Steam Trading Cards

Steam Trading Cards are virtual cards earned by playing games on Steam. Sets of cards can be turned into game badges and tradable Steam community items.

Foil Cards
Foil cards are significantly rarer and more costly than regular cards. They can be used to craft the special Foil badge. Otherwise, Foil cards serve no different purpose than regular cards.

How to obtain

 * As a drop while playing Dota 2.
 * Because Dota 2 is a free-to-play game, players do not receive free cards like most other games. Instead, a card drop becomes available for roughly every $9 USD spent on cosmetic items in the Dota 2 Store.
 * If you have card drops available, they will appear automatically in your Steam inventory as long as your Dota 2 client is open.
 * Cards drop approximately once every 15-60 minutes.
 * From the Steam Community Market.
 * By trading with another player.
 * From a Booster Pack.
 * Booster Packs are packets of several cards that drop randomly after you have forged one Dota 2 badge.
 * Booster Packs can also be bought on the Market.
 * Booster Packs drop more frequently for players with higher Steam Levels.

Badges
Once a player has collected a set of 8 cards, a badge can be crafted on the Badges page in his/her Steam Profile. Badges can be leveled up by crafting repeatedly, with each set raising the badge level by one. The Foil badge can only be crafted with a set of Foil cards. Badges can be featured on your Steam Profile.

Rewards
Crafting badges will always grant the player a Dota 2 Profile Background and an Emoticon, with a chance of obtaining a Coupon. It will also contribute 100 XP towards your Steam Level, which will add features to your Steam Profile display.

Profile Backgrounds
Profile Backgrounds are used to decorate your Steam Profile. They can be sold and bought on the Market, or traded with other players.

Emoticons
Emoticons can be used in chats and comments on Steam. They cannot be used in the Dota 2 client. They can be sold and bought on the Market, or traded with other players.

Coupons
Coupons can be used to purchase another Steam game at a discount. Discounts range from 15% to 90%. Coupons will expire after a predetermined time.