946622",
    "https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/9/a9ddfcbc-0f84-4315-aaa3-ca54ff64d7de.jpg?1752946622",
    "https://cards.scryfall.io/small/front/a/9/a9ddfcbc-0f84-4315-aaa3-ca54ff64d7de.jpg?1752946622"
  ],
  "buy_urls": [
    {
      "title": "TCGplayer articles about this card",
      "url": "https://partner.tcgplayer.com/c/4931599/1830156/21018?subId1=card-detail-infinite-articles&trafcat=tcgplayer.com%2Fsearch%2Farticles&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tcgplayer.com%2Fsearch%2Farticles%3FproductLineName%3Dmagic%26q%3DAnticausal%2BVestige"
    },
    {
      "title": "TCGplayer decks with this card",
      "url": "https://partner.tcgplayer.com/c/4931599/1830156/21018?subId1=card-detail-infinite-decks&trafcat=tcgplayer.com%2Fsearch%2Fdecks&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tcgplayer.com%2Fsearch%2Fdecks%3FproductLineName%3Dmagic%26q%3DAnticausal%2BVestige"
    },
    {
      "title": "Search MTGTop8 for this card",
      "url": "https://mtgtop8.com/search?MD_check=1&SB_check=1&cards=Anticausal+Vestige"
    },
    {
      "title": "Moxfield decks with this card",
      "url": "https://www.moxfield.com/decks/public?filter=Anticausal+Vestige&utm_medium=card-detail-moxfield&utm_source=scryfall"
    },
    {
      "title": "Card analysis on EDHREC",
      "url": "https://edhrec.com/route/?cc=Anticausal+Vestige"
    },
    {
      "title": "Card stats on Cube Cobra",
      "url": "https://cubecobra.com/tool/card/35372b69-6086-44e0-9f7c-681e362e5142"
    },
    {
      "title": "Open on Scryfall Tagger",
      "url": "https://tagger.scryfall.com/card/eoe/1"
    }
  ],
  "toolbox": [
    {
      "title": "Buy on TCGplayer$1.67",
      "url": "https://partner.tcgplayer.com/c/4931599/1830156/21018?subId1=card-detail-buy-nonfoil&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tcgplayer.com%2Fproduct%2F641717%3Fpage%3D1"
    },
    {
      "title": "Buy foil on TCGplayer✶ $2.11",
      "url": "https://partner.tcgplayer.com/c/4931599/1830156/21018?subId1=card-detail-buy-foil&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tcgplayer.com%2Fproduct%2F641717%3FPrinting%3DFoil%26page%3D1"
    },
    {
      "title": "Buy on Cardmarket€1.52",
      "url": "https://www.cardmarket.com/en/Magic/Products?idProduct=833832&referrer=scryfall&utm_campaign=card_prices&utm_medium=text&utm_source=scryfall"
    },
    {
      "title": "Buy foil on Cardmarket✶ €1.98",
      "url": "https://www.cardmarket.com/en/Magic/Products?idProduct=833832&isFoil=Y&referrer=scryfall&utm_campaign=card_prices&utm_medium=text&utm_source=scryfall"
    },
    {
      "title": "Buy on Cardhoarder0.07",
      "url": "https://www.cardhoarder.com/cards/142615?affiliate_id=scryfall&ref=card-profile&utm_campaign=affiliate&utm_medium=card&utm_source=scryfall"
    }
  ],
  "image_and_data": [
    {
      "title": "Download PNG image (0.96 MB)",
      "url": "https://cards.scryfall.io/png/front/3/5/35372b69-6086-44e0-9f7c-681e362e5142.png?1752946556"
    },
    {
      "title": "Download art crop (46.29 KB)",
      "url": "https://cards.scryfall.io/art_crop/front/3/5/35372b69-6086-44e0-9f7c-681e362e5142.jpg?1752946556"
    },
    {
      "title": "Copy-pasteable text",
      "url": "https://api.scryfall.com/cards/35372b69-6086-44e0-9f7c-681e362e5142?format=text&pretty=true"
    },
    {
      "title": "Copy-pasteable JSON",
      "url": "https://api.scryfall.com/cards/35372b69-6086-44e0-9f7c-681e362e5142?format=json&pretty=true"
    },
    {
      "title": "Report card issue",
      "url": "https://scryfall.com/contact?problem_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fscryfall.com%2Fcard%2Feoe%2F1%2Fanticausal-vestige&title=Problem+with+Anticausal+Vestige+%28Edge+of+Eternities+%231%29&topic=card"
    }
  ],
  "from_url": "https://scryfall.com/search?order=set&q=e%3Aeoe+cn%E2%89%A51+cn%E2%89%A4276&unique=prints"
}, // ... Many other card details
]

