This comparison starts with a warning about names, because the two tools are often confused and one of them has a complicated history. Magic Set Editor (MSE) is a free, open-source desktop program released under GPL-2.0, originally written by Twan van Laarhoven. It was designed first for Magic: The Gathering and also supports other games through templates, including Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokémon and Vs. System. Its unit of work is the set: you build and manage a whole custom set in one file, use its statistics window (such as average mana cost and rarity counts), generate randomized packs and sealed pools, and export cards as png, jpg, bmp or tiff images — individually or as a whole-set batch — as well as to HTML and to play tools such as LackeyCCG and Cockatrice. It runs offline on your own computer, and your project files stay on your own disk.
What CardConjurer was — and what the current site is
CardConjurer was a web-based custom card creator that launched in 2020. In November 2022 its original project received a cease and desist from Wizards of the Coast: the original site was shut down that month, as reported at the time by TheGamer and TechRaptor. That history matters for trust. The cardconjurer.com domain is still reachable in 2026 — when we checked its homepage on 21 October 2026 it described itself as a free, web-based custom card creator where you can use its custom templates or make your own — but who operates the current site, and what its relationship is to the original project, is unverified. We therefore do not treat the current domain as the same proven project, and we do not recommend uploading work you cannot afford to lose to any web tool whose operator you cannot identify.
One genuine link between the two projects does exist on the MSE side: the community Full-Magic-Pack for MSE notes that some of its template images came from CardConjurer, including double-faced-card related frames. That is a template heritage, not a shared program or a shared team.
The real difference: a desktop set editor vs an online single-card tool
| Question | Magic Set Editor | CardConjurer (web form) |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Desktop program on your computer, works offline | In a web browser, on a site run by someone else |
| Unit of work | A whole set: many cards in one project file, with set statistics | Traditionally centred on making individual card images in the browser |
| Templates | Installed template packs (data/ folder plus fonts) that you control and can keep | Templates provided through the website itself |
| Your files | Local project files on your disk; you back them up yourself | Dependent on the site being available and on its operator |
| Cost and licence | Free, GPL-2.0 open source; source code is public | Presented on its current homepage as free to use; operator and terms of the current site unverified |
Which one fits which job?
- Building a full custom set or cube environment: MSE. Set-level management, statistics, randomized packs and whole-set batch export are set tools, and they are the reason MSE exists.
- Making one card image quickly, on a machine where you cannot install anything: a browser tool is the natural form for that job — that convenience is exactly what web card makers are for. Just keep the trust caveat above in mind, and keep your own copy of the artwork and text.
- Long-term projects: MSE again. The upstream program has been frozen at version 2.1.2 since 2020 and the community distribution is 2.5.8, but both run locally — a local program does not disappear when a website closes, which is precisely what happened to the original CardConjurer in 2022.
Our honest summary: these are not really the same kind of tool wearing two names. MSE is the set-building workbench you keep; a web card maker is a counter you visit. Many designers use the counter for a quick idea and the workbench for the real set.