Welcome to the Tapt blog: what we publish here

Finding the best price for a Magic card should not require opening fifteen tabs. That is the whole program of Tapt, a price comparator for Magic: The Gathering cards for Quebec game stores, with a good selection of stores elsewhere in Canada. You type a card name, Tapt reads the stores' pages while you wait, and shows you where it costs least, with the stock, condition, finish and edition.

This blog goes with the site. Here we explain how the tools work, we tell about what is new and we publish writing about Magic and about local stores. This first page tours what Tapt offers today, what you will find here and the best way to get started.

What Tapt does today

Tapt is an independent tool, made in Quebec, free, and it sells nothing. Seven things are possible without paying:

• Compare a card across local stores, with prices, stock and shipping costs. The full guide is in the article comparing the price of a Magic card.
• Compare a whole deck and see where to buy it, store by store. The article comparing the price of a Magic deck details each step.
• Build your decks in the editor, with statistics, card roles and the Commander bracket marker. The power-level system is explained in Commander brackets.
• Keep your collection and follow what it is worth at local store prices.
• Have a card's price watched and be notified when it drops, which the article tracking a Magic card's price tells.
• Explore every edition and every card, with its image, as the guide to exploring Magic sets explains.
• Read the official Magic rules, with their glossary.

There is also a community section: public decks, the most played cards and commanders, preconstructed Commander decks and a library of combos. Two guides detail them: preconstructed Commander decks and Commander combos.

Three commitments that will not change

Tapt is defined by three things, which the blog will repeat whenever needed:

1. Nobody can pay to climb the list. What ranks the results is the price, period. 2. No hidden margin. The amount shown is the store's own. Tapt sells nothing and takes nothing from your order. 3. Local stores first. No large American retailer in the results: every click sends a customer to a local business.

These rules have a practical consequence for this blog: we sell nothing here either, and we do not send your reading to other sites. The links in the articles point to Tapt's pages.

What you will find on the blog

Articles are sorted into four categories, which you will find at the top of the blog list:

• Magic news: what changes in the game and around the game.
• How Tapt works: the detailed manual of each Tapt tool, with screenshots of the site and real price examples.
• Game mechanics: texts that explain a rule, a format or a system, like Commander brackets.
• Top decks: decks that get people talking, what makes them work and what they cost at local stores.

The list has a search bar: type a few words, for example "shipping" or "Commander", and only the articles that contain them stay on screen. Every article exists in French and in English, and you can leave a comment under each one.

Where to start

The simplest way is to pick what you want to do today:

• You are looking for a specific card: open the comparator and type its name, then read the guide to understand the filters and the reference prices.
• You have a decklist: paste it into the deck comparator, which tells you where to buy it at the best price, shipping included.
• You want to wait for the right price: add the card to your tracking and let Tapt warn you.
• You play Commander and want to agree with your table: read the article on brackets.

If you have a question about the site itself, the FAQ answers the most frequent ones, and the About page tells why Tapt exists.

Frequently asked questions

Is Tapt free?

Yes, entirely. There is no subscription and no paid version, and you do not even need an account to compare. The account only serves to keep your favourite stores, your decks, your collection and your price tracking.

Are the prices up to date?

Each comparison reads the stores' pages at the moment you launch it. The result is kept in memory for two minutes so as not to hammer the sites if you rerun the same card in a row.

Which stores are covered?

Featured Quebec game stores, plus a good selection of stores elsewhere in Canada. The full list opens in the left panel of the comparator, where you choose which ones to query.

How do I reach the team?

Open a ticket from the Support page: a question, a bug, a misidentified card or a store to add, and Tapt answers you by email. It is the official channel; there is no phone and no live chat.

Happy reading

Take the time to read the guide that matches your need, and come back here when a new article comes out: the blog will grow with the site. If an explanation is missing or if some information looks outdated, tell us in a comment under the article or through a support ticket.