Field Purposes and Applications:

• URL: Direct link to individual card page for reference and verification
• Name: Official card name for database indexing and search functionality
• Description: Complete Oracle text including abilities and flavor text for game rules and content analysis
• SKU: Unique identifier combining set code and collector number for inventory management
• Brand: Consistent "Magic: The Gathering" designation for product categorization
• Image: Primary card image URL for visual display and recognition systems
• Buy URLs: Marketplace links for price tracking and purchase flow integration
• Toolbox: Combined metadata including card type, mechanics, colors, and special properties for filtering and categorization
• Image and Data: Multi-resolution image collection supporting various display requirements from thumbnails to high-quality prints

Usage Guide

Implementation Workflow

1. Construct Search Queries: Use Scryfall's advanced search syntax to create precise queries. Scryfall's comprehensive keyword system supports filtering by set, rarity, color, type, and numerous other attributes.

2. Configure Processing Limits: Set max_items_per_url based on your data needs. For large datasets, consider multiple smaller queries rather than one massive extraction.

3. Optimize Proxy Settings: Choose proxy locations that align with your target market or analysis focus. Singapore and US locations typically provide optimal performance for Scryfall.

4. Execute Batch Processing: Process search URLs sequentially to maintain server stability and data accuracy.

5. Validate and Clean Data: Review extracted data for completeness, particularly for special card types like double-faced cards or promotional releases.

Best Practices

Query Optimization: Use specific search parameters to reduce unnecessary data processing. For example, add unique=prints to avoid duplicate printings if analyzing card mechanics rather than market data.

Rate Limiting: Respect Scryfall's servers by spacing requests appropriately. The retry mechanism helps handle temporary failures without overwhelming the system.

Data Validation: Cross-reference critical data points, especially for newly released sets or promotional cards that may have limited marketplace integration.

Error Handling: Monitor for query syntax errors in URLs, as malformed search parameters can result in empty result sets or scraping failures.

Common Challenges and Solutions

Complex Query URLs: Scryfall search URLs contain encoded parameters that must be preserved exactly. Always test queries in Scryfall's interface before scraping.

Pagination Boundaries: Some searches may return fewer results than expected due to Scryfall's result limits or query-specific filtering.

Image Availability: Different card printings may have varying image quality or availability, particularly for older or promotional releases.

Benefits and Applications

Operational Efficiency

Manual data collection from Scryfall search results is extremely time-consuming and prone to human error. This scraper transforms hours of manual work into minutes of automated processing, enabling rapid dataset creation for time-sensitive analysis or real-time market monitoring.

Real-World Applications

Market Intelligence: Track pricing trends across specific card categories, sets, or rarities by processing targeted search queries and monitoring marketplace links.

Collection Analytics: Build comprehensive databases for collection management, enabling advanced filtering, valuation tracking, and completion analysis.

Competitive Analysis: Extract tournament-legal cards matching specific criteria for meta analysis and deck building optimization.

Academic Research: Generate datasets for studying Magic's design evolution, power level analysis, or market dynamics across different card categories.

Business Value

For MTG retailers, application developers, and content creators, automated search data extraction enables dynamic inventory management, real-time price monitoring, and enhanced user experiences through comprehensive card databases.

Conclusion

The Scryfall Search Scraper bridges the gap between Scryfall's powerful search capabilities and the need for bulk data extraction. By automating the processing of complex search queries and delivering structured card data, this tool empowers users to focus on analysis and application rather than manual data collection.

Whether you're building the next generation of MTG tools, conducting market research, or managing extensive card collections, this scraper provides the foundation for data-driven success in the Magic: The Gathering ecosystem.

Related Actors

• Scryfall.com Card Details Scraper: A specialized data extraction solution engineered to harvest comprehensive card information from Scryfall.com's.

Your feedback

We are always working to improve Actors' performance. So, if you have any technical feedback about Scryfall.com Card Search Scraper or simply found a bug, please create an issue on the Actor's Issues tab in Apify Console.