I use Joust (2.30 per pack)- These can be iffy though, they only come in packs of 30 however they do not tear and they shuffly very well. Sometimes there are a few miscuts on the sleeves too.
I use Japanese Sleeves (9.00 per pack)- Shuffle Very well, come in packs of 100, usually do not break.
I use Ultra Pro- (3.30 per pack)50 in a pack Shuffle Meh sometimes they stick, These ones have broke on me the most so far.
Dragon Sheild- (3.30 per pack) 50 in a pack I do not use them, however my friend uses them and sometimes they peel.
What ever you do though, do not get sleeves with The dragon eye/ picture of something on the back. I have found that when shuffling the picture starts to peel off and is very annoying.
yeah - obviously I disagree with you, John. Spam Warning!.....Amazing - even in a forum where posts don't count, there's spam. That proves that getting rid of the post-count won't help getting rid of spam! Thans for this excellent example! - Craven
Dragon Shields and Ultra Pro are the two that I use.
Dragon Shields can take a lot of wear, but the top corners split frequently for no reason. I played 5 round of a pre-release and by the end 4 sleeves out of 40 had split on the tops. But for some reason Fusion Dragon Shields don't split for me.
Ultra Pro sleeves are durable on the tops, but split on the bottom corners for me. Typically they are more durable than Dragon Shields, but they don't shuffle as nicely.
My personal recommendation is Players' Choice, based in Japan. I have never had any problems from them in a couple of years.
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Every time I destroy an opponent's creature, I jump on the table, yell "Boo ya, you son of a *****!", rip the card in half, urinate on it, then forcefully shove it down my opponent's throat.
Needless to say, I don't have many players in my playgroup anymore.
I use Ultra Pro. I have seen people swear by Player's Choice, but have never tried them myself. Dragonshields are good, but they are a bit expensive, a bit hard to shuffle, and they split alot.
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"But then are we most in order when we are most out of order."-Jack Cade
"That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die."
- H.P. Lovecraft
Fusion Dragon Shields are indeed a bit better...maybe the color required them to change the plastic composition a tiny bit. Older Dragon Shields split about twice as often as textured Ultra Pros, or about 2 sleeves/tournament.
Also, textured-backed Ultra Pros stay nice and smooth, flat, clear, and unsplit after approx a YEAR of weekly tournament use. The only maintenance I've done on my Metallic Plenty Purple Ultra Pros over the last 15 months is a wiping with a damp cloth. They must be discarded if the metallic color starts to wear off the backs, though, so if you're gonna get Ultra Pros, get matte textured backs, which retain their color no matter how beat they get.
(I primarily slide-shuffle and pile-shuffle my cards, do not eat while playing, and wash my hands every two or three rounds; I don't use a playmat.)
Alas of late some boxes of Dragon Shields contain slightly different lengths' sleeves. This is generally not the rule, but the exception. It can affect shuffling if you primarily side-shuffle.
For perfection of workmanship and freedom of splitting, Japanese sleeves are best. However, they are made of softer plastic and quickly become dirty, sticky, and difficult to shuffle. Because the backs are perfectly smooth and glossy, they cling tightly to one another when damp from sweat or moisture. On average Japanese sleeves last 5-8 rounds of play before they begin to interfere with shuffling and even drawing. I've received a penalty for looking at extra cards because two sleeved cards clung together when I went to reveal them.
The Ultra Pro sleeves with the designs (I.E. Dragons, Angels) are way better than the regulars. I've had the ones with the designs for about a year now, and none have ripped. Yet I bout a pack of regular Ultra Pros a few months ago and about 20 have ripped.
None of my Dragon Shields ripped. I've had purple ones for 3 years, Green ones for 3 years, Gold ones for 3 years, Red ones for 2 years, Blue ones 2 years, and another pack of Gold which I just got.
So I'd say Dragon Shields > Ultra Pro Design > Regular Ultra Pro
Maybe you'll get Archenemy cards in your Duel Decks From The Vault: Deck Builder's Toolkit All-Foil Duels of the Planeswalkers Downloadable Content Expansion (Tactics Edition).
I swear by Dragon Shields. Ultra Pros are OK for drafts, since they come in packs of 50 (Dragon Shields are only sold in boxes of 100 around here). The KMC Japanese sleeves are OK, but I used them at GP Boston (none of the dealers had Dragon Shields), and found the corners bent up easily because I side shuffle. I had to buy a new pack of sleeves to play Day 2, which I suspect would not have been the case if I'd had Dragon Shields.
I've always used the clear Ultra Pro sleeves and found that I liked them. They're nice and easy to shuffle and I haven't had any problems with different sizes. I've never used any other brands though (for example Dragon Shields haven't been sold at my store).
