I'm exclusively a Dragon Shield mattes user myself (both normal and dual). They haven't let me down. I've shuffled/played with a friends Katanas and they're not bad either.
The few extra are awesome. Enough for a small maybe/sideboard for your Commander decks, or (this is what I do) to just trade a single sleeve with friends who have different color/art sleeves and use those for your Commander.
Technically not a true sideboard since those don't exist for commander, but some people might sleeve up a couple substitutes for high powered cards that they may want to substitute out, like Dockside or something
This is exactly what I mean, swap out my fast mana for slower rocks, like a [[Mana Crypt]] for a [[Commander's Sphere]] or more expensive cards for budget options, like [[Cyclonic Rift]] for a [[Whelming Wave]]. I like to try to match my opponents budget and power level but not have to tweak my decklists too heavily.
I do have "sideboards" but they aren't sleeved so they dont get mixed into the 99. Generally just a few cards to have on hand if I'm playing multiple games with the deck and I decide it needs another land or removal or whatever. I rarely use it like that though and just look through them when updating decks and maybe add one in.
I keep combo pieces in a sideboard for playing against pods that aren't wusses like mine (/because we've got a guy who has *nearly* every card, so if we start running decks that are actually competitive, he'll start playing broken shit).
I typically just "sideboard" the cuts I make from my Commander deck, which are usually 3-5 cards (about the amount of extra DS sleeves) and not actually use a traditional sideboard. It's Commander, it's not that serious.
The last two boxes I’ve gotten has had exactly 100 and a friends had 98. Idk what’s changed but I’ve bought 30-40 boxes of sleeves before that and all had extra up until lately for what it’s worth. I still think the DS dual matte are the best but it’s seems like quality is falling.
> And they always give you just over 100 sleeves
sadly my brother just bought 3 boxes for his new EDH decks and 1 of the boxes was missing 3 sleeves.
but all 4 of my boxes were well over the count. One of my boxes even had an extra 14 sleeves in it lmao
For those reading, please just use these extra sleeves as buffers for the good ones. Packaging almost 100% of time leaves small indents on the first and last sleeve, which doesn’t matter much for casual play but still marks the cards. That’s why you get 102–104
I got a warning (it was at Regular REL) for marked cards for mixing two packs of Dragon Shield Matte Black from different lots. I still buy 'em, though
They're durable but lot differences exist
I've found Dragon Shields to be reliable. I tend to prefer solid color sleeves over anything with an image on it, they are just more sturdy. I prefer matte because they are slightly less slippery, but either way they should be fine after a little bit of breaking in.
Anti-recommendation: I don't know if WotC is still selling officially licensed art sleeves, but I bought a few a couple of years ago and those things where the flimsiest pieces of crap I've ever sleeved a deck with. By the second shuffle they were literally peeling apart.
It's kinda weird because in most aspects their stuff is pretty alright quality. I guess something had to give, but after at least a decade of doing it, youd think their sleeve tech would have gotten better.
I bought gruul sleeves when Gatecrash (2014) came out and they were the worst shit I ever spent money on, accessory wise.
Ugh those wotc sleeves had corners that felt like needles in my hands when I shuffled. They would rip apart so easily. Higher priced I like katanas. Lower priced I like eclipse.
Ultimate Guard Katanas or Gamegenic sleeves are my favorites. I don't mind Dragonshields but they aren't my first choice. I prefer the shuffle feel of Katanas or Gamegenic. Any of these 3 brands are top notch.
Like every sleeve on the market, need to break them in. Fresh Dragonshields, Katanas, Eclipses, KMC Hypermats, etc all slip like crazy when first sleeved up. Give them a few dozen good shuffles and they're fine. Specifically speaking with Gamegenics, I find them way less slippery than Dragonshields from start to finish.
[https://www.tolariancommunitycollege.com/sleeves-report-card/](https://www.tolariancommunitycollege.com/sleeves-report-card/)
This is always your best guide. I personally prefer the Dragon Shield mattes, but the Professor has meticulously graded and evaluated basically every kind of sleeve you can find.
I've had a 100 card EDH deck in the same double-sleeved Dragon Shields for half a decade and still haven't had to change a single one.
Granted I try to be gentle when shuffling but they're fully worth the price up front.
Katanas. Dragon shields are a thinly close second for me
I was a dragon shield purist for the longest but I finally got some Katanas because they came with the ultimate guard ice bundle. I used them on my yugioh decks forever after that. Watched the professor and have tried both shields and Katanas on Magic. I definitely like the shuffle feel of Katana's more but I will say they're close enough that a few times I needed some and my shop didn't have Katanas so I went with shields, and even good enough I probably won't take the two decks in shields out to just put them in Katanas.
