Sleeves: the Unsung Heroes of TCGs

Ah, sleeves. They protect your cards. Let you mash shuffle, make your deck look cooler or cuter or sexier or less "this back pattern sucks". It's often a joke that you're a scrub if you don't have sleeves, that you're alright if you single sleeve and all the pros must double, triple or even quadruple sleeve (trust me, this is actually a thing in Japan).

Solid colour, mini-sized, plastered with anime characters, clear or standard size. They all have the same purpose, but how many people actually know the history of the sleeve?

Thousands of years ago, the Trading Card Game was invented in Ancient Egypt. Some arrogant guy with crazy hair became really good at them and named himself the King of Games. What a douche. Soon though, the King of G (we'll call him the King of G from now on) got bored with all the power creep in his favourite game: "what do you mean my Black Wizard is useless against Axodia, the Restricted One?" and he set out to find a new game to play. After executing many advisors who proposed really really bad ideas (it's like Mokemon, but with cards!) a strange man in red appeared in the King of G's throne room. The King (of G, might I remind you.) was thoroughly shocked and asked the mysterious hooded man who he was. "My name, is Tace Jeleren." The hooded man said. "And I have some thing for you." Tace held out his hand, and there it was. The first pack of sleeves, 50 mini-sized red Ultra Pros. The King of G took them immediately and wondered why the cards didn't have words and pictures on them and Tace was like "they're sleeves you idiot,put your cards in them and they become like 98563 times cooler." and so the King of G did, and his deck was instantly modified to be the most deck thinning-est, deck winning-est piece of broken Seven Samurai and Alternate Dimension shit. Those two archetypes don't even go together and it was OP. That's how awesome it was. And the King of G was like "holy crap this shit's AWESOME" and ordered his scientists (he invented scinece, btw. The King of G did.) create more. And that's how Ultra-Pro started. With the King (of G).

So, what kind of sleeves does VMundi use? Are you like the King of G? Do you prefer anime girls to grace your cards?

I use gold Dragon Shields on my Angel Feather, they're actually great. Very tight but flexible and the texture's nice. SLEEVES GENERAL.

I'm not reading all that.

I just got Bushi sleeves so my opponent can see what deck I'm using before we start.

Epideme wrote:

I'm not reading all that.

I just got Bushi sleeves so my opponent can see what deck I'm using before we start.

I just realized that I don't want to read it either, even though I wrote it. Unfortunately I already know what it's about and it doesn't seem like such a good idea any more, lmao.

Oh yea Bushiraod's sleeves are pretty good actually. The Kiriel ones look like poop though, so I didn't get any. But I'm particularly fond of the Ezel sleeves, interesting colour palette.

I did read. Wow.


I use sleeved Kai sleeves for my Kagero (double sleeves are REALLY unconfortable, so I only use the double in casual plays) and transparent sleeves for my Megacolony. Planning on buying green/Master Beetle sleeves for Mega.

Kyou sleeves for megacolony (they came with the boxes) and Fromage sleeves for SP (why not?). Currently have them both double sleeved for protection but I'm not a fan of how much the cards love sliding around like this. The occasional card explosion that comes from shuffling is awkward and unpleasant. Double sleeving also makes it harder to see the card images so I'm not sure how much I'm enjoying this method. It's hard to appreciate how kawa-ee Macha is when you can barely see her.

Let's see here...

Bermuda Triangle: Top Idol Flores, I'm still going to use this sleeve even when I phase Flores out somewhere in the future.
Tachikaze: Witch Charlotte from Madoka, since they bite heads off people all the same.
Great Nature: Ayase from Negima, with silver border clear sleeves over it.
Aqua Force: Asuna from Negima, I'm actually looking for a replacement for this one but there's no Navalgazer Dragon sleeves, only Maelstrom, Glory and Algos.
Megacolony: PM Koizumi from The Legend of Koizumi, I'm not sure what I was thinking when I bought these.
Gold Paladin: Phoenix Girl sleeves that are 7-8 years old, probably.
Narukami: Not sleeved yet, will eventually.

Maybe I need to cut down on the decks I own first.

I like using appropiate sleeves for my decks.

