How the Tier List Is Calculated

Our tier list is data-driven and rules-based. Each set is evaluated from the market prices of its visible cards, then assigned to a tier based on its final score relative to the sealed box cost.

1) Data We Use

For each set, we collect all visible cards with a valid positive market price and build the full price distribution from those values.

Price selection follows a fixed fallback order across available market fields, using the first valid positive value found for each card. We also retrieve the sealed product price linked to the set in order to measure how efficiently the singles value compares to the cost of opening the box.

2) How The Score Is Built

The core scoring variable is the ratio between average single-card value and box cost.

Core formula:
tier score = mean card price / box price

Mean card price is the arithmetic mean of all valid card prices in the set.
Box price is the market price of the sealed product linked to that set.

In simple terms, sets with stronger average singles value relative to their sealed cost receive higher scores.

3) Supporting Diagnostics

Alongside the final score, we also calculate descriptive statistics to help interpret the shape and quality of the price distribution:

• Median price: shows the central value of the set.
• Population standard deviation: shows how spread out the prices are.
• Priced-card count and missing-price count: show coverage quality.
• Percentage of cards above $10.00: shows value depth across the set.
• Total value above $10.00: isolates the meaningful upper-value segment.
• Top-3 concentration: measures how much value is concentrated in the three strongest hits.

Top-3 concentration is calculated as: sum(top 3 cards above $10.00) / sum(all cards above $10.00)

These metrics are diagnostic. They help explain whether a set has broad value support or is top-heavy, but they donot currently determine the final tier.

4) Quality Checks And Data Rules

The model also applies a few consistency rules so the output remains reproducible and comparable across sets.

• Only cards with a valid positive price are included in the EV calculation.
• Cards without a usable price are excluded from the score, but still counted as missing.
• Price selection always follows the same fallback order across market fields.
• Some sets can be merged under predefined rules when the product mapping requires it.
• If the sealed price is missing, the model falls back to a fixed box cost of 200.

5) Tier Assignment

After the score is calculated, each set is assigned to a fixed tier band. This makes the output rules-based and fully repeatable rather than opinion-based.

6) Why Tiers Can Change

The tier list can change whenever the workflow is recalculated with updated market data. As card prices move and sealed product costs shift, the score of a set can move up or down accordingly.