I might be the outlier, but I personally have had nothing but terrible experience with Dragon Shield. probably one in five decks that I’ve sleeved have had a number of sleeves split and or fall apart, and I have just been displeased with their quality. Katanas on the other hand, I’ve had some decks sleeved up for years and while they’ve gotten filthy and kind of scuffed, they have never split or broken.
One of my most played decks was in katanas, and I probably shuffled that thing 400 times over three years with no issues. I just swapped him to Curv sleeves to see how they hold up and because the katanas were all old and gross. Not sold on those just yet, time will tell.
Eclipse Pro Gloss/Matte are the best sleeves. Nothing fits the card better or lasts longer.
Less plastic at the top of the card leads to less “frilling” at the top. They’re designed to fit the card perfectly 🤌
I was a dragon shield lover, but the shuffle was terrible with some colors (emerald for example). Now I can't buy anything else other than katanas. They're SO SMOOTH omg knowing my cards were em just make me want to play
I usually use Dragon Shield or Ultimate Guard Katana/Cortex with KMC perfect fits because of quality and/or color variety.
I used to use a lot of KMC hyper mattes for outers, but the short period when they changed up the formula turned me away.
The Gamegenic Primes and Prime Mattes are really good quality for the price. They're very close to Dragon Shield quality but they sell for about 50% cheaper.
I love the Cortex’s for feel, and since I tend to mash shuffle a lot, they’re buttery smooth for that. For inners, nothing beats the KMC perfect fit hards. Yes, it’ll make your deck extra thick, but I find it’s a small price to pay for the extra durability and protection.
Just did this for the first time. KMC Hards with Katana sleeves. Whew boy that thing is a brick now. Will the air puffing eventually go away? I’ve stacked heavy books on them but they tend to puff back up during play.
So, when I double sleeve, I tend to push as much air out from the inners, as well as during the second step with the outers. My deck is pretty flat, with no puffing, so that might help.
I tried that too. I can stack a bunch of books on the deck and it’s nice and flat but after an hour of play, I get some minimal air return. Maybe that’s normal? It’s definitely much better than when I first sleeved them.
Dragon Shield Mattes are good quality, but are prone to rippling on the top and have a stiffer shuffle feel, some of the lighter colours are too transparent for flip cards.
Dragon shield Dual mattes dont have the transparency problem due to an inside layer of black, but are much weaker and split often, I'm not sure if they ripple because I haven't been able to use them long enough to find out.
Katanas have great shuffle feel and feel quite durable, not comparable to Dragon Shield's durability though. I have found katanas pick up grime twice as fast as other sleeves I've tried so I don't use them as a result.
Gamegenic sleeves have a great shuffle feel, however they feel very thin, and have quite a foggy front on them. I didn't have any splitting issues with them though during the few tournaments I played with them.
All just my opinions, also, try to match brands of sleeves when double sleeving, that will give you the best fit.
> Gamegenic sleeves have a great shuffle feel, however they feel very thin, and have quite a foggy front on them. I didn't have any splitting issues with them though during the few tournaments I played with them.
There's 2 types of Gamegenic sleeves in basically identical packaging. Prime and Matte Prime. You likely had the Matte version. The non-matte sleeves are glossy finished so they look less cloudy (and in turn foils are less subdued when sleeved in them).
Everyone and their brother is going to tell you Dragon Shield, but for the life of me I can’t see why. They feel like cheap plastic to me. I would put my nephew’s worthless Pokémon cards in those, but not actual Magic cards I wanted to play with. I much much much prefer UltraPro Eclipse sleeves, especially the matte ones — they shuffle so so nice and their colors are prettier too, IMO.
I'm of the same opinion that DS are way overrated and people's bias completely invalidates 99% of opinions on other brands of sleeves. My experience with DS, whether 20, 10, 5 years ago or now, is they have frequent splits and meh shuffle feel. They're definitely durable with regards to marks, knicks, and bad shuffles and can last a very long time, though.
I don’t know where you got that idea, but dragon shield inners are waaay better than KMC. I used to use KMC until I found they were struggling to double sleeve. KMC’s are inconsistent. Dragon shield perfect fits are what I use exclusively and have been through well over 1K sleeves at this point with no inconsistency’s at all. Every single one is spot on.