Gold Paladin - Currently Blonde Ezel, but will switch to Spectral Duke Dragon cause I like his artwork.
Nova Grapplers - Gold Rutile! 'Nuff said.
Bermuda Triangle - Pink Ultrapro matte sleeves. Waiting for to see if Bushiroad makes more new BT sleeves or maybe I'll hunt down Pacifica sleeves.
Dark Irregulars - Went with Luquier, cause I didn't like the Dark Lord or Gwyn sleeves but wanted it to be a character from the same nation at least.
Megacolony - No one else but Master Beetle! No, seriously, there are no other MC sleeves. XD
Royal Paladin - Chibi Saber from Fate/Stay. http://img.amiami.jp/images/product/main/124//CGM-3851.jpg
Kagerou - Son Goku sleeves for my Goku deck. http://img.amiami.jp/images/product/main/123//CGD2-36993.jpg

Dragon Shield / Dragon Shield / Dragon Shield
On my main 3 decks. Everything else is old shitty stuff I proxy for testing.

HIGH TIER:
Legion, Dragon Shield, KMC (I never tested but hear amazing things)
Legion and Dragonshield are pretty much the best on the market. I have some bushi sleeves, but not enough to give them a shuffle. They seem okay, but they have flat edges which i know tend to peel off especially if you mash shuffle. You want bevel edges so that they don't grab each other as the edges pass between. I have not yet been able to test KMC but I hear good things.

MEDIUM TIER:
Player's Choice (and other nameless smooth brands)
Player's Choice and the like tend to be a great second option to the above two because they last a long time and are pretty cheap. Much cheaper than anime printed sleeves, and probably the best value for your money.

LOW TIER:
Ultra Pro, Deck Prot
Ultra Pro and Deck Prot and shit are on the low tier. Any serious gaming supply forum will instantly tell you this. There are a lot of Ultra Pro fanboys, but that's mostly just because they have such an advertising monopoly and a lot of locals only carry UP or mostly carry UP. Both split down the sides VERY easily compared to Player's Choice, Legion, and Dragonshield. They're also really thin and the corners get creased much easier. Basically these are your throwaway sleeves. Buy a cheap (less than 4 dollar) set of UP just before a big tournament if you can get more than 50 in the pack. Or have some on hand as your backup sleeves for if your main ones would get you DQd.

SHIT TIER:
Generic Anime prints
The absolute shit-worst horrible tier is generic anime print. They're printed on the worst stock, peel easily, split easily, and are expensive due to pattern printing.

I usually double sleeve everything that is printed, which is basically all my decks. Being used to playing Pokemon, I can easily handle a double sleeved Vanguard deck.

I never double sleeve. It ruins sleeves faster, creates hand fatigue when shuffling, takes up way more space than normal, is easy to drop mid-shuffle, and offers no measurable increase in card protection. Especially if single sleeving offers perfect protection.

Alice wrote:

I never double sleeve. It ruins sleeves faster, creates hand fatigue when shuffling, takes up way more space than normal, is easy to drop mid-shuffle, and offers no measurable increase in card protection. Especially if single sleeving offers perfect protection.

Hmm, how does it ruin sleeves when the sleeves are protected by the 2nd layer?

I double sleeve cause I suffer from sweaty palms. It's not so bad during casual play but can get pretty bad during a big tournament. This causes glossy sleeves to stick together. For some reason, this doesn't happen when I double sleeve (with the Bushiroad 2nd layer; haven't found any other brand worth getting).

My friend says Dragon shield's quality has really fallen in recent years and he stopped getting them due to constantly getting miscut sleeves. Never tried them myself but he used to use those exclusively until that started.

Also I was using double sleeves to protect my new bushi sleeves. You're saying that actually wears them out faster?

Shadowbane wrote:

Alice wrote:

I never double sleeve. It ruins sleeves faster, creates hand fatigue when shuffling, takes up way more space than normal, is easy to drop mid-shuffle, and offers no measurable increase in card protection. Especially if single sleeving offers perfect protection.

Hmm, how does it ruin sleeves when the sleeves are protected by the 2nd layer?

I double sleeve cause I suffer from sweaty palms. It's not so bad during casual play but can get pretty bad during a big tournament. This causes glossy sleeves to stick together. For some reason, this doesn't happen when I double sleeve (with the Bushiroad 2nd layer; haven't found any other brand worth getting).

Because the added bulk inside of it causes the outer layer to split more easily

smellmybox wrote:

My friend says Dragon shield's quality has really fallen in recent years and he stopped getting them due to constantly getting miscut sleeves. Never tried them myself but he used to use those exclusively until that started.

