diff --git a/app/routers_v2/players.py b/app/routers_v2/players.py
index 6579aae..34fefe1 100644
--- a/app/routers_v2/players.py
+++ b/app/routers_v2/players.py
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ from ..db_helpers import upsert_players
 from ..dependencies import oauth2_scheme, valid_token
 from ..services.card_storage import backfill_variant_image_url
 from ..services.refractor_boost import compute_variant_hash
+from ..services.apng_generator import apng_cache_path, generate_animated_card
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Persistent browser instance (WP-02)
@@ -736,6 +737,132 @@ async def get_one_player(player_id: int, csv: Optional[bool] = False):
         return return_val
 
 
+@router.get("/{player_id}/{card_type}card/{d}/{variant}/animated")
+async def get_animated_card(
+    request: Request,
+    player_id: int,
+    card_type: Literal["batting", "pitching"],
+    variant: int,
+    d: str,
+    tier: Optional[int] = Query(
+        None, ge=0, le=4, description="Override refractor tier for preview (dev only)"
+    ),
+):
+    try:
+        this_player = Player.get_by_id(player_id)
+    except DoesNotExist:
+        raise HTTPException(
+            status_code=404, detail=f"No player found with id {player_id}"
+        )
+
+    refractor_tier = (
+        tier if tier is not None else resolve_refractor_tier(player_id, variant)
+    )
+    if refractor_tier < 3:
+        raise HTTPException(
+            status_code=404,
+            detail=f"No animation for tier {refractor_tier}; animated cards require T3 or T4",
+        )
+
+    cache_path = apng_cache_path(
+        this_player.cardset.id, card_type, player_id, d, variant
+    )
+    headers = {"Cache-Control": "public, max-age=86400"}
+
+    if os.path.isfile(cache_path) and tier is None:
+        return FileResponse(path=cache_path, media_type="image/png", headers=headers)
+
+    all_pos = (
+        CardPosition.select()
+        .where(CardPosition.player == this_player)
+        .order_by(CardPosition.innings.desc())
+    )
+
+    if card_type == "batting":
+        this_bc = BattingCard.get_or_none(
+            BattingCard.player == this_player, BattingCard.variant == variant
+        )
+        if this_bc is None:
+            raise HTTPException(
+                status_code=404,
+                detail=f"Batting card not found for id {player_id}, variant {variant}",
+            )
+        rating_vl = BattingCardRatings.get_or_none(
+            BattingCardRatings.battingcard == this_bc, BattingCardRatings.vs_hand == "L"
+        )
+        rating_vr = BattingCardRatings.get_or_none(
+            BattingCardRatings.battingcard == this_bc, BattingCardRatings.vs_hand == "R"
+        )
+        if None in [rating_vr, rating_vl]:
+            raise HTTPException(
+                status_code=404,
+                detail=f"Ratings not found for batting card {this_bc.id}",
+            )
+        card_data = get_batter_card_data(
+            this_player, this_bc, rating_vl, rating_vr, all_pos
+        )
+        if (
+            this_player.description in this_player.cardset.name
+            and this_player.cardset.id not in [23]
+        ):
+            card_data["cardset_name"] = this_player.cardset.name
+        else:
+            card_data["cardset_name"] = this_player.description
+        card_data["refractor_tier"] = refractor_tier
+        card_data["request"] = request
+        html_response = templates.TemplateResponse("player_card.html", card_data)
+
+    else:
+        this_pc = PitchingCard.get_or_none(
+            PitchingCard.player == this_player, PitchingCard.variant == variant
+        )
+        if this_pc is None:
+            raise HTTPException(
+                status_code=404,
+                detail=f"Pitching card not found for id {player_id}, variant {variant}",
+            )
+        rating_vl = PitchingCardRatings.get_or_none(
+            PitchingCardRatings.pitchingcard == this_pc,
+            PitchingCardRatings.vs_hand == "L",
+        )
+        rating_vr = PitchingCardRatings.get_or_none(
+            PitchingCardRatings.pitchingcard == this_pc,
+            PitchingCardRatings.vs_hand == "R",
+        )
+        if None in [rating_vr, rating_vl]:
+            raise HTTPException(
+                status_code=404,
+                detail=f"Ratings not found for pitching card {this_pc.id}",
+            )
+        card_data = get_pitcher_card_data(
+            this_player, this_pc, rating_vl, rating_vr, all_pos
+        )
+        if (
+            this_player.description in this_player.cardset.name
+            and this_player.cardset.id not in [23]
+        ):
+            card_data["cardset_name"] = this_player.cardset.name
+        else:
+            card_data["cardset_name"] = this_player.description
+        card_data["refractor_tier"] = refractor_tier
+        card_data["request"] = request
+        html_response = templates.TemplateResponse("player_card.html", card_data)
+
+    browser = await get_browser()
+    page = await browser.new_page(viewport={"width": 1280, "height": 720})
+    try:
+        await generate_animated_card(
+            page,
+            html_response.body.decode("UTF-8"),
+            cache_path,
+            refractor_tier,
+        )
+    finally:
+        await page.close()
+
+    return FileResponse(path=cache_path, media_type="image/png", headers=headers)
+
+
 @router.get("/{player_id}/{card_type}card")
 @router.get("/{player_id}/{card_type}card/{d}")
 @router.get("/{player_id}/{card_type}card/{d}/{variant}")
diff --git a/app/routers_v2/refractor.py b/app/routers_v2/refractor.py
index d680a32..cb5d06a 100644
--- a/app/routers_v2/refractor.py
+++ b/app/routers_v2/refractor.py
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ async def list_card_states(
     if evaluated_only:
         query = query.where(RefractorCardState.last_evaluated_at.is_null(False))
 
-    total = query.count()
+    total = query.count() or 0
     items = []
     for state in query.offset(offset).limit(limit):
         player_name = None
diff --git a/app/services/apng_generator.py b/app/services/apng_generator.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2bc7237
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/services/apng_generator.py
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+"""
+APNG animated card generation for T3 and T4 refractor tiers.
