# Collecting Cards, Packs & Stellar Variants > A collector's guide to Moonfall — opening card packs, spending Stardust, chasing animated Stellar cards, unlocking cardbacks, and trading on the Moon Exchange. - Canonical: https://moonfall.io/blog/collecting-stellar-cards - Published: 2026-07-04 - Updated: 2026-08-17 - Language: en - Part of: Moonfall guides — https://moonfall.io/blog - Play: https://moonfall.io/play ![A colossal sea serpent of blue scales coiling above a tiny ship at dusk.](https://moonfall.io/assets/marketing/art/jormungandr-1920.webp) *Every card you collect is a creature you can summon — and the rarest ones are alive.* In Moonfall, a collection isn't a binder of cardboard — it's a roster of creatures you can actually summon, each one a prompt the [AI Game Master](https://moonfall.io/blog/ai-game-master) brings to life when you play it. This guide is for the collectors: how packs work, what **Stardust** buys, how to chase the coveted **Stellar** variants, and how to trade for the print you've been missing. ## Stardust: the collector's currency Almost everything you collect flows through **Stardust**, Moonfall's craft-and-collect currency. You earn it by playing and spend it to buy packs, craft copies of cards you love, fuel the [Moon Foundry](https://moonfall.io/blog/moon-foundry-guide) and [Moon Dream](https://moonfall.io/blog/moon-dream-guide), and buy prints on the Moon Exchange. Think of it as the thread that ties the whole collection loop together. ## Opening packs The most direct way to grow a collection is the **card pack.** Each pack costs the Stardust shown in the shop and holds a fixed number of cards. You buy it, open it with a satisfying drag, and **claim each card one at a time** — five little moments of luck instead of one. A few rules shape what's inside: - Packs contain **the card types listed in the shop, no forged Foundry results, nothing private or archived. - Cards you claim are added to your Collection. - And every so often, a pack hides something that moves. ![A supernova bursting open, echoing the reveal of a fresh pack pull.](https://moonfall.io/assets/marketing/scenes/supernova-1280.webp) *Each pack opens one card at a time — a small burst of luck, five times over.* ## Stellar cards: prints that are alive The crown of any collection is a **Stellar** card. A normal card is a still illustration; a **Stellar** card is that same card *animated* — a living print with a gentle, silent hover loop and a cinematic moment when played. Characters deliver a voiced **summon**; Spells unleash a one-shot **cast** with spell sound effects and no voice whatsoever. Seeing one come alive in play is the closest a card game gets to magic stepping out of the page. There are two ways to earn one: - **Craft it.** From your Collection, you can craft a Stellar copy of a card you already own for a Stardust cost — the deliberate route to a specific animated card you want. - **Pull it.** Packs can award a Stellar card when the odds hit *and* that card already has a finished Stellar animation ready. It's the lucky route. ![An animated Stellar version of a Moonfall storm-hawk card, shimmering with motion.](https://moonfall.io/assets/marketing/fronts/stormHawk-swin.webp) *Stellar cards are living prints — silent in motion, cinematic in play.* Chasing your first Stellar has a bonus, too: crafting one for the first time unlocks the **Stellar Crucible** cardback — a cosmetic card back that quietly marks you as someone who's touched the deep end of the collection. ## Cardbacks and the long game Beyond the cards themselves, Moonfall gives collectors **cardbacks** — cosmetic backs unlocked through milestones like that first Stellar craft. They don't change how you play; they change how your deck *feels*, a small badge of the road you've travelled. Collecting in Moonfall isn't only about filling gaps in a list — it's about the marks you pick up along the way. ## Trading on the Moon Exchange No collector fills every slot from packs alone, which is where the **Moon Exchange** comes in — an in-game marketplace built into your Collection. It works like a clean order book: - **List** a card print at a Stardust price. Your print goes into **escrow** the moment you list it. - **Buy** from open listings — any quantity up to what's left, with **partial fills** allowed, so a big listing can be chipped away by many buyers. - Sellers receive the Stardust minus a small exchange fee. There's a neat wrinkle for Foundry fans: buying a Moon Foundry card on the Exchange also grants you that card's **recipe discovery** in the same transaction — so a lucky purchase can reveal a fusion you'd never made yourself. ![An animated Stellar Whisper Sprite card — the little fae flutters and listens inside its own frame.](https://moonfall.io/assets/marketing/fronts/whisperSprite-swin.webp) *Even at rest in your Collection, a Stellar print never stops moving. Hover to watch its silent loop.* ## Putting it together The collection loop feeds itself. Play matches to earn Stardust, open packs to grow your roster, craft the cards you love into Stellar showpieces, unlock cardbacks along the way, and trade on the Exchange for the prints luck never gave you. And because [every card play is a prompt](https://moonfall.io/blog/what-is-an-ai-card-game) rather than a stat line, a fuller collection isn't just a longer list — it's a wider imagination to draw on when you sit down to play. Ready to start pulling? [Open Moonfall](https://moonfall.io/play) and crack your first pack tonight. ## FAQ ### How do card packs work in Moonfall? A card pack costs the Stardust shown in the shop and contains a fixed number of cards. You buy it, open it with a drag, and claim each card one at a time. The current price, contents, and odds are shown with the offer before you buy. ### What are Stellar cards? Stellar cards are animated versions of a card — living prints with a silent hover loop and a type-specific play moment. Characters have voiced summons; Spells have one-shot casting animation and sound effects, never voices. They're the rarest, most prized form a card can take. ### How do I get a Stellar card? Two ways. You can craft a Stellar copy of a card you own from your Collection for a Stardust cost, or you can pull one from a pack when the odds hit and that card already has a finished Stellar animation. ### What is Stardust used for? Stardust is Moonfall's craft-and-collect currency. You spend it to buy packs, craft normal or Stellar copies of cards, generate content in the Moon Foundry and Moon Dream, and buy prints on the Moon Exchange. ### How does trading work? The Moon Exchange is an in-game marketplace. You list a card print for a Stardust price; it's held in escrow, and other players can buy any quantity until it's filled. Buying a Foundry card also grants you its recipe discovery.