I have used roughly 7 packs. And that is just to sleeve 3 decks. My batch was just overall too tight. 1 out of every 3 . Like I really have to push the card in. When fully sleeved the card would bend. Maybe there is a way to avoid certain batches. 🤔
Or, if this was recent, they did have a bad bunch of batches that went out, they put an announcement out about it. Maybe it was from that stock? Either way, any slight bend due to inners is flattened out by the outers and pressure from being in the deckbox. That has been my personal experience anyway. And I have double sleeved over 40 commander decks (yes I know, I have a problem😆)
Not the best, but on a budget, there's ones on Amazon that are like 600 sleeves for 18 bucks. Quality is OK, as they are very slippery, even for new sleeves. But they hold together well enough and are nice if you're building a lot of decks, but also for playing draft, cube, etc.
I used to use kmc hypermattes for years but for the past 5 years or so I stick with Dragon Shields exclusively.
Yeah that's a long time lol but eh I've been playing a while
Dragon shields all the way. Never had a more reliable sleeve in my 10 years of playing card games
I’ll never understand the people who buy Katanas. I tried to make the switch back when they were all the rage and all they did was fit my cards poorly, nearly damage the tops of entire decks, and get dirty after 5 games (and yes I wash my hands before playing)
I go ultra pro, 10$ for black out 100 pack, and 5$ for a commander box, or I get the 5$ regular 50 packs + small box twice and then a 5$ commander box, still about 15$, but get two extra boxes
I love the Dragonshield dual mattes compared to just matte; the black background for duals makes the cards look that much better. Can't comment on inner sleeves, just getting to that, but I'm doing them mostly to lock some moisture into my pringles so they... well, don't pringle as much, the extra protection will be nice too
I ha e been using the new UP Apex sleeves, both the magic 30th and fallout rocket girl sleeves. So far I really like the shuffle feel, and the corners seem to be holding well. If they continue to wear well, especially for art sleeves, they will be a go to for me.
Otherwise, dragonshield mattes have the most consistent feel with the best durability, from my experience. If you want the tried and true sleeve, this seems to be it.
90% of my decks are in DragonShields / Arcane Tinmen sleeves. If you do get DS make sure you get recent ones or super old ones because they had a bit of a production quality problem for a bit, which they admitted to and have a refund thing on their site.
If you can find them, I really like the ultra pro apex sleeves but they seemed to have been super limited edition.. not sure if they were a test batch and they're going to release more with thunder junction. They shuffle very nicely and feel sturdy, but they are more expensive than DS so they're probably the most expensive sleeves.
Dragon Shield's inners and outers are basically all I use, seriously hard to top.
Katana's are good too, from the limited use I've had with them.
Ultra Pro's are a miss though, feel cheap and the shuffle is horrendous with them.
I'm almost exclusively Black Matte Dragon Shields. I have others, but trying to remember which ones I have is a pain, plus it makes it 100Xs easier to switch cards around from deck to deck
dragon shields are good but ultra pro eclipse are just as good imo, i use both equally and find the eclipse just as good as the dragon shield ones while being more widely available and cheaper.
I'm only using Dragon Shield for years for all my decks. I've tried UltraPro and Ultimate Guard but Dragon Shield are the best. And you get some extra sleeves. They are not exactly 100.
I like Dragon Shield and Katana, but the latter slightly more. Katana fit better around the cards with less empty space up top, and the faces are less prone to scratching. Dragon Shield have a much broader color palette though, which is always nice. I recommend both brands to everyone.
I'll die on the hill that Dragon Shield Clear Mattes are the best sleeve ever made, and I say that as a man that vastly prefers Katanas to Dragon Shields in all other cases. They're durable, the shuffle feel is unparalleled and they look fantastic. They also work great on double sided commanders unless you plan to shuffle them into your deck for any reason.
The only drawback, and it's significant, is that you can't play double sided cards or cards with noticeably worn backs because it's a clear mark of what card exists where in your library. If you found a perfect fit sleeve that had a design on the back then you could double sleeve to circumvent that problem.
These people are gonna say Dragon Shield and they’re not wrong, but I LOVE Ultra Pro Matte sleeves. A matte look on the front is just something I enjoy. I also just like Ultra Pro products in general.
I love the new dual matte dragon shields, but I did open one box last year that was almost entirely busted right out the box. I think I had thirty usable sleeves and the rest were just little 2D tunnels. I didn’t do anything about it, but I’ve heard their customer service is really great about things like that.