I love my Dragon Shields, I tried Ultra Pros before and they were alright, they get the job done and all, but Dragon Shields are definately my favorite sleeves, I love the fact that I can buy one box and have enough sleeves to sleeve my entire deck, my sideboarrd, and some cards I might move in or out when I'm testing, and they have never split/broken on me,the worst I've had is them get a little bit dirty from using them for so long. of course I am a very careful shuffler and all... which brings up another interesting question... How do most people shuffle? because that certainly plays a big factor in the life of sleeves I'm sure..... maybe we should get a poll up for this one?
Wasn't there actually an article about this somewhere?
Personaly I love the Japanese covers. They keep slick much longer than others, are tough enough to last longer than most othere (save DragonShields), and don't reflect.
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I like Dragon Shields, and I picked up 4 100 packs of the same color from a local store, which sells them, but i usually hate and thus never go to because I have better stores to play in, and got 400 sleeves for about $15 at a going out of buisness sale
I'm thinking it might have been helpful to post a poll with 3-4 choices on it...Dragon Shields, Ultra Pro, Max whatever, and other Japanese sleeve option.
Basically, I just want some opaque, tournament-legal sleeves that won't start breaking after 2 matches playing with them (that happened with the last sleeves I bought). What are people's favorite sleeves and what's the cheapest place to get them?
Dragonshields are quite high quality. You should be able to buy them at most gaming stores, I think. The store I go to always has lots. Though Ultrapro makes good sleeves too.
I dont know about the best place but I like the ultra pro black ones made during pokemon. those lasted a loooong time....those are good. Dragonshields are great too.
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I use Japanese Sleeves (9.00 per pack)- Shuffle Very well, come in packs of 100, usually do not break.
I use Ultra Pro- (3.30 per pack)50 in a pack Shuffle Meh sometimes they stick, These ones have broke on me the most so far.
Dragon Sheild- (3.30 per pack) 50 in a pack I do not use them, however my friend uses them and sometimes they peel.
What ever you do though, do not get sleeves with The dragon eye/ picture of something on the back. I have found that when shuffling the picture starts to peel off and is very annoying.
Dragon Shields can take a lot of wear, but the top corners split frequently for no reason. I played 5 round of a pre-release and by the end 4 sleeves out of 40 had split on the tops. But for some reason Fusion Dragon Shields don't split for me.
Ultra Pro sleeves are durable on the tops, but split on the bottom corners for me. Typically they are more durable than Dragon Shields, but they don't shuffle as nicely.
"That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die."
- H.P. Lovecraft
Also, textured-backed Ultra Pros stay nice and smooth, flat, clear, and unsplit after approx a YEAR of weekly tournament use. The only maintenance I've done on my Metallic Plenty Purple Ultra Pros over the last 15 months is a wiping with a damp cloth. They must be discarded if the metallic color starts to wear off the backs, though, so if you're gonna get Ultra Pros, get matte textured backs, which retain their color no matter how beat they get.
(I primarily slide-shuffle and pile-shuffle my cards, do not eat while playing, and wash my hands every two or three rounds; I don't use a playmat.)
Alas of late some boxes of Dragon Shields contain slightly different lengths' sleeves. This is generally not the rule, but the exception. It can affect shuffling if you primarily side-shuffle.
For perfection of workmanship and freedom of splitting, Japanese sleeves are best. However, they are made of softer plastic and quickly become dirty, sticky, and difficult to shuffle. Because the backs are perfectly smooth and glossy, they cling tightly to one another when damp from sweat or moisture. On average Japanese sleeves last 5-8 rounds of play before they begin to interfere with shuffling and even drawing. I've received a penalty for looking at extra cards because two sleeved cards clung together when I went to reveal them.
In about 1 month, 62 of 100 UltraPro textured have split.
Dragonshields cost around 1.50$ more.
Hmm...
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The Ultra Pro sleeves with the designs (I.E. Dragons, Angels) are way better than the regulars. I've had the ones with the designs for about a year now, and none have ripped. Yet I bout a pack of regular Ultra Pros a few months ago and about 20 have ripped.
None of my Dragon Shields ripped. I've had purple ones for 3 years, Green ones for 3 years, Gold ones for 3 years, Red ones for 2 years, Blue ones 2 years, and another pack of Gold which I just got.
So I'd say Dragon Shields > Ultra Pro Design > Regular Ultra Pro
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it isn't. i've side-shuffled the things hundreds of times and the corners are fine.
Personaly I love the Japanese covers. They keep slick much longer than others, are tough enough to last longer than most othere (save DragonShields), and don't reflect.
of its steep paths have a chance of gaining its luminous summits"
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My ultra pros fall apart after a single tourny. But maybe it's just me.
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