Last updated on April 20, 2024
Tablet of the Guilds | Illustration by Nic Klein
When I started playing Magic, I had no idea that playmats even existed. I was blissfully ignorant just bridge-shuffling my unsleeved Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, and slapping my cards down straight onto the kitchen table. As I started to understand just how valuable my cards were, and when I realized I probably wasn’t going to stop playing Magic anytime soon, I decided to invest in some ways to help protect my cards, which included playmats.
For the uninitiated, in its most standard form, a TCG playmat is essentially a big mouse pad: a soft fabric top over a rubber bottom. These come in a variety of sizes and can be a variety of solid colors or feature artwork. Playmats can help protect your cards, help you play more easily, and custom playmats can even be a nice form of self-expression. Playmats typically also last a while, so while they do add to the overall price of getting into Magic, they aren’t a recurring cost.
Similar to card sleeves, there are a lot of options out there for playmats. Which one is the best for you will vary on your personal taste and individual needs. That said, if you’re unsure of where to start, there are a few playmats I would consider as the best options, to help narrow down your choices.
Best Overall
The best overall choice for a Magic playmat is easily Ultra PRO. My Ultra PRO Oath of the Gatewatch Gameday Champion mat is still going strong after 8 years, countless spilled drinks, and even an incident involving Korean fried chicken covered in sauce. The art itself still looks great after all this time, and there are very few signs of wear and tear on its surface, even without using a playmat tube.
In addition to the great quality of their mats, Ultra PRO is also the company that is officially partnered with Wizards of the Coast. This means they get official Magic card art for their mats, as well as special promotional art like the Extra Life 2023 My Little Pony mat which tied in with Magic’s Secret Lair event for the charity. With every new MTG set, Ultra PRO releases a slew of new playmats featuring some of the most prominent characters from the set, and they also typically have matching card sleeves to go with them. This makes it really easy to bling out your deck in matching gear featuring official Magic art.
Ultra PRO mats are also very reasonably priced. Mats for new Magic sets are typically priced at $21.99, or you can get a mat in a solid color for only $11.99. Ultra PRO also occasionally has clearance sales where you can get mats featuring artwork for even cheaper than the normal asking price. If you frequently host game nights, Ultra PRO also offers full table-sized mats which are usually priced around $94.99 for a six- to eight-foot mat.
While Ultra PRO might be the best all-around mat, some other sellers excel in specific areas in ways that surpass Ultra PRO. If your playmat needs fall into one of these more niche areas, then it is worth shopping around and seeing what other options you have.
- Accessories
- Country of origin:- Germany
- Item Package Quantity: 1
- Model Number: 86840
Buyer’s Guide
Qualities of a Good Playmat
When buying a playmat, you’ll want to make sure that it, at the very least, has a fabric top and a non-slip rubber back. If the entire mat is rubber, it won’t be as easy to move your cards around and tap them as needed.
Additionally, you’ll want to check how thick the mat is. If a playmat is too thin there won’t be much difference between playing on it and directly on the table. A playmat that is too thin won’t give you the added ease of picking up your cards or be as much of a buffer between them and whatever might get on the table.
Playmat Sizes
The standard size for an individual playmat is 24” x 14” (61cm x 35cm). These are the types of mats you will see most often and are used to cover an individual player’s section of the table. This tends to be the best size for bringing to an LGS for events since players usually prefer to use their own mats.
If you are looking for a mat that’s good for two-players, you can also find 24” x 24” (61cm x 61cm) playmats that are essentially just two standard-sized mats pressed together. These mats are nice for kitchen-table players who typically just play one-on-one and don’t feel the need for multiple mats.
Alternatively, you can buy a table-sized mat that covers your entire space. For example, Ultra PRO’s 6ft or 8ft maps are good options for longer folding tables and are perfect for larger game nights at home.
If you’re looking for a specific-sized playmat, there are also options for buying more custom mats. These can be good for table mats if existing sizes are too big for your table, and also just personal mats if you want to play around with the exact size of your mat. Custom-sized mats can also sometimes be made with custom art, allowing you to choose the exact type of playmat you want.
Here are just a few good options for where you can buy a custom mat:
*Ultra PRO’s custom playmats have a minimum order quantity of 1000 mats. This means they are a good option for your personal brand if you are looking to crowdfund a custom playmat for your own MTG content creation or personal game, but this isn’t a good option for someone just looking to buy a single custom mat.
Do You Need a Playmat?
If you’re new to Magic, I can absolutely understand seeing yet another accessory to buy and wondering if you really need one to play the game. Is having a playmat essential for playing Magic? No. Is it nice to have? Definitely.