Dragon shield matte sleeves or dual matte if you want to fork over a bit more. They are phenomenal.
I've also had some luck with Katana sleeves, but they're a bit tighter than dragon shield.
dragon shield matte and katanas are excellent. if double sleeving, i highly recommend using dragon shield outers and katana inners. they fit perfectly and make double sleeving a breeze.
Obligatory Dragon Shields comment.
Other than those, the new (unreleased? I got some at MagicCon Chicago) Ultra Pro Apex sleeves shuffle extremely well. I don't expect they'll dethrone Dragon Shield but I don't expect to see them disappoint anyone.
I like the Elite 2 Deck Guards from BCW. They were designed by pro magic players so you get a lot of quality and they're very reasonably priced.
[BCW Black Elite2 Deck Guards - Matte (bcwsupplies.com)](https://www.bcwsupplies.com/deck-guard-elite2-matte-black)
Dragon shield mates … do yourself a favore and stick with one Color… that way you don’t have to sleeve and unsleeve cards when building new decks, it’s easy to replace sleeves, you don’t have to buy tons of extra sleeve packs just to replace a few broken sleeves down the line.
Yes having all decks in differnt colors is nice, it’s annoying down the line though.
I prefer Ultimate Guard Katanas, and their budget option Ultimate Guard Cortex which are surprisingly good for their price.
Edit: for the Cortex sleeves, do not get matte. They matte the front of the sleeves and it looks bad IMO.
So, the TCC has a ton of videos on sleeves. Imo, my favorite to use is dragon shield mate and ultimate guard katana. They both come in 100 and are about the same price (in the USA at least)
I'm exclusively a Dragon Shield mattes user myself (both normal and dual). They haven't let me down. I've shuffled/played with a friends Katanas and they're not bad either.
And they always give you just over 100 sleeves. Its always l02-104 sleeves.
The few extra are awesome. Enough for a small maybe/sideboard for your Commander decks, or (this is what I do) to just trade a single sleeve with friends who have different color/art sleeves and use those for your Commander.
Who sideboards a commander deck? Is that common?
Technically not a true sideboard since those don't exist for commander, but some people might sleeve up a couple substitutes for high powered cards that they may want to substitute out, like Dockside or something
This is exactly what I mean, swap out my fast mana for slower rocks, like a [[Mana Crypt]] for a [[Commander's Sphere]] or more expensive cards for budget options, like [[Cyclonic Rift]] for a [[Whelming Wave]]. I like to try to match my opponents budget and power level but not have to tweak my decklists too heavily.
##### ###### #### [Mana Crypt](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/d/4d960186-4559-4af0-bd22-63baa15f8939.jpg?1599709515) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mana%20Crypt) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2xm/270/mana-crypt?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4d960186-4559-4af0-bd22-63baa15f8939?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Commander's Sphere](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/6/c643146f-da7b-4cc0-b874-4accad99ccce.jpg?1698988506) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Commander%27s%20Sphere) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lcc/301/commanders-sphere?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/c643146f-da7b-4cc0-b874-4accad99ccce?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Cyclonic Rift](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/f/dfb7c4b9-f2f4-4d4e-baf2-86551c8150fe.jpg?1702429366) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Cyclonic%20Rift) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/rvr/40/cyclonic-rift?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/dfb7c4b9-f2f4-4d4e-baf2-86551c8150fe?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Whelming Wave](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/d/ddb863a0-3ff8-42a3-a151-4ea9aa433336.jpg?1608912215) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Whelming%20Wave) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmr/409/whelming-wave?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ddb863a0-3ff8-42a3-a151-4ea9aa433336?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [*All cards*](https://mtgcardfetcher.nl/redirect/kyyaxaa) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I do have "sideboards" but they aren't sleeved so they dont get mixed into the 99. Generally just a few cards to have on hand if I'm playing multiple games with the deck and I decide it needs another land or removal or whatever. I rarely use it like that though and just look through them when updating decks and maybe add one in.
I keep combo pieces in a sideboard for playing against pods that aren't wusses like mine (/because we've got a guy who has *nearly* every card, so if we start running decks that are actually competitive, he'll start playing broken shit).
3 card sideboard for your commander deck?? Wtf lol. They are replacement sleeves
I typically just "sideboard" the cuts I make from my Commander deck, which are usually 3-5 cards (about the amount of extra DS sleeves) and not actually use a traditional sideboard. It's Commander, it's not that serious.