+
+Captures animation frames by scrubbing CSS animations via Playwright — each
+frame is rendered with a negative animation-delay that freezes the render at a
+specific point in the animation cycle.  The captured PNGs are then assembled
+into a looping APNG using the apng library.
+
+Cache / S3 path convention:
+  Local: storage/cards/cardset-{id}/{card_type}/{player_id}-{date}-v{variant}.apng
+  S3:    cards/cardset-{id}/{card_type}/{player_id}-{date}-v{variant}.apng
+"""
+
+import os
+import tempfile
+
+from apng import APNG
+from playwright.async_api import Page
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Animation specs per tier
+# Each entry: list of (css_selector, animation_duration_seconds) pairs that
+# need to be scrubbed, plus the frame count and per-frame display time.
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+_T3_SPEC = {
+    "selectors_and_durations": [("#header::after", 2.5)],
+    "num_frames": 12,
+    "frame_delay_ms": 200,
+}
+
+_T4_SPEC = {
+    "selectors_and_durations": [
+        ("#header::after", 6.0),
+        (".tier-diamond.diamond-glow", 2.0),
+    ],
+    "num_frames": 24,
+    "frame_delay_ms": 250,
+}
+
+ANIM_SPECS = {3: _T3_SPEC, 4: _T4_SPEC}
+
+
+def apng_cache_path(
+    cardset_id: int, card_type: str, player_id: int, d: str, variant: int
+) -> str:
+    """Return the local filesystem cache path for an animated card APNG."""
+    return f"storage/cards/cardset-{cardset_id}/{card_type}/{player_id}-{d}-v{variant}.apng"
+
+
+async def generate_animated_card(
+    page: Page,
+    html_content: str,
+    output_path: str,
+    tier: int,
+) -> None:
+    """Generate an animated APNG for a T3 or T4 refractor card.
+
+    Scrubs each CSS animation by injecting an override <style> tag that sets
+    animation-play-state: running and a negative animation-delay, freezing the
+    render at evenly-spaced intervals across one animation cycle.  The captured
+    frames are assembled into a looping APNG at output_path.
+
+    Args:
+        page: An open Playwright page (caller is responsible for lifecycle).
+        html_content: Rendered card HTML string (from TemplateResponse.body).
+        output_path: Destination path for the .apng file.
+        tier: Refractor tier — must be 3 or 4.
+
+    Raises:
+        ValueError: If tier is not 3 or 4.
+    """
+    spec = ANIM_SPECS.get(tier)
+    if spec is None:
+        raise ValueError(
+            f"No animation spec for tier {tier}; animated cards are T3 and T4 only"
+        )
+
+    num_frames = spec["num_frames"]
+    frame_delay_ms = spec["frame_delay_ms"]
+    selectors_and_durations = spec["selectors_and_durations"]
+
+    frame_paths: list[str] = []
+    try:
+        for i in range(num_frames):
+            progress = i / num_frames  # 0.0 .. (N-1)/N, seamless loop
+            await page.set_content(html_content)
+
+            # Inject override CSS: unpauses animation and seeks to frame offset
+            css_parts = []
+            for selector, duration in selectors_and_durations:
+                delay_s = -progress * duration
+                css_parts.append(
+                    f"{selector} {{"
+                    f" animation-play-state: running !important;"
+                    f" animation-delay: {delay_s:.4f}s !important;"
+                    f" }}"
+                )
+            await page.add_style_tag(content="\n".join(css_parts))
+
+            tmp = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(suffix=".png", delete=False)
+            tmp.close()
+            await page.screenshot(
+                path=tmp.name,
+                type="png",
+                clip={"x": 0.0, "y": 0, "width": 1200, "height": 600},
+            )
+            frame_paths.append(tmp.name)
+
+        dir_path = os.path.dirname(output_path)
+        if dir_path:
+            os.makedirs(dir_path, exist_ok=True)
+
+        apng_obj = APNG()
+        for frame_path in frame_paths:
+            # delay/delay_den is the frame display time in seconds as a fraction
+            apng_obj.append_file(frame_path, delay=frame_delay_ms, delay_den=1000)
+        apng_obj.save(output_path)
+
+    finally:
+        for path in frame_paths:
+            try:
+                os.unlink(path)
+            except OSError:
+                pass
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index c27075d..f5c7001 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -12,4 +12,5 @@ requests==2.32.3
 html2image==2.0.6
 jinja2==3.1.4
 playwright==1.45.1
+apng==3.1.1
 boto3==1.42.65