Walk down the grade ladder

Slight, barely-visible flaws are fine for Near Mint, up to 3 points total. If these are the only flaws and they stay small, the card still grades NM.

Near-mint nicks Barely-there nicks from handling. Small enough that they don't drop the grade.

Slight off-center cut The print is a little off-center, but still within TCGplayer's acceptable range and does not show a cut dot or neighboring sheet artwork.

Minor wear knocks a card down to Lightly Played. Up to 6 points of minor edge wear, scratches, scuffing, indents, or bends. No Surface Wear, Grime, Bend, Fault, or Damage.

Light edge whitening Faint whitening along the border. Minor edge wear is enough to drop a card to LP.

Light corner nicks Tiny corner flakes past what Near Mint allows.

Light play edgewear General light edge wear from handling. Still LP.

Moderate flaws cap the card at Moderately Played. Up to 12 points across moderate edge wear, scratches, scuffing, and indents, plus a little surface wear, grime, bends, fault, or defect.

Moderate edge wear Whitening and nicks along several edges, visible at a glance.

Scratches A scratch group or a single moderate score across the surface.

Scuffing / clouding Cloudy patches, usually from scratch groups or sleeve gloss.

Indentations Dings, pockmarks, or dents pressed into the card.

Slight edge peel A small surface layer lifting along the edge. Larger peels or any split between cardstock layers are Damaged.

Major edge wear, scuffing, scratches, or grime mean the card grades Heavily Played at best. Moderate bends, surface wear, indentations, or fault are OK here. Nothing structural.

Major edge wear Continuous fraying and whitening all the way along the borders.

Grime Dirt or smudge from handling or rough storage.

Surface wear Material loss that shows the card's inner layers.

Bend or crease Lines from folding or pressing. Moderate bends cap a card at HP.

Foreign substances, ink, tears, splits, or major faults. Anything that breaks the card's structure. Damaged cards need a photo on the listing and can't grade higher no matter what.

Tears, splits, debris Tears, splits, debris. The card is Damaged no matter what else looks right.

Liquid stain or residue Visible staining, residue, or wrinkling from liquid exposure is Damaged, not just heavy play.

Signature or marker Added ink: signature, marker, paint. Always Damaged, even when it's intentional.

Stamp Rubber stamps, authentication marks, store stamps. Always Damaged.