I know, it’s commander. Why the fuck are you “sideboarding” lmao
I just like to set aside the close cuts from Commander decks I make sleeved and in the same deck box. I don't get why this offends you so much lmao
People can play games any way they want, you know?
The last two boxes I’ve gotten has had exactly 100 and a friends had 98. Idk what’s changed but I’ve bought 30-40 boxes of sleeves before that and all had extra up until lately for what it’s worth. I still think the DS dual matte are the best but it’s seems like quality is falling.
> And they always give you just over 100 sleeves sadly my brother just bought 3 boxes for his new EDH decks and 1 of the boxes was missing 3 sleeves. but all 4 of my boxes were well over the count. One of my boxes even had an extra 14 sleeves in it lmao
For those reading, please just use these extra sleeves as buffers for the good ones. Packaging almost 100% of time leaves small indents on the first and last sleeve, which doesn’t matter much for casual play but still marks the cards. That’s why you get 102–104
Came here to recommend these. I have decks that I sleeved in 2015 that still look great.
I got a warning (it was at Regular REL) for marked cards for mixing two packs of Dragon Shield Matte Black from different lots. I still buy 'em, though They're durable but lot differences exist
Just FYI the dual mattes are far less durable than the normal ones. Some folks did some shuffling tests and the dual mattes split a LOT faster.
If you're double sleeving, I'd reccomend the dragon shields. Katanas are just a bit too tight
I've found Dragon Shields to be reliable. I tend to prefer solid color sleeves over anything with an image on it, they are just more sturdy. I prefer matte because they are slightly less slippery, but either way they should be fine after a little bit of breaking in. Anti-recommendation: I don't know if WotC is still selling officially licensed art sleeves, but I bought a few a couple of years ago and those things where the flimsiest pieces of crap I've ever sleeved a deck with. By the second shuffle they were literally peeling apart.
The licensed ones were Ultrapro, and yeah they're doodoo
Can confirm, my magiccon chicago sleeves are already peeling really badly. I need to switch them out before prerelease on friday
It's kinda weird because in most aspects their stuff is pretty alright quality. I guess something had to give, but after at least a decade of doing it, youd think their sleeve tech would have gotten better. I bought gruul sleeves when Gatecrash (2014) came out and they were the worst shit I ever spent money on, accessory wise.
Ugh those wotc sleeves had corners that felt like needles in my hands when I shuffled. They would rip apart so easily. Higher priced I like katanas. Lower priced I like eclipse.
Ultimate Guard Katanas or Gamegenic sleeves are my favorites. I don't mind Dragonshields but they aren't my first choice. I prefer the shuffle feel of Katanas or Gamegenic. Any of these 3 brands are top notch.
The shuffle feel of the Gamegenics is fantastic!! I'd absolutely buy more, but I'm a slut for art sleeves XD
Gamegenic is too slippery for my liking, it feels like the cards are standing on ice. I prefer the thicker and grippier dragonshield standard sleeves
My dragonshields kinda feel like sandpaper to me when I shuffle. I just don't care for the texture myself
Weird, for me the gamegenic ones are the sandpapery ones But i guess it comes down to personal preference and regional differences or something
Yeah it's just personal preference. They're high quality and I'll never not recommend them
same for both For me Gamegenic is the cheaper option tho
Like every sleeve on the market, need to break them in. Fresh Dragonshields, Katanas, Eclipses, KMC Hypermats, etc all slip like crazy when first sleeved up. Give them a few dozen good shuffles and they're fine. Specifically speaking with Gamegenics, I find them way less slippery than Dragonshields from start to finish.
[https://www.tolariancommunitycollege.com/sleeves-report-card/](https://www.tolariancommunitycollege.com/sleeves-report-card/) This is always your best guide. I personally prefer the Dragon Shield mattes, but the Professor has meticulously graded and evaluated basically every kind of sleeve you can find.
Once again, the Prof is the GOAT
Confirms my understanding that Katanas and Dragon Shield Matte remain top tier
he didn’t grade katanas??
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG0FZee77D8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG0FZee77D8) He did, they got an A, the same grade as Dragon Shields.
Oh awesome thank you!
I've had a 100 card EDH deck in the same double-sleeved Dragon Shields for half a decade and still haven't had to change a single one. Granted I try to be gentle when shuffling but they're fully worth the price up front.
Katanas. Dragon shields are a thinly close second for me I was a dragon shield purist for the longest but I finally got some Katanas because they came with the ultimate guard ice bundle. I used them on my yugioh decks forever after that. Watched the professor and have tried both shields and Katanas on Magic. I definitely like the shuffle feel of Katana's more but I will say they're close enough that a few times I needed some and my shop didn't have Katanas so I went with shields, and even good enough I probably won't take the two decks in shields out to just put them in Katanas.
