As a new player in Magic: The Gathering, there are a number of things you’ll want to sort out before you start playing. Some cards to actually play the game are, naturally, number one on that list, followed by a place to play and some friends to play with.
Once these essentials are out of the way, the next layer on the Magic pyramid of needs is accessories. These items help protect your cards from damage during play and smooth out your experience. For new MTG players, these are the very best accessories that we can recommend.
Deck Boxes
Having somewhere to store your MTG cards in between games is essential, especially as you start building up a sizeable collection. While storage solutions like shoeboxes or larger cardboard storage boxes are great for this purpose, deck boxes are essential for managing your individual decks.
Even if you’re just playing Commander, having a dedicated box for each deck is pretty much a must-have. This is doubly true if you play multiple formats, as you’ll want somewhere to keep each deck and sideboard together for easy access during events.
Fortunately, there are plenty of deck boxes on the market, in a range of sizes and styles. Generally, these will include their card capacity in their titles, like ‘Ultimate Guard Deck Case 100+,’ ‘Gamegenic Deck Holder 80+,’ for example.
For the most part, these values refer to how many double-sleeved cards (more on those later) a given deck box can hold in total. This isn’t always the case, however, as some boxes only accommodate single-sleeving. For this reason, it’s best to double-check the full description for each deck box, especially if you’re planning to double-sleeve.
Capacity aside, another important factor for a deck box is durability, which largely comes down to the material it’s made from. Plastic boxes tend to be less robust than other options, but again, this varies from box to box. Product reviews and comments from players online are great guides if you’re unsure.
Depending on the price, a deck box with a magnetic lid tends to last longer than one with a plastic lid. The purely plastic deck boxes tend to wear and tear after a lot of use, while magnetic clasps have longer durability. There are, however, exceptions.
In terms of specific recommendations, you can’t go far wrong with the Ultimate Guard Boulder. This is an affordable range of deck boxes, built from a robust plastic that bucks the trend of plastic deck boxes.
These are excellent if you’re storing a lot of decks, since they’re compact and transparent, so their contents are easy to see from outside. Notably, plastic deck boxes that open in two like this, instead of having a hinge on top, tend to have less wear and tear.
If you’ve got a bit more cash to splash, the Ultimate Guard Sidewinder deck boxes are another excellent option. These are xenoskin boxes that close via magnets, making them highly durable and easy to access by flipping open their lids. They’re also available in a wide range of colors and designs, with plenty of official MTG art options from recent sets out there.
While you can’t go wrong with either of these options, if you want to get more in-depth on deck boxes you can check out our full article on the subject.
Card Sleeves
In addition to deck boxes, card sleeves are another major accessory you’ll need to protect your MTG cards from damage. These completely cover your cards, preventing wear and tear during regular play, as well as dings and nicks in transit as you move them around in your deck box.
While some veteran players will wax lyrical on the joys of playing with rough, unsleeved cards on the school tarmac, for the most part you’re better off keeping all the cards you play with sleeved. Even if you’re running a budget Pauper deck or a cheap Commander brew, keeping your cards in good condition will let you enjoy them for far longer.
To this end, there are two types of sleeves in MTG: outer sleeves, and inner sleeves. Outer sleeves are the standard, accommodating a single card each with a little room to spare. These offer great protection from the bottom and sides for each card, though some damage is still possible from the top, or when you take the card in or out.
Inner sleeves are much tighter, designed to act as a second layer of protection for double-sleeving. To do this, put your card in an inner sleeve first, with the open end at the bottom of the card, then place it in an outer sleeve. This offers much better protection from all sides than single-sleeving, and is common practice once you start dealing with pricey decks.
There are countless options out there for both outer and inner sleeves. For our money, the best outer sleeves are either the Dragon Shield Mattes or the Ultimate Guard Katanas. Both are well-regarded by players, and robust enough to stand up to a lot of shuffling across games. It’s worth noting that the Katanas are quite a tight fit, so they’re a great pick if you’re single sleeving but a bad option for double-sleeving.
For inner sleeves, the best option for most players will be the KMC Perfect Fit sleeves. These have long been the standard for affordable, effective inner sleeves, and they still hold up in 2026. While you can splash out and go for the Dragon Shield Resealables if you really want total protection, KMC is more than good enough for most decks.
For a more in-depth look at MTG sleeves, both outer and inner, check out our dedicated article on the subject.
Playmats
Even with a fully sleeved-up deck, damage and wear can still arise from the environment you play Magic in. This is where playmats come in, serving as a portable flat surface that adds another layer of protection for your cards during play.
Beyond protection, playmats are also a great tool for organizing your play space during games. You can keep your deck and all active cards nicely spaced out, ensuring your opponent has a clear picture of your board state at all times. This is particularly important in Commander, where four separate boards can easily start to blend together without the divisions playmats provide.
Though they’re a crucial accessory to have, there’s far less variance in playmats than there is in deck boxes or card sleeves. They’re generally all the same standard size, this being 24″ x 14″ or 61cm x 35cm. The biggest difference you’re likely to see is whether a playmat has stitched edges or not, with those that do being more resilient than those that don’t.
With this in mind, we’d recommend picking up a stitched-edge playmat, but beyond that, the choice is largely up to you. Ultimate Guard is a great option here, as they offer a ton of different colors and official MTG art options to match what you’re looking for. Ultra Pro mats are also solid and affordable, but less of a long-term option than the Ultimate Guards overall.
Dice
The last thing you’ll need to complete your core MTG accessories pack is a good set of dice. These fill a wide range of roles during gameplay, whether you’re rolling to determine who goes first, rolling to determine the outcome of a random effect, or even just rolling because a card actually asks you to.
On top of this utility, dice are also fantastic as counters or markers in games, too. You can use them to note how many +1/+1 counters a creature has, for example, or to keep track of Commander damage. They can even be decent life trackers, if you’re keeping things analog and don’t carry a digital solution.
In terms of which dice you’ll need, the most crucial are D6s and D20s. These are the two types of dice that MTG cards will need most often, so having a few of each on hand is always a good idea, especially in Commander. As a general rule, you’ll want a lot more D6s than D20s, as you’ll likely need to represent more counters than life totals etc., but a good mix of both is great to have.
Though there are countless different dice brands out there, there’s not really a notable difference in quality across them for the most part. For this reason, we’d recommend grabbing a dice set that appeals to you visually, and includes a lot of dice to work with. This 63-piece collection, which includes plenty of D6s, D20s, and even some keyword dice, is an ideal catch-all pick here.
If you want to dig deeper into dice, and explore a wider range of options, you can do so in our article on the best dice for MTG.
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