One of the best aspects of having a playmat is that it makes it easier to pick up your cards. This might seem like a small deal, but it can mean a lot when it comes to preserving their value. If you’re constantly fumbling at the edges of your cards when trying to pick them up, you’re creating unneeded wear and tear on the edges that hurt the card’s value. Even if you aren’t thinking of reselling your cards at any point, the longer your cards stay nice, the longer you can play with them.
Red Flags
Before moving on to some of your best options, I want to point out a few warning signs of a low-quality playmat. One easy indication is the use of “MTG” in the name of any product that is not officially licensed by Wizards of the Coast. While “MTG” stands for Magic: The Gathering, the abbreviation isn’t copyrighted in any way. Any playmat company can say they are an “MTG” playmat without being affiliated with Wizards. While a playmat doesn’t have to be officially licensed by Wizards to be high-quality, it is a red flag if a company is trying to trick you into thinking Magic in some way sanctions them.
This also applies to any mats that are using artwork that are made to look like Magic art. For example, this mat by Buibuic uses AI-generated art that seems intentionally styled to look like art from a Magic card. Buibuic also uses “MTG” twice in the listing for their product, showing that they really want you to believe this product is somehow affiliated with Magic.
This mat is also a good example of another red flag: user reviews. The sad truth is that a product doesn’t need to have bad user reviews to be bad. The amount of reviews and what is actually said in them is very important to check as well. For example, this Buibuic mat has 7 five-star ratings, but none have a public review attached to them. There’s no way of knowing if these ratings are from real customers and no indication of why whoever rated it thought the mat deserved five stars.
When reading customer reviews, you’ll also want to look for the use of specific language and pictures to help determine whether a review is meaningful or not. A review that simply says “awesome product!” but gives no details isn’t necessarily the most helpful. Reviews that go into detail about the positive and negative aspects of a playmat are more likely to have more thought put into them. Reviews that include a picture are also helpful when buying from less-established brands, so you can see what the finished product actually looks like. If you’ve seen people playing with an Ultra PRO or Upper Deck mat in person before, you can safely assume you know what products from those brands will look like, but if you’re buying from a site or seller you’ve never heard of, you’ll want a picture of a finished product. Also make sure it’s an actual picture, not a mock-up used for advertising purposes.
Also, not necessarily a red flag about quality, but something you may want to avoid is overly inappropriate designs. I’m not going to link to any here, but some playmats feature sexually charged designs that include nudity. I would say use your judgment when it comes to buying a playmat like that if that’s your speed. If you’re just playing at home with a group of friends and everyone is okay with it, then that’s fine. However, if you’re going to FNM or other Magic events where you could be running into young players, or players who have sensitivities surrounding sexually explicit material, you should stick to something a little more appropriate for the setting.
The “Cadillac” of MTG Playmats
2. Elder Protectors
If you’re looking for the fanciest playmats, and don’t care too much about price, then you may be interested in a leather playmat. As nice as rubber or neoprene mats are, they aren’t as hardy a material as leather, but you are slightly more limited in the type of designs you can get on a leather mat.
One good option for leather mats is Elder Protectors. They have a variety of designs, including some that are Magic related, and some related to other well-known properties like Lord of the Rings. They also allow you to submit custom designs, but remember these designs are being pressed into leather. Make sure you’re picking a design that would work for that format.
Elder Protectors mats cost $79 before shipping, or $89 for a custom design. Their Etsy shop has plenty of glowing reviews which include pictures of the finished product, so you can see what they look like and hear what customers have to say to see if this type of mat is right for you.
1. Original Magic Art
If you’re looking for a more standard material, but would still like a more premium playmat option, I would recommend Original Magic Art. Original Magic Art works directly with MTG artists to sell prints and playmats of their artwork. OMA partners with Ultra PRO for their Magic mats, meaning they are a reliable quality, but these mats aren’t as widely available as the normal Ultra PRO mats. That makes them a bit more unique, and also a bit more expensive.
Original Magic Art mats start at $40, with some being $50. There is also the occasional limited edition mat that costs $80. These sometimes go toward benefitting a specific cause, for example the limited-edition Alesha, Who Smiles at Death playmat gives a portion of its proceeds to the Trevor Project.