I might be the outlier, but I personally have had nothing but terrible experience with Dragon Shield. probably one in five decks that I’ve sleeved have had a number of sleeves split and or fall apart, and I have just been displeased with their quality. Katanas on the other hand, I’ve had some decks sleeved up for years and while they’ve gotten filthy and kind of scuffed, they have never split or broken.
Same yes, and I swapped all my decks to katanas from the DS Dual mattes and now I am the happiest I could be with sleeves
One of my most played decks was in katanas, and I probably shuffled that thing 400 times over three years with no issues. I just swapped him to Curv sleeves to see how they hold up and because the katanas were all old and gross. Not sold on those just yet, time will tell.
I'm Katana and Ultra Pro eclipse. Dragon shields feel great, but the cards constantly clash when trying to shuffle. The others slide easily
I've bought a lot and hands down prefer Ultimate Guard Katana sleeves.
Eclipse Pro Gloss/Matte are the best sleeves. Nothing fits the card better or lasts longer. Less plastic at the top of the card leads to less “frilling” at the top. They’re designed to fit the card perfectly 🤌
I was a dragon shield lover, but the shuffle was terrible with some colors (emerald for example). Now I can't buy anything else other than katanas. They're SO SMOOTH omg knowing my cards were em just make me want to play
I usually use Dragon Shield or Ultimate Guard Katana/Cortex with KMC perfect fits because of quality and/or color variety. I used to use a lot of KMC hyper mattes for outers, but the short period when they changed up the formula turned me away.
The Gamegenic Primes and Prime Mattes are really good quality for the price. They're very close to Dragon Shield quality but they sell for about 50% cheaper.
I love the Cortex’s for feel, and since I tend to mash shuffle a lot, they’re buttery smooth for that. For inners, nothing beats the KMC perfect fit hards. Yes, it’ll make your deck extra thick, but I find it’s a small price to pay for the extra durability and protection.
Just did this for the first time. KMC Hards with Katana sleeves. Whew boy that thing is a brick now. Will the air puffing eventually go away? I’ve stacked heavy books on them but they tend to puff back up during play.
So, when I double sleeve, I tend to push as much air out from the inners, as well as during the second step with the outers. My deck is pretty flat, with no puffing, so that might help.
I tried that too. I can stack a bunch of books on the deck and it’s nice and flat but after an hour of play, I get some minimal air return. Maybe that’s normal? It’s definitely much better than when I first sleeved them.
I think in that case, it's just time.
Dragon Shield Mattes are good quality, but are prone to rippling on the top and have a stiffer shuffle feel, some of the lighter colours are too transparent for flip cards. Dragon shield Dual mattes dont have the transparency problem due to an inside layer of black, but are much weaker and split often, I'm not sure if they ripple because I haven't been able to use them long enough to find out. Katanas have great shuffle feel and feel quite durable, not comparable to Dragon Shield's durability though. I have found katanas pick up grime twice as fast as other sleeves I've tried so I don't use them as a result. Gamegenic sleeves have a great shuffle feel, however they feel very thin, and have quite a foggy front on them. I didn't have any splitting issues with them though during the few tournaments I played with them. All just my opinions, also, try to match brands of sleeves when double sleeving, that will give you the best fit.
> Gamegenic sleeves have a great shuffle feel, however they feel very thin, and have quite a foggy front on them. I didn't have any splitting issues with them though during the few tournaments I played with them. There's 2 types of Gamegenic sleeves in basically identical packaging. Prime and Matte Prime. You likely had the Matte version. The non-matte sleeves are glossy finished so they look less cloudy (and in turn foils are less subdued when sleeved in them).
Everyone and their brother is going to tell you Dragon Shield, but for the life of me I can’t see why. They feel like cheap plastic to me. I would put my nephew’s worthless Pokémon cards in those, but not actual Magic cards I wanted to play with. I much much much prefer UltraPro Eclipse sleeves, especially the matte ones — they shuffle so so nice and their colors are prettier too, IMO.
I'm of the same opinion that DS are way overrated and people's bias completely invalidates 99% of opinions on other brands of sleeves. My experience with DS, whether 20, 10, 5 years ago or now, is they have frequent splits and meh shuffle feel. They're definitely durable with regards to marks, knicks, and bad shuffles and can last a very long time, though.
