Reliquary vs Dragon Shield: a card scanner beside a collection that knows its decks

Updated November 9, 2026

Choose Dragon Shield's MTG Scanner, or Sorted, the app that replaces it, to add cards from a camera scan on your phone. Choose Reliquary to know where every copy is and which decks claim it, and to let an assistant work with that. Reliquary does not scan cards, so the apps work together: scan in Dragon Shield or Sorted, export a CSV, and import it into Reliquary, which recognises both files by their columns and makes each folder or list a place.

At a glance

	Reliquary	Dragon Shield MTG Scanner	Sorted
What it is	Collection manager with an MCP server	Phone app: card scanner, collection and deck builder	Card-scanning collection app for several TCGs, Magic among them
Where it runs	Web, and any assistant that speaks MCP	iOS, Android; web card manager still online	iOS and Android
Free	The whole collection, 5 decks, trading	Free to download, with in-app purchases	Core features free; Sorted Premium adds more
Paid	Plus: every deck, $3.99 a month or $29 a year	Premium, $3.99 a month or $39.99 a year (US App Store)	Pro, $3.99 a month or $39.99 a year (US App Store)
Export	Moxfield or Deckbox CSV, decklists, the account as JSON	Collection and decks as CSV or text	CSV or text, per its store listings
API	MCP server and REST API, signed in with OAuth	—	—

Each fact is from the sources below, read on the day given. A dash: no source says.

Where they differ

Sorted calls itself the new version of the Dragon Shield scanner apps, and its FAQ says the old apps will be retired, with no date given. Both build a collection from the camera. Reliquary builds it from a file, a pasted list or a search, and then keeps track of the physical cards.

In Reliquary every copy you own is in exactly one place: a binder, a box or a deck. A deck claims copies from what you own, and two decks never count the same copy without saying so: a shared copy is named with every deck that claims it and where it really is. A proxy is named as one wherever it shows, and left out of a value unless you ask. Card allocation across decks has the rules.

Reliquary also has an MCP server and a REST API, so an assistant such as Claude or ChatGPT reads and changes your collection under the same rules, and trade matching sets your lists against the wantlist and tradelist another player publishes. What each app costs and exports is in the table above.

Moving from Dragon Shield

Export your collection to CSV from the Dragon Shield app while it still runs, and choose the file on Reliquary's Import page. The Dragon Shield export guide has the steps, decks included. If you have already moved to Sorted, the table above has its export, and Reliquary reads Sorted's CSV too.

What players complain about

From low-star App Store and Google Play reviews read on 9 November 2026.

Dragon Shield

The app is being replaced by Sorted, and some players left for other apps rather than move. App Store reviews, read 9 November 2026.
Ads come every few scans, and a subscription was added to remove them. App Store reviews, read 9 November 2026.
The scanner often fails on black, foil, borderless or sleeved cards. App Store reviews, read 9 November 2026.
Some players saw their collection shrink, or differ between devices, after an update, with no backup to restore. App Store reviews, read 9 November 2026.

Sorted

Players moved from Dragon Shield miss things the old app had, such as friends and shared lists, combined filters, sales tracking and daily price movers. App Store reviews, read 9 November 2026.
Advanced search, some filters and daily price movers need Premium, and some who had paid in Dragon Shield were asked to pay again. Sorted's FAQ says an active Premium carries over; on Android it lasts until the old apps are retired and the billing period ends, then it is bought again in Sorted. App Store reviews, read 9 November 2026.
Importing a deck from a CSV or decklist file failed for some with vague errors, and exports to other sites mixed up printings and foils. App Store reviews, read 9 November 2026.
Ads show in the inventory and between scans, and a timed ad during bulk scanning can lose the cards just scanned. On Google Play the developer says it is reviewing how often ads show. App Store reviews, read 9 November 2026; Google Play, read 9 November 2026.

Questions

When does the Dragon Shield app stop working?

No date is given. Sorted's FAQ says the old apps will be retired and says players will get reminders before they stop. Export your collection while it runs.