cardcast.gg vs SpellTable
Both let you play paper Magic over a webcam, but cardcast.gg offers more.
The Basics
- SpellTable identifies one card at a time, when you click it. cardcast watches the whole table and identifies cards automatically as they hit the battlefield.
- SpellTable needs a Wizards account. cardcast just needs a link.
- SpellTable caps games at four players. cardcast seats up to eight, so nobody sits out of the pod.
Side by side
| Feature | cardcast.gg | SpellTable |
|---|---|---|
| Knowing what's on the board | ||
| Automatic card detection | Yes Continuous - cards are recognised as you play them | No Manual: click a card in the video feed to identify it, one at a time |
| Decklist import | Yes Moxfield, Archidekt and MTGGoldfish - narrows detection to your list | No Not supported |
| Rules text on demand | Yes Full oracle text and keyword reminders for any card on the board | Limited Card image in a side drawer |
| Card Combos | Yes Top 5 combos for each card, so you know if a player is trying to combo off. | No Not supported |
| Getting a game going | ||
| Play without an account | Yes Create a game, share the link, play - nickname only | No Wizards account and email address required |
| Players per game | Yes Up to 8 | Limited Up to 4 |
| Phone as a camera | No Not built in - use a webcam | Yes Yes, marked experimental |
| At the table | ||
| Life and counters | Yes Life, commander damage, commander tax, poison, experience, radiation | Limited Life, commander damage, infect |
| Game state extras | Yes Monarch, initiative, elimination, turn timer, dice roller, virtual tokens | Limited Monarch, elimination, turn indicator, turn clock |
| Video layouts | Yes Tiled, horizontal spotlight, vertical spotlight | Yes Grid and focused view |
| Audio and video | Yes Built in, with mute and camera controls | Yes Built in, peer-to-peer |
| The project | ||
| Free to play | Yes Free | Yes Free |
| Still being built | Yes Actively developed | No We're not sure |
Yes Supported Limited Limited No Not supported
cardcast.gg Wins
Detection runs by itself
SpellTable's scanner is something you operate. You click a card in someone's stream, it grabs a small crop of the video, and the card appears in a drawer. That is better than plain video sharing, but it is still a manual step every single time somebody wants a closer look.
cardcast watches the feed continuously. Cards are recognised as they are played and stay attached to the board, so the table always knows what is out without anyone stopping to ask.
Decklists feed knowledge
Paste a list from Moxfield, Archidekt or MTGGoldfish and detection prioritises the hundred-odd cards it knows you are actually playing instead of searching every card ever printed. It is faster and more accurate, SpellTable has no equivalent. See importing decklists for the details.
Anonymity
SpellTable requires a Wizards account. cardcast asks for nothing but a per-game nickname: hit Play Now, send the link to your pod, and you are tapping lands. No email, no signups.
Room for the whole pod
Four players is a hard ceiling on SpellTable. cardcast supports up to eight. We're honestly not sure why you'd want to play with 8 people, but you can if you want!
Where SpellTable is still the better pick
Realistically:
- It is official. SpellTable is a Wizards of the Coast product. cardcast is unofficial Fan Content built by a much smaller team.
- Your phone can be the camera. SpellTable supports streaming from an Android or iOS device instead of a webcam. cardcast does not have this yet - you will want an actual webcam.
- Oldie but goodie. Six years of setup guides, videos and playgroup habits have made Spelltable consistent and people know about it. cardcast.gg is new and upcoming.
So which one?
If you have a four-person pod, a phone on a boom arm, and you do not mind clicking cards to read them, SpellTable does the job and has done for years.
If you want the board tracked for you, a bigger table, your decklists imported, virtual tokens. It takes about two minutes to set up - see the getting started guide - and there is nothing to install.
Try it with your playgroup
No account, no install. Point a webcam at your cards and share the link.