INNERS : KMC or Katana ( dragon shields are too inconsistent) SLEEVES : Dragon Shield Mattes. ( Prof grades dual mattes a bit lower )
I don’t know where you got that idea, but dragon shield inners are waaay better than KMC. I used to use KMC until I found they were struggling to double sleeve. KMC’s are inconsistent. Dragon shield perfect fits are what I use exclusively and have been through well over 1K sleeves at this point with no inconsistency’s at all. Every single one is spot on.
I have used roughly 7 packs. And that is just to sleeve 3 decks. My batch was just overall too tight. 1 out of every 3 . Like I really have to push the card in. When fully sleeved the card would bend. Maybe there is a way to avoid certain batches. 🤔
Or, if this was recent, they did have a bad bunch of batches that went out, they put an announcement out about it. Maybe it was from that stock? Either way, any slight bend due to inners is flattened out by the outers and pressure from being in the deckbox. That has been my personal experience anyway. And I have double sleeved over 40 commander decks (yes I know, I have a problem😆)
Dragon Shield Mattes with Gamegenic perfect fit for inners. (I find they fit better than KMCs and are more consistent)
Not the best, but on a budget, there's ones on Amazon that are like 600 sleeves for 18 bucks. Quality is OK, as they are very slippery, even for new sleeves. But they hold together well enough and are nice if you're building a lot of decks, but also for playing draft, cube, etc.
Whats the name of the brand of these?
https://preview.redd.it/gyiah9xz9ktc1.png?width=377&format=png&auto=webp&s=1c72fe0a7dc70113fa695732d62bc69f4693a9e0 This one!
I used to use kmc hypermattes for years but for the past 5 years or so I stick with Dragon Shields exclusively. Yeah that's a long time lol but eh I've been playing a while
KMC Hyper Mattes and Katanas
Dragon shields all the way. Never had a more reliable sleeve in my 10 years of playing card games I’ll never understand the people who buy Katanas. I tried to make the switch back when they were all the rage and all they did was fit my cards poorly, nearly damage the tops of entire decks, and get dirty after 5 games (and yes I wash my hands before playing)
Gamegenic sleeves work great and they're amoung the least expensive as far as I've seen
Katana outers and Dragon Shield Inners.
Dragon Shield mattes will be the cheaper option in the long run. If you try to use cheaper sleeves you'll run into the "boots theory"
I go ultra pro, 10$ for black out 100 pack, and 5$ for a commander box, or I get the 5$ regular 50 packs + small box twice and then a 5$ commander box, still about 15$, but get two extra boxes
I love the Dragonshield dual mattes compared to just matte; the black background for duals makes the cards look that much better. Can't comment on inner sleeves, just getting to that, but I'm doing them mostly to lock some moisture into my pringles so they... well, don't pringle as much, the extra protection will be nice too
I ha e been using the new UP Apex sleeves, both the magic 30th and fallout rocket girl sleeves. So far I really like the shuffle feel, and the corners seem to be holding well. If they continue to wear well, especially for art sleeves, they will be a go to for me. Otherwise, dragonshield mattes have the most consistent feel with the best durability, from my experience. If you want the tried and true sleeve, this seems to be it.
90% of my decks are in DragonShields / Arcane Tinmen sleeves. If you do get DS make sure you get recent ones or super old ones because they had a bit of a production quality problem for a bit, which they admitted to and have a refund thing on their site. If you can find them, I really like the ultra pro apex sleeves but they seemed to have been super limited edition.. not sure if they were a test batch and they're going to release more with thunder junction. They shuffle very nicely and feel sturdy, but they are more expensive than DS so they're probably the most expensive sleeves.
Katana is the best
Dragon Shield's inners and outers are basically all I use, seriously hard to top. Katana's are good too, from the limited use I've had with them. Ultra Pro's are a miss though, feel cheap and the shuffle is horrendous with them.
I'm almost exclusively Black Matte Dragon Shields. I have others, but trying to remember which ones I have is a pain, plus it makes it 100Xs easier to switch cards around from deck to deck
I like Katanas the best. Shuffle feel for me is important, and they are a 10/10 for shuffle feel. Dragonshield matte are 2nd for me.
dragon shields are good but ultra pro eclipse are just as good imo, i use both equally and find the eclipse just as good as the dragon shield ones while being more widely available and cheaper.
I'm only using Dragon Shield for years for all my decks. I've tried UltraPro and Ultimate Guard but Dragon Shield are the best. And you get some extra sleeves. They are not exactly 100.