Also I was using double sleeves to protect my new bushi sleeves. You're saying that actually wears them out faster?

I haven't seen or experienced this, so I'll take it with a grain of salt.

Are Dragon Shield sleeves reliable? I'm thinking to ask my habitual shop to bring them, because Ultra Pro ones break every fucking time.

Kagero: Official blue Vanguard circle Bushi sleeves with over sleeves (with an official Bushi deck box. It's a Narukami one though cause I didn't know the difference back then D:)
Gold Paladin: White KMC sleeves with a white deck box
Shadow Paladin: Black KMC sleeves with a black deck box
Murakumo in the future when BT09 is out: Purple Dragon Shield sleeves with a purple deck box
Yeah I like matching stuff.

@Kiro Yep Dragon Shield is pretty reliable. But if you're going to ask your local shop to supply a new brand of sleeves, I'd prefer KMC. They're really smooth, the front is extremely clear so your rares and above shine almost as if they were unsleeved and that you can shuffle with them really well.

I want to get some Misaki and Asaka sleeves.

But, here goes.

Main Deck - Stern/Asura Nova Grapplers - Black KMC(Fucking Phenomenal)

Secondary Deck(1) - Sarah Tamers Pale Moon - Azure Blue Ultra Pro Regular size.(Oddly, these Sleeves have last months, and I quite commonly use this deck too)

Secondary Deck(2) - 6 Soul/Beast Warrior Royal Paladin - Royal Purple UltraPro(Also lasted unusually long)

Other decks

Giraffa Megacolony - Shiny Black Legion

Enigman Storm Dimension Police - Players Choice Red - These are fucking shit. They stick and the edges are oddly sharp. Apparently this was just a bad pack though.

Dark Dictator Shadow Paladin - White Small Ultrapro

Raindear Bermuda Triangle - Pink Ultrapro regular size



Side notes: The one card shop only carries Ultra Pro, the other just received their first shipment of KMCs today. Im excited, dropping like 40$ on sleeves XD

I've been using Ultra Pro Pro-Matte sleeves, but I've actually had some Player's Choice during my brief Pokemon TCG days. However, those sleeves are the big ones (the 66mm x 91mm ones, I think). I'm currently looking for new sleeves, especially if they don't stick to each other (I always seem to have that problem), but I need to know if there are size differences.

My god, Dragon Shields are so expensive...

>checks storage box

Okay, how are Deck-Prot sleeves? Apparantly, I have a pack of unopened black Deck-Prot sleeves.

Deck-Prot is horrible.

And with that, i don't think i'm ever opening them.

Burn them...

^The second I read

Kaji Motomiya wrote:

IOkay, how are Deck-Prot sleeves?

I thought "Let them burn".

Alice wrote:

Shadowbane wrote:

Alice wrote:

I never double sleeve. It ruins sleeves faster, creates hand fatigue when shuffling, takes up way more space than normal, is easy to drop mid-shuffle, and offers no measurable increase in card protection. Especially if single sleeving offers perfect protection.

Hmm, how does it ruin sleeves when the sleeves are protected by the 2nd layer?

I double sleeve cause I suffer from sweaty palms. It's not so bad during casual play but can get pretty bad during a big tournament. This causes glossy sleeves to stick together. For some reason, this doesn't happen when I double sleeve (with the Bushiroad 2nd layer; haven't found any other brand worth getting).

Because the added bulk inside of it causes the outer layer to split more easily

Well, the Bushiroad 2nd Layer (or Outer Layer) is pretty tough, IMO. Or maybe it's just how I shuffle? Even with all the riffle shuffling I do, I've never had the 2nd Layer split.

Or were you under the impression that I sleeved the card, then put it into the Bushiroad sleeve?

So here's what I actually WANT for my decks:

Spike Brothers: Purple Legion with a green legion for starter
Stern: Black KMC or something similar. Maybe matte KMC if they're good
Giraffa: Black KMC or a dark dark green or Megacolony Bushiroad
Tachikaze: Dark or medium red or dino-print KMC/Legion

Also Kaji how are Dragon Shield OMG EXPENSIVE? They're like 10 bucks at most, same as bushiroad. Sometimes really cheap at 5-6 if you get them at the right time and place (CSI had them for that once)

So I got bored and started triple sleeving my Di Police deck. Wish me luck?



Speaking of. Alice you would love this set of sleeves I got, there standard size, but they look like red scales

Standard is gross