Original Magic Art also runs crowdfunding campaigns to unlock new playmat designs. Once 25 customers have pledged to buy a playmat (at a discounted price of $35), the playmat will become available to order on the site. OMA also runs Kickstarter campaigns for playmat collections dedicated to a specific artist. Currently, you can pledge late to their Magali Villeneuve Collection to reserve one or more playmats based on Villeneuve’s stunning Magic art for cards like Teysa Karlov, Chadra, Torch of Defiance, or Eriette of the Charmed Apple.
Best Quality for the Price
2. Ultra PRO
When it comes to getting the best quality playmat at a reasonable price, Ultra PRO is still the way to go. This is especially true if you just want an $11.99 solid color mat. That said, if you’re looking for some different styles of artwork, you have a few options.
1. Inked Gaming
Inked Gaming offers standard playmats starting at $24.95, which is only slightly more expensive than Ultra PRO. They also have unique art from artists, and tie-ins like Michael Whelan’s cover art for The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. Inked Gaming has also partnered with Thingamajigs for artwork like this legally distinct group of squirrels fighting totally-not Nicol Bolas which might make a nice mat for the upcoming Bloomburrow set. Inked Gaming also offers fully customized mats for the same price as their normal mats, which is a good deal.
Best Budget Playmat
2. Miniature Market (Various Brands)
If you’re looking for good deals on a playmat, I would recommend checking out Miniature Market. Not only do they offer Ultra PRO playmats at a slight discount, they also have sales where you can get playmats for as little as $7. If you aren’t picky about which exact playmat you pick up, Miniature Market’s clearance items are probably the best option, since you’re getting mats from established brands at a heavy discount.
1. Make Your Own Option
If you don’t care about art at all, you can also just buy plain neoprene. Some playmats are made out of neoprene, and if you just want the material with no artwork on it, you can get it much cheaper than something with art on it. That said, you’ll have to measure and cut the playmat for yourself, and it may be a little rough on the edge if you don’t have good tools for cutting it.
Should I Get a Playmat?
If you play Magic consistently, you should get a playmat. It is one of the best Magic products for protecting your cards, and it gives you a nice surface to play on. Your cards will move around more easily on top of it, even if they’re in slightly stickier sleeves, and you don’t have to worry about what might be on the table. A good-quality playmat is also going to last you for years, so it isn’t a consistent extra cost for playing the game.
Playmats can also be a good social icebreaker when playing at a local store. They’re a good way to show off what Magic cards you enjoy, or what other interests you have if you decide to go with custom art. This can be a good way to strike up a conversation with an opponent or Commander pod.
How To Clean Your Playmat
While playmats are pretty resistant to a lot of substances, they will still get a little dirty over time. It’s also important to remember that, while the top of your playmat might look nice, the bottom could be picking up crumbs, dirt, or other gross substances from the top of the tables you’re playing on.
Luckily, some brands offer specific washing instructions for how to take care of your playmat. For example, here are Ultra PRO’s instructions for machine washing your playmat. If you aren’t sure where to find these instructions, or the brand you bought from doesn’t offer any, there are some general rules for washing playmats. One of the most important to remember is to never machine dry your playmat. You’ll want to hang dry any mats to keep them in good condition. As for washing them, you have a few options:
By Hand
- Make sure to run your water until it is lukewarm.
- Use a small amount of a mild liquid soap with no bleach.
- Gently scrub soap into your playmat with a soft cloth or your hands, avoid overly rough sponges.
- Don’t soak your mat, just use enough water to spread across the entire surface.
- Rinse and then air dry.
Machine Wash
- Make sure your mat is machine washable by checking the packaging or the seller’s site for any information. If you can’t determine whether your mat is machine washable, stick to washing it by hand.
- Wash on a delicate cycle with cold water, and make sure any detergent you use does not contain bleach.
- Air dry your mat.
Wrap Up
Mishra's Research Desk | Illustration by Matt Stewart
If you have been on the fence about getting a playmat, you now hopefully have the resources you need to pull the trigger on the right mat for you. Whether you’re looking for a cheap playmat just to protect your cards, or you want to show off your style with a premium mat, you now have some good options.
Personally, I still think Ultra PRO is probably your best option, whether it’s their cheap colored playmats, the official MTG tie-ins, or the slightly more expensive Original Magic Art collaborations, Ultra PRO has an option for everyone. If you want to explore other options, you can also use the buyer’s guide to explore other brands not listed here, and it will help you decide which mats look good, and which you should probably skip.
Now that you’ll be set on playmats, maybe you want to check out other Magic accessories, or look into some fun decks to play with your new mat. If you head over to our blog, you will find all sorts of Magic articles to help you on your next step. You can also connect with us on the Draftsim Discord or in the comments if you have any further playmat questions!
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