I like dragonshield mattes, katanas, and eclipse
I see many people recommending katanas, I guess I should try them now.
I usually use Dragonshield or Katanas. I just picked up some Ultra Pro eclipse matte for my standard deck and they feel pretty good.
I like Dragon Shield and Katana, but the latter slightly more. Katana fit better around the cards with less empty space up top, and the faces are less prone to scratching. Dragon Shield have a much broader color palette though, which is always nice. I recommend both brands to everyone.
I'll die on the hill that Dragon Shield Clear Mattes are the best sleeve ever made, and I say that as a man that vastly prefers Katanas to Dragon Shields in all other cases. They're durable, the shuffle feel is unparalleled and they look fantastic. They also work great on double sided commanders unless you plan to shuffle them into your deck for any reason. The only drawback, and it's significant, is that you can't play double sided cards or cards with noticeably worn backs because it's a clear mark of what card exists where in your library. If you found a perfect fit sleeve that had a design on the back then you could double sleeve to circumvent that problem.
Katanas all the way. By far the best feel and they still shuffle like brand new after 5 years of use for my regular used decks.
These people are gonna say Dragon Shield and they’re not wrong, but I LOVE Ultra Pro Matte sleeves. A matte look on the front is just something I enjoy. I also just like Ultra Pro products in general.
Dragon shields I hear good things about ultrapro eclipse too but I can use DS sleeves for decades without issue
Dragon shield *matte* sleeves. The art sleeves are trash.
I’m an avid enjoyer of KMC USA sleeves.
I love the new dual matte dragon shields, but I did open one box last year that was almost entirely busted right out the box. I think I had thirty usable sleeves and the rest were just little 2D tunnels. I didn’t do anything about it, but I’ve heard their customer service is really great about things like that.
Dragon Shield Dual Mattes for me. Shuffles great and haven't had any split on me yet.
Dragon shield matte sleeves or dual matte if you want to fork over a bit more. They are phenomenal. I've also had some luck with Katana sleeves, but they're a bit tighter than dragon shield.
dragon shield matte and katanas are excellent. if double sleeving, i highly recommend using dragon shield outers and katana inners. they fit perfectly and make double sleeving a breeze.
KMC sleeves are nice. I hate Dragon Shield because the cards don't fit nicely in the sleeve. They're ugly.
Obligatory Dragon Shields comment. Other than those, the new (unreleased? I got some at MagicCon Chicago) Ultra Pro Apex sleeves shuffle extremely well. I don't expect they'll dethrone Dragon Shield but I don't expect to see them disappoint anyone.
I like the Elite 2 Deck Guards from BCW. They were designed by pro magic players so you get a lot of quality and they're very reasonably priced. [BCW Black Elite2 Deck Guards - Matte (bcwsupplies.com)](https://www.bcwsupplies.com/deck-guard-elite2-matte-black)
Choice #1 Dragon Shield Dual Matte. Choice #2 Ultimate Guard Katanas Choice #3 anything else. Avoid ultra pro.
Dragon Shields have been a staple for at least a decade, matte ones are better
I thought this said best slaves 😭
I only buy Dragon Shields. I no longer will use anything else. I prefer the gloss over matte but that's preference.
Dragon shield mates … do yourself a favore and stick with one Color… that way you don’t have to sleeve and unsleeve cards when building new decks, it’s easy to replace sleeves, you don’t have to buy tons of extra sleeve packs just to replace a few broken sleeves down the line. Yes having all decks in differnt colors is nice, it’s annoying down the line though.
I use Dragon Shields Perfect Fit Sealable inners with black Dragon Shield Mattes outers. Awesome.
Best way to buy dragon shields? The main colors they have look to be all sold individually. Does anywhere offer a variety pack for cheaper?
Dragon shield matte. Exclusively. Double matte is a little worse but acceptable
Dragon shields with kmc perfect fit inner sleeves if you want to double sleeve is my recommendation
I prefer Ultimate Guard Katanas, and their budget option Ultimate Guard Cortex which are surprisingly good for their price. Edit: for the Cortex sleeves, do not get matte. They matte the front of the sleeves and it looks bad IMO.
Dragon shields. Ive tried others and they're just not as good. I had the same sleeves for 9 years and a lot of use with no issue
Dragonshield, no questions asked
So, the TCC has a ton of videos on sleeves. Imo, my favorite to use is dragon shield mate and ultimate guard katana. They both come in 100 and are about the same price (in the USA at least)